First Ride of the Year

[TVB]

No new snow in the last few days. There's snow on the ground, but the temp has been below freezing (25ºF this afternoon) with zero humidity, so the roads are dry and mostly clear of ice. So I rode to the gym*, about 3 miles away, all on main city streets.

My battery is now officially dead. It's been having trouble mustering enough oomph to start the engine the last couple months, especially since the temperature fell, so I've been kickstarting it often as not. Now the scoot's been sitting six days (I last rode him on Christmas) unplugged, and this time I didn't even get a "vmm" out of the starter. Kill-switch-open silence... but it wasn't. A few kicks later, I was on the road. Same story for the return trip, after a short ride but an hour later. It's dead, Jim. So no Battery Tender for me this Winter; I'll just kick it if I have to, then replace the battery in the Spring.

*Don't give me that look. I go to the gym at least 4-5 times a week, not just on New Year's Day.

[siobhan]

um TVB, pics or it didn't happen

Happy New Year from snowy New England! My new-to-me Honda Elite 250 has a windshield so he'll be my wintah commutah.

[SockyTX]

Once I finally slept off last nights celebrations, I put on my chillys and new balaclava then took my Stella for a ride. It had just climbed up to 40 degrees with a couple of wet patches left from the last 2 days of rain. It has been in the 20-30s over the holidays with some mixed precip. My last time out was on Dec. 23rd and that was only a couple of miles. Cruised around for about 20 miles today. She has been my daily commuter since July, and this was the longest time she has been dormant. It felt to hop on just cruise for a bit ringing in the new year right.

Every year on the first my wife makes chicken and dumplings using her GMa's recipe, paired with greens(for fortune) and black-eyed peas (for luck).


Happy New Year Everyone and Best Wishes for 2013!
Scoot On!

[TVB]

um TVB, pics or it didn't happen

You want an action shot of my scooter not starting?

[jrsjr]

um TVB, pics or it didn't happen

You want an action shot of my scooter not starting?

No pics or it didn't not happen?!?

[az_slynch]

Rode out to run errands today and do some electrical work at my sister's house. Not terribly exciting, but it was nice to see how many tools and parts I could fit under the Yager's saddle.

No pics, though. I'll save that for the next time I go to Home Depot or Lowe's and buy something truly awkward to carry on a scooter.

[skully93]

We did a ride to Lookout Mountain, which is pretty decent smaller mountain @ 10 miles west of Denver.

There were some icy spots though, and it was by no means a 'safe' ride, we'll have to consider a means of getting the road condition before next year!

The ride home was very cold.

[Rob]

All systems check for my first ride of the year yesterday.

Even with all the winter riding gear I could muster, including my heated vest, I froze my ass during the 35 minute ride in low 20 temps. The things I put myself through just to say I did something ... like riding at least one day a month year round.

Rob

[SYMbionic Duo]

Midnight ride to ring in the new year. 0°F

[still shifting]

Yes yesterday was cold and I rode to the library, bought a vacuum belt and met friends for coffee. I also walked 5 miles. R

[Milt]

Not to hijack this thread, but has anyone here tried studded tires on their scoot? If so, how have they worked for you?

I still ride in the winter here in Colorado, but would like to not worry about patches of ice...

[skully93]

Midnight ride to ring in the new year. 0°F

That is awesome!

[adahl]

Midnight ride to ring in the new year. 0°F

You are my new hero

[DanielPerrin]

Midnight ride to ring in the new year. 0°F

Even if I lived someplace actually cold, I have no kilt. Very impressive! Happy trails!

[TVB]

My battery is now officially dead. ... So no Battery Tender for me this Winter; I'll just kick it if I have to, then replace the battery in the Spring.

Hmmm... a complication in that plan: I took the scoot to the gym yesterday, and the battery's so far gone that the turn signal wouldn't work until I'd ridden a couple miles (I kept hitting it out of habit). I'm not sure I want to ride without blinkers, even once in a while.

Also, the front brake suddenly went all mushy on me. I suspect this isn't related to the cold, but is a delayed consequence of the turn a few weeks ago when he slipped out from under me and landed on the right, scraping the right brake lever; the brake still worked fine after that, but seemed to have a little more give to it before it applied, and I was going to have that checked out in the Spring before I started riding regularly again. But now I pull it and I get no braking power to speak of. That's definitely a safety hazard, as I discovered when I had to brake quickly for a car stopping ahead of me, and almost had to apply the Fred Flintstone auxiliary brakes to avoid bumping him at 1mph.

[Lostmycage]

If you can find the model number equivalent for the battery that the Buddy uses, you can order it online from Advance Auto Parts (not sure if you have one of those out there). They have a coupon code right now that gets you $10 Off $30 or $25 Off $70 or $40 Off $110 orders. Ends 01/31/2013
A124

I used a similar code to get a new battery for my Concours (so I can sell it in the Spring) and it ended up being cheaper than any other option. Incidentally, power sports batteries are more expensive than you'd expect.

[Robbie]

My battery is now officially dead. ... So no Battery Tender for me this Winter; I'll just kick it if I have to, then replace the battery in the Spring.

Hmmm... a complication in that plan: I took the scoot to the gym yesterday, and the battery's so far gone that the turn signal wouldn't work until I'd ridden a couple miles (I kept hitting it out of habit). I'm not sure I want to ride without blinkers, even once in a while.

Also, the front brake suddenly went all mushy on me. I suspect this isn't related to the cold, but is a delayed consequence of the turn a few weeks ago when he slipped out from under me and landed on the right, scraping the right brake lever; the brake still worked fine after that, but seemed to have a little more give to it before it applied, and I was going to have that checked out in the Spring before I started riding regularly again. But now I pull it and I get no braking power to speak of. That's definitely a safety hazard, as I discovered when I had to brake quickly for a car stopping ahead of me, and almost had to apply the Fred Flintstone auxiliary brakes to avoid bumping him at 1mph.

Your front brake master cylinder inhaled air when it was down on its side.
You are now compressing that air bubble every time you pull the lever, hence, mushy and little brake response.

To get the bubble to pass upwards and back into the master straddle the machine and hold the bar full left.....you may have to tip the machine slightly left as well.
You are trying to make the brake line connection slightly lower than the handle side of the master cylinder.
From this position, pull the lever at least 3/4's of its travel and let it snap back to the released position.
After 10 or 15 pulls you will feel the lever pressure restore......continue the pull/snapback process another 5 or 10 times and then straighten the machine and bar back to verticle and bars straight ahead.

If done correctly, you have forced the bubble back into the master and normal front brake action should be restored.

Rob

[TVB]

Your front brake master cylinder inhaled air when it was down on its side.
You are now compressing that air bubble every time you pull the lever, hence, mushy and little brake response.

It was working fine for a couple weeks after dropping the bike. Are you saying the bubble just now started causing problems?

[Robbie]

Your front brake master cylinder inhaled air when it was down on its side.
You are now compressing that air bubble every time you pull the lever, hence, mushy and little brake response.

It was working fine for a couple weeks after dropping the bike. Are you saying the bubble just now started causing problems?

If the fluid level (as seen through the window) is at the correct level, then I would say it is a bubble that finally migrated down into the piston area of the master cylinder.

If the fluid level is low, which it should not be unless the front pads are worn out, it would then be feasable to assume the handlebar was turned in such a way as to allow air into the piston area and this can (and does) happen often with worn pads.

Rob

[MsMerrE]

Our 1st snowfall here in NE ended up being about 2-2 1/2 inches of ice topped with 4.5 inches of snow. We have had a couple of days above freezing and the meltoff has refrozen and become a glare of ice!! Has kept us 2 wheelers off the streets, but i can't wait for a day to get out and put on a few miles..... Cold isn't a problem, ice is a deal breaker for me....

[DanielPerrin]

If you can find the model number equivalent for the battery that the Buddy uses, you can order it online from Advance Auto Parts (not sure if you have one of those out there). They have a coupon code right now that gets you $10 Off $30 or $25 Off $70 or $40 Off $110 orders. Ends 01/31/2013
A124

I used a similar code to get a new battery for my Concours (so I can sell it in the Spring) and it ended up being cheaper than any other option. Incidentally, power sports batteries are more expensive than you'd expect.

Here are some notes that I have from a thread about batteries on Modern Buddy:
topic14379.html
- original battery is a Yuasa ytx7a-bs (6ah)
- you can also fit YTZ 10s, and it is rated at 10 ah
- modification to the battery cover accommodates UTX9-BS Battery (YTX9-BS)

[TVB]

To get the bubble to pass upwards and back into the master straddle the machine and hold the bar full left.....you may have to tip the machine slightly left as well.
You are trying to make the brake line connection slightly lower than the handle side of the master cylinder.
From this position, pull the lever at least 3/4's of its travel and let it snap back to the released position.
After 10 or 15 pulls you will feel the lever pressure restore......continue the pull/snapback process another 5 or 10 times and then straighten the machine and bar back to verticle and bars straight ahead.

I finally had some daylight to look at the scooter, and gave this a try. After a bit of it (with no change) I took another look at the brake, and could see that there's fluid leaking from the line (which I missed before because it was all wet from the street), so it isn't just a bubble.

[skully93]

I admire the build quality, but they sure don't make it easy to remove the cowling. if the brake lever isn't really damaged, I wonder if the shock didn't just travel up and pop the line loose underneath?

[TVB]

The scooter is due for a general check-up with a competent mechanic, and we have 55ºF weather today before the temp drops and the snow flies tonight, so I'm going to ride to the shop and leave him for them to fix this, and to look for other things to spend my money on.

Update: At least that was the plan. Didn't work out.

[Cpequin]

Y'all put me to shame. I took PKETO to the gym and work the other week, and after freezing my thighs off, decided I'd wait until my over-pants that i ordered online came in before doing that again. Then, The Valley of The (missing) Sun had a workweek of freezing temps, and I caught a cold. Been MINI'ing it since. I plan on taking the scoot daily beginning Monday, since we will have our usual nice winter weather. In my defense, you do get thin-skinned living in a hot dry environs...