Short trips- bad for the engine or no problem?

Penguinboy · Post by **Penguinboy** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:15 pm

Hi all-

We're getting a 150 Pamplona for Janet and she works less than 3 miles from the house. Bad road, no sidewalk, so walking and bike riding is risky- hence the scoot purchase. I know short trips like this kill a car pretty fast- not even time enough for the engine to get to temp and you're turning it off.

I was wondering if tuning the key, riding less than 3 miles,turning it off, then repeating the whole procedure 8 hours later is good for the scoot? We'll be doing the break in first, so no worries about the entire break in being in 3 mile increments. Just curious if the small engines get up to temp fast enough that this ride scenario is OK, or will we be replacing fouled spark plugs every few hundred miles? This will pretty much be the routine 5 days a week, plus after work and weekend outings, but from 9-5, pretty much two 3 mile trips, 8 hours apart. Thanks for looking! -Danny

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:23 pm

Should be ok, 3 miles is farther than you think, just warm up the engine in the garage, go get dressed for work or where ever you go, come back, and take off. That should warm the engine up for the commute, plus the 3 miles itself will heat up the engine some more.

Post by **ericalm** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:42 pm

Scooters were made for this kind of trip! My only additional suggestion is to buy a Battery Tender and hook it up once a week or so. The short trips may not be enough to recharge the battery.

gt1000 · Post by **gt1000** » Thu May 15, 2008 4:58 pm

My daily commute is 4 miles one way and it wasn't a problem for my Mojito or my Buddy. It is a problem for my Ducati so I combine my commute with a brief ride when I take the big bike.

Don't think in terms of miles, think in terms of time. Engine cycles of about a half hour will safely warm your engine and it's oil. While I would never start a bike and walk away from it, I do start my bikes as soon as I get to them and let them warm a bit while I get the rest of my gear on. That tends to get my cycle times to about 20 minutes, even for a 4 mile commute. You mentioned break-in and I would strongly advise you to ride at least a half hour at a time (longer if possible) during the first one or two hundred miles of break-in.

It's possible that a 3 mile commute won't fully recharge your battery but it hasn't been a problem for my 4 mile commute. If you find you're having battery issues you can always install a tender.

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu May 15, 2008 5:20 pm

Dont forget besides work, the scooter he/she is buying could be used for regular in city driving to certain places also, that could add another couple of miles every day.

Penguinboy · Post by **Penguinboy** » Thu May 15, 2008 5:35 pm

It'll definitely be used for more than just back and forth to work, but it will also be used for back and forth to work. Each day my wife will make this trip with no other side trips- 8:45 AM every morning she'll drive about 2.6 miles, part of that is 50 MPH zone (maybe 3/4 of a mile) and the rest is 30 MPH zone and it takes between 7-10 minutes to drive it because there are 4 traffic signals on the way. Then the same trip in reverse at 5 PM. She may warm it up a bit in the AM, but she probably will jump on and ride home in the PM when the quitting whistle blows. Should she take a detour home and make it a 5-6 miles trip? Just looking for suggestions to extend the life of her Pamplona...possibly named Sangria....

jfrost2 · Post by **jfrost2** » Thu May 15, 2008 6:16 pm

Avoid those 50mph zones if possible the first 500 miles.

Penguinboy · Post by **Penguinboy** » Thu May 15, 2008 6:35 pm

Really? Avoid the 50 MPH zone even if it's just 3/4 of a mile? I thought varied RPMs are the key to a good break in.......

toddrw2251 · Post by **toddrw2251** » Thu May 15, 2008 6:55 pm

I wouldn't worry about it. Shouldn't make any difference for that distance. Some people say break in periods are not necessary and go all out from day one. I tried to break my b125 in by varying the speeds. I tried to stay away from going all out for a few hundred miles.

illnoise · Post by **illnoise** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:04 pm

+1 on battery tender with quick-connect terminals so you can plug it in easily every night, that'll be tough on your battery.

Bb.

chadc · Post by **chadc** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:21 pm

Here is a good article on engine "break in" granted this is geared towards bikes with gears, but I think the principle is sound. This is how I have broken in all of my jetski's and the motors on them get abused like no other. So far no problems. *knock on wood*
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

toddrw2251 · Post by **toddrw2251** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:36 pm

chadc wrote:Here is a good article on engine "break in" granted this is geared towards bikes with gears, but I think the principle is sound. This is how I have broken in all of my jetski's and the motors on them get abused like no other. So far no problems. *knock on wood*
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

The article sounds logical to me. My family is buying buddy number 2 this summer and I will be driving it while I am visiting them on vacation. All I know is that I don't want to spend my vacation week breaking in my parents new buddy.

chadc · Post by **chadc** » Thu May 15, 2008 7:57 pm

I believe in warming them up thoroughly and then pounding the hell out of them.

Ken82 · Post by **Ken82** » Thu May 15, 2008 8:15 pm

this is a good thread!

mybug · Post by **mybug** » Thu May 15, 2008 9:56 pm

Yeah, short ride itus as some call it can challenge a scoot to keep a battery charged. The magneto is what generates the charge I believe.

I would recommend the battery tender also. You can snake the tender cables under the floor board mats to make it nice and easy to charge when parked.

brimstone · Post by **brimstone** » Thu May 15, 2008 10:09 pm

what i did for my rattler is let it warm up for about 10 minutes. then took it easy, varying the throttle till the first oil change at 200 miles(just gear oil for rattlers) then after that i drive normally. and didn't worry about WOT or not.

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:58 am

Penguinboy wrote:It'll definitely be used for more than just back and forth to work, but it will also be used for back and forth to work. Each day my wife will make this trip with no other side trips- 8:45 AM every morning she'll drive about 2.6 miles, part of that is 50 MPH zone (maybe 3/4 of a mile) and the rest is 30 MPH zone and it takes between 7-10 minutes to drive it because there are 4 traffic signals on the way. Then the same trip in reverse at 5 PM. She may warm it up a bit in the AM, but she probably will jump on and ride home in the PM when the quitting whistle blows. Should she take a detour home and make it a 5-6 miles trip? Just looking for suggestions to extend the life of her Pamplona...possibly named Sangria....

Don't worry. She'll come home a little later one day and it will be "Well, uhhm, I thought the traffice was stopped, maybe a wreck so I turned and went around... (odometer -15 extra miles)

Or another day, "I was only about 2 miles from home and I remembered we talked about picking out a (fill in the blank) and (fill in the blank) was only about 6 miles south, so..."

After too many days of this and to "extend the life of the Pamplona" buy a second scooter and the two of you ride for fun instead of just work.

Dennis

MikieTaps · Post by **MikieTaps** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:13 am

you dont need a battery tender... just hook up one of those ARC generators from Iron man... youll be good to go.

DennisD · Post by **DennisD** » Fri May 16, 2008 2:51 pm

Don't worry about it. I have 4 scooters and one motorcycle and no battery tender. Best way to charge that battery is to ride. Even in the winter you have some weather that is acceptable for riding. Do a 20 miler and get some coffee.

Dennis

MonsterGirl · Post by **MonsterGirl** » Sat May 17, 2008 6:47 am

I have a 5 mile commute and no issues with my battery. Ditto GT1000, my Duc didn't like the short runs very much, so I picked up the Buddy. It's fantastic for short jaunts, like it was meant for them. By the time I get my stuff packed, helmet and gloves on, the scoot is usually warmed up and ready to go. I do have a battery tender and hook the buddy up occassionally if it sits for very long or I just want to make sure the battery is topped off.

Have fun!

justscooten · Post by **justscooten** » Sat May 17, 2008 9:36 pm

i think i got ya all beat on the short ride to work i live 1.1 miles from driveway to parking spot at work and i do it 4 times a day ( i go home for launch) but sometimes the ride home at night is a bit longer

no probs on the blur

Ken82 · Post by **Ken82** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:06 pm

and logically it seems to me...that if you use it daily that this would be less of an issue

but i could be wrong

Penguinboy · Post by **Penguinboy** » Sun May 18, 2008 3:14 am

We ended up getting the tender- we got a good deal on it and we do have 2 scoots, so we figured it would be worth it to have it handy if needed. Thanks all for the comments! -Danny

Roose Hurro · Post by **Roose Hurro** » Sun May 18, 2008 6:24 am

MikieTaps wrote:you dont need a battery tender... just hook up one of those ARC generators from Iron man... youll be good to go.

Just saw the movie today... with one of those things, hooked up to a sophisticated electric scoot, you could travel a long ways, without need for a recharge.

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KABanshee · Post by **KABanshee** » Sun May 18, 2008 6:34 am

Ride it like you stole it.

Modern Buddy

Short trips- bad for the engine or no problem?

Short trips- bad for the engine or no problem?

Magneto may not keep the battery charged

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