Rich’s Ride Report, FL

Its January 13th, 2014. I'm visiting my father in Central Florida. Accompanying me, are my wife, my two daughters, and their two daughters so we get a chance to see Grandpa / Great Grandpa. 

While there I spy a machine, a two-wheeled machine with a motor. It’s my nephew's 2013 Honda Ruckus (1310 miles). Immediately I decide I need to ride it. And then the mission comes to me with great clarity! I am "Miles Beyond The Ordinary" test rider, Rich Lantz. 

I approached the machine a little wary...hadn't been on a scooter in many years. I rolled it out into the Florida sun. I looked the bike /scooter over.  Tires felt reasonably inflated. I looked for a fuel shut off but couldn't find one.There is a low fuel light but no fuel gauge , so I looked for a tank which is under the floor "board." Opened the locked  cap to see some fuel. 

He told me it got one hundred miles per gallon so I figured I would be fine. I found the ignition, inserted the key and saw a start button. Pushed it .....but nothing. So I looked for a kick start lever which was on the rear end and down low. Two weak mini kicks and the 49cc motor fires right up and purrs like a little Honda should. Helmet on and off I go. 

I think to myself, "probably should figure these brakes out before I get out of the driveway."  No pegs or pedals just floor board. So there are two levers on the non- adjustable handlebar, front and back brakes just like my old Stingray. Acceleration was pretty weak. Don't know what I was expecting, but I got used to it after a little while. 

At this point I should note my personal specs... 52 years old , 6 feet tall, and 194 lbs. My nephew,by the way, is 5' 9" tall and tips the scales at 160 lbs. Anyway, compared to my current bike (1990 Yamaha XT600) it seemed a little under powered. Ironically, this scoot weighs 194 lbs., same as me. Seat is comfortable and I feel relatively "un-cramped" on the machine. Mirrors provide excellent coverage. Horn, headlights (2), and turn signals were also excellent. I'm rolling now, down Croom Road in Brooksville, Florida. How fast will this  thing go? Top speed in aerodynamic tuck on downhill slope with slight tailwind took me up to a Bert Munroe-inspired 43.5 miles per hour. On the flats I could manage 40 mph one direction and 35 mph coming back. Uphill slopes brought me down to 33 mph and at one point 28 mph. Suspension is quite limited and especially with my "mass" on the machine. Definitely not an off road setup! Bumps, small potholes, and the like were "jarring."

Keep this Ruckus on the smooth surfaces and you will be very happy.  Curves were a blast as you pretty much keep the throttle "pinned" and lean in! One surprise was the brakes. They were very effective. In the state of Florida this scooter requires no license, no insurance, and no helmet. The only thing the law requires is eye protection. 

Overall , my impressions were very favorable. This is a fine machine with Honda engineering. I wouldn't mind owning one but I would be visiting the forums to see what upgrades and mods were available. Can we ever just leave a motorcycle / scooter alone ??? 

I think we all know the answer to that question!

Sand Is Not A Recomended Lubricant

Recently we, Marjorie and I, visited friends in Michigan.  Friends long lost but not parted if that makes sense - I probably have that backwards.  Anyway, we missed them sorely and they took some time from their busy schedules to be together.  Rich was able to find a nice Suzuki DR350 for me to try and keep up with his Yamaha XT600.  The DR is a hard beast to start while the XT is electric so we kicked, and kicked, some more, ditto until we held our breaths just so, hovered our centers of mass even closer and like magic, an amazingly refined engineering process keeps beast running.  Gasoline helps too.  And oil.

A mere moment later, the XT purrs, nay thumps, to life.  I'm sweating, he's laughing but no complaints from me, I get to ride with my best friend.

My critical eye notes a front tire on the last millimeter of rubber and the front washes out frequently when I push the beast even slightly.  My forearms are sore just thinking about muscling beast through the sandy turns while keeping up.

It seems that Michigan is one big sand dune and it's everywhere!

Rich is justifiably proud of his XT, as well he should, it's in fine shape and as civilized as a bike can be, tracing back to rallye racing in Dakar.  It suits him.

Running through the turns, the nimble little beast can throw a roost and a feeling of such freedom settles over me that I know I'm blessed to be in this moment.  I know time is short and time limited but the feeling persists.  I even pass Rich, once, playing wannabe racers.  He's heavy on the gas, that one!

We stop for lunch, talk some, laugh, poke fun and are friends, too long apart and time quickly passes and so it's time to ride.

"Care to ride the XT?" "Why sure, does the electric start work....?" and off we go!

I feel the mass of the heavier bike and a different technique keeps me farther back on the seat, steering with the throttle.  It's also more comfortable back there too so I get lazy and work the throttle harder.  The bike is designed to handle that style rider but soon, I feel a hitch in the thumping smoothness and the chain comes off.  In the middle of nowhere.

I look at the rear sprocket and the teeth are worn completely off, nothing is left.  It seems that all the sand in Michigan got stuck to the chain and in an insidiously accelerated chain (no pun intended) of events, sandpapered the sprocket to oblivion...so I think anyway.

We were able to keep the chain on by judicious use of throttle, clutch and gears, and limp home slowly.  But we did make it and lived to tell the tale. Not that we were in any danger but we like the drama!

All that sand is an eternally fun playground for motorcycles to romp and roost around in and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

No, sand is not a recommended lubricant for chains, sprockets and the like, little DR350 beasts are hard to start and bigger bikes take a different riding style...electric start is still very nice! And, best friends are special.

Weeks after our ride, I miss it sorely.

An Explanation of Gears

To get power out of the engine, a series of reduction gears are used in a variety of ratios--five are used, to be somewhat exact.  They slide and mesh and intermingle with each other in a selective dance designed to allow the engine to always operate at its most efficient.

I think the ancient Chinese first used a wooden form of "gear" in a toy (something like the 27th century BC, and in the 4th century BC Aristotle described them) that evolved and refined into hardened, precision ground steel and 98% efficiency.

Honda's version is smooth but I think the previous owner was a bit of a hot rodder and jammed the transmission into gear, hard, and bent a shift fork.  In its turn, the gear that fork moved did not engage its mate properly.  So under power, it jumped in, then out, then in, repeatedly, until the engagement pawls rounded.

They're the shiny worn portions in the picture: ugh and double ugh.

The work never ends.

The good news is: rummaging around in my boxes of spares, I had them all! So five hours of a Saturday later, I'm back to 62mpg.

And, smiles all around.

Gears

Hey y'all, sorry I haven't been on in a while.  I'll update soon!
Thanks for your patience.

Jay

Innovations and Updates

When I started the street tracker project, I had definite changes in mind, concrete changes with the hardware identified and ready to go into service.  I think that calling them updates is apropos even if those updates aren't commonly seen in the street tracker, well, scene.

Take the front suspension for instance, it came from a Ducati Monster, is fully adjustable and sweet to its Italian core.  The rear suspension is an innovation as it was designed and components sourced from various and sundry places.  Swap meets included.  Raw metal/machined/welded also included - that's innovation.  The risk is it's not necessarily developed and may not work, or if it does work, may not work well.

My latest problem, the electrical system, is somewhere in-between the two.  The original system was analog and horribly inefficient, heavy, reasonably reliable.  A 35 year old bike is not always the best but this one is standing the test of time and finding a good one, or bad one for that matter, commands premium dollars to acquire.  Even one dollar is too much for that electrical system by comparison to the new ones.

But I wanted to update the elec. system with some innovative ideas without going off the cost deep end.  I was able to find an ignition/charging system that would be a "sort of" bolt on with some slight modifications, that would fit my requirements for not a lot of money, would be new, not used.  Famous last words, right?

The new system bolted onto the engine but the ignition exciter, or pickup coil, wouldn't fit under the engine case cover so I separated it from the stator and moved it up to where the old points system formerly was.  I made the requisite changes to the rotor to excite the exciter coil, thought I was good and moved on to the next problem, thinking I now had a superior digital system with electronic advance, etc.

Wrong move.  When I turned the engine over, there wasn't any spark.  All my troubleshooting so far hasn't revealed any problems anywhere so I'm stuck until that's solved.  I have a plan forward to use those pieces that I think is good.  But in the interests of time, I am going to change it back over to the mechanical advance system and try for something completely different that I know for positively sure works.  This is where my wife would look me right in the eye and with one hand on her hip would say "pinky swear?"

Perhaps I'm making another mistake but I am determined to have this thing running by spring, determined.

I'll keep you posted on my progress and have been working diligently to get this far, whew!  There has been a tremendous amount of work to get this far.

My next installment should have a fully assembled, fully functional motorcycle.

And, no swearing, pinky or otherwise, allowed.

Here's wishing all of you all the blessings the new year can bring.

Cool...Like Me...For A First Bike

My wife will straight-off say that it's "...Like I" but that doesn't roll off the tongue the same way, right?

Many have asked my advice on the right starter bike and I've evolved over the years to assume that you have some two-wheeled experience, like riding your multi-speed bicycle for instance.

"But it's not a motorcycle", you say.  I reply, "True, but you have to use the controls, while you're rolling, to make the thing go, and go faster, to stop and so on."  Really, you're learning to use all your limbs in concert with balance to ride safely.  The principles are similar even if the actual control form is different.  For instance, on a bicycle, the right handlebar lever engages the rear brake while the same lever on a motorcycle engages the front brake, and so on.

What's evolved is the motorcycle I'd recommend.

The old thinking was that a small displacement motorcycle like a 250cc size would be perfect to learn on, it's small, light, cheap, etc. and so that a small mistake that drops the bike, won't result in something valuable being damaged.

The new thinking is to find a more upscale, larger bike, say a 600cc-ish size but is de-tuned so the engine is easy to manage and the frame and brakes are more top-of-the-line performers.

I think that many times newer riders get into trouble by the bike having handling quirks that teach uncertainty in feedback such that rider inputs, don't have the desired output (in direction, or stopping, or  whatever is needed) response.  Therefore, finding an affordable bike that has all the performance  components is the way to go.

They are out there and available and inexpensive!  A case in point is the Ducati Monster 620 or, M620.

What I like about it is wider handlebars so steering inputs are low, it has an upright riding position so comfort isn't an issue, the brakes are Brembo, Yeah Baby!, the suspension bits are tunable for rider preferences such as a harder or softer ride.....all the things that inspire confidence in a newish rider.

And, it's a Ducati so its cool factor is off the charts!

The engine is a L-twin meaning it has two cylinders but its arrangement is such that it makes its power low down in its rpm, or engine speed, range.  It doesn't make a thrilling amount of power but it makes an adequate amount that is comfortably usable.

To keep up with other bikes of its size, the rider will have to work harder, ride smarter, in short, learn how its done.  But the lessons learned on the Ducati will not have to be undone, relearned, to fit another bike.

That's my kind of learning!