Wrenching...or you can teach an old dog new tricks after all.

There comes a time in every man's life when they have to admit that they don't know something.  That they are weak, that they may not be capable of something.  Or perhaps they are capable of something...but need to prove it to no one other than themselves.

What we decide to do about that determines what type of man we are.  Do we ask for help, swallowing our pride in the process?  Learning something in the process?  Do we ignore the problem?  Do we let the women in our lives silently make the phone calls needed to get the problem resolved?  Do we curse and swear till blood oozes from the cuts on our hands and we cry out in victory as the goal is accomplished?

When it comes to anything mechanical or requires the use of my hands I'll be the first to admit that I'm the proverbial monkey with a gun.  Which really is odd, I've worked in technical fields most of my adult life...but having "book knowledge" and "field knowledge" really are two different things.  So there comes a time in a man's life...when he needs to get his hands dirty and work up a good sweat.

With that..I decided to do some maintenance on Kimmy.  She has sat barely ridden for the last two weeks or so, a combination of me being out of town, some other projects that needed done, rain and it just being to freaking hot to ride.  I noticed she seemed to be riding a little rough last time out however, so I thought I check every thing that I could, change out the air cleaner and determine if she required a little more care.  In other words, was a tune-up in order?

I knew there were some issues right off the bat, the tires were showing signs of cracking and "heat checking" which I understand is one of the issues of living in Florida.   In Florida we have near constant sunshine which, combined with heat and humidity, will break down rubber quicker than usual.  I'm a little concerned and frankly hate the idea of replacing both tires, but that is the safer move.  The treads are generally good on front and back but I'll be needing to replace them soon enough.  Based on what I learned from sites like the Kymco forum, Michelin City Grip tires looked like the best choice for me.  Two tires will be on order by the start of August.

My brakes seem to be in order but since I don't have the training or tools to replace those that's something the mechanic going have to fix.  Although at only 18850 (30,336 KM) miles I'm not to concerned...yet.

I also decided to replace the air cleaner, after all to the best of my knowledge it was the original filter and probably about due for a change.  A quick ride up to my local mechanic and the the filter was ordered for $45 - certainly I could do better than that!  TO THE INTERNET!

Seems easy enough!  Thanks Kymco!

One of the things that I love about Kymco is the ease to get to things.  A pop-out plastic panel and the removal of five screws and the new air filter was in.  For the cost of $45 dollars US.  It seems that one of the things I don't like about Kymco is the lack of after market parts.  Honestly it was a pain in the butt to get the filter out but she did come out after much cursing and the liberal application of lubricants.  It was so dirty that I actually think it was the original filter.  I should have taken a picture of it but honestly forgot to do so.

Coolant check!  Done!  I had the oil changed before I went to Jacksonville, so I was good on that.

Bingo, bang-o, bong-o done!

It sounds silly - even to me - that a 48 year old man should be happy about doing basic maintenance on his bike.  Truthfully though, I was never really taught how to do any of this as a kid, so when the dreaded zombie upbringing happens I'll be served up on toast.

A new car?

I don't really consider myself an environmentalist.  I recycle paper and cans when I can, I refill the same plastic bottle with filtered water and bought my motorcycle to save money on gas - but to also reduce my carbon footprint a bit.  I care about and for the environment.
Currently my household consists only of the lovely Susan and myself.  Yet somehow we manage to own three vehicles including the Burgie.  Living in Florida allows me to ride nearly every day, and I currently ride the Burgie back and forth to work and on short jaunts.  We keep one of the cars for pleasure and use the other for the route we run two days out of the week.  In other words, when we go to the beach or out on the town we take the larger, more comfortable Jeep.  For my second job I use the much more fuel efficient Hyundai.

The idea of selling one or better yet both of our cars and going with something like a flex-fuel or a hybrid vehicle has recently entered the discussions around the house. The questions before us are "Does it make sense to do so?" and "How would this change our lives?"  We own all of our vehicles outright and the logic of owning three of them just doesn't add up.
Sadly, in the state of Florida flex-fuel is not available...and do to my adopted stated being backward in so many ways...it's not likely to be available anytime soon.  We would more likely buy a hybrid vehicle, although right now I have more questions than I do answers.

Changing your lifestyle is never easy, going from two to one car would mean that I would have to ride in questionable weather more, which is something I try not to do currently.  It means that we would have to actually plan our day around the other persons schedule in case they need the car for something.
For me it should not really be that difficult.  Years ago I lived in the city of Pittsburgh and my wife Teri (now ex-wife) and I only had a single car.  I rode the bus back and forth to work, it took an hour compared to the 30 minutes commuting by car took; but it was my time to read, sleep, or just sit and think.  I can honestly say I miss commuting by bus...at times it was its own entertainment.    Everything that I needed - bank, supermarket, post office and library - were a simple bus trip away.  Today, I hop on the Burgman and go because frankly it's to far to walk and their are no buses is Florida (see I told you it was a backward state).

Is this better than taking the car for these brief jaunts?
There is a small but growing movement to live without a car.  To grow your own food and to simply try to be less dependent on the big box stores.  Well I certainly agree and understand the reasoning behind the so called "Car-less" or Car-free movement, it's not always possible.  Programs like this tend to work better in compact urban environments and in forward looking cities.  Sadly many lack the political will to be forward looking and put funds into public transportation and other alternative means of transportation.  In the end though, whatever small steps we can make to help save the planet matter, because when you get right down to it - we are all in this together.

Scooters and the environment - oops! Sorry mother nature!

2011 Victory King from another show.

I was watching Mythbusters the other night and watched with interest as they did a show on the environmental impact of motorcycles.

We all know that scooters and motorcycles are lighter than cars and have smaller engines.  Having less weight does increase the fuel mileage, which is why my 405 pound (dry weight)  Burgman is averaging around 65 miles per gallon.  Where as my 2002 Hyundia Elentra (dry weight of 2522 pounds) is about 25 mpg.  It therefore stands to logic as well that my Burgman puts out less CO2.  The results on the show reflected that as well.

What the Mythbusters did was to test representative cars and motorcycles from the past 30 years for fuel efficiency, CO2 emissions and the so called "smog producing" gasses.   While motorcycles beat out the cars in fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions, they failed horribly in the smog producing category.  What the show sadly did not take into consideration is that cars simply produce less "smog" than a bike is because of the various filters and other devices that are placed onto a car's engine.  These regulators can not be placed on a bike without increasing it's weight and reducing it's fuel efficiency.   It's a trade off that we will have to correct in the future by making a better bike with lower emissions, especially in Asia and Latin America where the scooter and motorcycle are one of the primary means of transportation.

Downtown Tampa

I worry about these results because I consider myself a "environmentalist" of sorts.  One of the reasons, if not the main reason, I bought my Bergie was to save money on gas.  I did consider the lower environmental impact as well when switching to two wheels instead of four.  

Living in Tampa, Florida is wonderful, I've seen so much wildlife and exotic flora here.  Having lived in one of the most cloudiest places in America for years, I hope I never take a truly sunny day for granted.  I plan on living out my days here.

Tampa however is in trouble.  Recent studies have show are air quality to be lower than cities that have a denser population.  There could be many reasons for this, a horrid lack of public transportation; the urban sprawl that affects most southern cities resulting in having to use your car more.  We live in a very warm climate as well and air conditioning is needed to keep mold down and make life bearable.  This also adds to the lower air quality.  Realizing that by riding my bike I was directly affecting the air quality in a negative way came as a bit of shock.

Somehow, as a community and as indivuals, we will have to decide what is best for us.  I am eventually going to replace my car with my scooter.  Saving money and reducing my carbon footprint.  In doing so I'm going to increase the amount of smog producing gasses into the air.  It's not an easy or fair choice but in the end it's a compromise I can hopefully live with.  At this stage in my life and with the economy the way it is...I've little choice.  I need to save money.

The next scooter or motorcycle I buy however will be much more environmentally friendly, knowing what to look for...the more data you gather, only helps make a conscious decision on the best way for you to live your life.