Solve for X

My first bad motor scooter

So we are still waiting on the part.  A nasty phone call to my mechanic results in a mumbled apology and "I'll look into it personally" from Mike the owner.  "Mike, where are you getting this part shipped from?  North Korea?"  I ask.  "Yea, I think we are." He says.

I've laid awake in bed the last two nights or so considering my options.  I have to take a lot into consideration if I go new.  Cost, mpg, storage, etc.  In a lot of ways I'm reminded of what I went through when I first decided to by a bike all those years ago.  Hard to believe that I've been on a bike for slightly over four years now.  Hard to believe that I'm am considering getting yet another motorcycle.

Me on the day I bought the Burgman.

My little Zuma 125 met my needs in the city.  It had high MPG (about 85+).  My late Burgman 400 was powerful enough to handle the highways and city traffic of my move to Zephyrhills, Florida.  My Kymco Xciting 500 has (slightly) more power and meets my needs as I zip all over creation.  I've farkled (is that a word?) it out some; adding a cramp buster, flashing front light and a top case.  As I moved up in power my mpg fell a significant amount each time.  The Burgman was in the low to mid 50's.  Kimmy is in the high 40's to low 50's.

I really don't want a new bike, I don't feel ready for a new bike (although financially I am)...I don't think I'm done with Kimmie yet but as she sits covered with her burial shawl in my driveway I know that I have to consider it.  I know I'm leading hard to the Honda CTX and I know I'll have to start all over again with luggage and such.  

Kimmie' in happier times

The Honda is expected to be just shy of 68 mpg.  Certainly a respectable number, although I know that my mileage may vary.

I hear bikes on the road whining in the distance "Join us" and I can't.  I want to be on the road.  I suppose it's something only bikers understand.

I wonder how much longer I will wait for Kimmie to be repaired.  I know that I will have to replace the CVT belt eventually, a front tire sooner than later as well as figure out the electrical problem (she's not turning over at all) and get the stupid gasket replaced.  What might have been $500 will probably end up costing me closer to $1000.  If she's going to be up in the air anyway why not put a new front tire on her?

So what else could possible go wrong?  What other issue is lurking under her plastics?  I don't care for uncertainty and I've been lucky enough to get to where I am by reducing that uncertainty.  By understanding the numbers and making smart moves based on the data.  To much "X" here and not enough "Y" for my liking.

A new bike doesn't solve all those issues and in fact creates some new ones.  On Saturday I am heading off to my dealer again to consider my options.  Get a trade in value and maybe, just maybe look at a few other options.  But honestly if a new bike payment is under $150 a month....I may have to change to blog's title.

Review of the Viking Tank Bag

When the good people at Viking Bags sent me one of their tank bags to review, I jumped at the chance.  Although not for the reasons you might think.  I love my scooter and scooters, in general, offer more storage than the traditional motorcycle.  Under the seat is enough storage space to hold a full face helmet at least, and depending on the model, maybe more.  I've written before how I feel Kymco sort of missed the boat on storage.

I added the Travel Trunk to carry my rain suit (always a requirement in Florida) and a few other things for that reason.  Still I wanted additional storage, a way to hold my GPS enabled phone, wallet and documents for example.  While there is some gear out that that is designed for scooters, there is not that much really designed for a maxi-scooter in mind.  Sure, we can can buy saddlebags and such for our bikes...but a lot of it is hit and miss and often we end up having to modify and adjust just due to the nature of our bikes.  Sometimes a scooter just looks stupid with the saddlebags as well.

Placed on my refrigerator fully packed 

So first things first.  The bag has ten magnets that should hold it firmly to a metal tank but on the plastic hump of the scooter those magnets were useless.  A couple of well placed Velcro strips would come in handy, I had used them before successfully on other projects.

The magnets are strong enough to hold a full bag in place without slipping and come off the metal easily enough, allowing you to take the bag off the tank keeping your valuables with you.  Or, with a simple twist you can remove the pouch and just take that with you.

The pouch measures 6 inches high by 8.5 inches wide and is roughly 2 inches deep.  The map pocket is 8.4 inches high by 8.25 inches wide.  It normally retails for about $69 US dollars but the good people at Viking Bags have them for $19 US. In the interest of fairness they sent me the bag in return for the review (see here for more detail on that).

This tank bag is actually two bags in one.  The first is for the map or gps/phone/etc, it is covered by a piece of plastic with Velcro on the bottom edge to keep everything in place.  The tank bag has a large zippered compartment that easily held a lot of odds and ends.  The picture is a little blurry but I managed to place a small first aid kit, comb, phone charger, flashlight, work ID, phone and a $20 bill into the bag without issue.  I didn't place anything in the clear map department yet.

 It even has two small rubber reinforced holes for ear buds and fits over the plastic bag.   It's held in place by two reinforced plastic screws, which has two eye holes.  I liked that because options are always a good thing (more on that later).  The top bag fits nicely over the map pocket and helps to protect it from the rain and weather.  All the hinge points are reinforced with plastic or leather - a nice little detail which means that the bag will not wear easily over time.  You do have to pick that bag up to see the other map however which might be a little dangerous on the fly.  I tried to arrange the bag every way I could but it only fits together one way.
 

My phone was easily manipulated in this map pocket as well.  The picture gives you an idea of how a map or directions might appear.  The fuzzy picture ( sorry - cheap ass camera) doesn't due it justice.
The zipper is your standard type zipper.

So for so good.  I was tempted to stick the back under a running faucet to see if it was waterproof, but thought that be a little much.

Overall I thought it was a good option and well worth the price that Viking Bags is charging.  Only one minor issue.  I could not use the bag.  No matter how I tried to manipulate it (including tying a string between the eye holes and hanging it tightly to the handlebars) I just could not make the bag fit on my scooter.  My initial idea of attaching it to the "hump" might work...but I am still thinking about that part of it.    So the search continues but I will say this.  I would buy this product - and considering I'm a cheap SOB - that is high praise indeed.

Heading down new paths (or why I decided to review some products).

I have to admit...when someone from Motorcycle House contacted me about doing reviews of their products I had some trepidation.  After all I ride a scooter, admittedly a big bore scooter who thinks it's a sport bike...but it is still a scooter.

However the more I thought about it the more it made sense to me.  Often I've complained that their is a lack of good reviews of products.  Motorcycle House has there products reviewed by other bloggers I respect, such as Doug at Forty Years on Two Wheels and the Road Pickle crew are two wonderful examples.  A few other bloggers, some I've known and some I didn't, have written fair reviews or produced various You Tube video's concerning their products.  Generally speaking they were positive.

It takes a certain type of company to put there product into the hands of bikers and say "Here...do your worst." and get good reviews in return.  Even before I joined the brotherhood of two wheels, I knew bikers.  They generally are a "bullshit free" type of breed.  They tell you what they think.  Still I need assurance that if I didn't care for something that I be able to say that.  They gave me that assurance in spades.

One of the items I am looking forward to reviewing.

The second reason I decided to review products is that, frankly, their is not much out there designed specifically for the big bore scooters.  Sure, you can find lots of stuff for the smaller cc bikes. When an engineer or designer gets an idea into there mind it's hard to change.  Take for example Formosa Saddlebags, here is a nice product that really can't be used in mid-sized to big bore scooters like mine.  I'm curious to know what can be. 

So what gear will work on the various maxi-scoots?  What won't?  Will something like a motorcycle tank bag work on a scooter like mine?  After all it's designed for a traditional motorcycle...not a scooter. Can it be adapted with little effort?  Or are we going to have to go back to the drawing board?  Is a product like that even reasonable to consider using?

Plus, and I've said this before, the scooter is the wave of the future.  The quicker a company moves to take advantage of that market the better off they will be.  If I know what products work well on scooters, I'm more likely to buy from that company.  

So lets see what happens.  

A review of the EMGO travel trunk

Sitting on my stoop this morning was my brand new EMGO travel trunk.  I picked it off of Amazon for under seventy dollars and have been wanting some sort of top case for a while.  One of the major issues, and I really do think the Kymco corporation missed the boat on this, with my bike is a lack of storage.  The Kymco, or "Kimmie", is a nice bike and frankly she's surprised me on how quickly she's stolen my heart.  She is still not at the level of my beloved and much missed Burgman...but she's growing on me more and more.

  I commute nearly every day on her, taking my lunch bag at least and maybe a pull over for that cool ride home at 12:30 AM.  With my former bike, I had storage for my riding jacket, full face helmet and pull over...all waiting for me to slip on and head home after a hard day of work.  With the Xciting, I can place my helmet and pull over away...but nothing else.  So I'm lugging in a few things every day.

 My hope is that the EMGO travel trunk would solve some of that.   Lucky for me, it was simple to install.

Kimmie's previous owner had a top case installed before, and the grab bars were solid enough to hold the travel trunk as well.  The entire set up consisted of a hard thick plastic bottom plate which already had several holes pre-drilled into it.  I would just have to affix the bottom plate to the existing luggage rack area with four mounting screws.

Sadly this took some drilling as the previous owner's top case holes did not match up with mine.  

The bottom plate installed.

It only took me about an hour to do.  That simplicity I liked and EMGO gets kudo's from me because of this simplicity.  After all, I'm a monkey with a gun when it comes to anything mechanical.

The travel trunk itself is 12" by 16.5" by 11" (or 30.48 by 41.91 by 27.94 cm) so it's roomy enough to hold a full face helmet at least and various little odds and ends.  I'll probably make it a habit to carry my rain gear, gauntlet gloves and pull over under the seat.  My daily "needs" of lunch and place to store my helmet will go into the trunk.  It looks like my jacket will have to go inside with me for now.

The case is actually a half inch (0.5" or 1.27 cm) in thickness.  It has a dual ridge "locking" system so when it's shut it should be waterproof.  Always a nice thing when your on your bike and since I've used my bike to make the occasional delivery  the size and convenience of the box will work nicely for me. The locking mechanism is hinged, so it locks the top to the bottom.  The entire case can be locked into the bottom holder as well, and with a push of a button, released to take inside.

I was a bit worried about the case either blocking the rear lights completely or hanging over them so much as to create a shadow.  I didn't need to worry at all as the case does not interfere with the lights at all.  I've been considering adding LED brake lights to the license plate or to the top box itself as a safety measure and may have found the perfect solution, that is for another post however.  In the meantime some reflective tape should help make me a little more visible.

 
Overall I'm happy with the box and can't wait to take it out on the road.  I'm assuming that it will affect the way I ride, after all it will catch the wind and effect the over all balance of the bike...but that should be easy enough to overcome.  

Farkle season begins now.

It's been an odd few weeks for me as my business has undergone some changes, not all for the good.  My regular job has undergone some changes, again not all for the good and my riding life has been reduced to riding back and forth to work again.

In this daily grinding commute I have become more and more convinced that I needed a top box.  I have something in mind that I feel would work, but I'm unsure about it.  I tend to over think things, worrying and worrying about something till I actually do it.  Then I wonder why I didn't do this before.  

Pic from a previous post showing Burgman storage.

Kimmie simply has no storage.  In my previous ride - the 07 Suzuki Burgman - I had enough storage for my riding jacket, my helmet and my rain gear (or a sweatshirt) when needed.  Kimmie can hold my helmet, or if I use the hook on the outside of the bike, my jacket fits snugly away.  

I need to take my lunch to work and a place to store my jacket, helmet, rain gear and maybe a pull-over (during those chilly 1 AM rides home from work).  Well I can certainly continue to walk into work with my full gear on, it's just easier to store it on the bike.

Recently I've been looking at a Emgo Travel Trunk.  The one that I'm considering measures 12 in. lengthwise by 16.5 inches wide by 11 inches deep.  That should be enough to hold my gear.  What concerns me is if it fit on my bike, how will it affect my riding and how stable will it be on Kimmie?  I need to take out a tape measure and figure it out.

Assuming it works on my bike, I'll order it later today, install it sometime next week and see what happens.

 It will actually stick out over the brake lights and I'm thinking I will need some sort of reflective stickers or tape on the back of the box.  The biggest disadvantage to this is the lack of a brake light and I'm wondering if it's possible to get some sort of stick on LED brake lights?  I'm paranoid about getting hit from behind. 

I guess we will find out.  I just ordered the damn thing and should have it early next week.