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Messages - birdmove

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31
People 150 / Re: P150 Favorite Motor Oil
« on: December 10, 2010, 04:14:50 PM »
   I'm with you totally on oil changes especially on the smaller 50cc scooters that run around with the throttles wide open all the time. But I have read that, on motorcycles that use the same engine oil in the trans, that oil break down due to the trans gears squeezing and "shearing" the oil is a factor.And that it may tend to lower the oil viscosity over time.The other thing is that most motorcycles (especially the Japanese bikes) also use the engine oil to lube and cool the clutch disks.The oil can get some contamination from disk materials.Scooters with CVT transmissions run all the componts dry.

    Like I said, I'll figure on oil changes at 1000 miles when my break in is over. Harley-Davidson suggests engine oil changes at 5000 mile intervals.But they use a second oil for the primary drive and clutch, and yet a third for the trans.5000 seems too long to me and I do my Sportster at 2500 mile intervals.

32
Super 8 150 / Re: Super 8 info
« on: December 10, 2010, 04:26:59 AM »
    Well, today I called Kisers dealership in Kona on the Big Island.I asked them about prices on the Super 8, People 150, and Agility 125. They said they were having a sale on four leftover 2009 People 150s for $2295. No big sales on the other two scooters. They said out the door price would be $2390 and that is for everything. No freight and setup (also known as BS fees) charged. Here on the mainland most dealers on a unit selling for $2295 are going to hit you for another $600-$700 for these fees. And since I wouldn't then have to pay for mainland to Hilo shipping, I couldn't turn them down. They are also having a grand opening event on Saturday (since they recently moved into a new building) and are expecting some sales, so I bought a new silver 2009 People 150. They will deliver it to us on a flatbed when we are there for eight days in Feb.

    So, not only do I get to look forward to eight days on the beautiful Big Island (Puna District) in our house there, but I'll have a brand new ride to boot!! I know I would have liked the Super 8 150 too, but just couldn't turn this deal down. I know these Kymcos are reliable rides and with a two year warranty too.

  The hard part is I can't ride it for over a month and a half. But I bet I'll enjoy that much more.

    Jon ;D

33
People 150 / Re: P150 Favorite Motor Oil
« on: December 10, 2010, 04:13:17 AM »


    I just bought a People 150, but won't get to ride it until Feb. My take on air cooled scooters is, after doing a very early oil change during the break in, and then again at the suggested first service interval (usually 300-500 miles on most motorcycles and scooters), I then settle down to oil changes every 1000 miles. A scooter, though, shouldn't be as hard on oil as most motorcycles, as they use the same oil as lube in the clutch and transmissions (except Harley-Davidsons, Royal Enfields, and other older motorcycles). But many scooters, especially like the little Ruckus's and Metros (like we have owned)spend most of their time running with the throttle pegged to the stop.These little scooters usually hold less than a quart.So I changed at 1000 miles as cheap insurance.

    My new 150 may not be running full out all the time, but still will be turning pretty high revs.And the average temperature will be in the eighties all year round. But I'll see how dirty the oil looks at this interval.

   jon

34
People 150 / Just bought a new People 150!
« on: December 10, 2010, 12:41:46 AM »


    I bought a new 2009 People 150 sight unseen. We bought a house on the Big Island of Hawaii a while back.We are moving there maybe in a year or a bit less. We are renting the place out short term for now to vacationers and such.  Shipping stuff from the mainland to Hawaii is spendy. There is a dealer in Kona.Our place is about 125 miles away.Called the dealer today to see what the price would be on a new People 150 and a Super 8 150.He said they were haveing a sale on four People 150s for $2295, and were having a grand opening sale Saturday, so these may or may not still be there after the sale.So I got this scooter for $2379 out the door.No  BS fees other than tax and license. They will deliver to us in Feb. when we will be on the island for eight days. So I'll get to start the breakin and ride my scooter on the beautiful Big Island!!

    Shipping a scooter or motorcycle from Wa State to Hawaii is a major pain and major expence.I bet it would have cost like $800-$900 and the delivery date would not be secure.It could happen that the scooter would get there after we left.This way, I have it delivered all ready to ride.

    Am I crazy to buy a scooter without first riding it? Maybe. But understand that I love riding motorcycles and scooters big and small.I wanted something super reliable and the two year warranty is great for the industry.Everyone says the 150 will be fine at 50mph and that will work for me.My wife can bring her SYM over when we move.We will rent an ABF "Relocube" and that will hold enough to bring the small amount of stuff we are taking.

    So I get a new scooter, but we aren't going over till Feb, so they will deliver it then. Every time we go over to the island I always tell her that I won't really feel at home there till I have a motorcycle or scooter,a guitar and amp there. This takes care of one of thoses. Now I really have something to look forward to.

    jon

35
People 150 / Re: People 150 questions
« on: December 05, 2010, 07:24:55 PM »
   Certainly rider weight will have an effect. If you, for instance, read some scooter reviews at justgottascoot.com, he often has a lighter rider do a top speed run.Most of them seem to gain 3-4 mph top speed with the lighter rider.How much is due to weight, and how much is due to the lighter one having less wind resistance (smaller outline or cross section) is a good question.

    The more I read and research the People 150, the more interested I am becoming. Almost everyone loves them-even after owning them for years. A dealer not too far away has new ones for $2399.00 plus fees, which sounds pretty good.However, another dealer has a new,leftover 2009 Yamaha Vino 125 for $1699.00 plus fees. The Vino is normally about $2800.00 I think.

    Where I will end up living in a year or two there is both a Yamaha and Kymco dealer about 120 miles away.The only nearby dealer is Suzuki, and I'm not interested in the SuZuki scooters. So I will need to pretty much do any maintenance myself. Kymco has a two year warranty, while the Yamaha has a one year.

    My wife will be taking her SYM, and there are no SYM dealers in Hawaii.
     ion

36
Technical | How To / Re: Diesel oil for a scooter?
« on: December 02, 2010, 10:21:51 PM »
  I did have a problem on a Kawasaki KLR650 caused by oil.I changed oil and instead of using a 10W-40, I went to a 15W-40 diesle oil.The viscocity difference doesn't sound like much does it.But it was cold in the winter time. I found that, after the oil change, when I started the engine cold, it started knocink like crazy. Whatever the actual visocity difference was, the 15W-40 was taking longer to circulate, and caused a knock.Switched back to the 10W-40 and the knock was gone.

   jn

37
People 150 / People 150 questions
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:52:35 PM »
    I'm just wondering what the P150 is capable of as far as cruising speeds that don't push the bike too hard might be.Will it hold an honest 50 mph with say, a 180 pound rider? How about cruising range?How far can one go on a tank of gas?

   Thanks, Jon

38
General Discussion / Re: [what do you prefer]scooter vs motorbike
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:47:46 PM »
    The thing about a cvt scooter is that they are so fast off the line. I used to ride a six speed Yamaha XT225 dual sport while my wife rode her scooter (first a 49cc Honda Metro,now a SYM HD200).While I was wasting so much time shifting, she would often just motor away from me.

    I like both mcs and scooters, and have room in my life for both.

   jon

39
General Discussion / Re: [what do you prefer]two stroke vs four stroke
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:43:51 PM »


    Never ridden a two stroke scooter, but had a fair number of two stroke motorcycles over the years. The big Kawasaki 750 ntriple shown a few spots above, was so powerful that they were basically unmanageble. The power was way too much for the chassis and suspension. Kawasaki also had a 500 and 350 version.The 350 that I riode was pretty fast.

    Two strokes have a different set of quirks than a four stroke.Generally spark plugs don't last as long.  The ones that have a metering oil pump use a cable to control it.If that cable breaks or seizes, or the pump goes out, then you are running with no lubrication. They tend to eventually plug the exhaust with carbon.The motorcycles had removeable baffles you could take out and clean. When it's time for a cleaning you'd know because the engine wouldn't run well at all.They don't generally get as good of gas mileage as a comparable four stroke.They are generally faster than a four stroke as they fire once every revolution, rather than once every other revolution as a four stroke does.

    When the Suzuki X-6 Hustler and the Yamaha RD350 came out, they were humbling much bigger bikes on the streets.Both had six speeds transmissions that really helped too.

   Did you know that there were large diesel two stroke engines used in freight hauling trucks?Set up properly they were absolute screamers.Engines were made by Detroit Diesel, and were used in trucks,marine applications, and generators.

40
General Discussion / Re: Help me decide on a scooter
« on: November 28, 2010, 06:11:37 AM »
   That is a great  looking scooter! I don't know what color I like the best. I really like the green one........

   jon

41
Super 8 150 / Re: Super 8 150 review in Cycle World
« on: November 24, 2010, 12:43:12 AM »
    I rode a Honda Ruckus and my wife rode a Honda Metro scooter for a coupls of years. I even had fun on that thing.We used to up in my Toyota pickup and haul them up to Anacortes (Washington).There we would unload,cut to the head of the ferry boat line (pedestrians,pedal bikers, amd scooters/motorcycles go first!!!) and take the ferry to either San Juan Island, or Orcas Island and spend our weekend tooling around the island.Even a 500cc Ruckus can be fun for a 50+ year old motorcyclist.And I always had someone to ride with (the wife).

    But the Ruckus lost so much speed on hills that it could get dangerous.

    I'm not giving up motorcycles, but I am looking at scooters and researching them.

   jon

42
Super 8 150 / Re: Super 8 150 review in Cycle World
« on: November 23, 2010, 01:08:42 AM »
    I was at SeaTac Airport on a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii and picked up this issue at a news stand.When I saw the writeup on the Super 8 I immediateley bought the magazine. I'm studying up on scooters and the Super 8 is high on my list.

   jon

43
General Discussion / Re: Help me decide on a scooter
« on: November 20, 2010, 04:03:02 AM »
    My wife has a SYM HD200, and it is a scootin' machine! Freeways are no problem on that thing at all. The HD125 is supposed to be plenty potent for a 125 too. Where I live now there are dealers for both makers. Where I will be moving in a year or two there is only a Kymco dealer. I am actually thinking of getting my self a Super 8 150.

   jon

44
Super 8 150 / Super 8 info
« on: November 19, 2010, 04:27:22 AM »
    I haven't been able to get to a Kymco dealer to check one of these out yet. I'm an old motorcycle rider, but have rideen a few scooters too.I kind of zoomed in on the Super 8 after seeing pics of it and reading a little bit. I'm 5'10" and about 180. I'm thinking the Super b8 should fit me all right? One question I have is, will this scooter handle 50 mph all right? I'm thinking of a scooter that would be based on the Big Island of Hawaii in the Puna district, to use as general transportation. The main highways are 50 mph.We're mostly talking about 15 to 20 minute bursts at 50 to get to Hilo. Even then,m there is more of a backroad which could cut the time down to 5 minutes.

    Due to storage of the scooter, I don't want to get one that's very big physically because of where I have to store it.

    Good gas mileage is important because gas is always much more expensive there.What are some of you owners getting for gas mileage?

    How about ease of maintenance?Do you have to remove lots of body panels for access?

    I am also considering the Agility 125.


    One very good thing is that there is a dealer on the island in Kona, but that's about two and a half hours away.
    Thanks, Jon

45
People s200 / Re: S200 vs SYM HD200
« on: November 18, 2010, 05:18:31 PM »
    I know I'm getting into this thread late,but I just joined here. We got my wife a SYM HD200 over a year ago.The only negative I can think of is that it has no kick starter to use as a backup.Since you can't push start an automatic, I do think they should ALL have a kick starter.

    For a 200cc the HD200 is a powerhouse.This scooter would handle all day freeway riding without getting ruffled, so you don't have to sit down with a map and plan all back road routes (though we do prefer back roads anyway).

    Oh-the other thing-the importer, Carter Brothers burned dow a while back, so finding parts could be a problem for a while.I think there are lots more Kymco dealers around.

    Take care, Jon in Puyallup, Wa.

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