Back in the Saddle

First off, I want to thank those of you who have kept an eye on this blog even though it has not been updated in quite a while. Rest assured if/when the scooter dies or I dispose of it, I will post an epilogue.

In October, shortly after my last post, I was riding with my brother. About a mile from his house, the scooter suddenly died. I pulled over & found that I could restart it, but the engine stalled when given any throttle at all. So I pushed the bike to my brother's house and went over there a few evenings to try to diagnose the problem. Being unsuccessful and a little frustrated. I put the scooter in the back of a pick-up and brought it home. At first I thought perhaps the CVT belt broke or the clutch seized up, so I removed the CVT cover to inspect things. Everything looked fine. My brother suggested it was an ignition problem, but I didn't think it was. But the only way I could be sure was to replaced the suspect parts with new ones. And since these parts are relatively in expensive, I placed my order for a new coil & new CDI with Oregon Vintage Scooters. After promptly receiving my order (thanks Stan!), I installed the new components and voila... nothin'. No change. So I continued to look for a cause. At this point I have been suspecting the carburetor, but I can't prove it. The carb is also one of the most expensive parts to replace.

Meanwhile, I had been thinking about getting a new motorcycle. In November I stumbled across a great deal on a very slightly used, one year old Sportster. It was a deal I couldn't refuse, so I didn't. What little nice weather was left in November I spent riding the Sporty. Then I put all bikes away for the winter.

When spring returned I was itching to put some miles on the Sportster, so I did. To be honest, any time the weather was nice I chose to ride rather than spend time in the garage. I worked on diagnosing the scooters problem a little bit here and there. I tried to eliminate any possibility (except the carb). I inspected the throttle, fuel filters, fuel lines, fuel petcock, vacuum lines, nuts, bolts, fittings. Nothing looked wrong. Finally spring had drawn to a close and summer was upon me and I was getting darn tired of not ridding the scooter to work like I had last year. So I broke down and ordered a new carb (from Oregon Vintage of course). It arrived in only four days (some dealers claim THEY can't get parts that fast). I installed the new carb and... the scooter now runs perfectly.

So, I am back on the scooter again. And just in time with gas at $4.00 a gallon. I will keep this blog updated, even if nothing interesting happens.