Friday, October 22, 2010
Super Rain
Wow, it's pouring out there a lot harder than the last time it rained. Just ruined my scooter day. I better get used to this as winter approaches. It definitely helps the pocketbook to get a scooter in a down season, but I can't enjoy it as much until the weather gets better.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
This TNG Milano (China knockoff of the Yamaha Vino 125) has one improvement over the original - the rear seat backrest! I finally found some pricing for this and it's not cheap.Parts look exactly the same as the Yamaha Vino 125, huh? I'm not even sure the backrest is compatible, but it sure looks like it!
The bracket is sold separately from the leather piece: $34.93 + 24.50 + tax + shipping ends up to be around $80!
Way too much especially since I don't plan on having a passenger 99.5% of the time.
Way too much especially since I don't plan on having a passenger 99.5% of the time.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Free parking?
I arrived in Downtown to attend another SBA course, How to Buy a Business. Since I came early and had some extra time before 6pm, I thought I'd try what the last meter maid taught me. I rolled up to the meter and pressed the single button these meter maids use to see which spaces are expired and which still have time. I was hoping to find a spot that still had some time left over.
Surprisingly, they were all expired except for one. Some of the expired ones were occupied with scooters/motorcycles though. That's a $65 ticket! Since no spaces were available that already had time, I just picked a random one and popped in my quarter. Good to go. Even the quarter and gas costs are cheaper than paying the alternative $4 round trip bus fare. The funny thing is that my whole tank of gas costs less than one trip back and forth from home to Downtown.
Surprisingly, they were all expired except for one. Some of the expired ones were occupied with scooters/motorcycles though. That's a $65 ticket! Since no spaces were available that already had time, I just picked a random one and popped in my quarter. Good to go. Even the quarter and gas costs are cheaper than paying the alternative $4 round trip bus fare. The funny thing is that my whole tank of gas costs less than one trip back and forth from home to Downtown.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
$65 ticket?
I'm still subject to parking tickets in 2 hour street parking spots. Gotta move the scooter in about 25 minutes. My friend got one of these tickets and it's brutal especially for a scooter! Meter maids are getting harsh in this economy.
Move the scooter even though there wasn't any chalk marks on it. Wonder how it would do if I parked it on a sidewalk. Hmm...
Move the scooter even though there wasn't any chalk marks on it. Wonder how it would do if I parked it on a sidewalk. Hmm...
Monday, October 18, 2010
First group ride
If you want to call two people a group then I did my first group ride today. Victor and I pretty much ran around the City. Visited Uncle Simon at the Whatsup Dog shop to pass out some Mango Lassi samples and then headed to a SAAB car shop to get some help with Vic's Elite. The battery doesn't seem to hold a charge.
We found out that the scooter's voltage regulator may be out of wack. It's not functioning correctly and the scooter battery is actually getting too much charge but still not holding onto it. The last battery was about to explode! Big bulge on the outside. Good thing it was swapped. We'll see if the voltage regulator (ebay) was the culprit.
Road around Chinatown too to run some errands. It's really nice being able to zip in traffic and park anywhere!
We found out that the scooter's voltage regulator may be out of wack. It's not functioning correctly and the scooter battery is actually getting too much charge but still not holding onto it. The last battery was about to explode! Big bulge on the outside. Good thing it was swapped. We'll see if the voltage regulator (ebay) was the culprit.
Road around Chinatown too to run some errands. It's really nice being able to zip in traffic and park anywhere!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Mileage calculation #3 - Shell gasoline
I filled the tank to the bottom of the filler tube again.(2827-2761)/0.888 = 74 mpg
Ouch. That's 7 mpg less than last time. But at $2.84 for 6 days worth of traveling, I can't complain. It's still ridiculously cheap compared to the car. Gas prices are increasing. I had paid less than this two weeks ago for Premium 91 octane. At less than one gallon though, there's basically zero difference.
The odometer is getting closer to 4k miles. Once I reach that I'll need to do more maintenance - oil change, etc. I've only ridden about 500 miles since I got the scooter. I think it was at 2,310 when I got it.Brake Light Modulator DIY Installation
First off, the installation is very easy. I am by no means an electrician of any sort. I just happen to have tools from working on a tricycle and other household stuff I try to attempt. I originally wanted to use t-tap connectors to splice the wires, but no one sold them! True Value didn't have it. Neither did Ace Hardware nor even Home Depot! I ended up going with the quick splice ones.
These are the tools you'll need:
1. Pliers (or really strong fingers)
2. Scissors
3. Quick splice connectors ($3.24 from Ace Hardware)
4. Screw driver with philips head
5. Wire stripper (you don't really need this)
6. Ratchet set with 10mm hex
7. Utility knife (I used the scissors in place of this)
First we need access to all the wires, so we need to remove the right side blue shell. In order to get access to that top screw, we need to remove the passenger handlebar thingy.
This is where the 10mm hex ratchet comes in handy. Remove the 4 bolts that hold it on (two on each side). The bolt closest to the front is longer. Make note of that b/c you don't want to put the wrong on back on later.
Once removed, just set this aside with the four bolts and washers so they don't get lost.
This green plug powers your right rear turn signal. Remove it from the blue shell so it's not hanging and in the way. Put the shell some place safe as to not scratch it. There are two other connectors. The wires we need to access are connected to the white connector at the very top. Notice there's one that has a hint of brown. It's not that one. Do not mess with that.
This is a copy of the instructions that came with the Kapscomoto Brake Light Modulator. I've highlighted the wires in the corresponding color on the Vino 125 to more clearly indicate how the connections are made for this installation.
It's this one that you'll be playing with. Disconnected it like I did here and you'll see three wires. Grab your scissors and cut the black plastic wrapping that surrounds the three wires. You're just doing this to get better access to the three wires inside. You should have at least 2-2.5" to play with. The black wire is the ground wire. The green one with the yellow stripe is the one we'll be cutting. Ignore the blue wire.
Cut the green wire leaving at least 1" sticking out of the white connector. Yes, really. Cut it. IGNORE THE BLUE WIRE. Cut only the green one. Next you'll splice the red wire on the modulator with the green wire shown on the right using the quick splicer. Do the same thing for the other side of the green wire with the white wire of the modulator. Finally, splice the black wire of the modulator to the black wire on the scooter.
I tried to clean it up a bit. Using 3m double stick tape, I mounted the modulator gizmo to the scooter frame. I ziptied the rest of the wires to get a cleaner look. If you use other types of splices, it'll look much cleaner, but for some reason I chose to use the quick splice type which is unfortunately much bulkier.
The mess here could have been done much more cleanly using butt connectors for pretty much a permanent connection or disconnects like the one below.
Why I didn't use these to begin with? I guess I mistakenly thought that I was required to connect wires through the middle rather than from end to end. I should have used these disconnectors (male on the left and female on the right) for a cleaner look and flexibility of removing later.
Before putting everything back together in reverse order, put the key in the ignition and switch it to on. Confirm that the rear brake light is on. Pull the brake lever to test that it indeed the brake light turns brighter and flashes before turning solid again.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
1. If the brake light does not turn on when the key is turned to the on position, check the wire connections. When I did this originally, this happened to me and I spent forever trying to figure out what happened. Just resplice the wires. Pinch the quick splicers with your strong finger or a pair of pliers.
2. If the brake light turns on and immediately starts blinking as soon as you turn the key to the on position and the brake lever doesn't do anything, then you spliced the wrong wire. This happened to me when I accidentally spliced the blue wire b/c I didn't know which wire I was supposed to mess with.
These are the tools you'll need:1. Pliers (or really strong fingers)
2. Scissors
3. Quick splice connectors ($3.24 from Ace Hardware)
4. Screw driver with philips head
5. Wire stripper (you don't really need this)
6. Ratchet set with 10mm hex
7. Utility knife (I used the scissors in place of this)
First we need access to all the wires, so we need to remove the right side blue shell. In order to get access to that top screw, we need to remove the passenger handlebar thingy.
This is where the 10mm hex ratchet comes in handy. Remove the 4 bolts that hold it on (two on each side). The bolt closest to the front is longer. Make note of that b/c you don't want to put the wrong on back on later.
Once removed, just set this aside with the four bolts and washers so they don't get lost.
This green plug powers your right rear turn signal. Remove it from the blue shell so it's not hanging and in the way. Put the shell some place safe as to not scratch it. There are two other connectors. The wires we need to access are connected to the white connector at the very top. Notice there's one that has a hint of brown. It's not that one. Do not mess with that.
This is a copy of the instructions that came with the Kapscomoto Brake Light Modulator. I've highlighted the wires in the corresponding color on the Vino 125 to more clearly indicate how the connections are made for this installation.
It's this one that you'll be playing with. Disconnected it like I did here and you'll see three wires. Grab your scissors and cut the black plastic wrapping that surrounds the three wires. You're just doing this to get better access to the three wires inside. You should have at least 2-2.5" to play with. The black wire is the ground wire. The green one with the yellow stripe is the one we'll be cutting. Ignore the blue wire.
Cut the green wire leaving at least 1" sticking out of the white connector. Yes, really. Cut it. IGNORE THE BLUE WIRE. Cut only the green one. Next you'll splice the red wire on the modulator with the green wire shown on the right using the quick splicer. Do the same thing for the other side of the green wire with the white wire of the modulator. Finally, splice the black wire of the modulator to the black wire on the scooter.
I tried to clean it up a bit. Using 3m double stick tape, I mounted the modulator gizmo to the scooter frame. I ziptied the rest of the wires to get a cleaner look. If you use other types of splices, it'll look much cleaner, but for some reason I chose to use the quick splice type which is unfortunately much bulkier.The mess here could have been done much more cleanly using butt connectors for pretty much a permanent connection or disconnects like the one below.Why I didn't use these to begin with? I guess I mistakenly thought that I was required to connect wires through the middle rather than from end to end. I should have used these disconnectors (male on the left and female on the right) for a cleaner look and flexibility of removing later.Before putting everything back together in reverse order, put the key in the ignition and switch it to on. Confirm that the rear brake light is on. Pull the brake lever to test that it indeed the brake light turns brighter and flashes before turning solid again.
TROUBLESHOOTING:
1. If the brake light does not turn on when the key is turned to the on position, check the wire connections. When I did this originally, this happened to me and I spent forever trying to figure out what happened. Just resplice the wires. Pinch the quick splicers with your strong finger or a pair of pliers.
2. If the brake light turns on and immediately starts blinking as soon as you turn the key to the on position and the brake lever doesn't do anything, then you spliced the wrong wire. This happened to me when I accidentally spliced the blue wire b/c I didn't know which wire I was supposed to mess with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)