Seems like with ever rising gas prices, bringing the scooter to the gas pump for a fill is bringing about something akin to conversations at the water fountain(or coffee maker) in the workplace.
A few weeks ago, right after gas prices went over three bucks a gal, presumably to stay there for the summer, if not forever, a guy with a nicely restored or preserved old Harley was at the next pump.

After I got the seat up, the credit card swiped, and was turning to the gas tank, with the fill nozzle in hand, he turned to me and asked the universal question. "What kind of mileage does that get?"
"About 75 miles per gallon" I answered. "How fast does it go?" was the next question. "I've had it to 65, and that's all she's good for" said I.

"I should get one of those for around town, that's twice the mileage I get", with that the Harley guy smiled and walked into the station to pay.

Yesterday, while getting ready to pump gas, a bearded youger guy with two little girls in tow, who had just finished pumping his gas, walked over from the next lane. Same set of questions, same set of answers.
"I used to ride for a couple years" he said, "but I gave that up on account of them", nodding at the girls.
"If I didn't have them, I'd probably ride again, especially with gas prices like they are." The older of the two girls, probably 8 or 9 years old, rolled her eyes, looked up at him and said "You shouldn't say that. We're right here!" Then, narrowing her eyes, looking up at him, says "What would you want to do with us?"
He laughed, and looking back at me, said "You know what I mean, I have other responsibilities now and have to think about the safety aspects." "Yup, I understand" I said as he turned to walk into the building and I ran my gas tank over.

So far, most maintenance I've done has been oil changes, bolt tightening, checking air in my tires, and giving the StradaVariator a bath now and then With the onset of warm weather I discovered that one of the "preventive maintenance" items I took care of last fall when it was already comparatively cool out, began giving me problems.

I had shortened my fuel lines, which sagged in places, and routed them directly to and from the various compnents in the fuel line, using the shortest possible lengths of hose. This spring I have been experiencing periodic fuel starvation which only began when I was at least .6 or .7 gal low on fuel. My first thought was that the vacuum operated fuel pump was only opening part way, and that with the lower pressure that comes from having less fuel in the tank, it wasn't allowing enough gas to get through, causing the symptoms of running out of gas. It usually happened when I had been running at 2/3 throttle or more.

I replaced the vacuum operated fuel switch with a manual petcock, and the problem seemed to go away for a tankful of gas or more. Then it struck again... under the same partial tank conditions. :o(
Then I began to suspect the oversized automobile fuel filter I had installed in the fall, figuring the element was too heavy, with pores so fine that it really needed fuel pump pressure to push gas through it.

I was about to replace the filter when it happened again and I reached underneath the cowling to make sure the manual petcock was all the way open. I wasn't reaching for quite the right spot, and almost burned myself on a VERY hot frame crossmember. After I let it set for a minute or so, and bounced the scooter up and down a time or two, which seemed to speed up the time it took to get fuel again, I headed home and pulled my underseat storage basket, discovering that the last vertical run of gas line was laying right against the frame piece that got so hot. I never even had given vapor lock a thought, because the last section of fuel line near the hot engine was nearly vertical all the way. I've experienced vapor lock on cars before, and it was always in a nearly horizontal section of fuel line. Apparently on the scooter, the pressure of the fuel in a full tank was enough to push fuel through that hot vertical section of fuel line until the tank was down to half empty. Once the tank got to a certain level, the pressure was no longer sufficient to push gas through the "boiling" section of fuel line, and it would vapor lock. Where I thought that sitting a minute or two was allowing fuel to fill the filter back up, actually the frame was cooling pretty quickly once the engine was off, and then the pressure of the gravity feed system was pushing right through the vapor locked vertical section of fuel line.

Once I re-routed the fuel line so it no longer touches anything near the engine, I have had no further problem during two more tanks full now, part of the time in 90 degree temps, hottest we've had so far this year.

I got some scooter accessories and safety gear recently. The safety gear I got because I saw some pictures of really bad cases of road rash recently that I just can't get out of my mind. I figured out that the companies designing protective jackets are for the most part, laboring under the delusion that all motorbike riders work out at least 3 or 4 hours every week, and all have chests that are at least 4 to 6 inches larger than their bellies. The jacket I bought that was the most likely one to fit me, and ordered in a size that fits my torso, has arms so long that I could just sew the sleeves shut at the ends and use them as mitts.

Riding pants? forget it... those that would fit my waist have legs so long the the knee armor would protect my shins instead, and the rest of the leg would just bunch up around my boots. Huh, maybe I could just sew the ends of the legs shut and reshape them some so I could wear them like pajamas with feet in them. I ended up getting kneepads that I can wear under my jeans. Padded, and with hard plastic over the kneecap area. Harbor Freight... $5.00! I have steel toesd boots that I will go back into the house for if I realize I'm about to get on the scooter in loafers or worse yet, clogs! The boots have become important to me ever since I saw a picture of someone who lost toes sliding along the pavement in their Converse All-Stars.

I bought and installed a motorcycle brake flasher that has 4 very bright LEDs that do a pulsating flash any time I'm braking with more than very gentle pressure on the brake levers. It doesn't make all drivers back off more, maybe because it flashes at a frequency that could irritate those who are looking for something to be irritated about, but at least I'm sure they're watching me pretty closely once they've seen that thing flash.

I also installed a nifty Kasswins cup holder that can swivel both back and forth and from side to side, which means it stays level at all times. I have a couple of warnings for anyone using one on a scooter or motorcycle:
1) don't try to use it and replace the can, cup, or bottle back into it while riding down the road. Without weight in it, on a vibrating scooter or motorcycle, it won't stay still well enough to be able to get whatever you took out of it, back in it. You could crash trying to do this nearly impossible task.
2) don't carry anything in it that could foam or fizz... like pop or anything carbonated(or beer). You'll end up wearing it if you forget this one. You realize just how much scooters and motorcycles vibrate and shake going down the road while watching your pop or whatever you were planning to drink, foam and fizz and blow all over you, your scooter's dashboard, floor, etc.

Well that about covers this months mini review of scooter stuff. I have some great rides planned for this summer, and oh yeah... some kids riding in the back of a minivan flipped me peace signs as I went by them just the other day. Talk about a Flashback!! Later!

Spring is here and motorcyclists and scooter riders are out in force. One thing you notice more in the spring than any other time of year is that people are glad to be out again on two wheels and the waves are a bit more exuberant and indiscriminant.

The wave has changed over the years. In the part of the midwest where I live, thirty some years ago('71) when I began riding, it was usually a raised left forearm, palm forward, sometimes coupled with a slight turn of the wrist. At times, for kindred spirits, it was a peace sign instead. Basically everyone waved at everyone else, other than the "one percenters"... Harley riders who were too bad-assed to wave to anyone who wasn't as bad as they were.

Then I noticed the Harley guys began to salute each other with a clenched fist, but for the rest of us it was still an upraised open palm, By the time I quit riding for a number of years, in the mid 80's, the wave had largely changed to just raising an outstretched open palm from the hand grip, but virtually everyone still waved, except the Harley guys, who wouldn't wave at "riceburners".

Since taking up riding again a couple years ago, I've noticed it's different now. For one thing, I'm now on a scooter, having tired of running through a bunch of gears with every curve, corner, hill, and stop sign. Crotchrocket riders seemingly will not wave at a scooter... not intentionally anyhow. My scooter looks a little similiar to some of the japanese sport bikes from the front at a distance, and if I wave before they can identify it as a scooter, some of them get their hand off their left hand grip and then check themselves quickly when they realize they almost waved at a scooter. I'm quite sure they're gripped by the fear that whatever is between their legs would shrivel up and fall off if they actually completed the wave at a scooter.

Some of the Harley riders won't wave... those for whom it isn't about the experience or the ride, but the image; those that bought a Harley for "status" or to compensate for some personal feelings of inadequacy. Around town, there are a good number of Harley riders who won't wave, but once out of the city, on state highways or other rural two lane blacktop, almost all of them wave. Those aren't the ones riding for status... there's nobody there to see how cool they are. That's a change from the way things used to be. I guess the ones who are really into the experience, must all watch American Chopper, showing Vinnie and Mikey having fun with scooters in their off hours, or whenever they can steal a bit of time; so scooters have become "cool enough" to wave at.

The wave has changed too. Now, the prevalent wave is the slightly dropped and outstretched left arm, palm forward, index finger extended, except for the scooter riders who choose to wave, which varies from the dropped left hand to a raised, palm forward left hand, to a wildly exuberant wave. Around here, that's way less than half of the scooter riders. Either the rest of them are too intent on their errands to notice, they bought their scooter as a utilitarian vehicle to save gas and don't really appreciate the experience of the ride, or they're so green they're holding on with a death grip and scared to death to take one hand off the handlebars.

Me, I wave to everyone. If a motorcyclist doesn't return the wave, maybe they didn't notice, they were too late, or... it's just too damn bad that they can't share in the enjoyment of the ride, and have to use a motorcycle as a prop to bolster their poor self image.

It seems like the scooter market in the US is going in three directions simultaneously.

One direction is the same kind of mentality that leads many americans to buy large SUVs, pickup trucks, 1000cc and upwards sportbikes, and musclecars. The bigger, faster, badder is better mentality, as evidenced first by the Suzuki Burgman 650, and now the Gilera 850cc scooter, seems almost certain to set off a scooter size and horsepower battle, with Honda already having a prototype 900cc scooter that could be pressed into production soon.

Another direction is buying expensive high tech scooters like the Piaggio MP3 and L-Series for people with a budget that can afford the latest technology, combined with the luxury of having a philosophy that demands doing something to save the planet. For these folks, the scooter can make the same kind of personal statement as a BMW, as well as help to assuage the guilt that comes with a lifestyle driven by consumerism, all at the same time. For these folks, the Scooter is another object that defines who they are, before the rest of the world.

The other direction is the place that scooters have in most of the rest of the world, where utilitarian vehicles become part of people's everyday lives because of economic realities and necessity. People whose philosophy is simply to do what they can to make a decent life for themselves with whatever they happen to have. This isn't the flashiest, but it's certainly the fastest growing segment of the scootering world in the United States, as medical costs and spiralling gas prices eat into budgets that have already been reduced for many people here by the U.S. transitioning from a manufacturing economy to a service economy.

So what do these three groups have in common that can bring them together?

1) Risk. The recognition that scootering can be dangerous and that safety needs to be at the forefront of our thoughts at all times while riding a scooter. We can all share experiences and tips, teaching and learning from one another so we can scooter safely.

2) Fun. The joy and exhilaration of the ride, seeing and experiencing the world around us in a way that other vehicles isolate and insulate us from ever experiencing.

3)Commiseration. When the weather turns bad in the middle of an outing, be it an errand or a recreational ride, when metal fatigues from vibration, bolts and screws come loose, or a tire goes flat in the middle of nowhere, or miles from home, scootering can offer up miseries compared to anything that fishing trips or river rafting gone bad can offer. These shared experiences give us an even greater appreciation for what it takes to incorporate scooters into our lives, whatever our reasons initially.

4)Comradery. If we all quit fussing about what brought us to scootering... which is what initially influenced and determined the differences between the various machines we ride, and are willing to share the things we have in common, we can find a lot of new friends while also being a support system for one another.

And if you come across groups here and there who insist that only their chosen scooter(s), their reason to ride, their "style", and even their choice of safety gear, is the only way to scooter... just back off the gas, don't say a word, and coast on past them, then pour on the gas and get the hell out of there. Maybe they won't have noticed you. Just go on your way without bursting their bubble if you can. Why spoil it for them, and certainly don't let them spoil it for you... their world's too small!

Winter finally came upon us with a vengeance! Temps have been between highs of 14 and lows around -8 or -9 for more than a week now. All the neighborhood streets are snow covered and the others have a lot of salt and sand on them. Looks like it'll be awhile before I'm riding again.

Lots of time to read and think about scootering. Since I'm writing a scooter specific street survival page, I'm sorting through my own experiences, reading safe riding manuals written for motorcycles, and thinking about the differences between riding a motorcycle or a scooter safely. Some of the ways they're either the same or different, are very obvious. They're similiar in that over a certain size, they're both legally motorcycles, and they both function as motorcycles when it comes to steering, countersteering, leaning to go through corners, and how weight transfer from side to side, as well as transfer between front and back affects the steering and handling. Tire size, wheelbase, step through design and the fact that scooters have CVTs instead of multi-speed foot operated transmissions are obvious design differences. The obvious performance differences between most motor scooters and most motorcycles are that motorcycles usually have more speed and acceleration.

I knew that scooterists needed different strategies for dealing with some situations, because of the difference in speed and acceleration alone. The more I think about how scooters work vs what works on a motorcycle, I'm realizing that completely different responses to many traffic related dangers may be called for on a scooter, and that road hazards that could often be ignored on a motorcycle would drop many scooters.

Because some of what I'll be covering is uncharted territory, when it comes to exploring scooter specific responses and strategies, I'm expecting the safe scootering project to take quite awhile to complete... if indeed I ever get to the point where I feel it's complete. I also anticipate that there will be many revisions of specific safe riding tips after they've been published, as I discover better ways of dealing with some dangers and add alternative strategies for others, realizing that there are a number of possibilities for similiar scenarios because of different elements that might be present.

It was 41 degrees yesterday, and the snow melted off the roads, so I had to ride. I had a letter to mail, so told Linda I was going to the post office(6 blocks away) and taking the scooter. She smiled and said "see you later". She knew what that meant! It had been eight days since it had been above freezing with no snow on the roads.

The StradaVariator started right up as soon as I hit the starter button, but I had to start it again before it would stay at an idle. I paddle walked the scooter through the snow in the driveway on the north side of the garage and to the end of the alley(all shaded). It was great to be out riding again. I went to the post office, then turned the scooter onto a Hiway leading to Ohio. The ride to Ohio could wait for another day though.

I went a couple miles down that road and then turned south. When I got to where there are a couple of schools with their athletic fields just to the west of the road I was on, I got moved over a couple times from the 22 mph winds and 33 mph gusts. I didn't dress quite warmly enough for the times I was shaded from the sun that was sinking in the sky, but am sure I had a big grin on my face the whole time! I had to back way off from traffic in front of me a few times, to keep from getting a shower where water from the melting snow was running across the road.

I got home not quite ready to quit yet, so rode around several blocks in our neighborhood... the only place I had to watch out for a few ice patches still on the roadway, since our neighborhood is full of 60 to 70 year old trees that line and shade many of the streets. I paddle walked the scooter back down the alley and then fishtailed and slid around going back up the hill through the snow to the garage. I probably should have gotten off in the alley and walked it up to the garage. The grin stayed there through most of the evening. Life is good!

Yesterday was a 35 degree day, the first in nearly a week. There were intermittent bursts of snow with winds about 5-7 mph. A perfect day for a ride in the city, considering the forecast for the next week or more looks like highs in the low to upper 20's. It was a ride with a purpose, but no where in particular to go.

I wanted to get the rest of the Signal Sorcerer test done, so I could finish the review. I started out by riding in expanding circles centered around the area I live in, looking for turn lanes with sensors to trip the lights, leading to sections of road going no where, since it was mid afternoon and I didn't want cars pulling up behind me and ruining the test. It took me about a half hour to find several intersections quite close together that suited my purpose. Each lead to places or sections of road where I had seldom if ever, been before. Actually, one of the turn lanes went somewhere that was pretty busy, into a college dorm complex across the highway from the main campus. But since it was afternoon on a school day, almost all the traffic was going back and forth across the highway between dorms and campus, and I was the only one coming from the north and turning in... perfect! It was the first time I had been in there since the complex was built several years ago. The dorms are pretty impressive even from the outside, and from what I've heard, even more impressive inside. Buildings with stone exteriors and large windows for each room, but not rows of windows surrounded by metal and concrete, as dorms built 30 or so years ago were, but with exteriors more similiar to higher class town house apartments or condominiums. The other sections of road the intersections led to were far less interesting, the back sides of lots with leafless trees lining the road, and one turning into the back entrance of a small industrial complex, where the only other vehicles using the turn lane were delivery vans.

I was a bit chilly while looking for intersections to use for my tests, because I had a sinking feeling that it was an exercise in futility. However, once I located them, I got focused on what I was doing and didn't notice the chill again til I was heading home an hour and a half later. Where I couldn't see far enough down a road to time my approach right, sometimes I had to sit for a bit beside the road and pretended to be checking something on the scooter so I wouldn't appear to be casing a nearby home or business. I had to make sure I wasn't entering the turn lanes when someone else was there, or when the light would cycle just as I got there, because then I'd have to go back and start over, or wait through a cycle and a half, hoping no one else would pull up behind me.

While focusing on the testing, my insulated boots, long underwear, sweatshirt, leather jacket, balaclava, neck warmer, helmet with face shield, and ski gloves, kept me plenty warm. The results of the test ended up being good enough that I figure the $19.95 for the Signal Sorcerer was money well spent, even though the advertising claims are somewhat exaggerated. Only when I was going the slightly more than two miles home, did I begin to feel the chill again. I went home feeling it was time well spent, and one of the first times I can remember being out on the roads enjoying the ride while going nowhere.

For the full report on the Signal Sorcerer test, see the LetsGoScootin review page.

I went out riding yesterday for the first day in almost a week because of cold nasty weather. It was 44 degrees out, the last day we may see like that for a while. It's supposed to be rainy, then colder with ice and snow. Look's bad for the next week!

I went out and pulled the underseat storage compartment before I went riding, to take some pictures of some mods I've done to the StradaVariator while I still had a reasonably warm day for it. Then before I went out riding, I checked things over and discovered that one of the MRP 35 watt bulbs I recently installed already burned out on the high side. I thought that bulb was extremely bright on high beam for a 35 watt bulb. I bought three from Stan at Oregon Vintage, and I only had only used it an hour or two with it on high beam. Hope they don't all burn out like that. I also checked the nut on the back axle, because the back wheel had a slightly 'vague' feeling last time I rode it. Glad I did, because it had backed off about a turn. It shouldn't now because I took my air impact wrench to it and tightened it down until it wouldn't turn anymore.

I rode in town, and ended up riding quite a bit of the time at the speed(about 45 mph) where there is some vibration in the front wheel, and it's still rather annoying, even after the balancing beads. I'm starting to suspect a defect in the chinese Kenda tire on the front.
I got a couple of chances to try out something my wife got me for Christmas, a Signal Sorceror. It's a fairly good sized powerful magnet that attaches to a frame crossmember on the bottom of the scooter. It's supposed to trip the magnetic sensors under the pavement in turn lanes, so the left turn signal will change during the next stoplight sequence. The Strada hadn't been tripping the sensors at all in left turn lanes, so I had to wait til a car pulled up behind me in the turn lane before the turn signal light would activate. With it installed, yesterday, it tripped one sensor thad had never worked with the scooter before, but failed to trip another one. I suppose there might be slight differences in sensitivity at different locations. As I have more time to check it, I'll also try to figure out if approach speed or positioning within the lane has anything to do with it. At any rate, it promises to be better than without it, even if it doesn't trip all of them. The one it didn't trip is one that a Geo Storm car that I recently had would never trip either, so the sensor there must have pretty poor sensitivity.

I was pretty comfortable actually, with insulated boots, long underwear drawers under jeans, sweatshirt under my leather jacket, leather neck warmer, and thinsulate lined gloves. I didn't have too much time though, as it was cloudy and windy, and warmed up very late in the day. So after close to an hour of riding, it was getting dusky and colder, and I headed home to just beat my wife home from work.

The things I've installed that increase the performance of the StradaVariator to date, costing me $ are:
-$21.00-12 gram siding rollers
-$7.00-an iridium plug
-$28.00-a hotter coil
-$8.00-an International Cub tractor fuel filter
-$4.00-bigger main jet
-$2.00-hose clamps to reinforce and open up air intake hose

Maintenance Items that may affect performance
-$20-Gates CVT Belt, 835 20 30
-synthetic oils in both engine and tranny(after breakin)
-balanced my front tire which had a shake between 43-47mph

Things I've done that cost nothing:
-Open up the stock airbox
-Rerouted and shortened fuel lines to prevent getting kinked or pinched
-Cut the sharp 90 degree bend off of the muffler outlet
-drilled holes in endplate of muffler
-used a dremel to clean up(grind and polish) inside both ends of header pipe
-adjusted fuel mixture screw on carb
-used a dremel to polish intake manifold and spacer
-removed rubber snorkel from the CVT inlet and put a piece of window screen over it for better cooling

Cost of performance items planned for spring
-$15.00 Clutch springs
-$10.00 Crankcase cooling fins
-$4.00 Shim for clutch torque spring

The other thing that affects performance, but which I already had, and would get for personal comfort regardless of performance is the Puig touring windshield.

$119.00-Total cost so far of optional and planned performance items

After comparing my results so far to performance results from people who have done extensive bolt-ons, when finished there will be only a little difference between the performance of the StradaVariator and similiar 150cc GY6 scoots with bolt-on mods costing many $$ more. Certainly not enough for me to want to spend that much money for such small additional gains.