Scoot vs. Bike
These days I find myself riding my old fashioned bicycle 11 miles to work just about as often as I am riding my scooter. Although I do admit that I enjoy them both equally. In my opinion as long as I'm not driving a gas guzzling car I am good to go. Does it really need to come to one or the other? My conclusion... why not both? I certainly plan on keeping things that way. But how about you? Where do you measure up? Do you find yourself using alternative transportation to the car America has grown an unhealthy addition to?
Scoot or Bike?
How many of you bike, scoot, walk or use public transportation to get to work?
New Scoot!
Well readers, I had to say bye to my Ruckus 2 days ago, it's off to enjoy riding with someone else for now!
But I did pick up... a 2003 Vespa ET2!
(Below: Me, the proud owner of my new Vespa)
Cleaning Your Scooter
Cleaning your scooter on a regular basis is very important. If you have a clean scooter:
- It's less likely that you will miss something being broken.
- You will get to know the parts and pieces of the scoot well.
- It will just look better!
I am not usually a neat freak, but when it comes to my scoots it would be hard to find someone who enjoys cleaning them more. I am a firm believer in what I stated earlier. Cleaning your scoot is a very important part of owning it.
When I am cleaning my scooter or my bicycles, I like to use a product called Bike Lust by the cycling company Pedro's.
It's a silicone based polish that actually leaves residual film layer to protect from UV Rays and makes it easier to clean in the future. I use this miracle polish on almost everything on my scoot. Plastic, metal, rubber, they all work great. I clean the sidewalls of my tires with it on a regular basis. When cleaning the tires with Bike Lust you do have to be very careful not to get any on the top or tread of the tire. If you do it will be like riding on solid ice, with slicks. My 2008 Yamaha Zuma had 4500 miles when I sold it, but the sidewalls of the original tires looked like they came right off showroom floor. The same goes for all the plastic on the scooter. The only thing you do not want to use this on (besides the top of the tires) is the seat. The film it leaves make the seat very slippery and hard to stay on. Just stick to plain old mild soap and water for that.
If you want a bottle Pedro's Bike Lust, go to almost any bicycle shop and ask for it. If they do not have it in stock, they can order it.
-Ryan
Honda Ruckus oil change, step by step w/pictures.
Howdy readers! I recently changed the oil in my Honda Ruckus and I thought I would take some pictures and tell you how you can do it too.
Things you will need :
- Honda Ruckus (Although this will work for other 4 stroke scooters too; Honda Metropolitan, Yamaha Vino 4t etc...)
- Socket wrench with 17 mm socket and long extension.
- Drain pan of some kind.
- Shop rags
- 1 Quart of oil ( I recommend 10w40 synthetic. I use Motul 300v Factory Line as it is available at my local scooter shop, Sportique Scooters.)
- A funnel.
Do you have those things? if so continue on, if not, keep up!
- Set your scooter on a level surface, preferably a surface that you could find something on if you drop it. Let the scooter run for 3-5 minutes to warm up the oil. After its warmed up turn it off and get ready to do some work!
- Locate the engine oil drain bolt. It is underneath the engine just behind the kickstand.
Using your socket wrench, extension, and 17mm socket, loosen the drain bolt. Do not remove the drain bolt completely yet, just loosen it enough to turn with your hand.
Place your drain pan (or bucket in my case) underneath the drain bolt and hole.
- Start unscrewing the drain bolt but be very careful, the drain bolt, engine, or oil may be warm (you did just warm it up after all!) The oil will not just fall out, but will pour out very fast at first and it will shoot out further than you would imagine, so make sure the bucket, cup, drainpan, etc is placed in the correct spot to catch it. No-one likes cleaning up spilled oil and it's just plain bad for the environment. Make sure to wear some sort of eye protection as well, oil in your eyes is never a good thing.
- Make sure that you do not drop the drain bolt or washer into the oil drain bucket, it is not fun to dig through old oil to find that little washer.
- When you get the bolt and washer off, make sure to clean it off before reinstalling. You have to make sure you do not get any dirt, sand, or anything else into the crankcase.
- Now leave the drain bolt in a shop rag, and the bucket underneath the drain hole. Go to the other side of the scooter and locate the engine oil dipstick. Before removing it, make sure to clean any dirt, mud, etc... off of the dipstick and all around the oil fill hole so that nothing can fall in the engine.
- Place your funnel into the engine fill hole. I prefer to use a longer funnel because it makes it easier to pour mess free.
- Pour a small amount of oil into the funnel. This will help flush out some of the older oil in the crank case that may not have drained out yet.
As you can see a mix of old and new oil is pouring out of the crank case.
Thread in your newly cleaned drain bolt and washer. Be very careful to not strip out the threads. use your fingers to put it in most of the way then finish up with the 17mm socket. Make sure it is tight, but again be careful not to over-tighten.
- Before refilling the oil, consult the owners manual to see the proper amount to put in. The correct amount is .6 Qt. Be careful not to overfill/underfill the crank case as either could damage the engine.
- Start to add your oil. Pour slowly so that the funnel has time to empty.
- When you have put the correct amount in the engine, replace the dipstick and double check to make sure you have not forgotten to reinstall any important parts; drain bolt, washer, oil, and dipstick. Check to make sure the drain bolt is tight. If everything is good, start your scooter and let it run for 3-5 min.
- After the 3-5 min. shut off the engine. Grab a rag and check the oil level. Unscrew the dipstick wipe it off and replace it in oil fill hole. Do not screw it in, but let it push it in till it makes contact with the top of the threads. If you pull it back out and it looks like mine above your oil is at the proper level. It should be right in the middle of those hash marks. If it is to low, put more oil in and measure it again until it is correct. If it is to high, drain some out until it is at the correct level.
Congratulations! If you were following along at home you now know how to change the oil in your scooter. Like always if anyone out there has any questions or comments I'm happy to help, just let me know.
- Ryan
Sportique Scooters, Colorado
"Where scooters come from!"
(Ryan at Sportique Scooters)
For spring break this year Ryan, my friend Sarah and myself headed to Denver, Colorado (our future home). We had many things to do while in Denver but at the top of our lists was Sportique Scooter Shop. Ryan and I had been to Sportique once before, in Colorado Springs, Colorado but I was unaware that they had a location in Denver let alone Englewood and Boulder too. We ended up stopping into the Englewood location as well as Denver.
(Just a small glimpse at the selection of scooters at Sportique)
I've been to many scooter shops, especially lately with Ryan being obsessed and all and Sportique was, by far, the best shop I have been to. At Sportique you'll find a range of scooters from companies like KYMCO, Vespa, Genuine Scooter Company and Aprilia. They sell new, used and classic scooters so they is surely something for everyone. It wasn't just their wide range of selection that I enjoyed but the friendliness of the staff as well. Not your average salesman (and woman) at Sportique, but a very knowledgeable and personable staff. The people at Sportique work there because they love scooters and working on scooters and that isn't hard to tell.
While Sportique is only in Colorado I highly recommend visiting if you ever find yourself near the Rockies. Plus, if you take a look at my article review "Scooter Nation" you'll find that the Denver area has a few more perks than just being the home of Sportique.
Check out Sportique's website: Sportique Scooters
~Jen
Scooter Nation
"Scoot over, road hogs. Make vroom for "motorized bicyclists," who are driven by saving money and the environment." (John Moore, Denver Post)
John Moore wrote an article for the Denver Post titled "Scooter Nation." Although the article was written several years ago I just stumbled upon it recently and was so excited about it I wanted to share it with other scooter enthusiasts. In Denver, you are allowed to park on the sidewalk as long as your scooter isn't over 50cc. How amazing is that? You can actually lock your scooter or moped to bike racks and go to work, school or shopping without the worry of someone stealing it.
There is an estimated amount of 10,000 scooters on Denver-area roads. Many scooterists no longer own cars and say they will never own one again. No more car payments or expensive insurance and of course the gas factor. Some scooters in the 50cc range get up to 100+ mpg. Denver wants to support people riding scooters and that's why they decided to let us park on the sidewalks! This is great news, especially since my husband and I are moving to Denver!
Below I posted the url for the article, I recommend reading it. Any thoughts? Leave comments below. Especially if you live in a place where they allow scooter parking on sidewalks or even have designated parking for scooters, we want to know about it!
Full article found here:
http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_4113101
Yamaha Vino Classic
It wasn't long after the purchase of our first scooter, a Yamaha Zuma, that my husband and I decided one wouldn't be enough for the both of us. When looking for a scooter we knew we had a price range to stick to as well as wanting to stick with a Japanese based scooter company. We were thinking about either a Honda or a Yamaha, and we already knew we really liked Yamaha's so we decided to go that route.
We ended up finding a 2007 Vino at a shop in Hastings, Michigan. It was black and absolutely perfect (see picture above). Seeing as we already had the Yamaha credit card (they offer financing) we went that route. The Vino has turned out to be the perfect scooter for me for a number of reasons:
- Classic style, which I love!
- Lightweight, easy to move around
- Easy to drive
- Lots of under seat storage
- Comfortable seat for long rides
- Handle bars lock
- Extra lock for back wheel to ensure safe keeping
- All the gages you'll need
- Around 100 mpg! Best perk about the Vino!
If anyone has any comments or questions about the Vino I would love to hear them! Don't hesitate to send pictures!