Getting ready for the plunge into the real winter......
Jan 9, 2020 20:01:16 GMT -5
90GTVert and milly like this
Post by bluegoatwoods on Jan 9, 2020 20:01:16 GMT -5
I spent the day getting stuff............including my two-wheelers.............under cover for the winter storm that'll hit in a bit over a day from now. I'll bet most of you folks out there are doing pretty much the same since this storm is forecast to hit all 50 states plus every nation on Earth. Or so they say.
I suspect a bit of exaggeration there. But it does look like a pretty wide-spread storm.
The other day I noticed that my local Casey's gas station offers 91 octane premium fuel with no ethanol. I spent just a moment wondering if I could trust them on that. Then I decided I had no choice about that and that this is the fuel for scooters from now on. And I decided to do the job..........for winter .........as well as possible. So I went on down to the auto parts store and got a brand new 5 gallon gas can. As I drove down there I was thinking, "This'll probably cost me 25 bucks or so". I was kinda regretting that, cause that seems like a lot. It turned out to be 26 and some change. Oh, well......
I had already noticed that gas cans are kinda expensive. I don't know, but I'll guess that the plastic that is safe for gasoline is some higher-end stuff that's more expensive to produce than run-of-the-mill plastic. I sure do hope that's the ease. If not, then we're being ripped off.
A digression before I post pics: please excuse the sloppy state of my work area. And please don't think of me as a slob. Though............actually..............that's exactly what I am. I've always known it and haven't particularly cared. I just don't want to be labelled a slob.
I actually do straighten things up pretty often. But there's no doubt that my ability to make a mess is far stronger than my ability to clean up a mess.
So..........with that pitiful excuse...........
I got five gallons of that premium, no ethanol gasoline and mixed in 2 oz of Sta-Bil. And that'll be the fuel supply for the scooters and the few other small engines I have around here. None of them run all that much in the heart of winter so I'm feeling pretty sure that this will last until better weather. Yet I do ride at least a bit even in the winter. The scooters just might use up most of it. Maybe not. 'Cause I sure don't ride far when it's icy.
For right now, the Honda and the Kymco are the two scooters that'll be ridden.
I set my Tao Tao and my Icebear up on blocks in a somewhat weather protected space for some fairly serious service/maintenance work.
The Icebear is running well and might not have been my first priority. But it does need new tires. I've gone back and forth over whether or not to swap my own tires or pay a scooter shop to do it. I've successfully swapped tires on two of these bikes. One tire each bike. I didn't do the second tire in both cases because I scared myself half to death doing the first one. I had to pry awfully hard against those rims.
But part of my trouble was that the rig I'd built to hold that wheel down just wasn't quite stout enough. I was dealing with too much movement. I'll build a new rig that's up to the job. It'll be soon. I'll post pics of that when I do.
The red Tao Tao is only barely running. Right now, in fact, it's idling but nothing more. It spent the last couple of years being ridden by my daughter. I don't think she actually abused it. But she rode it hard and was oblivious to it's deterioration. So I'm going to save it's life. But it'll take some doing.
When this bike was new I actually tore it down to quite some extant and followed Brent's post-delivery inspection routine. I definitely went over wiring and connectors and such. I wrapped some connectors in plastic for weather protection. I don't remember just what else I did. But I do remember that I didn't follow him to the very end because I got impatient and wanted to get that bike up and on the road. And I recall that I was even more slap-dash about it with the Icebear.
So this winter season I'm going to remove every single body panel on both of them and go over everything.
I checked valve lash on the Tao Tao once. But that's when it wasn't very old. I've never checked it on the Icebear. It's overdue. It's time for compression checks, too. Carburetor air/fuel mixtures. All that sort of stuff. I'll get access to the working parts of these scoots and give 'em the treatment. A good winter project.
I suspect a bit of exaggeration there. But it does look like a pretty wide-spread storm.
The other day I noticed that my local Casey's gas station offers 91 octane premium fuel with no ethanol. I spent just a moment wondering if I could trust them on that. Then I decided I had no choice about that and that this is the fuel for scooters from now on. And I decided to do the job..........for winter .........as well as possible. So I went on down to the auto parts store and got a brand new 5 gallon gas can. As I drove down there I was thinking, "This'll probably cost me 25 bucks or so". I was kinda regretting that, cause that seems like a lot. It turned out to be 26 and some change. Oh, well......
I had already noticed that gas cans are kinda expensive. I don't know, but I'll guess that the plastic that is safe for gasoline is some higher-end stuff that's more expensive to produce than run-of-the-mill plastic. I sure do hope that's the ease. If not, then we're being ripped off.
A digression before I post pics: please excuse the sloppy state of my work area. And please don't think of me as a slob. Though............actually..............that's exactly what I am. I've always known it and haven't particularly cared. I just don't want to be labelled a slob.
I actually do straighten things up pretty often. But there's no doubt that my ability to make a mess is far stronger than my ability to clean up a mess.
So..........with that pitiful excuse...........
I got five gallons of that premium, no ethanol gasoline and mixed in 2 oz of Sta-Bil. And that'll be the fuel supply for the scooters and the few other small engines I have around here. None of them run all that much in the heart of winter so I'm feeling pretty sure that this will last until better weather. Yet I do ride at least a bit even in the winter. The scooters just might use up most of it. Maybe not. 'Cause I sure don't ride far when it's icy.
For right now, the Honda and the Kymco are the two scooters that'll be ridden.
I set my Tao Tao and my Icebear up on blocks in a somewhat weather protected space for some fairly serious service/maintenance work.
The Icebear is running well and might not have been my first priority. But it does need new tires. I've gone back and forth over whether or not to swap my own tires or pay a scooter shop to do it. I've successfully swapped tires on two of these bikes. One tire each bike. I didn't do the second tire in both cases because I scared myself half to death doing the first one. I had to pry awfully hard against those rims.
But part of my trouble was that the rig I'd built to hold that wheel down just wasn't quite stout enough. I was dealing with too much movement. I'll build a new rig that's up to the job. It'll be soon. I'll post pics of that when I do.
The red Tao Tao is only barely running. Right now, in fact, it's idling but nothing more. It spent the last couple of years being ridden by my daughter. I don't think she actually abused it. But she rode it hard and was oblivious to it's deterioration. So I'm going to save it's life. But it'll take some doing.
When this bike was new I actually tore it down to quite some extant and followed Brent's post-delivery inspection routine. I definitely went over wiring and connectors and such. I wrapped some connectors in plastic for weather protection. I don't remember just what else I did. But I do remember that I didn't follow him to the very end because I got impatient and wanted to get that bike up and on the road. And I recall that I was even more slap-dash about it with the Icebear.
So this winter season I'm going to remove every single body panel on both of them and go over everything.
I checked valve lash on the Tao Tao once. But that's when it wasn't very old. I've never checked it on the Icebear. It's overdue. It's time for compression checks, too. Carburetor air/fuel mixtures. All that sort of stuff. I'll get access to the working parts of these scoots and give 'em the treatment. A good winter project.
