2006 Roketa Cayman 150 (MC-27-150)

[90GTVert]

Yeah. I have to insure, title/register it within 90 days of inspection. Have to take a written (computer at the MVA) test for the permit. Then some mandatory amount of time later schedule a skills test. It'll be a bit. Just glad there is hope for the scoot. I really wasn't sure how it would go with a Chinese scooter inspection. Now, if there's hope for the rider...

[90GTVert]

Just got back from getting my motorcycle permit. The MVA is such a streamlined experience. I got there at 8:30 when they opened. Stood in line for 10 minutes. Someone came through the line to see if he could expedite. I told him I wanted to take a motorcycle permit test so he had me come with him. He gave me a number and stood me in front of the doors to the testing room. Then he was standing a few feet from me. I stood there for 15-20 minutes before asking another official if I was in the right spot. He told me to check in at the window nearby. I go to the window and the guy that stood me near the door by the window came up and told me I didn't need to go to the window, go over there and sit down and wait to see your number. That's what I would have done in the first place if he hadn't put me in front of the door where the test takes place. Meanwhile the lady at the info counter says I would have been better off taking a motorcycle class and just coming in for a printed license after the class, because everything is so confusing in this branch. She then says that it's much worse because someone wrote online reviews saying that this office is faster than one in a city an hour away, so now they are slow because people from the city are coming here instead of their local branch.

As I'm waiting, I talked to a lady from that city who said she had too much stuff to do to wait an hour in the local office. She then took 30 minutes in a line to renew her tags, which can simply be done by mail. Drive an hour, wait 30 minutes, and then drive an hour back, all to save a 1 hour wait for something you could do my mail anyway. Makes sense to someone I guess.

I finally get called, take the eye test, verify info, and get setup on a computer for the exam. It took about 10 minutes to pass, if that. I sat again to wait to be called. They told me I was next, then called someone else. Then called me, and then helped people at a window instead of me. Finally got to me and printed my permit after paying $30. 1hr 45min to take a 10 minute test and spend 5 minutes verifying my info. I know it's the way it goes at the MVA for everything, but every single time I leave there I'm amazed at the inefficiency of a system with who knows how many millions of dollars into laying it out. Our government hard at work.

I think the best part is, I realized that the man that didn't properly instruct me on something as simple as where to be while waiting is the man that administers the riding skills tests. They will fail you if you cannot or do not follow their instructions. That's gonna be fun.

Anyway, it's a bit off-topic I guess, but I had to rant.

[90GTVert]

I got rid of the old site decals today. They were a pain at first, chipping off in tiny pieces. Then I heated them to I suppose a little over 100F (warm) with a heat gun and they came off easily.



For 10 years it's had an outline from the stock "whip" stickers that were removed when it was fairly fresh out of the crate.



I used some 1000 grit to wet sand the area. The problem is I can still feel all of the outlines since the stock stickers get put under clear coat. I didn't want to sand any more because the color seemed to be getting thin in spots so I hit it real quick with 2000 grit and called it good enough. It's not as glossy as it was, but at least you can't see "whip" as much. I'm not interested in putting a lot of effort into plastics right now, so I'm fine with the result.



Looks good enough from 10ft anyhow.

[90GTVert]

I got insurance for this scoot yesterday. Removed T1 from the policy so I'd only have 3 scoots insured. The old bill was $147/yr. Swapping on a motorcycle classed scooter 2 years newer than what it replaced made the current bill $147/yr for all three. I was surprised, but not complaining. The lady had a little trouble figuring it out since the title said the make is SHJM and that doesn't come up in the system. Roketa would come up, but only 4 models. Eventually she just entered the model I told her and it put it through.

I went to an independent tag and title office this morning. They do charge a small fee, but I really didn't want to spend another 2 hours in the MVA for this. It took all of 5 minutes to have a tag and 2 year registration card and stickers in my hand after paying $285. With an actual buy price of $100, they charged me some minimum to pay tax on per MVA rules. If anyone is local, I'd have no problem recommending "No Hassle Tag & Title" in Federalsburg, MD based on my experience.

Motorcycle tags have never been standardized, so of course the MD tag will need a bracket to bolt up.

[90GTVert]

Since I finally got my motorcycle license yesterday and it was nearly 70 degrees and today was in the 60s, it would be good riding weather... or wrenching weather.

I've collected a few parts since I got this thing and they've been sitting around till I could get the inspection and motorcycle test over with. I got these STR8 downhill bars from scootertuning.ca and the bar risers from China via eBay. Altogether, just over $50 w/shipping. Fat_Panda wanted some info if I used these, so here you go.



The stock gauges suck. A speedometer that's off and a fuel gauge that works when it wants to. If I'm going to do gauges, I might as well swap to a less bulky looking bar setup. I started out by removing the panels covering the bars, unhooking the connections, and taking the controls off of the stock handlebars as well.



My plan was to use the stock handlebar base/stem as part of a new mount. I thought about buying some tubing to use, but this way would save a little money. I put one of the risers on the new bars so I could get an idea of how high they would sit and where I wanted to cut the stock bars. I decided to leave the stock stem as long as I could. Even with it full length, the new bars would be lower.



I cut the old bars with a hacksaw, then checked the height once more.



Then I cut and ground the brackets off of the stem and measured, marked, and ground it down so the ends were parallel with each other since my initial hacksaw cut was a little slanted.



I planned to use 1/8" steel as the mount for the risers. I had it around. It seemed a bit thin, but I looked at my Keeway Venus that has a similar setup stock and it's plate is only 1/8" thick. The Venus' plate is stamped with some bends for brackets which would make it a bit stronger though. I may have been better off moving up to 3/16", but I figured I'd try this out and if it feels like there's any flex in it I could add another 1/8" plate.

I mounted the bars in the risers where I wanted them, and used that to figure out where to cut the steel. I cut it out with a reciprocating saw, rounded the corners quickly on a grinder, and then marked and drilled holes for the riser bolts to go through.



The bolts included with the risers were way too long to work with my 1/8" plate, so I had to cut them down.



I then mounted the risers and marked the plate so I could grind away a bit more of the corners. It was a quick job, but still better than it was IMO.



At that point, I had a stem and a mounting plate worked out, but they were still two separate pieces. I took some time to measure and mark both parts so that I could get the stem centered on the plate and clocked properly so the bars will be straight when the front wheel is straight. Once I thought I had it right, I made a quick little weld so that I could mount the bars and verify that it was all straight before I did any more.



It turned out alright, so I finished joining the stem and base.



Then I painted it and installed it and the bars. I wanted to make sure the bars were sturdy so I put some pressure on them at full lock. I could feel something flexing, but it wasn't the bars or the stem, so it seems O.K. to me.



I started reinstalling the controls. I had to grind out the little nubs inside of them that sit inside of holes in the stock bars.



I picked up these little blue and green LEDs from a Chinese eBay seller for about $10 total and wanted to use them as indicator lights for the high beam and turn signals.



They're pretty tiny so they fit in the lip at the top of the leg shield.



I haven't wired them in yet, but I connected them just to test them. These things may actually be too bright as-is at night.

[niz76]

A resistor might suck some juice away and make them a little dimmer. It'd probably have to be kinda large...

[90GTVert]

The next project will be sensors and wiring for this and the indicator lights.

[niz76]

Oh ya lookin sweet already!

[90GTVert]

I got the wiring done up front and the temp and tach wires are ran to the back, just not hooked up yet. I wanted to finish the front end up so I started installing a set of mirrors I got on eBay. They have built in turn signals, so I thought they'd be an easy way to replace the signals that were on the stock handlebar cover. I also liked that they would sit a little wider, so maybe I won't be looking at my shoulders in half of the mirror.



They came with adapters to work with any common configuration of 8mm or 10mm threads.



Installing the first went easily enough, as I'd expect. The second didn't go so well. When I installed it, the mirror was still wobbly and would spin almost effortlessly. The adapters go through a spring and have a nut to let you compress the spring and tighten them up. That stripped before I ever got it even remotely secure.



I tried using some washers under or over the spring to avoid the stripped area. It just stripped again, nowhere near tight.



I dug through my bolt collection and luckily I had 1 M8 cap screw. It just fit in the mirror, so I was able to use it. If I get a little longer cap screw, I could lock the bolt to the mirrors and then use the mirror nut as usual. Seems OK for now though.



I like these mirrors, but I wish they were more robustly made. These were about $32 and the stuff that I figured was quality went up closer to $100, so I guess I got what I paid for. I doubt that the mirror side signals will be noticed at all on a sunny day, but the front part are as bright as a standard blinker.



The scoot seems wide now, but it's 35" where T2 with only one bar end is 30.5" wide. I'm not planning on doing any lane splitting so it shouldn't matter. When I sat on the scoot to check the bars and mirrors out, the throttle wasn't working. I think the plastic throttle is not holding the barrel anymore so I'll probably take one from T2 or the Venus for now.

[90GTVert]

I forgot to add earlier : I wouldn't suggest using the indicators that I bought for an AC high beam. I switched to high beam, it flashed and went out. Checked and it was dead. Replaced, since they came in a pair. Second did the same. When I checked at idle to verify my connections, it was only ~11VAC and that was without the headlights hooked up.

[90GTVert]

I took this thing out on the road for the first time today. I'm not impressed. Here's a look at the speed from a GPX file taken from the GPS. The only good news is that I was taking it along to check the Vapor and both showed the same stats. I am using 1528 as the wheel size for the 130/60-13 tire.



The torque off the line, I like. After that, it needs work. The main jet is obviously wrong, but I haven't been able to take it on the road before to tune it. That'll have to wait, because it's very windy.

This thing feels like a death trap. At one point the scoot was jumping around at speed. I'm used to smaller frames and smaller wheels at higher speeds, but I really wanted to back out of the throttle from the shaking when I was on the way back on one stretch doing about 45MPH in a 50MPH zone. I stayed in it against my better judgement and it was alright, but I've never had a scooter feel so much like it was going to fall apart. Other times at that speed it was relatively fine. Not saying it was a smooth ride, but not like that little stretch.

When it's on the centerstand, it starts to sort of bounce at some point shortly after the clutch engages and the wheel really gets moving, but if I speed it up it smooths out. Something's gotta be out of whack either in the wheel/tire, CVT, or gearbox I'd think. It's previous owner never complained of this and I don't recall it happening when I rode it on the road years ago. Then again, it was crashed by the PO's girlfriend and we replaced the steering stem that was bent. I'm not sure if it was really ridden on the road after. Hopefully nothing major is wrong.

The mirrors also are junk... either that or they are just shaking because of the scooter's problems. They don't seem to stay exactly in place and they're vibrating a lot. I'll need decent mirrors to see who's about to run over me when I'm WOT under the speed limit.

[190mech]

Bet youve got a tire seperating from age,balancing may help.Best bet would be replace it...

[90GTVert]

I got the rear tire off earlier and stuck it on the balancer, but had to do some other stuff. I'm gonna see how far out it is. I have been thinking since I bought it that I'm not sure how I feel about 10 year old Chinese tires, but they look good at a glance so I haven't worried too much till now. I'll try to check them over better and make sure there are no bumps or anything, but I may just order a pair to be safe. Whatever is going on definitely feels more severe than any balance issue I've had before.

[90GTVert]

The rear wheel and tire took about 1.5oz of weights to balance. I just taped them on to check. I couldn't find any lumps or bumps while rotating the tire.



I took the tire off to make sure the wheel wasn't way out of balance on it's own. It took under 0.5oz to balance.



I kept sticking myself when I was taking the tire off and realized there is steel poking out of the tire.



Not exactly how I was hoping for the scoot to sit with 2 70 degree days coming, but I'm gonna order tires for sure now.

[90GTVert]

I ordered 2 Shinko SR429 130/60-13 75MPH rated tires to replace the Cheng Shins. They get good reviews and were only $75 for the pair.

I took the CVT cover off and started the engine. Revved it a bit and the scooter didn't bounce all around with the rear wheel off. Hopefully that was the issue. Nothing looked obviously out of round or anything just watching the CVT spin.

Since it's going to be down for a bit waiting, I wanted to get rid of the huge airbox. It's more about ditching the bulky stock piece that's harder to work with than anything else for me.



I've still got the pod setup that was on it for most of it's life, so I put that back on. It's a K&N breather filter clamped and glued to a piece of PVC so it can join up with a radiator hose coupler. It's glued because even with clamps the pod filter popped off a couple of times.



I had to deal with the crankcase vent somehow. I was tempted to just cut the vent section off of the front of an airbox and use it like stock. I had an unfinished boost bottle, hose barbs, and a tiny breather filter here though, so I made something out of them. I thought the bottle ahead of the filter may reduce the risk of oil making it's way to the filter a little. I offset the barbs so whatever exits the bottle has to rise, plus the routing goes uphill from the valve cover.




Then I wanted to vent the CVT cover a little. Gotta keep it cool. I wanted to do something different. Didn't have any brilliant graphic ideas that I could actually do, so I went with a Yin Yang. Seems appropriate. For one it's Chinese, and aside from that read this sentence from wikipedia and tell me it doesn't relate to a CVT :

"In Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (also yin-yang or yin yang, 陰陽 yīnyáng "dark—bright") describes how opposite or contrary forces are actually complementary, interconnected, and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other as they interrelate to one another."

It needs a little more work.