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Post by 90GTVert on May 17, 2015 12:58:49 GMT -5
I couldn't help myself. I went to the car show again. Totaling 425 miles Sat and Sun over 14 hours of riding.  Last night, I took some foil out of my sliders to drop them from 11.0 to 10.75g each. WOW did the RPM go up!!!  Okay, not really. It was raining off and on and after a bit of moisture my RPM starting going haywire. A little more moisture and the backlight started flickering. It never rained hard or anything, but sprinkles off and on the whole time. I hope I haven't killed it, or killed the back light. I put the TTOs through way worse and they've been good, but apparently the Vapor is not so resilient or I have bad luck. Actually I've rode the TaoTao with a Vapor in harder rain than this without a hitch. Maybe it's the wiring? In the TaoTao everything is hidden behind panels to some degree. The back of the Vapor is also not open since it's mounted to a panel. The show was kind of a bust. Mostly I saw a lot of people heading out, putting cars and Harleys in/on trailers, loading sportbikes into trucks, and creating big traffic jams at the exits to highways out of town. Still some cars around, but nothing like yesterday. I did come across a big guy on a GY6 swapped Ruckus with a fat tire and more. Nice guy and he said it was nice to see something different around. Left him at the lights. He said something about leaving cars at lights with T2 and I said "yeah, but nobody wants to play" and then some car busted my ass when the light turned green. lol Talked to another guy on a 2T at a red light. Also nice. It's a good thing these people talke to me because I don't say anything even if I want to usually. Said his was a 49cc with an exhaust. Kinda sounded like a leaking header gasket. He said he goes 45 against the wind and 65 with it, so he's faster than I am at least with the wind. Left him at every light too. I told both of them to check out the site so we'll see. Maybe my slow scoot will inspire them to check us out? Checked my mileage and got the best mileage I recall on T2 recently, 59.1MPG. That was from in town trying to race other scooters so it seems that trying to race is the key to better fuel efficiency. Had 2 guys in a '69 Camaro pull up to me when I was switching batteries and SD cards for the GoPro. They asked where there was a good diner. I said "I'm from 70 miles away so I'm not sure." They looked at the scooter and one said "70 miles on that?!?". They don't know the half of it. I'm sore as can be now, but still glad I was dumb enough to do it again. Now I'm just crossing my fingers that either the Vapor dries and starts working again or it's a fuse. Kinda doubt the fuse blew from moisture, but I can hope. |
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Post by oldgeek on May 17, 2015 16:28:22 GMT -5
WoW! My arse would not make it. But I do hope to make some kind of long ride sometime. Possibly a fall scamping trip sometime.
Thats a bummer about the Vapor. Brand new and multiple problems. I have not orderd mine yet, so I think I will look for something else.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using proboards
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Post by 90GTVert on May 18, 2015 15:53:32 GMT -5
oldgeek and anyone else being discouraged about a Vapor because of the last post... I found the problem, or certainly a big part of it :  The allen head bolt supplied by MotoBatt was a little stripped and I thought it was secure, but I guess not. No ground. Re-attached it and the back light worked fine. I don't really have much that's batt powered on T2, just signals and the brake light, so I never even noticed. My signals were being weird, but they are always weird when it's wet out and the flasher constantly clicks. I took it for a spin and now it appears the tach works fine too.  I pooped the CVT cover off and found quite a lot of dust for 450 miles or so. It's also very clear that the belt has been hitting the cover regularly.  The belt is glazed, but otherwise in good shape. No obvious signs of slipping on the pulley faces.  The sliders are showing some wear after ~450 miles. It's uneven and this is prob the worst one. It's easiest to see the wear by looking at how there's no or less bevel on the edge where the slider is worn down.    The ramp plate for the Malossi has sharp edges. I'm not sure that it will accomplish anything, but I smoothed them out a little.  I put a 1000RPM generic contra spring in. It's used and from a lot of parts I bought long ago. It seemed to be roughly the same stiffness at full compression, but a little stiffer than what I was using at installed height. I didn't hear the belt slapping when I started it and revved it up a few times. Took it about 1/4 mile and RPM is similar. The utility workers are parked in my yard and screwing up traffic as always lately, so I opted not to do more test runs ATM. Now it's storming anyway. I noticed that now my LED spot light is messed up. Only part of it works. Three LEDs work full time, the others decide when they want to work.   I had this 48W 14 LED 8 degree spot light around in case I decided to rip panels off of the TaoTao so I used it as a replacement. The old light is a 9 LED 27W 30 degree spot.  It's installed now and at least it's extremely bright to look at. IT may be worthless on the road, hard to tell. I'll let you know what I think whenever I get a night ride in and adjust the aim. 
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Post by oldgeek on May 18, 2015 18:11:59 GMT -5
I pooped the CVT cover off and found quite a lot of dust for 450 miles or so. It's also very clear that the belt has been hitting the cover regularly...... Damm Bro, that must have REALLY hurt!  |
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Post by 90GTVert on May 18, 2015 18:13:43 GMT -5
 Oops. |
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Post by 2TDave on May 18, 2015 18:17:57 GMT -5
Hey Brent, crap me out some parts!
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Post by iwiketuddlz on May 19, 2015 7:11:54 GMT -5
Hey Brent my vapor did something similar to what you have mentioned and the culprit for me was a weak or dead battery inside the vapor, that lil flat battery, but anyway once I replaced it ever thing was back to normal.... Just my 2 cent
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2015 8:01:21 GMT -5
It was raining last night but I went into the garage after dark to at least initially get a better aim on the new light. I noticed that when the Vapor was illuminated I could see the back light coming through the seam on the front edge. That does make me wonder even more about moisture. I know that ground issues will do strange things, but while at the show I noticed that once the weather dried out a bit the RPM displayed was more accurate, though still not right on. I don't think it's a big concern, but I'll look at it later and maybe seal around that seam. I keep forgetting to contact TT about the thermocpouple, need to get that done.
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Post by iwiketuddlz on May 19, 2015 9:37:08 GMT -5
Yea I noticed that on mine as well so I went and disassemble it and found that it is infact completely sealed with rubber seals and no way water can get inside, I actually submerged mine in a bucket of water to test my theory and baaam waterproof lol.. But I can see light shining threw the crack around the edge as well bit you will finf that it is incased in a clear shell with rubber gasket around the edge kinda like. GoPro case... Made very well IMO... Again just my 2 cent
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2015 10:35:14 GMT -5
Alright, thanks. I won't be dunking mine to test so I'll take your word on that.  |
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2015 14:38:04 GMT -5
I emailed Trail Tech this morning with 2 pics of the sender. They requested a copy of the eBay receipt a few hours later. I sent a screenshot of the eBay transaction, PayPal receipt, and a link to the seller because of this text in their reply : "As long as it was not purchased from private party on ebay and the purchase date is within one year of today we can get you a new one." I just got a reply that a new thermocouple has been ordered to be sent my way. Thumbs up to TT customer service.  |
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Post by thatcrazyguy on May 19, 2015 19:15:34 GMT -5
I emailed Trail Tech this morning with 2 pics of the sender. They requested a copy of the eBay receipt a few hours later. I sent a screenshot of the eBay transaction, PayPal receipt, and a link to the seller because of this text in their reply : "As long as it was not purchased from private party on ebay and the purchase date is within one year of today we can get you a new one." I just got a reply that a new thermocouple has been ordered to be sent my way. Thumbs up to TT customer service. How much did u pay for the vapor and what ebay seller? |
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2015 21:07:15 GMT -5
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Post by Elektrey on May 19, 2015 22:59:07 GMT -5
Can you recommend just a CHT gauge alone? do they make those?
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2015 23:22:12 GMT -5
It's a nice night so I tested the new headlight for about an hour and a half. I think the previous 27W 30 degree spot light was better on it's own. This 42W 8 degree is a bit too focused and leaves more dark areas. The light still spreads some, but there's a smaller focal point. That said, it's quite bright and combined with the 55W halogen driving light I have very good light that's spread out and really bright on the roadway just in front of me so I can see the road/shoulder and whatever obstacles may be there. I turned the GoPro on and flipped the lights around a bit so if any of that looks alright or shows much on video I'll upload it so anyone interested can see.
I went to the town about 10 miles away that I ride in a lot. As soon as I got into town, I mean literally I hit the town limits, red and blues came on behind me. I had no idea what the issue was. I was barely speeding into town... in a 50 doing prob 35 (which is rare for me) and the scoot speed limit is 30MPH.
I pulled over and shut the scooter off. The officer comes up to me...
Officer : Oh, you have a GoPro on.
Me : Yeah, but I don't even think it's on right now.
Officer leans over and shakes his head to confirm it's not on.
Officer : I've got a couple of GoPros and suction mounts.
Officer : Have you been drinking tonight?
Me : Hell no.
The officer gave me a look. I suppose "Hell no" was not the response he wanted.
Me : I never drink.
Officer : The reason I pulled you over is that your tail light is flashing. License and registration.
I hand him the license and insurance card.
Me : It's a scooter so I don't actually have a registration, just the sticker.
Officer : Oh, I don't know.
He looks at my license.
Officer : Where are you coming from.
Me : Preston.
Officer : What are you doing in Preston?
Me : I live there.
Officer : Why are you in town tonight?
Me : Just riding around, hopefully.
Officer : Why are you here from Preston?
Me : It's a nice night...
Officer : It is a nice night.
Me : ... so I wanted to ride.
Officer : Okay, well I'll give you a warning. Hang tight, it won't take long.
One more cop pulls up. Pulls away soon after.
Another cop pulls up for a minute then drives off.
Officer : Here you go. It's just a warning because your light is flickering off and on and you have to have a steady light. Get that fixed. Enjoy your ride.
Officer gets in car and heads off quickly.
Me : Thanks.
So here's the thing... I have an LED tail light which is legal. It is powered by AC from the stator so it flickers at idle, which is how the scooter was stock. The only way to fix it would be to wire it to batt power. In addition he gave me a warning for an inoperative stop light. My brake light works just fine, it's the tail light. I've rode in this town with LED lights on multiple scoots for years and it's never been an issue. I've been pulled over multiple times and never a word said about it.
I was going to tell him this, but he obviously was in a hurry to get going and maybe a month ago I had an issue with a connector to the LED assy, but I fixed it. I wasn't sure if it was acting up again. It appears to be working fine now and was just after the stop when I restarted the scoot.
I rode through town actually hoping to see him parked somewhere so I could let him know this, mostly because I ride there so much that I'd rather it not be a recurring issue. I found all kinds of cops. Every time I turned a corner it seems like a cop had someone pulled over. Never did see him just sitting anywhere. There was a guy jogging that was attacked and sexually assaulted last night in town and according to the news police would be stepping up patrols. Rather than patrol the areas where this happened, they're out late at night in force doing traffic stops. It looked like they must be having a competition or working hard on quotas.
Sorry to rant. I find it annoying getting a warning that's basically for how a scooter works.
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