Insurance Company cuts Scooter Insurance costs

phildave — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +0000

If you ride or own a scooter then you should certainly call Westhill Insurance for a low-cost insurance quote and benefit from free breakdown recovery.

As the UK is now officially in recession, car manufacturers are reducing supply and every day brings more news on lost jobs. It’s at times like these that you need to save money on insurance and that is where Westhill Insurance can help – especially if you need scooter insurance or moped insurance.

This is definately a move in the right direction. The full story can be read on …. http://londonbikers.com/news/10716/westhill-cutting-cost-of-scooter-insurance

Maintaining your Battery

phildave — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:00:43 +0000

The battery in a scooter is different to the one your car. It has comparatively small electrical capacity, is constantly drained by alerts and headlamps, and doesn’t charge as promptly as a automobile battery does.

The Problem

A scooter battery can lose substantial charge whenever the scooter hasn’t been used for a week or two, and it generally requires much more a short run to recharge it. Usually its more common to see a dead scooter battery in wintertime when scootering is at a minimum. Also, Chinese scooter batteries are distinctly inferior, but domestic ones are not much better. The always-on headlamps, put together with the on-by-default warning devices on most scooters both contribute promptly to dead scooter batteries.

The Answer

Keep your battery charged up, even with an electric charger if needed! Naturally, it’s generally possible to start your scooter, even whenever the spark plug gets wet, but it can take a good bit of fast and hard cranking to get it going again and the kick starter can’t seem to do the job (kick starting can also be painful, depending on the design. You need to ride them very consistently to keep the battery fully charged, so a trickle charger is almost all-important equipment for a scooterist who doesn’t ride on a regular basis.

Don’t jump start it!

If your scooter won’t turn over with the electric starter, a jump-start isn’t necessarily recommended. Even with the car engine off, a jump start from a car battery can overpower the scooters electrical system, blowing fuses or worse - the voltage regulator blew.). Keeping your battery fully charged is a much better solution.

Rebuild a 2 stroke Top End

phildave — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:50:20 +0000

1. Before you disassemble your engine, power-wash the engine and the rest of the vehicle. That will reduce the risk of dirt and debris falling into the engine. Once you remove the cylinder, stuff a clean rag down into the crankcases.

2. The cylinder and head use alignment pins to hold them straight in position from the crankcases on up. The pins make it difficult to remove the cylinder from the cases and the head from the cylinder. Sometimes the steel alignment pins corrode into the aluminum engine components. Try spraying penetrating-oil down the mounting studs before attempting to remove the cylinder and head. Never use a flat-blade screwdriver, chisel, or metal hammer to remove the cylinder. Instead use this technique; buy a lead-shot plastic mallet, swing it at a 45-degree angle upwards against the sides of the cylinder. Alternate from left to right, hitting the sides of the cylinder to separate it from the cases evenly. Clean the steel alignment pins with steel wool and penetrating-oil. Examine the pins closely. If they are deformed in shape, they won’t allow the engine parts to bolt together tightly. This can cause a dangerous air leak or a coolant leak. The pins are cheap at about $2 each. Replace them if they,re rusty or deformed.

3. Never re-use old gaskets. Remove them with a razor blade or gasket scraper. Don’t use a drill-driven steel wool type pad to remove old gaskets because they can remove aluminum from the cylinder and head. That will cause a gasket to leak.

4. Always check the ring end gap on a new ring by placing it in the cylinder between the head gasket surface and the exhaust port. The gap should be between .012 to .024 inches.

5. Always install the circlips with the opening facing straight up or down, that way inertia will hold it tight into the clip groove. Place one clip in the groove before installing the piston on the connecting rod. Its easier to install a clip with the piston in your hand rather than on the rod. There also less chance that you,ll drop the circlip in the crankcases.

6. Always install the rings on the piston with the markings facing up. Coat the rings with pre-mix oil so they can slide in the groove when trying to install the piston in the cylinder.

7. Always install the piston on the connecting rod with the arrow on the piston crown facing towards the exhaust port.

8. The traditional way to assemble the top end is to install the piston assembly on the connecting rod, compress the rings, and slide the cylinder over the piston. That can be difficult with larger bore cylinders, or if you,re working by yourself. Try this method instead. Install one circlip in the piston, install the piston into the cylinder with the pin hole exposed, install the piston pin through one side of the piston, position the cylinder over the connecting rod and push the piston pin through until it bottoms against the circlip, install the other circlip. It only takes two hands to install the top end using this manor and there is less chance that you,ll damage the rings by twisting the cylinder upon installation.

9. On cylinders with reed valves and large oval intake ports, take care when installing the piston assembly in the cylinder because the rings are likely to squeeze out of the ring grooves. Use a flat-blade screwdriver to gently push the rings back in the grooves so the piston assembly can pass by the intake port.

10. For steel head gaskets, place the round side of the “bump” facing up. Don’t use liquid gasket sealer, use aerosol spray adhesive types instead. For hybrid fiber/steel ring head gaskets, place the wide side of the steel rings facing down.

1. When you initially start the engine after a rebuild, manipulate the choke to keep the engine rpm relatively low. Once the engine is warm enough to take it off choke, drive the vehicle around on flat hard ground. Keep it under 2/3 throttle for the first 30 minutes. Two common myths for proper engine break-in are:
1. Set the engine at a fast idle, stationary on a stand.
2. Add extra pre-mix oil to the fuel. When the engine is on a stand it doesn’t have any air passing through the radiator and it is in danger of running too hot. When you add extra oil to the fuel you are effectively leaning the carb jetting. This can make the engine run hotter and seize.

Oil Changes

phildave — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 14:49:20 +0000

I know this is a bit off topic, but the principles ally to almost all scooters, Lambrettas included.The most important thing to do is regular oil changes for four stroke engines. Two stroke engines burn up their engine oil, and so you do not have to trouble yourself with changing it. Scooters only accommodate roughly a quart of engine oil. The larger Yamaha scooters have got oil filters, but Hondas do not have filters (only a small screen). Given the small engine capacity of nearly most scooters, they incline to get run hard. The low volume of oil, lack of an oil filter and high rpm use results to oil breakdown much faster than your in car. Ideally change the scooter oil about every 1000 miles. This might sound intense, but consider these couple of points :
How long does it take you to reach a 1000 miles? Unless you’re driving a 250cc scooter on the motorway every day, it will in all likelihood it will probably take a few months. It’s not as though you need to change it weekly. If you are putting on a lot of motorway miles, the engine is probably not being stressed with a lot of stop-and-go riding. You also are less likely to run the engine through a lot of hot/cold cycles. In this case you may be able to draw out the oil change time.

Given that most scooters take only about a quart of oil - what’s the cost ? Even the very best synthetic oil is only £8.00 a litre. As for oil, use a top quality oil made for smaller engines (Castrol or Mobil for example). Rember that changing your oil is far more inexpensive than an engine replacement.
Note that the 80-125-150-250 Honda’s have a small window in the speedometer. The window alters colour from green to red every 1000 miles. It is to prompt you to change the oil. After you have changed it, just place the key into the slot on the lower left side instrument panel and push. This resets the colour back to green.

Transmission oil?
Honda and Yamaha scooters have a small transmission system. It’s concealed away in a small area close to the rear wheel. Don’t forget about the transmission oil! There is only about 200cc’s of oil here - a very little amount. Almost all scooters use standard high quality engine oil and a few take gear oil. If your scooter needs engine oil, it should be changed fairly often. The gears put a lot of stress on the oil, reducing its effectiveness over time. It is decidedly a annoyance to change this oil and add the fresh oil, but it must be done. If not, the oil will in time turn to a dense dark, molasses like stuff. Your bearings and gears will suffering, and they will in time fail.

FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR SCOOTER RELATED EVENT’S HERE

phildave — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:09:29 +0000

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD YOUR SCOOTER RELATED EVENTS HERE.

(Feel free if you want to add a link to here and get even more exposure)