55 miles... take that don-oh !

Fred /

May 04, 2002 06:37PM

My longest 'day' ever on a ped... I pedded out to Kensington Metropark for a kayak 'demo-day'.. (where they let you try all the demo kayaks brought out by a dealer.

I paddled 8 boats or so... didn't go 'swimming'... : ) ... cool.

Since I have the PA-50 running about as good as ever... and reading don-oh's long distance exploits... I had to take the ped.

Ran great on the way out.... (25 miles)... topping out at an occasional 30mph... climbing moderate hills at 21... pretty good.

I found one steep hill on a dirt road that took it waaaay down to 6mph... very steep... never had it go so low.

Then on the way back... it did its typical ... "won't top out" routine.. where it struggles at about 24mph... Its always a teeny bit of crud in the main jet.... I am going to stop this finally (I hope)... by using and extra small orifice inline filter (uses a 'copper mesh' labyrinth type of filter medium.. instead of the too big motorcycle style slotted plastic filter).

Actually... I am going to add the new one... and leave the old one.. this carb is just soooo susceptible to dirt/rust/crud it isn't funny.

At least it didn't die... I am now finally beginning to trust it more than I used to.

I was screaming down some of the steep hills at the Park at 36mph.... It has seized twice in the past while doing this... I've got it figured out a bit better now.

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Dave Gregory /

colon02

May 04, 2002 08:02PM

good job fred....but what i lack in age (im only 14)...i make up in the amt of miles i put on my moped daily. the most iv put on in 1 day was exactly 74 .....well a little over... but i rode not stop and had to refill once that day... my average daily (when my moped runs right...right now i need a new throttle cable) is about 45. do u have a high performance exhast on that beast of urs??? im thinking about getting one but my moped does 30 (well thats the highest my speddo goes) even on bad days

~dave~

My odometer IS in miles... not km

Fred /

May 04, 2002 08:30PM

That park is a known distance from my house... and the ped measured the distance pretty accurately (25 miles).

So last year when I convinceed myself I really didn't ride 40 miles one time... (I thought maybe it was 40 km... from Ron's guess here).... I must have actually ridden the full 40 miles.... hmmmmmmm

Oh well... good to know.. and my gas mileage estimates just went up 50%... lol ...

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

wonko /

May 05, 2002 02:37AM

I just rode about 16, and got pulled over for doing 36 in a 30. The cop was asking -me- questions about what kind of license I needed, and let me go. He didn't even run my license. Whooo!!!

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Chris S /

May 05, 2002 10:14AM

Fred,

could you elaborate on your statement "It has seized twice in the past while doing this... I've got it figured out a bit better now"??

I'm curious about this, since I notice the "screaming" effect when going down really steep hills. I'm also curious regarding the concept of performance pipes. I don't use them, but many do. They allow the engine to develop higher rpms, and I've always wondered about the potential for seizure.

thanks,

Chris

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

Ron Brown /

May 05, 2002 12:23PM

Fred,

Congratulations! Does this mean you will be riding to the BBQ? : )

Btw, what's this about km's vs miles, all of my peds measure miles, did we have some discussion about this in the past?

Ron

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Dave Gregory /

colon02

May 05, 2002 03:08PM

i know some ppl that use pipes....they say it makes the ped go 5 mph faster...i think it does 2. i have also heard that it makes it so you get less m.p.g.....im on the line about buying one...should i???

~dave~

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

Fred /

May 05, 2002 03:27PM

yeah... last summer I went on what was going to be the longest ride ever on my ped (since I mostly just ride to the store on it)... when I got back it showed 40 miles... but it didn't "feel" anything like 40... and the destination wasn't all that far.

When I mentioned that here... you said that maybe the odo is in kilometers... (I thought you said something like "many are in km"...)

So I just ran with that assumption... I was wrong.

Anyway... the 25 mile long trips weren't that bad really... They took about an hour... and I bet cars don't average much better (on those roads).

I don't know if I'm ready for any 150 mile ones... the first thing I have to do is eliminate that... "run good for a while - then take 5 mph off the top"... because of something always finding its way into the main jet.... more filters!

That... and I want to get it to go 35... so I can cruise at 30 comfortably.

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Fred /

May 05, 2002 03:37PM

All vehicles are going to 'scream' downhill... they will reach the highest RPM they will ever get to... 'screaming' is just a description of the sound... not something to worry about really.

The carb on the PA-50I doesn't act like its supposed to.. and I am still figuring out how to work with the little piece of junk.

Pipes will make more top end RPM and speed... and as long as you richen up the jetting you should be fine.

(but any engine that is run harder is more likely to have problems anyway).

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

Ron Brown /

May 05, 2002 03:47PM

Fred,

Obviously, my sometimers is kicking in again, I thought you made the comment on k vs m, oh well.

I'm not ambitious enough to do a search, so lets bame someone else. It was most likely Don-Ohio who said it. : )

When I ride to the BBQ, I usually leave from M52 and I96, that makes it about 95 miles one way so if you cruise at 25 it is only 4 hours in the saddle.

Think about it.

Btw, Have you ever tried clearing your main jet on the road using the "suck it out" method? Rev the ped, block the air intake and twist the throttle wide open. Causes max flow through the main jet and will clear anything small enough to pass through it.

Ron

140 miles

Fred /

May 05, 2002 07:50PM

Yeah but... keep in mind '52 and 96'... is 45 miles from me.. so that comes to 140 total... I really wouldn't mind that... the pain and whatever wouldn't bother me... but this thing has to feel reliable... I have to trust it... and it ain't there yet..

I just went to ride it and I get this wild vibration... the eggs awst (?! hehe) pipe has cracked up at the cylinder mount.

So now I get to weld that up... doh !.. good thing it didn;'t happen yesterday... I'da had to slow to 18 tops to keep from falling apart.

One other thing... I would HAVE to put on some extra footpeg mounts on it.. it is too cramped for long times in the saddle... I don't know how Casey does it.. (6 feet tall?)

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

Dave Gregory /

colon02

May 05, 2002 09:32PM

ron are u really gonna travel that far 4 the BBQ???? wow. that would suck if you broke down half way. hope your prepared. i asked my mom if i could go out 2 the BBQ but she wont let me....i think its because its a little to far away....hmmm. mabey i make it next year.

~dave~

Re: 140 miles

Casey B /

Go to branch

casey

May 05, 2002 11:02PM

haha.. yeah.. it gets a little crowded on the honda after a while... especially since i have been riding the grande for so long now... its like twice the size of the honda...

have you thought about getting the proma exhaust for your honda? mine runs so much better now.. the stock exhaust on the honda is so damn restrictive, its crazy...

they also have a 70cc liquid cooled kit for the honda on 50cc.nl.. and a 21mm carb and malossi transmmission kit... i think once i get my honda painted and everything, im going to order all of that and make a good racer out of it... i have some really cool idea for aesthetic/comfort issues that i am going to apply... ill be sure to keep everyone posted.

casey

Re: My odometer IS in miles... not km

Ron Brown /

May 06, 2002 10:21AM

Dave,

I have done it twice allready. I carry small tools and a tire repair kit.

I travelled the first time with 2 peds and the second with 3. I think this year I am going back to 2 Motobecanes as the Batavus was too slow and added about an hour to the trip.

Ron

filter

Phil /

May 06, 2002 10:32AM

I use an inline filter that has a little paper cylinder/canister type filter inside, kinda like a car's air filter. I picked it up for $5, at a hardware store that services mowers.

Re: 140 miles

Ron Brown /

May 06, 2002 11:11AM

Fred,

Sorry, I guess I was unclear. I transport the peds by truck or van and leave from the Michigan Brewing Company parking lot. Beer is good when you return, peddingafter beer is not!

Ron

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Jimmy /

May 06, 2002 02:13PM

I agree with Fred about up-jetting...This is why I believe the problem of back-wheel lockups on the new Avanti mopeds are related to jetting.... everytime my back wheel locked up I was coming down a hill...and while reading other people's post about their Avanti back wheel lockups they happened on a down-hill scream too... so I've boosted my jetting up a few notches, just to keep the motor cool so it won't soft-sieze.

BTW, in my Avanti moped's owner's manual, it states that the moped should only be run for about 15 miles and then the motor allowed to be cooled down, shut off for a rest. I notice that guys are taking over 100 mile trips,etc... are you stopping at all to let the motor cool or upjetting or just melting down your motors ?? :)

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Ron Brown /

May 06, 2002 02:54PM

Jimmy,

Provided your jetting is not too lean, screaming (wide open throttle) down hill should not be a problem.

2 strokes do have a generic problem in that if you close the throttle at high rpm, the internal parts are still moving fast but the lubrication is minimal because it is proportional to throttle opening. Add to this, the fact that the cooling fins are getting lots of air flow to cool off and shrink the cylinder, while the hot piston gets no significand cooling and you have a recipe for disaster.

If you watch 2 stroke road racing, more often than not, these bikes will sieze when the throttle is closed at high speed, such as the entry to a corner.

As for running a ped in 15 minute stretches then cooling off. Are you sure this is not just for the running in period? I have never heard this rule applied to a broken-in engine.

Ron

PA50 pipe

Fred /

May 06, 2002 09:02PM

Yeah Casey...the exhaust is one of the first things I changed years ago ... (from that stupid stock 'box' thing).

I calculated and built my own pipe.

Probably not as good as the Proma though.

Re: PA50 pipe

Casey B /

Go to branch

casey

May 06, 2002 09:10PM

oh! thats right... i remember you posting to me a year or more ago about making your own pipe for the honda...

that rocks... do you have a picture of the exhaust you made?

casey

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Jimmy /

May 07, 2002 02:14PM

Ron Brown wrote:

>

> Jimmy,

>

> Provided your jetting is not too lean, screaming (wide open

> throttle) down hill should not be a problem.

>

> 2 strokes do have a generic problem in that if you close the

> throttle at high rpm, the internal parts are still moving

> fast but the lubrication is minimal because it is

> proportional to throttle opening. Add to this, the fact that

> the cooling fins are getting lots of air flow to cool off and

> shrink the cylinder, while the hot piston gets no significand

> cooling and you have a recipe for disaster.

>

> If you watch 2 stroke road racing, more often than not, these

> bikes will sieze when the throttle is closed at high speed,

> such as the entry to a corner.

>

> As for running a ped in 15 minute stretches then cooling

> off. Are you sure this is not just for the running in

> period? I have never heard this rule applied to a broken-in

> engine.

>

> Ron

*******

Hi Ron

You make very good points there,I think you are correct on all accounts ..... I am convinced that my stock Avanti Pacco carb had a marginal sized 52 jet in it when I bought the bike... and that the famed back wheel lockups mostly occur as people come down hills, turning down their throttles,creating heat and soft-siezes... I think Avanti owners should put alittle larger jets in their carbs then the stock ones.. They advertise the bikes for their gas mileage, which is most important to Indian customers due to their econmy and high gas prices, but the engines can overheat.

I'm at work and don't have the manual with me... I'm pretty sure that they said to run 15 miles and let it cool for nornal running, and didn't mean the break in period...but who knows ? The manual isn't too well written...also, maybe they know their jets are small , making the engines run hot , and suggest short hop travelling ? I'll check the manual when at home.

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Ron Brown /

May 07, 2002 02:54PM

Jimmy,

I guess you could be right about the jet, but I have a hard time believing that they would not have corrected this by now, given that the warranty would have to replace all the broken parts.

I could see a quality problem like an air leak causing a similar problem.

Have you ever done a plug chop?

Ron

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Jimmy /

May 08, 2002 08:46AM

I know it seems hard to believe that a company might set their bikes up this way,on the edge of over heating but I think that's what's been going on... too many other Avanti owners have had soft siezes and back wheel lockups now for me to believe it's just my bike.... I've just rebuilt my motor, going to a Pollini kit, so now I have have on order even larger jets to try. The stock 52 jet, while very fuel efficient, made mine run pretty hot.

Re: 55 miles... take that don-oh !

Jimmy /

May 08, 2002 09:01AM

My plug is usually a tan color, doesn't seem to be a problem there.... but the bike would overheat and soft-sieze on some downhill runs with the origianl stock setup....when I took the old piston out , it had rub marks on it, mostly on two sides . Could be that their pistons are made of Indian-quality control standards ( defects )..?. So far this Italian Pollini piston is doing much better....The stock carb jet was a 52, I've got a 56 jet in there now and have some larger jets on order to try out....I have the stock tailpipe and stock carb on it now.. the moped is almost too fast ... for a few seconds I full throttled it and had it goosed up to 50mph....I heard that the clutches on these bikes may not be up to the power of a 65cc kit..not sure if the brakes will be up to these speeds either so I most likely will not be running totally full throttle all the time like I was before, but it's nice to know that you got speed if you need it :)

Re: 550 miles...had a BLAST ! !

don-ohio /

May 10, 2002 04:30AM

A conservative estimate of my `pedding during my 7 days off. I took 4 long trips(in another post I already mentioned going to Columbus which is 200+ round trip on side roads), 2 trips of which were over 120 miles and one was 80+ miles.I did 5(yes,only 5) miles today right before work just to go to Hammertown Lake,the nearer road. I got home after 6PM and had to RUSH to get to work on time at 7PM. But it was worth it.......the lake was beautiful. (:^)

MOPED ARMY

Login or Create Account