OMG!!! Ponies!!!

I've got most of a BV500 engine, but I don't think that will help. Check with a salvage shop called The Motorcycle Guys in Anaheim. They sold me a used engine and some other parts and so far everything has been clean and honest.

They have a candidate but they're asking too much. It's missing a bunch of stuff... which fortunately I happen to have spares of. It also happens to have 27k miles which means I'll need to tear into it. Not a bargain.


For that price, I may be able to score a sub 10k sportcity or bv in the next few months. Then again, I might lowball them and see what falls from the tree.

The SMART thing to do is buy a NEW scooter and be done with this nonsense. Unfortunately, I have 46 pages of material proving that I am not very smaht.

I decided a long time ago that I would feel ok offering someone what an item was worth to me. There's really no "true value" to a used part. As long as everyone is being respectful and polite, it's a conversation, not a series of personal insults.

Lol. I have ZERO qualms about doing just that. It's worth what it's worth *TO ME*. I absolutely agree about the value of things. Aaaand I'm kind of a cheapskate.

Even at $200 (which is what my number is) on that engine, it's still a high risk endeavor. My time is valuable (or so I like to think) and I would have to tear it down before i feel comfortable trusting it for the race. It's just a few hours of work but my motivation is at an all time low.... I peaked a little too early in my enthusiasm and the extra special bonus wait has not helped in the slightest.

I guess maybe I'd just ride the crap out of the scooter you have for a bit of time, say a couple of months, and see how it reacts. Better it should break close to home. Or, better, it proves itself to you and you press on with the original plan. Most of us overthink the crap out of everything. I already decided not to send this post, undecided, and then just said f it and pushed post.

That is still plan A. I'm just going to have to move the longer rides up in the year so that there's time to adapt down the road.

Si deficient cogitare quod superaverint, non possunt esse actiones nunquam

On that note, we begin anew henceforthly...

1st up, replace the OEM pump. I had already replaced it once but replaced it back because of fit issues. I had ordered this kit:



Which touted itself as 'direct fit replacement'.



See?

Except that... you guessed it. It's not!

The filter doesn't quite fit.



It's both thicker around the middle and taller than OEM. As I mentioned earlier I was able to find a direct replacement part. The stock FPR doesn't not have the side nipple. Third side nipples are cool and all -- I'd never turn down a chance to see one on a human, but they're not what we're after. I dimpled the original one by a few mm to increase the pressure and stuck it back in. What pressure am I running at now? A little more than before? Who knows. I'll get around to measuring it at some point.

The hose that comes with it is also thicker because the nipple on the pump is thicker. I mean, it's HIGH FLOW, why wouldn't it be thicker?

Crisis averted as I was able to score some bits of fuel line from my neighbor. He's in the middle of restoring some bikes and had some left over.



A little bit of this, two clamps and some grunting got everything back together. I hope it holds up. It says fuel line on it but I'm pretty sure that means the the *inside* is for fuel, right?

I also went back to stock injector just because.

Fired right up! Woo Hoo!

Now I have to ride it with a nearly empty tank to make sure the pump doesn't crap out. I think it's time to actually ride this damn thing again, don't you?

I'm having trouble staying motivated.

Still, I manged to get *something* sorted over the past few weeks...

Seat is raised, shaped and ready for cover. That's a something, right?



Instrument mount is getting closer to realization.



Originally I just wanted to clamp the bar to the windscreen mounts but upon further review I think I'm going to fabricate something that has a little more adjustability.

HOWEVER....

I've been thinking...

I'm not all that confident with this bike anymore and I think it's sucking the life out of my motivation.

So what to do?

I ask my assistant.



Who is STILL no help whatsoever.

Ride the Vespa?



It sure is pretty but I don't think my back will tolerate 8-10 hrs a day on it.

So what to do? The clock is ticking.

Another, newer bike?

That's a thought.

Except...

Nobody makes a large wheeled scoot between 150 and 279 cc's in the US market.

Nobody you say? Nobody??

Then what's this?



https://www.sym-usa.com/models/citycomS.html

278CC, 16"front 14"rear, fuel injected, Under $5k. Looks just like the Beverly.

Crap.

I have found assistants to frequently be less than helpful, myself.

I think you need to take the BV out for a road trip to see if it restores your faith. It might. And it sure is cute.

Fired it up yesterday and the CEL came on.

Could be bad gas or that the engine didn't adapt to the new pump/injector yet. Doesn't really matter... Now that I've gone through all of the maps and gotten a reality check on the distances involved, I think I'm done.

Worrying that it will fail in the middle of nowhere is not my idea of fun. I'll keep it for local trips but I think a newer bike is the right answer right now. I should be able to flip it after I get back without much trouble.

What about an smax? Or that funny 150 from piaggio who’s name escapes me


Edit, liberty

What, you want me to look like an escaped circus bear out on the great plains?

Had an smax, too small and unfortable. I imagine most other 150s are going to be similar. Need at least 250cc because fat boy and hills. Smax was great on the flats but add any wind or hills and it really struggled. Squirrely at speed and COG was too high. The handlebars hit my knees and (true story) I once got it wedged over my knee and couldn't get out of a right hand turn coming out of the DMV. Damn near dislocated my ankle getting my leg unstuck in time. Gem of an engine otherwise.

Yesterday, I divided the saddle into the major cuts.



The flanks are going to be a problem!

After an hour or so of cutting and trying to sew material, I checked in my Dunning-Kruger card. I neither have the skills or tools to execute this correctly so it's getting outsourced.

Yay, more delays.

In the meantime, I did productive 'been meaning to get to' things.

Things like



Getting the damn drills out of the way.

And answering the question none of you had.

"I wonder what's inside those free Harbor Freight flashlights?"



Now you know!

BTW, that little stunt cost me $40. Had to order up some more eneloops to make the lights functional again. They're pretty useful and I only buy rechargables these days.

I just replace those cheapo batteries with Kirkland AAA batteries. My problem is I put the light down face down, and leave it on. And then it's dead again. But I use them all over the house.

Come on old timer, time to get with the program and stop buying throw-away batteries.

I think it's been close to 10 years since I've made the switch. Eneloops are the cat's meow as long as you have a decent bulk charger that has a slow mode (less heat).

In other news...

I applied some recently learned metal bending skills.



Turns out, you really can learn stuff from a dummy.

I really should have known that. It's kind of my day job.

Rechargeable are superior to alkalines in almost everyway now . Capacity is equal. What's missing for most people is the decent charger/analyzer. Without a battery analyzer, a couple of marginal cells will exist in a collection of good cells and make people hate rechargeables. So get an Opus C3100 analyzer charger and you will never pick up a marginal rechargeable ( and be disappointed) again.

Is the the dummy in the foreground for the DOD?

They all are. They are the next generation test dummies for vehicle blast testing. Google WIAMan. We designed and build the dummies and all of the data recorders inside of them. One of the goals was to reduce cableage. Note that there is a single 3/4" bundle exiting each manikin. Compare that to the 'state of the art':



It's a little embellished, obviously but the rat's nest of wiring that test labs have to put up with is astounding.

Had to go into the office today to get some stuff and I *finally* got to take a bike out for a spin.

Cold this morning by the coast but the heated grips helped out. It was a happy morning until I got home.



Dammit.



I probably didn't shave the oil pan gasket down enough. Not the first time this has happened.

In other news, the BV350 has moved on to greener pastures. Not riding it all so there's no point in having it in the garage.

In other, other news, there is movement in the SCBR world. People are beginning to stir and trying to figure out how to use their GPSes. I have seriousl reservations that it will happen this year but you never know.

I'm contemplating picking up one of these if it looks like the race will happen.



Same displacement and price as the yellow GTS but it's NEW. Would have saved a lot of hassle with pinkie had I known about it earlier...

Anybody got one I can sit on?