Day by Day cartoon

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Scooter Updates for July

Hmm, there's lots going on with my scootering this month. I even met another scooterist in Ogden this week. Jon has a Phantom clone called a Wildfire that he bought off Ebay. Visually it is an identical twin to my scoot, even the color. We happened to cross paths early this week and stopped to chat and compare notes. Jon had to put his together when it arrived from Ohio and the scoot had suffered a little plastic damage that he is trying to get replaced. He's also already discovered PowerSportsFactory and has ordered their HP150 exhaust and variator. He's ordered a racing clutch as well and is planning to have my buddies at Quad & ATV Sales install all the new bits when they arrive. Jon's scoot has a different method of mounting the muffler than the standard Phantoms so there is going to be a little challenge fitting up the new exhaust system.

My HP150 muffler is on its way back to PSF for warranty consideration. I discovered last week that the inlet pipe portion had separated from the outer can portion of the muffler. In fact, the pipe would rotate around inside the cannister. A quick email to Alan, the manager there at PSF confirmed that my pipe's failure was the first of its kind from the 500 that PSF has sold this summer. So I got instructions to send it back and Alan has promised to either warranty it out with a new one or get it welded up for me.

In the mean time, I'm using my JC Whitney megaphone muffler attached to the header of the HP150. It looks really sharp. (pictures later- from home.) With my homemade stinger installed, the sound is deep but not obnoxious, with the pipe open as it was designed, its really, really noisy. Its too noisy for a responsible citizen to impose on the community. And it produces less power than the HP150 muffler! Overall, the scoot just doesn't run as crisply with the megaphone as with the cannister muffler. Taking out the stinger makes it better but the top speed is still decreased and obnoxious. So I'll run it as it is until my cannister makes it back from New Jersey.

I've also purchased a tachometer and a voltmeter for the scoot. The tach is a Tiny Tach and the LED voltmeter came from Wing Toys, a Gold Wing specialist place. . Those 2 shiny bits only arrived this week and so are not yet installed. But they both look pretty slick and I'll get pictures once they are installed.

And- I'm supposed to be putting my Phantom in a motorcycle show at Lindquist Field on Saturday! The show is being called Bike Stock and apparently its supposed to be a concert with motorcycles on display. I've got almost no details but I signed up just on a lark and if I get my term paper for Org Behavior finished, I'll shine up the Phantom and take it down there for a while.

Lots still to do this week before next week's Oregon trip so I gotta run now!

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