Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Dec 14, 2015 10:51:47 GMT -6
I know I'm in the minority here but I think a good, synthetic rear end oil should last at least a few thousand miles or more. Rear drive cars used 85W-90 for years. I know my parents didn't change it every thousand miles either.
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Dec 11, 2015 17:53:07 GMT -6
I didn't take it in a bad way Jack. I am doing a combined fleet mileage of around 4,000 to 5,000 annually. The CF Moto is only collecting about 3,000 a year since I have so much stuff to play with. Now I have the big Kawasaki and the little Nighthawk to goof around on so I will be spreading mileage even thinner. If one of these kids doesn't start to use Sara's Rebel I'll have yet another vehicle to ride on. Given the fleet I have at the moment it will be about 16 years before I hit 50k. At which point it will be darn near an Antique.
I'm Facebook friends with a Helix owner and you know what? They may last a long time but what they won't tell you is how much fiddling they do. This guy was posting endless pictures of his scooter being "Maintained". Yes, he did over 10,000 miles this season but he was constantly lubing, greasing, replacing and adjusting things. He was even cleaning the dust out of his brake drum periodically. Don't get me started on the goings on in the Vespa forum. Those things are European Chinese scooters at five times the price.
Every month they report on another Vespa dealer going under. Right now there are more dealers selling Bintelli than there are Vespa dealer.
You know what's worse for me about CF Moto? I defended them. I said they had a plan. I was sure they were going to make even better scooters than the Jetmax and Charm. The NK 650 sells like hotcakes in the rest of the world. Then they turn around and dump the whole two wheeled line. Like I said, I might have bought the 650 street bike, now you couldn't give me one.
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Dec 11, 2015 7:52:31 GMT -6
engine should be good for another 50K+ without blinking an eye.
Another 50k!!?? If I get 50k out of the original engine for what I paid it will receive a grand sendoff to the Bone Yard. Or I'll put it up on blocks as a Static Monument.
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Post by w650 on Dec 10, 2015 11:33:28 GMT -6
Fortunately since I have the CN-250 motor and that's the part that might need work. I had the starter motor let go and bought a replacement from Partsforscooters for $59. You know what the Honda Helix starter goes for? How about over $400!
I had the same thing happen with the Honda Nighthawk. The starter OEM is $334. I actually ordered it and returned it after finding a Chinese equivalent for $56 on Ebay. If the Fashion ever needs rings or guides it's gone. I paid $1200 for it and by my scale of dollars to miles it will have paid me back in 750 miles. After that repairs have to be based on some level headed thinking.
After all, now that winter is here there are some ridiculous bargains out there. The other day I saw a 2005 Burgman 650 with 67,000 miles for $1500 on Craigslist. I know that's a bunch of miles but it would give me $1500 worth of use in no time and after that....Who cares.
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Post by w650 on Dec 10, 2015 3:42:37 GMT -6
The difference with Flyscooters was that their scooters weren't their own. All of them were sold by other companies. Fly sold the La Vie which GS Motoworks sold as the Carina. Both were even built by Znen and used the same parts as all GY6 versions. With CF Moto you're stuck. I have a stock of front brake pads for the Fashion against the day when they might not be available anymore. They might be the same as a Helix but I didn't take any chances. Imagine having to scrap a scooter because you wear out the pads and can't get brakes? As I said, most Helix parts bolt right up but there are subtle differences in some.
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Dec 8, 2015 13:18:55 GMT -6
The only good thing about having the Fashion is that many Honda Helix parts bolt right on and Alpha Sports is good about getting me standard CF Moto parts (Thanks Tom). If I ever have to do anything major though, it's gone. I'm pretty disgusted that they brought bikes and scooters in first, made a name for themselves with them and just abandoned their owners.
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Post by w650 on Dec 8, 2015 11:27:27 GMT -6
wow i just checked out the nk650,,,nice bike,,,really hard to grasp the idea of putting all that developement into a machine like that and abandoning it,,,, No. In Civilized parts of the world they still sell bikes, just not here. www.cfmoto.com.au/road |
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Dec 8, 2015 7:22:40 GMT -6
Give it to him, he hit the nail right on the head. CF Moto has abandoned two wheels in this Country. First the scooters, now the motorcycles. I was almost tempted to buy an NK 650, now I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole. They were selling new ones for $4000, now I know why. They've gone ATV and Side by Sides. www.cfmoto-us.com/ |
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Post by w650 on Nov 17, 2015 20:35:42 GMT -6
It stops pretty good with just the front brake. I'm thinking once I get the rear brake functioning it will stop enough for me. I'm just impressed with how it pulls already. I only took it up to 45 mph just to see if it was steady. For something that hadn't run in years it moved out pretty smartly. Once I get a plate on it I'll move on to bigger numbers.
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Post by w650 on Nov 17, 2015 19:13:54 GMT -6
You know Pete, When I bring a bike back to life I bond with the thing. Once it's road legal I don't know what I want to do with it. Originally I was going to give it to my stepson but I sold his last bike, a 50cc like my Cub clone because he never used it. He's had a bike license for three years and it's been two years since he last rode anything.
Now I'm partially thinking this might be the Grand Tour machine for next Spring/Summer. A set of soft bags and a Slipstreamer shield and it would be all set. I'm getting a soft spot in my heart for it but I have the big Kawasaki and the 250 CF Moto. So many bikes to choose from.
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Nov 17, 2015 12:31:23 GMT -6
I paid too much but it cost me $500. It's been through the wringer but I'll be darned if it didn't start right up after I installed the new carburetor. It's easy to see though why old Japanese bikes get junked. The carb was $234 but I got the starter off Ebay for $56. It's the Chinese equivalent. A real Honda starter is $348. The rear brakes don't work at all so I bought new shoes for $21, shipped and the signals don't work at all. Worst comes to worst I'll run a hot wire off some live wire, that runs off the key, in the headlight. I took it for a test ride and it picks up strong despite the abuse. Of course the drum front brake stinks and without rear brakes I almost overshot my driveway coming back. I don't know what I'll do with it but there's something very satisfying about getting a bike that's not running to howl to life and even more satisfying when you get to ride it.
It was used by someone, or someones, years ago. It has 15,000 miles on it.
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Doc's Anything Goes
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Post by w650 on Nov 16, 2015 16:53:01 GMT -6
The week after my wife passed I saw a Honda 250 Nighthawk in Craigslist. "Needs Carb put back on. I'll deliver". This clown comes over with the bike. Pieces are missing, he thinks he's an expert and is a jerk and the exhaust pipes are gutted. I took it anyway but wasn't so sure it would ever run again. Then I hunkered down, started checking things and found out he had monkeyed the carb to death and the starter was blown. $300 later in parts and some swearing this happened.
It still needs rear brakes, the signals don't work and neither does the brake or tail lights. But it runs which is more than i thought would happen two months ago.
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Post by w650 on Nov 15, 2015 19:29:31 GMT -6
Why they put the stator behind the engine is beyond me. Every CX-500 and 650 had that and they all fail sooner or later. Since you have to remove the engine to replace it they all get scrapped. No one wants to pay more than the bike is worth to have a stator installed. Dumb, very dumb.
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Post by w650 on Nov 13, 2015 19:24:27 GMT -6
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Post by w650 on Nov 5, 2015 17:52:46 GMT -6
I'm sure it has several miles left and reminds me of my KZ1000st with the way it runs. I was riding home from the place I picked it up and noticed that it was spinning 4,000 rpm at 60 mph. At first I thought "Holy Crap"! Then I looked at the tach to see where redline was. It redlines at 10,000 so I guess a mere 4,000 is nothing. This engine was the basis for their AMA Superbike effort in 1983 so I guess it's pretty beefy. It is basically the same as the '83 GP 750 except it doesn't have polished ports.
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