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Well, the TGB R9i 150 hit the road yesterday after Bryan finished the PDI and rejetted the
carb with hi performance jets from MRP. I am trying to keep it below or at 40 mph for the
break in period with occaisional pops to 50 but it wants to go faster. It is the best balanced
of all my scoots an a pleasure to ride. Took Bryan and Jeannie out to lunch as a Thank You
for all the efforts and help put in nd today we are going to take a ride to Burnt Mountain,
a scenic ride.
After lunch Jeannies TGB 150 Del had a dead battery and hd to b kick started. She has a
habit of shutting down using the kill switch. This time she forgot to tun off the switch and
it being a 3 yearold battery and her not riding as much in the winter the battery went south.
Bryan replaced it when we got back to the shop.
Moral of story: Use kill switch in emergancies only!!!!
EM, pix will be in the wa soon.

Remember that we pay double taxes on the gas we buy, both state and federal. We are not as bad off yet as Europe but our pride in being bested fuel cost wise by the Euros has been
badly bruised. We MUST raise state and federal fuel taxes so we can how them that we being hurt worse than they are. It is a matter of national pride.
(Oh dear, is it time for my meds again??)

I read this morning that fuel pricing in Great Britain has reached $9.00 a gallon due to the Lybia crisis.While a great part of this
cost is in the various taxes that their government applies to fuel
it is still extreme even by European standards.
Keeping in mind that here in the states we pay federal and state taxes on every gallon bought we can anticipate steadily rising fuel
costs here as well. Perhaps not as bad as in England but it could
go higher than what we saw in 2008 during the last gas crisis.
This may help scooter sales if people become desparate enough
but only in the urban areas where they do not have as far to travel. Here in the Atlanta Urban area (pop. 5 million) a great
many people live in the burbs an drive into Atlanta to work, some driving as much as a daily 140 miles round trip.
In England even rail transportation is costing far more than it did
before. So any way that you look at it here it is going to cost the
American driver a lot more than he has been used to paying. Car
pooling is going to become a way of life for many.
As of today the highest fuel pricing is at a BP station in Canton, GA. The three grades are running $3.40, $3.60, $3.80. The other
stations are running a bit under that but not by much.
A good guess would be to expect $5.00 a gallon for super by Memorial Day.
Ride On!!!

I use Sea Foam in all my scoots. Good points, Jim and Red Dog. Usually the weather is warm
enough, if you are tough, to ride 10 out of 12 months but Sea Foam is still a good idea year round.

I am not sure but would agree that leaded gas would be the problem.
I doubt that unleaded is popular in Taiwan. So far every thing else about
the scoot is typical TGB top flight.

Now I understand the importance of a PDI done by the dealer
or the buyer. Helped Mountain Moped do the PDI on my new
TGB R9i yesterday, all went well till time to crank the engine.
Starter worked, engine did not start after repeated tries.
Bryan knew at once what the problem was. Varnish from gas
in the carb clogging the jets. Before a scoot leaves the factory
it is cranked up and the engine 'tested'. That small amount of
gas remains in the carb. The next time you buy a scoot check the
date of manufacture. Once a scoot gets into the distributors
inventory it may stay there a while. The TGB was made in Jan.
09. It had been in the warehouse ever since. From a practical
view point it is a new scoot, from an actual viewpoint it can be
argued that it is 2 years old. Moot problem actually. He has a
new MadAss that he is doing the PDI on and it was made 8/09.
So, out came the carb for a thorough cleaning. It had all jets clogged with varnish and the carb bowl had varnish that could be chipped out.
Once this was done she started right up and the test ride was
great. Kept her at 40 or under but the pick up was really fast.
I am a happy camper. now to put on the accessories, get her
insured, tagged and on the road.
I have learned a lot about the mechanics of a scoot, not that I will ever be much of a wrencher, but at least i will know more about diagnostics.
Mind you that both the above scoots came to Mountain Moped
directly from the distributor. I suspect that a lot of scoot inventory
has been sitting a while due to the slow sales picture. With fuel
costs esculating that is about to change!!
And I have learned the value of a PDI done by the dealer. They
earn their keep.