Bike died again. It will have to be decommissioned for a few weeks due to work and other appointments.
Hopefully going to get my parent’s '14 PGO Ligero at some point, but after that I’m going to try and get a 70s Honda scooter. Any recommendations?
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I don’t know much about scooters that aren’t sold within Southeast Asia. Sorry.
I bought a phone holder and a USB charger. They cost me $25 total. What’s special about the holder is that it’s made of iron and it’s not limited to one position only.
I immediately took it up another hill about 1 hour away from home. The road leading to the top of this hill was steep (about 20-25 degrees incline) and only fit one car despite being a two way street(!) with minimal guard rails(!!!). I encountered three cars going up that had to back away to give way to another car that was going down. Can’t imagine how the drivers felt.
At the end of the day, I’m happy to report that the charger charges and the phone holder holds phone.
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Installed larger front disc brake for the scooter. It looks nice but without larger calliper it does not really increase braking performance. Yet.
Wow, has it already been 3 years since my last post? Time flies.
Anyway, bike update. Or rather, bikes update.
Honda Vario
Drivetrain wise the Vario is mostly unchanged since my last update. Gotta keep it all stock so it plays to Honda’s strongest cards: reliability and cheap to maintain.
A major update to the scooter is perhaps the headlights, as it’s now sporting a pair of high power LEDs. Very useful for night rides. However, it lost its speedometer along with the windshield thing in a recent accident. RIP. Performance is mostly unaffected, save for the fact that I have to play “guess the fuel level” every time that I’m planning to travel somewhere far.
And speaking of traveling somewhere far, the scooter had just surpassed 50,000 km on the odometer! It’s traveled through many kinds of terrains, from the salty shores of Pantura (North coast) to even Mount Bromo (the tallest mountain in Java that you can reach by vehicle) without much drama. Well, except for that one time when it got filled with bad gas.
Yamaha R15
This is perhaps the biggest update to the garage: My dream bike!
I bought it for $600 off Facebook marketplace. The overall condition isn’t bad, all things considered. The papers are intact, the engine doesn’t leak or mix with oil, cables and harness are intact, and the chassis doesn’t rust. However, the seller also failed to mention several issues with the bike:
- Mechanic found the spark plug to have been ill-fitted and inappropriately sized, ruining the threads on the engine head.
- The camshaft is rough and scored, which is an indication of oil starvation(!) in the past.
- The starter motor is worn.
- The clutch pack is worn.
- The fuel filter is not OEM.
- The front suspensions leak oil.
- The rear suspension has been tampered with. Also leaks oil.
- No mirrors.
- The keys are aftermarket for some reason.
- The lamps’ height are not calibrated well.
- And several other worn out seals and rubbers in dire need of replacement.
Overall not quite a lemon, it’s just an old bike with old bike problems. For now, it will be sitting at the service center for an upwards of a month due to Eid. And once everything is sorted out mechanically, I will have big plans prepared for it in the future.
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