So the Mighty Scooter's been sitting doing nothing for a year now. I finally decided that Something Must Be Done about its carburetion problems which were tracked down to a hole in the float bowl. WIth that fixed and the needle raise a notch as it was a bit rich low down it went Ring A Bloody Ding satisfactorily. Still had problems though... the motor is attached to the rest of it by an arrangement involving 2 tubes running inside 2 other tubes, with nylon bushes keeping the inside tube from grinding on the outside tube. Said bushes can wear. Split even. And when they do, the motor tends to move in rather disturbing ways when you do the cornering thing. Worse hinge than an H1! It was rideable but it definitely felt Odd going round anythingn resembling a curve. Luckily fixit kits are easy enough to find and not too bad to install once you - remove all that bodywork - remove all the things connected to the engine including the cooling hoses which means coolant everywhere unless you have a very peculiarly shaped catchment pan that can wrap around the centrestand, and the 2 stroke line from the pump which has a small clamp that is straining to fly and be free - remove the rusted on and unwilling tube things as above Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly (yes I was using a Haynes, why do you ask?) and while coolant was reasonably easy to insert the 2 stroke line was not due to a reluctant and very slippery clamp. But once done... wahooo! This thing is way way way too much fun. I mean there is going to be a difference in the daily traffic battle between 240kg and 1200cc of fairinged tourer and 110kg (wringing wet) 180cc scooter, but what a difference! The Mighty Scooter is slower to take off, but when it gets into its stride it gets moving pretty bloody quickly. Quickly enough to surprise GSXR pilots anyway. It's narrow and light and lanesplits as though the gap between a bus and a 4WD was an entire lane. It makes a loud anti-social noise and wisps of smoke wreathe it at lights. It trickles along slowly when the traffic is inching without the complaints of the big bike riding the clutch, then takes off and howls when there's a bit of room. It's bright flouro orange. What's not to love? As someone said... Life's too short to spend all your time with four strokes. Zebee
