Thanks to Vorroa for giving me the heads up that BoaserBlick (Joe) was selling his stock engine with 77 miles on it. It was sitting for a spell so the carb was stuck and that gave us a little trouble. Nothing reving the shit out of her didn't cure.
But I am getting ahead of myself here. Let me start at the beginning and try to get this all out and correct in a half an hour.
Amy and I started our adventure at about 7:30 a.m. We hoped in the car and got to it. Well we drove for about 2 hours then we got a little hungry, so we decided to go to Dunkin Donuts. All well and fine, except for the fact that we are in New Jersey. Needless to say it was confusing as hell, and very far off the interstate. So after we got that taken care of, and found our way back on to 80, we got into New York pretty fast and easy.
Hell we got to Long Island pretty fast and easy. The GPS varied slightly from the Google directions, but ended up meeting each other a few steps down the road. So we got to BrahdaHood's (Joe's) place pretty easy. But then!
I ring the bell and stand there for a minute and don't hear or see anything. OK, I'll knock. Nothing. So I am getting nervous, and I look toward Amy in the car and she can see I am freaking out a bit. We drove 3 hours to get there, and Joe wasn't home. So I pull out my cell and call. After 2 rings, the garage door was opening.
A sigh of relief came over me as I saw Jay's feet walk to the door and I shook his hand. He is a super cool guy. Really nice, knows what he is talking about and has a garage full of scooters. And I think only 2 are his. He owns Makoa Scooters. He runs it out of his garage a few days a week.
He brings me over to the side of his house and pulls up a tarp. there are 3 full engines complete with wheels siting there. Basically the whole back half of a scooter. So he shows me Joe's and I ask him a few questions, about what goes where and what not. He told me it should only take about an hour to swap them. Took us 4 (But we took our time to make sure we did it right. Neither of us had done this before).
After we load the engine into The Egg, he pulls out his Ruckus. Beautiful machine. GY6 swapped engine, custom powder coating. It was the first GY6 swap I have seen in person, OH and the first one I RODE! Yes Jay let me ride his scooter! It was great! I am hooked! Here is a picture of his beautiful machine.
It has a different back tire on it now.
I also got to take a peak at his Zuma 125. It was much bigger than I thought. So after he gave me some stickers and his business card I asked for directions to the beach and off we went.
I must say that Jones Beach is beautiful. It is a State Park, so it is super clean, ample parking, and the people are not rude at all. Amy and I hoofed it a ways down the shore line so we weren't as sandwiched by people. And it was great. Clean water, a little cool but very refreshing. Not a speck of garbage on the beach. No huge annoying shells. And one of the best parts, all the kids playing sports on the beach, moved up away from every one. They were not getting sand all over you.We spent a few hours hanging out, swimming, Amy laid in the sun. I got some weird sun burn on part of my chest. The day was great. Mostly blue skies, very relaxing. Until we tried to go home.
We got changed and hit the car. When we were trying to get off of Long Island to get out of the city, we hit the traffic. The on ramp for the bridge we were trying to get on, was closed. So we had to wait an hour to go less than 2 miles to take another bridge. So the drive home took a little over an hour longer. Then another hour for dinner.
But we found the Barley Creek Brewery. Down by The Crossings. Pretty good beers. I recommend the Black Lager. But watch out for the drunk guy who comes to your table and shakes your hand 3 times then gives you a first pound. Other than that the place was really nice. Nice high ceilings, great food (The Rubin was great), and good beer. After dinner it was homeward bound.
It felt good to wash the salt water out of my hair. You may or may not know that it is getting very long, so it was a full tangle attached to my scalp. After some much needed showers, it was on for much needed R and R. Naps and stretching out. That led into a nice evening out on Kim and JT's deck for a few beers and catching up. After a few hour of hanging out, it was time to retire from this extravaganza of a day.
On the drive home, I almost blew a stop sign that I always forget is there. This time disaster ensued. I in fact had an engine in the back of my car still. Well that tipped over and needless to say, I freaked out. So I pulled over and righted the engine. But at that point, it was no longer tied down properly. So.... yup, it tipped over again. And I was freaking out the whole way home.
**Here is a spoiler**
The engine did not get ruined, though I thought it would.
So I got home and righted the engine again, and this time my car smelled like gas terrible. So that means there was still some gas in my carb. But crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I went inside and gathered all my tools for the next day. Then we went to bed.
Sunday I got up nice and early, got the laundry, tools and fluids and headed over to my parents house. Tossed in my dirty underpants and got to work on The Meepers. I'll make this brief.
Mike got there about 9:15 a.m. as I was getting ready by taking off the seat frame and floorboards. We then had to share the garage with the man redoing my parents kitchen. We took note of all the wires and tubes disconnected from the newly acquired engine. After we double checked we were good to go, we unbolted. I found that Honda Ruckus scooters are only connects to the engine by 3 bolts. Two on the engine mount and one on the rear shock. And they all connect at less than 30 foot pounds.
So 4 hours later we had The Meepers back together, but. Yes there is always a BUT. The engine would not turn over. It was trying, and getting stronger with every shot. But kick starting it was the best option. But the engine would only idle for a few seconds then die. Sounded like it was starving for gas. Turns out that's what was happening. After a half an hour of trouble shooting, I just hit the throttle.
After the second time pining it to WOP, The Meepers kicked to life! The float jets in the carb were clogged up from sitting for a spell. Basically I blew them open, and you cold smell the gas burning up. After a few minutes, that smell went to exhaust fumes. And it was all good from there.
Now it's Tuesday, and I started typing this yesterday, but I was so incredibly busy that I could not finish. So I did so today. And The Meepers is still running strong. But it is raining out right now, so I will have to ride home in the rain. Oh well, the engine could use a cleaning.
So the engine works and it gets The Meepers Seal of Approval!
So that is the short version of the Story of repairs and fun in the sun. I learned what not to do when working on a scooter, and what to do to change the engine. So here ends this tail of woes and triumph. Stay tuned for more stories of my fallies in life. And as always enjoy my failures and my triumphant returns.
That is all, carry on.
So I got home and righted the engine again, and this time my car smelled like gas terrible. So that means there was still some gas in my carb. But crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I went inside and gathered all my tools for the next day. Then we went to bed.
Sunday I got up nice and early, got the laundry, tools and fluids and headed over to my parents house. Tossed in my dirty underpants and got to work on The Meepers. I'll make this brief.
Mike got there about 9:15 a.m. as I was getting ready by taking off the seat frame and floorboards. We then had to share the garage with the man redoing my parents kitchen. We took note of all the wires and tubes disconnected from the newly acquired engine. After we double checked we were good to go, we unbolted. I found that Honda Ruckus scooters are only connects to the engine by 3 bolts. Two on the engine mount and one on the rear shock. And they all connect at less than 30 foot pounds.
So 4 hours later we had The Meepers back together, but. Yes there is always a BUT. The engine would not turn over. It was trying, and getting stronger with every shot. But kick starting it was the best option. But the engine would only idle for a few seconds then die. Sounded like it was starving for gas. Turns out that's what was happening. After a half an hour of trouble shooting, I just hit the throttle.
After the second time pining it to WOP, The Meepers kicked to life! The float jets in the carb were clogged up from sitting for a spell. Basically I blew them open, and you cold smell the gas burning up. After a few minutes, that smell went to exhaust fumes. And it was all good from there.
Now it's Tuesday, and I started typing this yesterday, but I was so incredibly busy that I could not finish. So I did so today. And The Meepers is still running strong. But it is raining out right now, so I will have to ride home in the rain. Oh well, the engine could use a cleaning.
So the engine works and it gets The Meepers Seal of Approval!
So that is the short version of the Story of repairs and fun in the sun. I learned what not to do when working on a scooter, and what to do to change the engine. So here ends this tail of woes and triumph. Stay tuned for more stories of my fallies in life. And as always enjoy my failures and my triumphant returns.
That is all, carry on.
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