cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/48254475

this moped ended up in our hands as a restoration project. it has floorboards and a proper fuel tank but those were taken off, the former to get to the engine and the latter cuz it had tons of crud in it. it's a Hercules M4 (in the USA) or Sachs Balboa M-4, a single cylinder 2-stroke west german machine.

when we got it to run and move around this was how it was looking. it was definitely slow too, but that's the way of these old mopeds hehe

again, this is a restoration project! so, we began taking off and labeling and bagging stuff.

this is the tiny fifty-or-so cubic centimetre motor

and this is the current state of the moped! it's a very basic contraption and took maybe not even two hours to take apart to this extent.

this is why we find (smaller) motorcycles so great because like... all the parts are small and easy to pick up, it's all super quick to unbolt, stuff is cheap, and it's just simple. it's so much better than a car.

some additional info:

• it's a 1977 Hercules M4
• power: 1.5 kW or 2 HP... when new anyways. plus whatever your legs can do!
• top speed: 30 mph or 48 km/h-ish
• engine: two stroke 47 cc single cylinder, runs on a 50:1 gas-oil mix, integrated pedals/transmission, and weighs about as much as a typical watermelon.
• gears: it's a single speed, both for the motor and pedals. the pedals are geared very very low.
• size: dimensions are bicycle-like. it's light enough to pick up without too much issue.
• fun: plenty!

As the title says, I did the full "stage 2" setup on my Royal Enfield 350 Classic : DNA air filter + new larger air intake, FuelX fueling calculator, Kent Cams camshaft, and a full inox exhaust+"muffler" (more on this later). That, with tax, duties and stuff, ended up at exactly 1.165€. That's too much, but I like that 350, it's unassuming, it's cute, there's nothing bragging anything. Rather than sell it to find another bike that would fit better my (hilly) daily commute, I choose to invest on "my" motorcycle.

Setup took about a day. In regard to all the ytubers out there making it look easy, the job has its non-obvious, or usually overlooked, possibility of trouble. If you wanna go for it, watch several of them videos on each topic and keep in mind as much details as possible (I still can't believe I struggled so much just fitting the silencer, a freaking 3 bolts affair ffs). Videos by Tiger Ness aren't bad but he jumps over details a lot.

But you're not here to read a novel on the unreliability of ytubers right? Right.

Now how does it ride? Much, much better. Not rocket-dislodge-your-shoulders better, but much better - with a caveat: the Free Flow exhaust, even with the baffle installed, makes way too much noise. Like, the noise of an open-pipe Harley... While still having all of the presence of a small 350 Indian bike. I don't mind noisy motorcycles, but that small "Bullet" thing has no right to make that much noise, it doesn't fit the style of the bike. Or so I think, and I also think I'm going to put back the og exhaust line pretty soon, preferably before my neighbours put it on fire.

But as of right now, where the bike wouldn't hold 95kph uphill, it now quite swallow them! I wasn't able to tackle these hills on my way to work at the 110kph speed limit before because the engine wouldn't manage it, and ...now I still can't because the sound is deafening.

I'll report here after I put back the original exhaust, I just hope to be able to open the throttle wide as I please and get to my office a bit less laboriously.

All in all a satisfactory experience with regard to the performance, but not so much on installation. I used to own a '92 Bullet 350 Standard, and this bike was made for being dismantled, worked on, and put back. The newer iterations here do a lot of concession to aesthetics, and getting to simple things like valve clearance checking is stupidly annoying, with removing the tank a particularly ugly job.

So, who else owns one of these? What did you change on it?

I've been looking to get a new japanese cruiser around 1300 cc to replace my machine that is getting old, but there doesnt seem to be any more being produced today. All brands seem to have stopped making them around 10 years ago or longer.

Right now theres only the Kawasaki Vulcan 900, the Honda rebel 1100, the Honda Fury 1300... and thats pretty much. After that it jumps right to the Vulcan 1700.

What happened to the japanese mid size cruisers? Nobody rides long distance on highways anymore?

TLDR; slow rider, wants to do some longer trips around Europe on a mash two fifty. Yay/nay?

Full text: I was looking at doing some road trips around Europe, and truth be told, I'm not one for ludicrous speed. I like slower rides, with a great view, and will gladly take an extra hour or two to have that view of an awesome valley. I rode a Honda cbf 125cc up until 2022, but it was just a bit underpowered as it struggled to do 90km/h or 55mph uphill and I never did long trips, longest I did was around 2h. So I was looking at a mash two fifty. It seems to top out at around 115km/h or about 70mph which seems great for me. I've read some good reviews about the bike, but I'm not sure if taking longer trips is okay. Mind you, I would take a break every 1.5-2h and would probably not ride more than 6h a day. A 250cc would be really perfect for me, both for fun and budget (insurance and road tax would be dirt cheap), but it seems those options are limited nowadays.

I impulse bought an orange gas tank online. One of my many regrets in impulse buying my bike was that I wanted a brighter color lol. I really wanted the bright red, but only found dented ones for a reasonable price. Found this orange one instead and mashed the buy button lol.

Some follow up questions:

1. How do I get last bit of fuel out from the old tank? There is still quite a bit swishing around even after I took off the fuel cap and fuel pump and poured gas directly from the openings. At the moment, it is just turned upside down in a pan hoping the remainder will eventually dry out/evaporate.

2. How can I help prevent the old tank from rusting in storage? I'm not necessarily planning to use it again, but just in case.

3. How the fuck do I get fuel to pour out of this gas can with a "safety spout"? Basically you push on the spout to get it to pour, but it only barely dribbles out that way. The red tab I think needs to be depressed or moved somehow but it won't budge. Any ideas? I just ended up removing the spout and pouring it directly out of the can via funnel

Bonus: Looking for some ideas to temporarily decorate the bike for Halloween! The bike is kept outside tho so it would need to be somewhat weather proof lol.

Tore down quite a lot of the scooter just to access the top bolts on the shocks, what's worse is that I'll have to do this and more next week to fix the boot accuator, Any one else working on bikes this week?

I realized nothing but myself prevented me from getting a driving licence.

Been driving it since April.

...

This here thing is a peugeot satelis 500, It took me a day or two to figure that out as the only place it said satelis was a small patch on the clocks, very unremarkable just like the rest of the bike. 40ish bhp, 200ish kilos, comfy, quiet, horrible hard brakes like every scooter, tons of storage blah blah blah...

It does have one good point in it's favour, it's quite alike half of one these mad lads:

Half the cylinders, weight and power, All of the same wobbling about fun in the corners, no doubt helped along by the shagged rear shocks, squared off rear tyre and rethreaded (ala anglegrinder) front tyre. Seriously, it has to be forced to corner, you stay bolt upright and push the bike down, it is totally unresponsive if you sit normally or try geting down the inside. I love it. New favorite.

Which Tripple A rated motorcycle underwear you own and how do you like it?

What are the cons? Do you wear them always or are there situations where you prefer other gear?

EDIT: Talking about products like AAA (under)shirts and leggings. For example by Bowtex or Panda. They are your real protection but usually not the outer layer. Most people wear them under normal clothes.

I'm reviving an old Yamaha XV535 Virago. It's running and passed roadworthy inspection yesterday, but it has one remaining issue before I take it for a real ride - its not charging enough. Battery voltage increases from ~12.5V to ~12.9V when I start it. Should be ~14V.

A lot of the electrical connections were very crusty - I've cleaned them as best I can with contact cleaner and mechanical scraping. The 4 pin connector from the pickup coils to the loom was particularly nasty and has been hot and I could not clean it enough so replaced it with a (knock-off) Deutsch DT connector and that's working well. The connector from the stator to the loom has also been hot. I've replaced the plastic shells and cleaned the connectors as best I can but I feel this connector may still be the source of my low charging voltage and I plan to replace it.

My options are 3 x generic bullet connectors or a single 3 (solid) pin Deutsch DT.

I know the DT connectors are not intended for "power" applications, but I can't find anything to say if the current on each of these wires from the stator would exceed the ~7.5A they are supposed to be rated for.

Thoughts?

I know the Yamm won't be popular here but there is a good point here that lane filtering reduces traffic and improves safety. If you are in Texas maybe this is something you might want to join in.

CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro 1:09 Filtering Defined 2:30 My Plan 3:40 Why I'm Doing This 6:53 The Problem With Car Based Infrastructure 8:48 How We Got Here 11:21 The Superior Transportation 14:34 In Conclusion

Took a short (400 miles) jaunt to get away from the world for a bit after not getting out as much as I wanted last year. Replacing a cracked oil pan last year turned into then welding a new muffler flange into the mid-pipe (collector) because the right side snapped off, which is apparently a common enough issue on these.

1984 Honda VF700S Second owner, 32000 miles ridden since fall 2019.

my T7

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/49786666

I’m pretty sure I would like to go with cfmoto for my first bike. Their features and price are very attractive. Plus many local dealers carry them. Anyways, I’m struggling to decide between a sport bike or a naked style bike. I’m thinking the 675 model would be great to grow into as I learn.

I like the styling and design of the sport but I’ve seen in videos that sometimes they can be uncomfortable. To me it seems the naked would be less comfortable but I have no real experience with moto just mountain biking.

Any thoughts from more experienced riders? Or maybe anyone that owns one of them? Thanks in advance.

A buddy of mine let me borrow his XT250 (I don't have a car right now) which was a godsend. It was fun getting the wheels and tires to the shop. I had to make two trips!