I'm having a very interesting time with the 250 Yamaha. It was a warm, breezy day today and an excellent opportunity to use the Yamaha for a small shopping trip. It fired right up in the garage and I had a reasonably uneventful ride to the store. In one of my more brilliant moves I had forgotten my wallet and needed to go home for it. Of course as I rode home the bike suddenly went silent. As I fruitlessly tried to start it I noticed the directional signals were still on. Without getting too detailed it fuels my ongoing suspicion that the bike dies from an electrical drain. After numerous attempts to get it started again it finally fired up again and got within a few hundred feet of my driveway before stalling out again. I pushed it the rest of the way home.
Once I returned to the garage I fiddled with the switches and it started again. Summoning up ridiculous optimism I let it run while I got my wallet and set out to the store again keeping my fingers crossed. Not only did it reach my local supermarket with no drama but I was so inspired I even made a side trip to the local dollar store to gather up rawhide chews for my dogs. Just as in the trip to town the ride home was almost ordinary. I even checked the battery and it had received a healthy charge worthy of an active charging system. Next will be a good long ride, cell phone charged and ready to call for help, that will prove whether the bike is ready for long distance commuting. Despite its age the Yamaha rides well and seems to have adequate power for its size. Hopefully it will pass that test and become an active part of my gas saving campaign. I'll let you know how it turns out.