As I have mentioned repeatedly in the last couple of installments I have been riding the big scooter to Linda's in Danbury. It gets excellent fuel mileage, is fairly comfortable and I enjoy the challenge of making a Tour on a small engined scooter. Lately though its Chinese-ness has begun to show through. As noted last time I heard a shrieking noise on the trip home and a squirt of oil in the neighborhood of the speedometer drive seems to be holding that at bay. It rode quite nicely last week to Linda's again and I thought I was in the clear.

Not so. On the way to Danbury I began to hear a noise that I had heard before elsewhere. When accelerating from either a stop or slow speed I detected the faint puffing noise of an exhaust leak. Upon reaching Danbury and Linda's parking lot I got on my knees to investigate. Sure enough I discovered a small hole had developed in the muffler but even more alarming I found a few drops of antifreeze hanging from the bottom of the engine. I managed to plug the hole in the pipe with a sheet metal screw and kept my fingers crossed about the water drip.

During the trip home the scooter ran better than ever so I patted myself on the back for a successful repair. Too soon, sad to say. Upon exiting Route 17 in Deposit the noise was back as the screw blew out somewhere along the way. Plus the water leak had increased ever so slightly. The next day I put an even larger screw in the hole in the pipe and covered it with epoxy. Hopefully that will hold and a slight slathering of silicon seal in the neighborhood of the water leak will also quell the water drip.

Here's the dilemma. Two perfectly good motorcycles await in the garage. Do I keep pushing the big scooter or accept that it's meant for less ambitious trips. A run across the Hudson is scheduled for Wednesday. I have another pair of days to prep a motorcycle or attempt another long run on the scooter. I'll let you know what I decided.