A Time To Fix
Posted by Jim Zeiser on Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Big Ruckus has exerted its right to be needy just in time for the Spring riding season. When I took it to be inspected it broke its speedometer drive. It's not expensive in the grand scheme of things, just pricey in comparison to the Chinese parts I've been accustomed to buying. Fortunately it's available online, as all Honda parts are, so while I dislike paying shipping charges the price of gas makes it cheaper than driving to a Honda dealer, twice, and it comes to my door.
While I was riding I also heard the unmistakeable sound of an exhaust leak. Upon further review I discovered that the exhaust system has pinhole leaks probably from the corrosive effects of seawater that the scooter endured in its former life. I divined that the exhaust noise I was hearing was from a bigger hole somewhere and removed the plastic panel to search for it. It turned out that the noise was coming from a burned hose in the exhaust gas recycling (EGR) system. For the price of a piece of hose and a pair of clamps I cobbled together a repair. If it holds, fine, if not, another trip to the Honda microfiche on the web.
So far it's running OK and another set of oil changes are due. I have to buy an owners manual or a small notebook to track the work I'm doing on it. I'll ultimately make the big plunge and buy the shop manual if I keep it. Oh, yes and a windshield. It goes faster than the Chinese scooter and tugging against the wind when I ride is getting to be a chore.
While I was riding I also heard the unmistakeable sound of an exhaust leak. Upon further review I discovered that the exhaust system has pinhole leaks probably from the corrosive effects of seawater that the scooter endured in its former life. I divined that the exhaust noise I was hearing was from a bigger hole somewhere and removed the plastic panel to search for it. It turned out that the noise was coming from a burned hose in the exhaust gas recycling (EGR) system. For the price of a piece of hose and a pair of clamps I cobbled together a repair. If it holds, fine, if not, another trip to the Honda microfiche on the web.
So far it's running OK and another set of oil changes are due. I have to buy an owners manual or a small notebook to track the work I'm doing on it. I'll ultimately make the big plunge and buy the shop manual if I keep it. Oh, yes and a windshield. It goes faster than the Chinese scooter and tugging against the wind when I ride is getting to be a chore.
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