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Messages - rdhood

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1
General Discussion / Re: Sad day indeed
« on: June 13, 2022, 08:10:24 PM »
Quote from: Kansas kymco on June 12, 2022, 02:34:04 PM
Yesterday Dan and his wife came by with supper and picked up the last of the running motorcycles and scooters.  Difficult seeing the Majesty and BMW GS'S being loaded up. The end of a Era,  I've been riding since I was 8 years old. Difficult to admit it's over. Still have the project scooters in the garage to deal with at a later time.

Sad indeed.  So sorry. There will be other things that grab your attention and interest within your abilities. Go for it.

Some are born to move the world
To live their fantasies
But most of us just dream about
The things we'd like to be
Sadder still to watch it die
Than never to have known it
For you, the blind who once could see
The bell tolls for thee
The bell tolls for

      -   Alex Lifeson  / Geddy Lee Weinrib / Neil Peart (who also loved bicycles and motorcycles)





2
Downtown 300 / Re: Just got a 2015 Downtown 300i, does it need anything done to it?
« on: January 31, 2022, 02:38:09 AM »
Quote from: DaveBotaine on August 02, 2021, 05:16:00 AM
Hello,

I'm new here.  I have a 2013 Honda PCX 150, and was trying to get an XMAX (I ride 2 up a lot), but none were available.    I  found a really nice downtown 300i online last week and decided to pick it up, it's a 2015 with only 600 miles.   Is there anything I need to upgrade on it to help it's reliability?  So far, I read to not fill up the tank too full, and how to do the TSP/ISC reset if needed.   

My 2013 Downtown has been completely reliable (currently at 14,200 miles).  Coolant gets changed every two years, so yours is ready. Its an easy job. At 600 miles, its ready for its break-in oil change. If you overfill, it will leak out the bottom, but its no problem otherwise. 

3
General Discussion / Re: how many Miles Per Year are you riding?
« on: December 23, 2021, 12:06:55 AM »
I put in about 6000-7000 per year. I was on track for 9000+ this year but ran into some surgery that's taking a while to heal.

4
Downtown 300 / Re: Givi D294ST Windshield experience with Down or xtown 300i
« on: November 08, 2020, 10:18:34 PM »
Quote from: john grinsel on October 18, 2020, 03:23:49 PM
Would like any experience DownTown or XTown 300i with above windshield.

#1 too high
#2 buffeting

Thanks.   Next Govt. bonus check may blow $180 on this windshield.

I have it on a Downtown 300 and like it.  Some in this forum have even seen it.  I am 6'  and ride with cushion.. I can see over it properly. I still had to attach a laminar lip to get the air up a little higher as I dont want any air over the bits and pieces of the vents to create noise. I could ride with my face shield up and not be buffeted at all. Nonetheless, it would have been better if the windshield alone could have accomplished it.

5
Downtown 300 / Re: Downtown 300i Alert Codes
« on: August 20, 2020, 07:25:37 PM »
It possibly means nothing.  Generally, these are ABS error codes.  What year is your bike? Does it have ABS?  Mine does NOT, but still gets these codes.  IF I cut the engine via kill switch or kickstand, on restart i get a "10" or a "1".  I read in another thread of someone simply turning off the bike from the key to prevent this.  When i do that, no error codes ever.  So, read around.  If you dont have ABS, you may not have a problem.

6
General Discussion / Re: Dead Battery
« on: August 11, 2020, 06:40:58 PM »
Quote from: leomagnus on August 11, 2020, 04:16:44 PM
Just a question(I drive a Kymco Xciting 400i),

I spent 4hrs on Sunday riding my scooter at both highway and slow back road speeds with no problems whatsoever. I park the bike overnight in the garage. Then yesterday about 20 hrs after my ride, I go and start the bike and the battery was completely dead. I checked for lose wires, but nothing. So I went and got another battery and the Bike started up like a champ. Has anyone ever a seen a battery go dead that fast. It struck me odd and I am thinking that I might have a drain somewhere in the electrical system, but then again, it could have been that the chemicals in the battery gave out.... Any Thoughts? The Battery is about 3 years old.


Dean

My top three guesses:
1) you have an accessory drain (camera, gps, phone) straight from the battery that you did not realize was still connected
2) the seat is open and the underseat lights are draining the battery
3) you left the ignition switched on and did not realize it


7
General Discussion / Re: Do you feel are gas powered scooters will become obsolete?
« on: July 06, 2020, 02:36:54 PM »
From https://www.iea.org/commentaries/population-without-access-to-electricity-falls-below-1-billion 

"However despite all of these stories of progress and success, the world still remains off-track in its efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.1 to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030. "

This just addresses a LITTLE bit of electricity every day, and  doesn't even BEGIN to address the grid infrastructure necessary for recharging 100% of the electric vehicles.  EVEN IN the U.S.,  that remains a question:  https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2020/01/09/electric-cars-will-challenge-state-power-grids.   This article has EVs hitting the 50% barrier in 2040: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/09/electric-cars-replace-gasoline-engines-2040/

That is two articles where EVs dont even hit 50% until 2040.  For ICE engines to go away, we need top tier electrical service to the last mile.... WORLDWIDE.  That is not going to happen in my lifetime, despite the hype of the media.

Ask this question again in about 50 years and you may get a different answer.

8
General Discussion / Re: What was your first Kymco scooter and what led to your initial purchase?
« on: July 02, 2020, 03:03:31 PM »
Quote from: Kansas kymco on July 01, 2020, 03:53:56 PM
How does the DT300  compare to the BV 350?

I got it late February and did a bunch of maintenance on it... then ran into trouble bleeding the brakes and haven't got back to the BV350 yet.   Spring hit and I have been riding and getting the Downtown  ready for a trip later this summer (stuff like wet weather gear, working out a better GPS system, top case installation, etc, etc,  and just plain riding as much as time permits). Working on bikes is more of a winter thing for me.  I crank it every few weeks, but that's it for the next two months. For now, the BV350 is my go to scooter.

9
General Discussion / Re: What was your first Kymco scooter and what led to your initial purchase?
« on: July 01, 2020, 12:27:19 PM »
My first/only Kymco is my Downtown 300i. Once I finally decided that 300cc/30hp/fuel injected  was what I  really wanted, I  made a list of about 6 scooters to be looking out for. The Downtown  and People 300 were among those on the list, and it was the Downtown that I found first at the right price. That was 6 months and about 3500 miles ago...

10
General Discussion / Re: Does traffic and time of day influence your decision to ride your scooter?
« on: June 30, 2020, 02:28:38 PM »
I avoid traffic, when the sun is VERY low to the horizon, and night.

I avoid traffic because I dont like sitting in it,  I avoid the low horizon because I have experienced "blindness" coming up a curve and could literally see nothing for a few seconds, and night because I have read SO MANY tales of experienced riders who inadvertently hit something at night and wake up crashed at the side of the road. I will probably relax the night thing for local roads for which I am familiar, but it will be long time before I ride unfamiliar roads at night.

11
General Discussion / Re: Our first 100 degree day this year
« on: June 29, 2020, 07:52:16 PM »
Last summer, North Georgia had 90+ days of 90+F temperatures.  This year, it's almost July and we haven't reached 90 even once. It has rained for a half hour nearly every single day.  I have been dodging raindrops for most of June, and the 10 day outlook has more of the same.  Some shaded areas have been in a permanent state of wet! When I head out on a ride, some part of my path is in rain, and the rain is gone by the time I get there.

12
General Discussion / Re: Need advice on how to deal with a obstinate teenager (not mine)
« on: June 26, 2020, 02:22:18 PM »
"I'm in the process of buying some of my neighbors yard "

I'd figure out where else you can move this heap while they are working on your project.  your yard somewhere, perhaps?  Offer to help push it.  Trade an old scooter for it and sell the car for scrap?  I would try to NOT make any ultimatums or tell half truths. or get between family. You have to live next door to your neighbor, so use the carrot, not the stick!

13
General Discussion / Re: How many who have a big wheel scooter now wish they had smaller wheels?
« on: June 23, 2020, 02:52:50 PM »
Anything with big wheels is going to roll over crap roads or trails better than smaller wheels.  Its the reason 29ers have won out over 26" and 27.5" in bicycles.  If it weren't for the traditional Vespa small wheel scooter look,  the small wheel premium scooters might die out. CLEARLY, Europeans and Asians have embraced larger wheels wholeheartedly and overwhelmingly.

If I were buying my first premium scooter today, it would not be a small wheeled scooter. Would I add one  (a Vespa) later? Sure!

14
Downtown 300 / Re: Which rpm your scooter is cruising?
« on: June 12, 2020, 07:30:30 AM »
6400 rpm at 70 mph on my Downtown.

15
General Discussion / Re: Buying OEM parts...
« on: June 12, 2020, 07:19:21 AM »
No dealer here, either, for at least 500 miles. Yeah, maybe on paper, but they have ONE Like in the showroom, and stock ZERO parts, and (when asked) could not tell me the first thing about ANY Kymco at all, other than the size if the engine of the one on the floor. Seriously, they had never even heard if the Downtown.

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