Factory Exhaust or Leo Vince

[TechGuy]

OK... back to our regular program.  In running thought mode....

I have the new exhaust assembly, small dents on the heat shield.. I will deal with it, basically been without a scoot for a month, i runs OK, loud, won't idle.. but OK....  it's the big night, fix my bike, yeah!...

...sitting on the driveway, tools by my side, loosen the rear muffler bracket bolt..ok..
front lower.. OK,
front upper bolt... wait.. no bolt... damn. lost bolt new a new one, what size is it, let's check... take the muffler off the bike (remember, the header pipe is broken clean off)
remove the header bolts and the 9 inch section of header pipe...garbage...
remove the muffler from the bolts, simple...
take the lower front bolt and thread it to the upper holes... what is that in the hole.. damn, the upper bolt snapped off three threads into the rear fork arm... that's f**ked
break out a drill and screw extractor, spend an hour getting frustrated and cannot get the broken bolt out of the hole.... f f f f f f f f
I now have an 8mm bolt threaded stud in an aluminum fork with a quarter inch hole drilled through it.
remove the rear fork arm from the bike,

Current status... fork at at the machine shop, new exhaust, sitting in a box in my front entry, stuck in a no-traffic-splitting cage, on a day where a car rolled over the center divide on the only street I can use to get to my office without a 10 mile detour.... arghhhh

damn... wrong thread.... F*CK!
 

[zombie]

Another thought Tech. You can replace the factory soft steel mounting hardware w/ cadmium plated nuts/bolts. They are harder steel, and have that gold colored plating that is much more weather resistant so they are less likely too give you problems in the future. Home Depot/lowes, for 3-4 bucks

[TechGuy]

In this case... I think the person I PAID to change the rear tire. last summer, torqued it too tight.  They are the only person to have moved that bolt since June 2008 (and longer since that is when I bought it).

I now know that taking the rear fork off is a simple, 10 minute job (30 minutes, maybe ... the first time)  Once the rear fork is off... pull off the axle collar and you are basically ready to pull the wheel off, if you have the scoot supported. Why I paid as much as I did to do this... I have no idea and I will not be recommending his shop or his mechanic.

As to the hard ware, I thought the black oxide hardware was the "hard" steel. The "gold" ones are harder?  I am going to ask the machinist when I pick-up the fork.

[zombie]

You are correct on the bl/vs gold. The bl is generally grade 8 hardness, but more prone to rusting. The cadmium plated is stronger than "standard", and coated to prevent rusting

[TechGuy]

OK... I got the rear fork back from the machine shop.  He put in a helicoil... for $25 USD.  Not bad.  It's less than paying my local mechanic to take off the arm, take to the machine shop, get it fixed, pick it up, reinstall it and then the muffler/exhaust.

OK... back to the story.  I picked up the fork after paying my $25, asked the machinist about the bolt and he said an 8.8 hardness bolt should be fine since all it is doing is holding the muffler on.  Took the fork home, reinstalled it and then torqued the rear wheel bolt and reinstalled the rear brake calipers, the under-fender, then started the install the muffler/exhaust.

Man that thing is heavy... and awkward.  I am not sure if all of you have installed the exhaust but it is about 2.5 feet long with a series of bends and then the flange to bolt it to the exhaust of the engine. It weight 7 KG (15 pounds).  I looked in my service guide and it says to install the packing into the engine..HOW?  I just falls out.  It is a disk of a aluminum with an asbestos face?  It sits fine on the flange of the pipe and gravity holds it in a useful place there. The next challenge was getting the 3 bolts and two nuts of the exhaust all in the correct alignment to make all the bolts/nuts fit.  It was not easy for me and I had to take a frustration break (and go to a meeting).  I got back from my meeting and i finally forced the holes to align while the flange was attached to the engine. 

In the end, I got the thing on and it is much quieter.  I still have a stalling issue but I think I am going to let the pro adjust the carb.  I am not good at this. 

I scooted to work today and it was a great day.  I have idling issues but tonight I am going to get pizza with the scooter club and have a nice evening. I will deal with the other stuff later, it's mothers day this weekend and I am not going to mess that up...

[ispud]

did you try adding sea foam to the gas for the idle and stall problems??

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[TechGuy]

not yet... I was planning on getting some this afternoon

[zombie]

Most things are a pain/awkward the firs time. Good to hear you got it together yourself tho. Maybe one of the guys from the scoot club will adjust the idle set-up for you. It only takes 2 minutes. I understand the moms day bit . The scoot would be gone, you'd be on the couch, and the dog would be eating your steak.

[ispud]

I have been adding it to my fuel at fill up for the last 5 or 6 tanks - I am convinced my scooter starts easier, runs smoother and has more power.  If I am wrong I don't wanna hear about it!

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[zombie]

I would NEVER diss honest results. The stuff does what it says. Most importantly is keeping the ring lands clean.