Trip Time... Yay or Nay? You decide!

you must try, it's fun, BUT pls avoid the freeways...that's a suicide!...install a gps mount on your scooty so you won't get lost.....do a detailed itenirary on a piece of paper and leave a copy to your relative so in case something happened and you didn't show up on time,at least they have some ways to trace your whereabouts...good luck!..4th of july weekend is the best time to do the trip...

A long trip would be nice but I don't have that much time. The plan is to leave after work on a Friday and hit the interstate for 304 miles. About 6 hours later I'll be at my destination and checking into my room. ;D

ok,if you can keep up with the freeway speed that's fine, if not,well that's when the problem begins,
remember, cops are everywhere, hiding in the bushes with their speed guns, you don't want to be clocked with 40mph on a 70mph speed limit...some cops are very sensitive during holidays,fyi
anyway,totally up to you dawg, ....like what loosegrit once said, "scooter is about the ride,not the destination" i like that! ..meaning if you rely on scooter as a sole mode of transportation,you'll always be late @work...LOL!!!
safety first bud!

Averaging 50 MPH for six hours may be possible, but I wouldn't try for it over that much distance. Stop for fuel and oil check, stop for a meal, stop to pee, stop to stretch before your tail bone is pounded up to your navel. An average of 40+ MPH or so is more realistic and a lot safer because you won't get overtired.

you are going to work all day then take a 6 hr trip with the last 3 hrs after dark on a freeway.....

that's tuff even in an auto.

plus you have repeated carb problems with your ride.

3 hrs after dark on a freeway will be dangerous even before you add the fatigue factor from working all day and the 1st 3 hrs of vibration and wind whip.

I think this is a foolhardy plan.

While I both admire and applaud the spirt of the Ironbutt, God knows I have logged 10 miles to every 1 mile on a scooter or motorcycle over a car. I would like to know first how you made the repair to the carb's diaphragm. Did you replace the diaphragm ? the entire carb ? If not then no i don't recommend you go.

Safety comes first and foremost to my mind, as I said earlier I admire and applaud the spirit of the Ironbut ride, I can't help but think your bike is not yet ready for such a ride. Do you have a spare spark plug, CVT belt, CDI and Coil to take with you ? And with the CVT Belt do you have the tools to change it if needed ?If not then I don't recommend it. I like my Chinese scooter very much, it's very reliable now, but many here know it took a lot of time and effort to get it that way. Some of that was the Chinese lack of attention to quality control, my own ignorance to these scooter engines.

If you go on an Ironbutt ride I wish you the best, but if you go unprepared for problems and have them it will make an unpleasant situation even worse on you.. So if you go take with you what you need (parts and tools) should you have any minor problems, this way you can enjoy the ride with no worry's..

I would recommend some shorter trips first to see how the scooter will act before a long ride. Good Luck :-)

Don't listen to these guys about the freeway. If your comfortable on the big road then jump on it and cover your miles. I assume you have a 250 scoot so 68 mph will be fine, even 65 is plenty. Just wear your Hi-Viz to be seen and stay in the right lane. My Helix lives most of its life on the freeway with no issue. I actually end up doing more passing than being passed. I even run my Riva 180 on the free way. It is a little squirly but it'll do 65 which is enough to stay out of the way. I never seen a bigger bunch of wussies than here.
If your goal is to get somewhere, then the freeway is the way to go, for site-seeing or joy-riding use the backroads.

Now the bike making it, that's a different story. Take it out and run it to find out what you top speed is on flat road. subtract 5mph and that should get you your cruising speed and 5 mph for passing.

My first trip was a 130 mile loop Poker Run. The scoot was flawless. I thought it was going to be a slow ride but it turns out the group I was riding with said I was going too fast. They were all on motorcycles. After that I trusted it to go anywhere.

Plus Cali is a 55mph truck state so you'll be leaving them in your dust.

So just exactly what is it you are riding? Must be a 250 but what is it.

I think he's got a Linhai 250 or something like that medman, it was suppose to be a pretty good brand from what I have read...

260orbust,

If my experience can be a guide for you, I'll tell you what I did.

Back in August of 2009, I took my 150cc Xingyue from the east side of Cleveland, Ohio to Columbus, Ohio. I left on Sunday morning about 10:30. I am not comfortable with a two wheeler on the freeway, and the top speed on my 150 cc on flat ground is about 57 MPH. So I took State Route 3 going down to Columbus, and State Route 62 back home. Both these routes are either 45 MPH or 55 MPH, so I figured my 57 would be fine most of the time.

This trip by car takes 2 and a half hours to 2 hours and 45 minutes on the freeway. With the slower speeds, going through small towns with traffic and traffic lights, stopping for gas and because my a$$ hurt like hell, it took me six and a half hours on the scooter. It took 7 hours on the way back, but I had a small mechanical problem (a hose came unconnected, but I had to wait 20 minutes or so for the engine to cool off enough for me to put the hose back on).

The biggest problem I had was that there were so many times that I was trying to go up hill in a 55 MPH zone. Although my scooter can go 57, if I am climbing any significant grade, my top speed is about 40 MPH. I had so many people mad at me until I got to the top of each hill, the trip lost it's charm very quickly.

In the end, I can tell you that although I am glad to be able to say I did it, I would neither EVER do it again, nor would I encourage anyone else to do it either.

Now, if you have a 250cc scoot, and are willing to ride the freeway, it might be more pleasant for you than I had it. But if you have a 150cc scoot, there's NO WAY I would suggest it.

If you do decide to go, please do everything you can to be safe. Dress properly, inspect your scooter at every stop, keep hydrated, and develop a trip plan that people at both ends of the route have. Also, my personal believe is that because this comes with some risk, it it wise to check in with someone at pre-arranged times.

Best of luck to you!

Mark

300 miles on a 260, all freeway, is a butt buster. I've done 200 and I was a bit sore but I'm an old fart too. You will likely be fine, but you need to be 100% confident of your ride. Personally I don't like filling the underseat storage with tools and spare parts that consume half the space so I would have a top case or saddle bags or bungie something to the rear seat before a ride that long. Good idea to have a towing option available too, just in case. I would go for it, but make sure everything about your scooter is working first. Better tires than the oem crap will make a _world of difference_ too.

I'm really sure your scooter will do it. I just got a job and started this week, the job is 42 miles from me so I'm pushing mine 84 miles a day round trip. And so far it's running really good.

So have faith in it, keep well maintained, replace it's short comings with better quality stuff, and enjoy the ride. ;D

Wow! And I thought mine was bad. It starts off about 5 mph's then when you get over 40 or 50 it off by 10 mph. I always laugh when I see a noob on youtube with a scooter like mine braggin about how fast it goes.