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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 4, 2008 23:32:40 GMT -5
Well I've done over 600kms now, but none in rain as yet. I have been on wet roads between rain storms tho. No issues. I'm planning a trip down to Dunedin, 360kms south of Christchurch. This has a variety of riding conditions, flat plains for a 100kms, then twisty roads through meandering hills and then two short very steep passes. Conditions are often fog on the mountains and wind on the plains. For preparation I've done a few hour trips in windy conditions. Verdict, the wind-screen is to short for me. I'm 6'4.5 and the wind catches me right on the eyes at 110kph/70mph, which creates a load wind whistle at the hinges of the helmet. Strange thing is that it disappears when I put my left hand at the bottom of the visor. I'll have to put a lip onto the windscreen I think. The other uncomfortable thing is that with a tail wind the wind creates an alternating side pressure (or opposite vacuum) which feels like someone if pushing on the side of your helmet. Makes one's neck tired. Don't know how to fix that or if it is normal?? 110kph/70mph is the sweet spot for the scoot at this stage, but that may change as the scoot wears in. It feels like it can do that for hours and it can keep that with very strong wind from the front. Passing was easy too as it can do 130kph under the same conditions WOT. All this was done one up on level Canterbury plains. Top speed at no wind conditions were 138kph, slowly rising... Top speed under special conditions(strong wind from behind) is approx. 145kph/92mph @ 8250rpm. Felt like a limiter as it just pegged there and did not move at all even with stronger gusts from behind. I knew when a gust hit from behind as I could feel the engine smooth out with less load. Felt stable, but I was uncomfortable about loosing my license and scoot if I should be caught....this was just an experiment and should not be attempted in your backyard as you'll wreck the fence! As far as seating goes I wish the hump was further back, but this may be OK for people of normal stature. The seat felt good after an hour in the saddle and the butt was not numb. I've done up to 250kms per tank and got 81mpg and 76mpg (all UK gallons), 27 km/l and 29km/l fuel consumption on the two tanks so far which matches the Xingyue/Ita's consumption. Fuel tank can be a bit of a mission as it seems to develop an air lock at around 8.5liter when filling.The fuel guage then shows full. I experimented at home and could get about 1 liter more in, then it's right in the mouth of the pipe. No expansion volume in the tank then. I think I'll keep to the 8.5l volume. The digital bar graph fuel guage flashes when only one bar shows when the tank gets low. I've haven't been game to take it to the point where no bars show. One negative thing is the dashboard behind the windscreen does get dusty in the windy conditions we had. I think it has a quiet spot and the dust that whirls in then settles there. I noticed on a Xting 500 that Kymco has quite a large air duct that should stop that happening. Not a major issue, but thought I should mention that. That was the only negative thing I've found so-far. One can hear the clicker when the indicator is on, which I like. My conclusion so-far is that the Citycom is a very good all round scoot. I like the upright posture in traffic. I can see over the roof of cars and through the rear window of SUVs, which is great to check out the traffic conditions ahead. Pull-away is quicker than most cars and I like the bigger presence it give in the traffic. It gets quite a few looks and I had some very positive comments. I can't comment on servicing as I had it serviced at the shop under warranty. Changing the oil and cleaning the strainer is as easy as on a GY6 engine with the smaller drain plug at the bottom left of the engine and the big plug under the strainer at the bottom right of the engine. More than that I can't say. It takes about 1.2 liters of oil. I always leave my scoots on the side stand and drain the oil via the left hand drain hole hoping the angle will help wash debris out of the sump area. Well I hope I'm not boring you with this detail. I have not checked the speedo and odometer against my GPS. The bike does have a resettable trip counter. If someone wants a video of the bike and the different things on the scoot I'll be happy to do that. Just let me know what you'll like to see, measurements taken, etc. I'll be happy to oblige. Bye for now - Kiwiscoot
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Nov 22, 2008 2:35:03 GMT -5
Well perhaps it's time for another update. 2400kms has rolled past and there is nothing much to report. Everything function as it should and nothing fell off. The fuel consumption seems to be improving and hovers around the 29 km/l and that is not nursing it. I've been busy with some modifications to suit my riding and improve the look of the back of the scoot. The back mudguard mod needed some fine tuning. I seemed to get a bit of muddy water on the back seat. I therefor made a rubber extension for the mudguard. The red reflector under the numberplate caught the mudguard when my wife and I rode two-up, so that had to go. Added red reflector tape to the mudguard in place of the red reflector. Here you can see the cell phone holder (doubles as a GPS holder) and the "Throttle Rocker" on the throttle handle. Here you can see it. It just fits with Velcro (hoop 'n loop) tape on to the handle. It is "the best thing since sliced bread" (as we would say here in NZ when something is excellent. ;D) The weight of one's wrist pushes the throttle down. I use it all the time, even in the city and find my arms and hands are way more relaxed. This is the cell phone holder. I use two "girl hair bands" to secure the phone to the holder. Girls use these to tie their hair in pony-tails. They are covered in cloth. The holder can be detached from the base. The base is glued to the dash with 3M double-sided tape. While "Googling" for more info on the Citycom I came across this account of a marathon trip in Australia on a Citycom. www.scootercommunity.com.au/blogs/citycom_300_sym/archive/2008/10/20/citycom-300-pictures-say-everything.aspxI traveled around Australia by 4WD three years ago and let me tell you the roads and environment would have been punishing on that scoot. Just check out the picture of the air filter. This gives me a lot of faith in the scoot. The other interesting thing in my correspondence with this scoots rider is that they get 160kph top speed out of it with a change of roller weights. This is of course at the expense of pull away acceleration. The Citycom is faster than the Yamaha T-MAX from 0-50kph, ;D ;D 4.1s verses 4.4s as tested by www.thescooterreview.com/component/content/article/136-sym/264-sym-citycom-300i . I may play with the weights in the future, but at the moment I like the fast get-a-way from the lights. This may account for the good fuel consumption around town too. Well guess that's all for now. Future plans is to replace the coolant to something I know and trust. May do that at 3000kms when I plan to change the fluids.
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Dec 10, 2008 5:22:25 GMT -5
Well time for another update. 3000kms will roll past next week and I have nothing much to report. Nothing has fallen off or needed to be fixed. I will do a service next week and go with full synthetic oil now. As I stated earlier I'll change the coolant to long-life coolant that I know. Fuel consumption seems to hover around 79 - 81mpg (UK gallon) with 91 octane fuel and I have had 87mpg on one tank of 96 octane. Currently on the second tank. Seems to go smoother with 96 octane. This is in traffic conditions mostly. Guess I do about one 60km trip out of town every tankful. Had the covers off and thought some may like to see. the black box above the air-cleaner is the CPU for the EFI. thermostat housing Left hand service panel removed. Spark plug (NGK CR8E) in center and easy to get to. All the Tupperware was not to difficult to remove, probably take about 30 minutes. This will only be necessary when the valves need a check at about 6000kms. They were checked by the dealer at 1700kms. The side service panels are held with one screw each and a plastic clip. They give good access to the spark plug on the left side and the water pump and thermostat on the right side. The only thing that I need to change is the seat. It feels like it's sloping forward, which may suit a shorter rider. I will add some high density foam sometime. I fitted a cable alarm to the inside of the luggage compartment like I did for my Ita XY150. scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=15790Well this is all for now. I hope to get a copy of the service manual from Australia. I have the service manual for the Sym RV250/250GTS which covers most of the engine, except the EFI. I must say I'm still very happy with the scoot and as everything still looks like new after 3000kms, I see no reason why it should not do 20 000+kms trouble-free. The factory Maxxis tires are not much to "write home about" in the wet. Perhaps me paranoid, but it feels like they could slip on white lines in the wet. I've had to do a few panic stops in the dry and had no issues with the bike's behavior. The lights on bright during the day seem to get the attention of the cagers pretty good. I've had no bad behavior from cagers as it seems the scoot has a large presence in the traffic. I don't do lane splitting ( to chicken!) but do the occasional lane filtering at red traffic lights. The scoot seems to be narrow enough for that and no problems with pull-away as it has very good acceleration. Well all for now. Happy scooting to you all. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Feb 2, 2009 15:28:57 GMT -5
Time for another update. Speedo stand at 4058km this morning. Officially my Kiwi warranty time is over. Only 4000km or 1 Year here in NZ. Time to reflect on what happened. Things that had to be done on the scoot: 1.) horn stopped early ( <1000kms I seem to remember) and just needed an adjustment. Apparently there is an adjustment screw on the back of the horn. 2.) Indicator unit stopped working @ 3500kms. The unit stayed on, which meant I could still modulate it manually. Cityscooters here in Christchurch was so good to replace this on warranty the day before X-mas. Thanks guys, especially as I know you wanted to close shop at 12 that day!! ;D ;D According to them it is mounted hard and ridged on to the frame. I cross railway lines most days, so I guess the jarring caused it to fail. They mounted it on rubber to stop it happening again. 3.) .........hmmmmmmm............nothing else. Yes truely, absolutely nothing else. Nothing came loose, tried to dislodge itself. The scoot is still running and looking the same as when I pulled it out of the shop. Finances: 1.) NZD 137 @ 1700kms for a big service when they checked the valve clearances. They did not need to adjust them and that is apparently quite normal on Syms. I will not repeat what they said about some more "reputable" brands. 2.) NZD 10 for oil at 3000kms and from now on I'll service it myself. Condition: 1.) Tires look like they could still do at least double the distance. 2.) Paint ad panels still in excellent condition. The odd small stone chip at the bottom of the radiator. Performance: 1.) Fuel consumption has improved from about 27 km/liter to around 30.8 km/liter in mixed town/urban riding. Need to do a long trip again to see what cruising fuel consumption is now that the engine is fully run in. I run it now on 95/96 octane as it seems smoother and lighter on fuel. I want to do a few tanks of 91/92 octane again to check that it is not just because the engine is run in. 2.) scoot runs fine in temperatures from -6 degC to 35 degC. The rider seems to need to toughen up!! Starts up first thing even on the coldest mornings. 3.) I love the ride with the 16" wheels and all the weight low on the chassis. You can really cave the corners nicely and have an exciting ride. I've never felt unsafe and the scoot felt very predicable even then the tires slipped on gravel on corners. 4.) In the city traffic the scoot is very visible with the duel headlights on high beam during the day and it has enough road presence to demarcate your bit of road space to your fellow road users. 5.) The brakes performed excellent when I had to do a few crash stops due to lack of attention on my part. Gripes: 1.) I don't like the step in the seat. I would've liked to sit a little further back because I'm abnormal in height (6'4.5), but I got used to it. I find I can use the step to press the bottom of my jacket against my back and stop cold air from getting in there. Seat is very comfortable even on long (by me) trips, Sym seem to have got the right combination of firmness and shape for my 90kgs. 2.) Ride was a bit harsh on the factory setting ( 2 of 4), but on setting 1 it is very comfortable. The factory setting was not to hard for me to do 3500kms tho. 3.) Nothing else really. Mods: 1.) removed the back mudguard extension for looks. 2.) added "Throttle rocker", which is great. 3.) added cell phone holder which also doubles as a GPS holder on longer trips. 4.) added an alarmed cable as per my thread scootdawg.proboards59.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=15790 which works great. To do/ wish list: 1.) Nothing on this stage. Verdict is for my use of a city scooter, week end 100km trips and the occasional long >200km trips I would buy the Citycom again. Yes I look at the Vespa 250ie and 300ie and love the looks and nostalgia, but at 1.5 times the price it just does not justify it in my book. Well that is all for now. I've got some photos and video clips of some more rides. When I get myself organised I'll put them up for those that may enjoy them. Been to busy with my son's wedding last month and the nice warm(25 - 35 degc), dry sunny weather here.
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Mar 4, 2009 15:10:57 GMT -5
Well yesterday the scoot had it's 4600km service. Oil change and coolant change. Everything looked fine. I was glad I did the coolant as one of the fittings had slight corrosion on. I think even with Taiwanese scoots it is the best to change the coolant as soon as possible. I should have done it earlier. I used unmineralized water and long life antifreeze. I seemed to think it may be a big job, but turned out to be very easy. Here is a few pointers of how to do it: Put a container under the scoot and undo the drain plug (bottom red coloured) and the bottom engine hose. Take off the cover over the top of the radiator under the right hand side of the handlebars. Take off the radiator cap. Take the seat and bucket out. Undo this hose on the top of the engine. Take this little hose off the thermostat housing. Flush the top of the radiator and all the hoses that you took off well using a hosepipe. Let is drain well and hose off any traces of coolant from the engine and exhaust pipe. Coolant gives off an awful smell on a hot exhaust! Refit all the hoses. I turned this hose-clamp around to get the "screw part" of it away from the hot exhaust. Don't fit the hose clamp of the little hose on the top of the thermostat housing as you'll need to take this off to bleed the air out of the system. Make 1.4 liters(that is what the system holds) of a 50%/50% unmineralized water and antifreeze mixture. Pour into the radiator until the radiator is full. Now pull the little hose off the hose nipple of the thermostat housing and watch the hose and hose nipple. Block the end of the hose if coolant comes out the hose first. You should hear air escaping and see the coolant level in the radiator tank drop. Put the little hose back on it's hose nipple and refill the radiator and repeat until you've used up all the 1.4 liters of antifreeze mixture. Don't fit the little hose clamp yet as you'll need to run the engine and bleed the system. With the radiator cap off, start the engine (Remember to bridge out the connector of the under-seat kill switch, else the scoot will refuse to start. I let the battery stand on top of the mudguard and starter motor) and let it run for about 10 seconds. Stop the engine and pull the little hose off and bleed out any air like before. Carefully as the coolant can be hot. Checking the engine temperature the whole time, repeat this a few times until there is no air ( on mine I only needed to do it twice). Check the coolant level in the radiator, but it should be at the correct level. Wash off the spilled coolant off the engine. Fit THAT LITTLE HOSE CLAMP!! Refit everything and take it for a blast. After blast check for any leaks and YOUR DONE!! ;D ;D ;D Well until next time...........miles of smiles!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Mar 25, 2009 16:12:01 GMT -5
Well 5000kms rolled past on the odometer this week. Nothing much to report. Scoot running like clock-work. Opened the CVT for a check last weekend. The belt is a Mishibosi Japanese belt and looked like new. No need to replace that. The clutch is a TGB unit. Interesting that SYM get their clutches from the competition. This is just the CVT cover with the bearing for the clutch assembly shaft. I also thought it is time to replace the paper air filter. I took out the paper filter material. At the back of the filter was a fine metal gauze, which restricted airflow. This is suppose to be a flame barrier. Took that out too. This is what the back looks like. I used natural cure silicon to glue the back mesh back in. this is what the front of the air filter looks like. The green foam is fine Uni filter foam with Notoil air filter oil. I used two layers of foam as I thought that will give better filtration. The wires are to keep the filters in place. The scoot seems to perform better, but it may be psychological on my part. ;D ;D I'm curious to see what it will do to the fuel consumption. At the next service at 6000kms I'll see how dirty it got. I think it should be OK as we don't have a very dusty environment here in NZ. (Update 18/4/2010 - this filter did not work well - see later posts about Mrk 2 version - scootdawg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=200cc&action=display&thread=16772&page=14)Well all for now and happy scooting!! ;D ;D Have a blast of miles of smiles!!
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Jun 17, 2009 20:44:41 GMT -5
For those who are interested in the scoot's fuel consumption, here is a link. This is mostly city riding, 34 Stops and traffic lights in a standard work day drive. www.fuelly.com/driver/kiwiscoot/citycom-300i6000 km service done and just the air-cleaner needed to be cleaned and oiled and the oil changed. Still need to look at the variator and clutch, but as far as operation goes, they seem fine. Tires should still do about 3000km. Replaced the brake pads front and rear. they seem to give about 2000km for one mm of wear. I could have had another 2000km service out of them before they would be at the 1mm mark, but did not want to risk it if they were to wear uneven. The wear was very even. I have 34 stops and traffic lights to negotiate in the normal work day ride. NZD62 per set did not seem to expensive for Scandanavian Brake Systems brand pads. They seem to give better braking than the factory ones right from the start. Replacing the pads showed up a difference between the factory manual. It was very easy to undo the two screws and get the brake caliper off. Two more dowel type screws hold the brake pads in place. The calipers have handy holes at the back where one can insert a Phillips screw driver to hold the new pads in place, before pushing the dowel screws in from the front. Just be carefull not to let the caliper pots fully relax and suck air into the master cylinder at the handle like I did. Meant a quarter hour job took 3/4 of a hour. Well all for now - miles of smiles. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Jul 18, 2009 2:13:45 GMT -5
Well it's 10 months since my experience with the Citycom started. In this time I have only been impressed. It keep on delivering and in my book it is the "best bang for a buck". As one live with a scoot things sort of collect and settle in their place in the scoot. I thought I would give an overview of what I carry in the scoot. I am not one to carry "everything and the kitchen sink" like the Kiwi saying goes. As far as tools go I carry a small set of 1/4" drive sockets (8,10,12,13,14,15,17mm), fold out screwdriver set and the tools that came with the scoot. Sorry for spelling in photo, that should be tire repair. For info on the Cable alarm see my post scootdawg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=15790The tools are wrapped in an old tea-towel to stop them rattling. They are held together with the tire repair by an elastic band cut from an old tire tube. The front of the bucket has 3 compartments that are deep enough to hold a small pen, pain tablets, tire pressure gauge and notebook. A small digital camera lives near the facecloth, but is absent from the photo due to it being in use. ;D The tools&tire repair are held in position by an elastic band around the battery housing. This stops them from wandering around in the under seat bucket during a trip. This photo should give the general idea. This is the tire repair covered by an old sock courtesy of Singapore Airlines, hence the shocking purple color. ;D It is an aerosol which seals the hole and inflate the tire to get one to civilization again - hopefully. I don't carry a tire repair kit (patches and glue,etc.) as I can't see myself doing those repairs next to the road. The same goes for big mechanical repair. I would just hide the scoot in the bush and hitch a ride to the nearest town. When parked in town on a cold day where the bike jacket stays on the body every thing fits like this under the seat. Helmet with waterproof pants :oinside and gloves. Nice and tidy - no temptation. When it is a hot day the jacket , pants and gloves go under the seat like this. The helmet is locked with the cable lock and goes..... like this in it's very secure spot. The front of the seat fits into the bottom of the helmet. "Ya toucha my helmet&scoot me alarma give you 120dB blast!!" ;D ;D The front of the helmet fits into the petrol cap recess like this. The helmet does not rest on the visor. The visor clear of the floor of the step-thru. I have never used it like this in rain, but it should not get rain water into the helmet. The scoot does not heat up on my 7km run to work due to our cold weather ( -3 degC) mornings. This has caused the fuel consumption to go down a bit. I suspected no or an open stuck thermostat. I tested the thermostat, but it opens when it should. I now let the scoot idle for 10 minutes before go to heat up. I'll see how the fuel consumption goes. Doing this I had a look again at the "headless" design of the engine. Imagine no head gasket to go. It only has a tappet cover. This could be too why it takes a bit to warm up as the whole barrel is quite big. Oops, I may have started an Internet rumour. Not true about the engine, I saw something someone wrote on the WEB and did not check the service manual. It is a normal engine design with a head gasket. Sorry folks, should've done my homework before writing. Well all for now. happy miles of smiles to you. ;D ;D
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Aug 12, 2009 0:09:31 GMT -5
Here is an email I received from another rider "radiuswoodguy" Oregon guy. He's Citycom must be the grand daddy as far as mileage goes. By the sound of it it is giving him very good service. Subject: oregon scoot guy www.justgottascoot.com/podcasts.htm Good to here from you, I forward your review to some shops in the states and" just got to scoot" It was very well received. I travel alot of trips to job sites and to and from my costal home to the valley around 100 miles each way. Just ran over 10000 miles . The valley Portland Oregon was over 105 deg. the coast was 76 deg last week. The coast is Rain Forrest so many time it will be sunny and dry in the valley with overcast light rain at the coast so riding gear is a must. I ran a kymco 250s before and enjoy the more usable tork that the city com has. the fit and quality of the city com is much better. the seat on the kymco was a very cruel joke to say the least. Things i think the citycom could of done much better is no helmet hook under the seat or any where else. We have gas pumps here for filling large cars and trucks 90 psi it is very had to fill the scoot,most of the worlds pumps are 50 psi or less.also the spot for the electric plug should allow a wire to felicitate a gps or phone out of the compartment. Our tax guys give us a write off of 48.5 cents a mile sense i legally live at the coast i can get millage for most of my use around 15000 usually more. same for a car or truck. So i run the scoots a couple years and give them away to a worthy soul. my scoots get wet alot and are not usually garaged , i gave up on covers and went to a seat cover only cuts down on cold wet butt, The stock tires the city came with were not good and "feathered" pulled those at 4500 miles and out of balance from the factory. I run Michelin Gold they seam to do well on wet pavement not bad on a logging road ok at 80 mph. the current set has 5000 miles on them hard riding summer miles look like another like number of miles they are toast. I like to have fresh tires for the fall and winter and keep a spare set at most times they can take time to get. keep motorex scooter 4T oil buy the case. change oil every two weeks sometimes,use a bel-ray gear oil. changing to your air filter idea. need to flush the cooling system also with your great advice. the only problem i have had is head light is out and rocking the switch gets it on the shop wants to change the relay. The states did not get the pod mount for almost a year . i need gear and have to take my apple lab top with over 50000 scoot miles . milage for me is what you are seeing when i ride hard i use more fuel . few rattles need to chase them down i do some rough roads briefly . send more later And here are pictures of a 10 000mile Sym Citycom. Give it a round of applause! ;D ;D I think this just proves what we knew all along. Happy scooting - we have some miles and smiles to catch up "radiuswoodguy"! ;D ;D
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Post by scosgt on Aug 29, 2009 18:59:19 GMT -5
Just had another email from radiuswoodguy. In the 10 000miles he only had to replace the factory tyres which was out of balance and the brake pads after 5000miles. I would think that is excellent. It seems one can expect about 4000 - 5000miles on a set of brake pads. well all for now happy scooting. I just replaced the front pads on my HD 200 at 3500 miles. I had it inspected, the inspector said the pads looked thin, so I pulled the caliper to take a look. One side had probably 2000 more miles on it, the other was close to the wear indicator, but could have gone another 500. While I was inspecting the inner fell out, so I said the hell with it and put on new pads! I also just changed the air filter, and I must tell you, it was like getting a new bike. I wil change it every 2K from now on, it really matters.
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Post by argirhs on Sept 6, 2009 6:04:03 GMT -5
no its not enough for me either(iam 1,78m)factory screen is low for me too,i just thought that putting the big screen reduses the cold air to other parts of your body as well,if it doesnt why putting it if you wear a good helmet?i dont know much about scooters and about what this screen does,i drove the citycom a piece ,and i saw that the air was too much on my face.its important the visor to be open?(before a lot of years i drove streat bikes only with helmets and close visors)
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Sept 6, 2009 15:29:44 GMT -5
no its not enough for me either(iam 1,78m)factory screen is low for me too,i just thought that putting the big screen reduses the cold air to other parts of your body as well,if it doesnt why putting it if you wear a good helmet?i dont know much about scooters and about what this screen does,i drove the citycom a piece ,and i saw that the air was too much on my face.its important the visor to be open?(before a lot of years i drove streat bikes only with helmets and close visors) The big screen reduces a lot of cold air to one's body. It is wider too which deflects the wind off one's hands. It's not necessary to ride with the visor open. I thought you may have a preference fo open helmets seeing you come from a warm country. When I'm just cruising the country side (like this week-end's 80km trip) I normally cruise at between 60 - 80kph. Then I like to have the visor open, feels like an open helmet and I like the feeling of air in my face. I like the visor open in the city too if it is not raining. On very cold mornings I close it a fraction. When I travel on the open road at 120kph then I close it as I like the protection from stones or insects. We have bumble-bees here, about 3cm X 2cm insect which feels like a stone when it hits you at 100kph. Hope you get your scoot today. On the 23rd of September my scoot will have it's first birthday with almost 10 000kms on the clock and it still looks like new. I am extremely happy with it. You have fun today. ;D ;D ;D SYM = Smile Your Miles!!
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Sept 11, 2009 6:19:09 GMT -5
hi,today i checked the tires presure,it was 30 infront and 40 the rear,so i fixed it,probably that is the reason why on a left turn the front part of the bike started to get out of its cource,here in greece most of the roads are something like glass or inox(surfaces),so allthow i heared that the maxxis tires are good,i am thinking putting on the metzelers fellfree,is that a bad idea?in the dealer i almost had a fight,they told me to use 20-50 oil for the motor,this is what the manual for greece says,i think after that I will go for synthetic oil(after some miles ofcourse)and forget about the 2year waranty that they have for the citycom Yes I think you are right, it is the pressure that caused it No give in the tire and to small a contact surface because of the high pressure. . I weigh 89kgs and use 26 front and 30 back which seems to give me the best ride on the Maxxis tyres. The other thing is that new tires are more slippery as they still have the release agent on the outside layer of rubber. They will improve as they wear. I spoke to one person who always take his electric belt sander to his new motorcycle tires to get rid of that outside layer. I think the Maxxis tires are sort off middle of the range tires. At the start mine was very slippery in the wet, but now they are OK. Today I was riding in the mountains on a wet twisty road and they felt quite good, but the road surface was very coarse and washed clean from the heavy rain. In the city with the oil, etc. on the wet smooth roads and the wet road markings I would say they are just ok. I take it easy around sharp corners on a wet road in the city. I've heard very good reports from the Pirelli GT's (long life, good grip in the wet) and thought I'll try them when these Maxxis of mine wear out. I don't know the Metzelers, the only experience was a 30km ride I took a Harley Davison 1500cc on which had them on. The bike handled very well, but I don't know the tires or the bike to know which to put it down to. I do know that Metzelers are a premium tire and has a good name. If you do put Metzelers on I would like to hear of your experience. Have you had any experience in the past with them? Did the shop have the manual?? I wonder, because then they would not have said 20W50. That is the oil weight for air-cooled motorcycles (with big engine tolerances) in a hot climate and/or city stop start riding, not an water-cooled precision (small tolerance) engine like the Citycom's. You want the 10W or 5W oil for start-up(where most of the wear occurs) lubrication. Congratulations and I'm glad you ere enjoying yours. I did a 300km trip this afternoon here in the Southern Alps. Christchurch to Arthurs Pass Village if you wanted to look on Google where it is. Over a mountain Pass 900m high and with a head wind (50kph forcast, probably about 30kph) and the Citycom handles it just fine 115kph on the speedo and even 138kph(naughty me ) at one stretch. At one part of the trip the gradient and wind had the scoot only do 100kph wide open throttle.Fuel consumption going 3.8l/100km and back 3.4l/100km very good. I will post a video I shot sometime ;D ;D
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 4, 2009 14:46:55 GMT -5
drinking tea with honey and lemon for my throat,so the scoot is in the garage waiting for good days,and me waiting to be 20 years old again my friend you should not smile so wide ;D with your mouth open when you ride that Citycom of yours ;D, the mountain air dries your throat out to much then. ;D ;D I never need to wait to be 20 years old again, I just get on the Citycom and the years just roll off. Must say I felt the years this morning as the muscles are a bit sore from working on the scoot bent over the whole time. You take care and hope the throat improves quick. A good remedy for sore throat it to gargle with 100% pineapple juice. Once or twice and you'll see the sore throat is gone, first time I heard this I was skeptical, but was amazed at the result. Now at the first signs of a sore throat I do it. I took the magnet out when I changed the oil this time as it was still clean. I don't think it does anything now. The top of the engine was still perfectly clean with no deposits after 10 000kms, which is good. Maybe the synthetic oil and the 2000km oil changes do work. I was surprised that the valves needed no adjustment. They were still at the lower end (smaller) of the setting. Shows that there is very little wear on the cam and rockers, which is a very good sign to me. Maybe again the combination of frequent oil changes and synthetic oil. Well until next time - Smile Your Miles!
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 12, 2009 14:33:01 GMT -5
yes I have given it some thought. I thought some of the aluminium mesh that the they use on the front of cars would be good to restrict the air flow a bit. But I would like something that I can take off easily when it turns into a warm day. Must be plastic, clip on and easy to put under the seat. Even this morning the temp needle just moved from cold by the time I got to work. It just does not feel right. I think these scoots has been designed to be sold around the world for city riding, therefor they have a very big radiator. This is a bit of an overkill here where it is cooler. Do you mean a table place mat?? hope you are over the sore throat and enjoying that Citycom.
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Post by argirhs on Oct 12, 2009 15:07:11 GMT -5
yes iam ok thanks,the bad weather conditions are out of our door tho,i took a 50 klm trip and it was very nice,that bike is something,i can not understand whats going on too with this theme,the same thing is with german cars too,most the diesel ones,like my opel,only the japan made work the same both winter and summer,all the others is like the thermostats wont close well,because i think no matter the size of the radiator the engine sould work hot if it close properly,except if water temperature sencor indicates the values from a spot that they found is better for the engine,i have to take a look if the cylinder head is hot enough when the values to the indicator(temperature)are low,about airflow i think not a "bit",i think you must close it 90%or 100%,close 90%,or after the first ride open some holes one or two at first,yes that table place mat that you eat on, i think we mean the same, i thougt of something just now,that things that they put on the car windows for the sun which have a mechanism so they can open and close,i think small ones of that excist,but you have to make holes,so its bad idea,anyway i think if it is something plastic and fixed it will be okey with some holes,i will try it on mine too,and tell you
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Post by argirhs on Oct 13, 2009 9:16:28 GMT -5
as soon as it will get warm the tape will go away my friend(if you put it on the radiator possibly will dry and you will have problem taking it of after),or the tape will not hold to the position,i think you will not be able to avoid the plastic mat for the table,also i thought of something else,closing the air outlet,i think its under the bike,that plastic cover has a wide hole and you can put there even a tamber that can close or open an amount
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 13, 2009 14:35:43 GMT -5
I would be careful closing the back air outlet of the radiator as it cools the exhaust where it exits the engine , but I see your logic. One would be able to close off the left side or a bit on both sides to still allow air down the middle to cool the exhaust. Well the first trial this morning, scoot was up to the first 2 marks on the temp gauge after about 2 kms. When I stopped at work it was 3rd mark and our morning temp was just below 10 degC. Normally the scoot doesn't even heat up to the first mark for the whole trip. I too noticed that the idling was down where it should be. Normally when I stop at work the idling is around 2000 rpm as the scoot still thinks it is cold. I will keep on running it like this and experiment. Only thing is our temperatures are rising here. You may need to do some experimenting with your colder temperatures. Apparently the Suzuki 400 scooters take a long time to heat up too. Some owners do a modification (add resistor) in the temperature feedback circuit of the ECU. I don't think that is wise as the engine is still cold. Tuning the cooling is a better approach to me. Adjustable cooling would be the way to go. Anyway have fun. Bye for now.
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Post by argirhs on Oct 14, 2009 6:40:25 GMT -5
hi,friend,i think you have to close completle all of the radiator "face",if the tape is ok make one small hole at first(after you can open it more)12 o'clock,so when the fun starts the air goes directly to the hot side of the radiator the upper side,,also i dont know if you realise something,if you let the engine in idle for some minutes before you go,it warms up better after,do you know were the temperature sencor locates?
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