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Post by rubicontx on Oct 13, 2009 14:50:33 GMT -5
How would the lights on the front wheel survive the jarring from the suspension?? They do look cool down there? I still don't know how well they will hold up being on the forks. I found some dedicated motorcycle fog lights that mount on the same location so hopefully the lights will hold up well. They are Pirelli ST66. I tried searching for them but all I find are 16" sizes.
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 13, 2009 18:55:40 GMT -5
My Citycom has 16" rims too. How do you find the ST66's? wear and grip. What is the grip like for city riding with all the oil and muck, especially in the wet?? I like the look of them, seems a bit more of an all-round tire than the Michelin Diablo's which are more of a sealed road semi-slick tire. I find my Maxxis tires (sort off the same as the Diablos, cheaper quality tho) bad on unsealed roads and pretty slippery on mud.
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Post by rubicontx on Oct 14, 2009 9:16:27 GMT -5
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Post by Kiwiscoot on Oct 14, 2009 14:53:54 GMT -5
thanks for that. I'm going to change them for one of those brands.
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Post by rubicontx on Oct 16, 2009 9:19:53 GMT -5
I took that trip to San Antonio yesterday. I left at 3:00pm from Austin and got to south San Antonio at 4:45. The temperature was about 96 degrees on the way from Austin to San Antonio. I left SA at 7:30 and got home about 10:00 due to some traffic delays (I35 was down to 1 lane). The weather when I left SA was 88 degrees but as soon as I hit San Marcos it dropped to 75. When I got home it was down to 67. I am glad to report that the fog lights worked great! The extra light was a great addition especially for night riding.
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Post by torque on Oct 17, 2009 9:27:57 GMT -5
rubicontx,
I am considering purchase of one of these (found a used one just like yours), but the closest dealer is 3 1/2 hours away, and I'm certainly not an experienced mechanic. Bad idea?
How do you like the abs brakes?
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Post by rubicontx on Oct 17, 2009 21:33:39 GMT -5
I am considering purchase of one of these (found a used one just like yours), but the closest dealer is 3 1/2 hours away, and I'm certainly not an experienced mechanic. Bad idea? I have owned this bike for a year now and have put about 7000 miles on it. I have had no problems with the engine, tires, electronics, battery or any other item on the scoot. I have only added things to make my riding more enjoyable. In my experience with my scoot, these are some finely made machines. I am not a mechanic either, I work at an office 40 hours a week. But I do have a nice assortment of tools that I like to use. From what I have read on the aprilia forum, the problem that most people have with these scoots are with the voltage regulators. There is a lot of information on how to make this simple repair. Other than that the other thing that people have problems is with a plastic fuel line inside the gas tank. This repair is also heavily documented. If its a used scooter, the previous owner might have fixed the gas line problem. My scooter looks like it was fixed already since I have not had any problems. Other than those two items, nobody seems to have too many other problems. The folks over the aprilia forum are also a great help like the people here on this forum. Always ready to give you advise in case you have issues with your scarabeo. Read this post in the aprilia forum to get more information on the scarabeo: www.apriliaforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=158645My scooter is an 04. The abs brakes only came out in the 06 model. Although my brakes have been working great. I really have not had the opportunity to really test them, and I hope I really don't have too! Let us know if you make the plunge and purchase the beo. It is a great touring scooter. I have taken it 3 times to San Antonio, a 4 hour round trip, and have had no problems cruising at 75 mph all the way. My gas mileage is hovering around 57 mpg. Not too bad for a large scooter.
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 8, 2010 14:56:51 GMT -5
Not much riding this time of year due to the fact that I have to drop my kids at school every morning. It's hard to get a day off where I can drive the scoot, so it sits in the garage. I start it up about once a week and it faithfully starts up every time.
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 8, 2010 15:18:52 GMT -5
With all this down time its only important to start thinking of my next mod on the scooter. The only complaint I have with all the scooter is that it has this weight chatter at speeds below 10 mph. Its a known symptoms with the Beo 500's. One of the best upgrades for these engines is to replace the variator with a J.Costa Variator. This upgrade will have a huge difference in performance. This variator works different than the normal variators found on our scooters. Instead of the weights being round and sliding around the variator, these weights are elongated and slide up and down thus creating a smooth start and stop. Here's a short video showing how it works: The only draw back is the cost. Its a little pricey but I think its worth the price. I just have to save a little.
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Post by flyangler on Jan 8, 2010 15:51:59 GMT -5
Rubicontx,does your 500 have the famous pause on take-off that scarabeos are known for? I haven't noticed it on mine yet but was wondering if that was a reason for wanting the new variator.
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 8, 2010 16:04:52 GMT -5
It does have that little lag. It was not really noticeable at the beginning because of the excitement of having a bigger engine but after a while you start to notice the noise more then anything. I did upgrade the rollers with some Dr. Pulleys but the noise is still persistent.
The J.Costa will eliminate that lag and make the scoot nice and smooth. It will not hurt your top end but it will take 1 or 2 mpg off (due to the right hand wanting to rev the engine I'm guessing).
It will be a couple of months before I get mine but I will report back once I get it installed.
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Post by Bought a Morph on Jan 12, 2010 22:56:08 GMT -5
It does have that little lag. It was not really noticeable at the beginning because of the excitement of having a bigger engine but after a while you start to notice the noise more then anything. I did upgrade the rollers with some Dr. Pulleys but the noise is still persistent. . The noise still persists because it's not the rollers causing it. It's the clutch shoes engaging the inner bell cover. This is why you have the noise when you are going very slow. The rollers would only make noise if they were installed wrong.
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 13, 2010 8:16:28 GMT -5
On the Scarabeos 500 the noise comes from the variator not the clutch shoes. Something to do with the design. Once you replace the variator, the noise goes away.
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Post by jalat on Jan 15, 2010 2:17:04 GMT -5
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 15, 2010 9:27:35 GMT -5
Thanks for the link!
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Post by jalat on Jan 16, 2010 7:53:47 GMT -5
rubicontx send me an email and I'll give you a hint for J.Costa jalat123 (guess_what_character) gmail DOTT com
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 20, 2010 14:16:36 GMT -5
It was a beautiful day yesterday so I took the scooter for a short drive to run some errands. I had forgotten how great it is to go out and ride!
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Post by rubicontx on Jan 29, 2010 12:17:29 GMT -5
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Post by rubicontx on Apr 14, 2010 9:04:49 GMT -5
Scarabeo Update.
Scooter is running great. No problems to report. I drove it all last week to work because I did not have to drive my kids to school in the morning. This week its back to the jeep since I have to transport two kids to high school.
All in all this scooter has worked out well. No major problems just routine maintenance. Talking about maintenance, I need to change the oil on the scoot this weekend.
I have not upgraded the variator yet. Will probably wait till later on this year to save some money for the upgrade.
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Post by rubicontx on May 13, 2010 10:19:43 GMT -5
Scooter is running great, no problems to report.
It’s getting a little hot here in Austin but its still perfect riding weather. You just have to keep moving... The temp on the scooter was registering at 98 on my commute from one job to the other (3:30pm).
On drive to my second job I was facing some heavy wind gust coming from the south (15-25 mph). I was diving against the wind all the way to work that day and the scoot handled the wind and the turbulence very well.
I took the toll road that day to avoid the Austin traffic and I was cruising at 75 mph all the way. The wind did play havoc on the scooter especially when passing some of the bigger trucks but it was very controllable.
I really can't say enough about this scoot. It's almost going to be 2 years now and I have had no problems with the scooter.
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Post by peasman on May 29, 2010 14:31:45 GMT -5
I love reading all the updates on your Scarabeo 500 GT, Rubicontx. I just got a great deal on a 2006 GT exactly like yours with only 580 miles on it! The Aprilia dealer did the 600 mi service, I put on some new Avon Viper Stryke tires and it is off and running. I had a Honda Silverwing, but I like this a lot more...you cannot beat the styling and everywhere you go, everyone has to look at it. Happy riding and thanks for the updates!
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Post by rubicontx on May 30, 2010 11:01:02 GMT -5
Thanks and congratulations on your purchase! You are correct about the attention. It's just different from whats out there.
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Post by rubicontx on May 30, 2010 11:12:22 GMT -5
I drove my scooter to work this week. The weather was nice and cool. I also sported my new summer helmet. I normally wear an AGV modular helmet. It has worked out really good but in the heat of Austin, it gets very hot. Even with the shield up. So I got an AGV blade half helmet. It's a little funky looking but it worked great this morning. I was quite surprised that the noise level was just about the same as the modular helmet. I always wear ear plugs when I ride, so that might have contributed to the quiet ride. All in all a nice experience. Even at 3:00 pm on my ride home the helmet was a lot cooler than the modular. The air flow around the face was greatly improved.
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Post by coyote6 on Aug 9, 2010 15:23:17 GMT -5
Hi Everyone. Doug here in San Diego. I am looking at an 2004 Aprilia Scarabeo 500GT that's for sale. It has 20,000 miles and looks well cared for, So can anyone offer any advice? Right no I ride a Bergman 400. Thanks all, so glad I found this site!
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Post by rubicontx on Aug 10, 2010 8:29:40 GMT -5
From my experience, two years and 10,000 + miles, I can honestly recommend this scooter. Besides the normal oil changes, I have not had to perform any other maintenance on this scoot.
It's very different from whats out there and the power from the 460cc engine is great.
The seat is a little high at 31". That and the combination of the wide seat makes it a little hard if you have short legs. On the plus side the high riding height will give great visibility down the road and makes you more visible to traffic.
The saddle bags on the GT will greatly improve your storage capacity. That's helpful since it does not have any under seat storage.
Let us know if you decide to purchase the Beo.
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Post by widehide on Aug 10, 2010 16:31:47 GMT -5
hello rubicontx, glad to see you are still enjoying the Scarabeo, My VOG260 has finally turned 5500 miles and is running fine. Just wanted to say hello, Ride safe, there are a lot of crazy drivers here in Austin. Adios
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Post by rubicontx on Aug 10, 2010 21:05:16 GMT -5
Glad to see another member from the Austin area. Yea traffic can be a little hectic at times. On days that I don't have to pick up the kids from school, I drive my scooter to work from my house in Hutto to my office at the corner of 51st and Lamar. A nice little 25 mile commute. I normally take I35 from Round Rock down into Austin. As you know traffic is always packed on I35 but the scooter does fine in rush hour. It helps that I have to be at the office at 7:00am which avoids some of the heavier traffic.
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Post by rubicontx on Aug 18, 2010 14:17:02 GMT -5
I took another short trip to San Antonio last Saturday. I took off from my home in Hutto Texas at 5:00am. From Hutto I took Hwy 79 into Round Rock TX. Then I took IH 35 all the way to San Antonio (Yellow route on map). I got to my destination at 7:00am. Two hours and 140 miles later. The drive was nice as it was cool in the morning but even at 7:00 it was close to 85 degrees on my temp gauge. On Sunday I drove back home. I took a little different way going home. From San Antonio, I took IH 10 going to Houston (green route on map). I rode for about 1 hour on IH 10 then took Hwy 80 going to Luling. Hwy 80 merges with Hwy 183 that leads into Austin. Right before I hit Austin I took the new toll road 130 that goes around Austin and takes me all the way to Hutto. It was a lot hotter on the way back, the temp gauge read 105 at certain points along the way. On the way to San Antonio I rode at 65 to 70 mph. On the way back home with a lot more traffic I was riding a little faster. My speeds ranged from 70 to 80 while on IH10. Once I hit the smaller Texas Highways the speeds dropped down to 65-70. The scooter ran great, it was very stable and controllable at the higher speeds. I was able to not only keep up with traffic but stay in front of it. All in all a nice weekend trip on the scooter.
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Post by rubicontx on Oct 1, 2010 11:46:52 GMT -5
Some pictures of my work MC parking area. In case you missed my scoot:
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Post by flyangler on Oct 6, 2010 4:45:17 GMT -5
Rubicontx, where do you get your oil filters for the master 500 motor?
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