Awesome EV video!

Gets the message across, huh? Why didn't they do something like this for the EV1?

Chevy Volt Test Drive - Sorta...

Doesn't have the Volt's body or interior, but the bones are there...

I LOVE this Volt Commercial!!!

I find myself playing this music over & over in my head after I watch this commercial...

The Volt is Here! (Or nearly so...)

You're looking at my next car! I'm on the (unofficial) waiting list at gm-volt.com. Hope GM makes this an official list real soon! I'm counting my pennies!

Daelim S2-250 Updates - Parts 3 & 4

Originally posted Mar 30, 2008:

Doug was able to figure out a problem with Fay-Fay, that occurred after her checkup. It felt as though the brakes were applied all the time, and she would die out whenever I came to a stop. It turns out that there was a problem with the CVT, where the belt was slipping into the "in gear" position, with the engine at idle. He took care of this, and she ran just fine afterwards.

We were planning to meet with Doug and others at Cruisaders on Saturday, to ride our scoots down together to Natchitoches, Louisiana to participate in the Christmas parade there. It was to be a mix of all kinds of bikes, both scooters and motorcycles, and participants were to bring toys that would be donated to children's charities in the area.

I was really looking forward to going this year, so I ordered the tall windshield from CBXmanmotorcyles.com, along with the Givi E-450 top box. While I was at it, I ordered the back rest and light kit as well. Finally, I found that they had the S-250 Service Manual available, so I HAD to get that rare gem... Installing the windshield was a snap, once I was able to consult the manual to see how the OEM windshield was held in. There are four screws that hold the front panel in, then four screws that hold the windshield to the bike. Remember to remove and re-use the rubber grommets that held the OEM screen in, since the new screen didn't come with new grommets.

The top box was a different matter. I was nervous about drilling holes in a brand new (and somewhat expensive top box), but I held my breath and tried it. The supplied template made everything line up just right! As for the light kit, I referred to Crystal's description of her installation of a Givi E-350 on her site GirlBike.Com, without which I would have been stuck trying to figure out how it all fits together from the really poor Givi instructions. When you read her post, then read their instructions, it makes a lot more sense. The Daelim Service manual came to my rescue again by showing me the wiring diagram for the brake lights.

Anyway, I get everything installed, but the light doesn't work! After stressing for a few minutes, I broke out my trusty El-Cheapo multimeter, and start measuring voltage with the brakes on and with them off. I was getting power up to the bottom half of the top box (once I aligned the contacts properly). I went to Radio Shack, bought a set of alligator clip wires to use as extended test leads. This is a really good idea for being able to clamp one end to your test point, and the other to one of the leads of your multimeter. By doing this I found out that the wiring was bad within the light kit housing itself. I'd also bought a spool of solid 22 gauge wiring from my visit to the 'Shack as well, so I disconnected the Givi connector and soldered two wires directly to the circuit board connector in the housing, and extended it to the top contacts. Success! I now had working lights! In order to get to the brake lights, I had to remove both seats (driver and pillion), and the storage compartment underneath. With the help of the Service Manual, it was all pretty straightforward in getting it apart and (more importantly) getting it all back together again.

Back to the trip (I know you think that I was just rambling aimlessly, right?) The temperature had dropped greatly during the week, and the night before I realized that I would need more protection from the elements to keep from freezing on the ride. I searched everywhere, and was finally able to find thermal underwear in Bossier City that fit me, but alas, by the time that I could get to Bossier, get the underwear, and get home to try to meet everyone at Cruisaders, I'd missed my chance! Damn! Better luck next time, I guess. Of course the weather warmed up a few days later, so I held my frustration away by taking a few pics of how Fay-Fay looks right now...

Daelim S2-250 Updates - Parts 1 & 2

Originally posted Mar 30, 2008:

I've just gotten Fay-Fay from the dealer, where she's gone through her 500 mile checkup. Actually, I didn't know that the odometer was calibrated to show kilometers, not miles, so I took her in at the 500 kilometer mark, which is about 310 miles - not very far. Doug, who owns Cruisaders here in Shreveport was cool about it and did it anyway. Great guy, doug - anyone in the area that is interested in scooting should check them out.

Anyhow, I've finally gotten to the point that I'm ready to install the Fehling chrome rail kits that I ordered through Two-Wheeled Touring (www.twtouring.com). These come straight from Germany (http://www.fehling.com/engl/daelim1.htm), and are actually made for the european version - called the Daelim Freewing 125. I noticed that the pictures show that this is the same as our Daelim S2 125, whose body style is the same as my S2 250. I ordered the luggage carrier, and the required Rear Protection Guard (the carrier mounts to the Guard). Here's how I got them to work:

First, a difference between the S2 125 and the S2 250 - the 125 contains a bolt hole that is empty on the 125, but is used to mount the engine on the 250. The front-ward mount of the protection guard relies on this hole being available.

I placed a floor jack under the engine to keep it from dropping out, then removed the bolts - one side at a time, and placed the front mount with the longer replacement bolt (with the accompanying lock nut) in place of each.

In the picture below, the original bolt is to the left, the new bolt is in the middle, and the front mounting bracket is on the right...

I moved the side cover just above the passenger footrest in order to get better access to the necessary bolts. I ended up removing the footrests, installing the mounts, then reinstalling the footrests (just a single bolt).

Here it is with the front bracket mounted (it's just to the right of the foot peg):

Mounting the rear bracket was much easier. It just mounts directly under the rear pillion seat:

Once all bracket mounts are installed, the rear protection guard is bolted to the mounts, with spacing sleeves (included) between the rear mounting points and the guard itself.

Next comes the installation of the rack... This is extremely easy - four hex head bolts are removed from the existing rack and backrest, and the unit removed as a single piece. I then re-used the same bolts to connect the top supports of the rack to the bike. The bottom supports are connected to the rear mount point of the protection guard by simply removing the bolt described above, adding the lower support rail from the rack to the stack, then reinserting the bolt/rail/sleeve back into the rear mount.

Finally, I added a JC Whitley top box (temporarily) to the rack, just to show the mounting. I'm planning to replace this with a Givi E-450 top box (much bigger, and won't seem as puny on this bike), with a backrest and a light kit. Stay tuned!

For completeness, here's the before and after pics:

Before:

After:

Fay-Fay

Originally posted Mar 28, 2008:

My new scooter has arrived and I'm ecstatic! She's a Daelim S2-250 in a gorgeous candy red color. I call her "Fay-Fay", from the character in the Cowboy Bebop anime. I've ordered side rails and a luggage rack from twtouring.com. They're made in Germany by Fehling, and imported by Ian of twtouring. I'm expecting an email any day now that'll set up shipping for this. My next steps will be to get the larger windshield, and a large Givi E-470 top case for the luggage rack.

I'm probably riding Fay-Fay as much, if not more than my '89 Goldwing. It's more economical, and a lot more fun to ride in the city. I'll post a picture of her in my next posting.

Hell, What have I gotten myself into?

Originally posted Mar. 28, 2008:

My wife & I were looking at tourers on eBay (she convinced me that tourers, not cruisers were the way to do distance riding - which is our ultimate goal). We looked at new Harleys (too expensive), and went to the local Honda dealer (G & C). We got a chance to take a close look at a new Gold Wing (as expensive as the Harley). We're newbies (I rode last about 25 years ago, and my wife has never ridden), so we inquired about classes. The dealer was happy to point out the nearest class offerings for us. Back to the present situation... We spied an '89 Gold Wing 1500 LTD for a great price, and I was very tempted. We were able to spot a couple of scam attempts that we looked into (and subsequently reported to eBay), so we were very wary of buying large ticket items online. There was only an hour left, so I set up my eBay sniping program (jBidWatcher - good but you have to work at it to make it work well) to my max bid amount. An hour and a half later, I found out that I'd won the bid! So, congratulations (or condolences) to me - I'm an owner of a new '89 Honda Gold Wing!!