Quote:
Originally Posted by DisillusionedPrepper
Lowered the front, and rear by 2 1/2 inches, and stretched it by 3 inches. All the body mounting tabs along with the center stand are cut off, and ground.
The front fork lowering was easy enough. I simply removed the pinch bolts, slid the forks up 2 1/2", and ran the appropriate drill bit thru to re-cut the fork tubes. Reinstall the bolts, and tighten up.
Next is the Darkside tire deal.
I received my first tire last week. It is an Achilles 135/80 R13. That size is too tall to fit past the right side crankcase bungs that the swing arm mounts to. A lower profile is needed so I got on the phone.
There is a shop in Cali (Bear Tire) that is willing to TRY to get me a Euro market tire. The size is 135/70 R13. There is a Fiat sold in the UK that takes this size.
I tried calling Federal tire, Dunlop, Firestone, and someone else (i forget which one). NONE of these manufactures are willing to sell me a Euro market tire. They all said the same thing... "It's not a DOT approved tire for U.S. markets so they can not sell it here."
Michael (from Bear Tire) is willing to try to get me a pair, and see if he can get e steady supply just for these custom scooters. He's familiar with the Ruk fat tire scene in Cali. so he will do his best to help us Darkside riders out in the 150cc bikes. Fingers crossed.
The 135/80 R13 is not a total loss tho. I'm considering running it up front. Back in the 80's i ran a custom frame Harley 1/4 mile bike as my daily, and today I ride an 85 mph ZX-50 as my daily. I'm used to things that don't belong on the street.
This build should be no exception.
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Just wonder if the front will bottom out when hitting bumps and what the consequences of
that may be should that ever happen.
Darkside on scooters is something near and dear to me, but again, having put a scooter
rear tire on the front (called double darksiding) of one of my Honda Reflex250cc scooters
makes me wonder about the wisdom (or lack thereof) of putting a car tire on the front of
a scooter. That is because of the width of the rear scooter tire on front and the sometimes
excessive heaviness and peculiarity of steering that it induces. Pulling a single wheel
trailer with the rear tire up front was fine but less so when riding without the trailer. Why
that is, I couldn't tell you with certainty, but that is something that I noticed on mine. I
could go on about what I think makes it that way but it would be better reserved for
discussion elsewhere/later.
Building your own bodywork in composites is an area where I lack technical skills, but I
have dabbled in it with surprisingly good results. An interesting area of scooter
wrenching tomfoolery for me is streamlining and fuel economy; even with scooters as
efficient as they are without any modification. Not much into engine modification with the
Honda scooters and the Reflex in particular as there isn't much in the way of
performance enhancement for that bike and it works pretty good as is. It seems most
engine mods for it tend to cause more trouble than it is worth. BB kits that have a poor
history and up jetting only uses more fuel... which would defeat my aims.
Real streamlining is the best avenue for performance enhancement on my bike. Wind
drag is the big thing that holds it back. The usual average mpg for the Reflex is mid 60's.
On my 2007 Reflex I managed to get 77 mpg on a 200 mile test ride with standard body
work. The mods that were in effect for that ride were a 155/80R12 car tire on the rear
and a taller final drive gears set from Polini that the BB kit racers used to get higher
speed. (with the BB kit there was more available HP) What I was looking for (and got)
was lower rpms at cruise. But I couldn't get it to go any faster than it would go when set
up stock. The wind held me back.
Craig Vetter, inventor of the Windjammer fairing (and others... popular starting back in
the 70's I think) for motorcycles, built a streamline fairing for a Honda Helix 244cc
scooter along with taller final gears, got WAY higher top speed for that scoot, but was
pretty spooky to ride going 80 mph or so on the little 10" wheels it has. Anyway, here's a
link to that stuff.
http://craigvetter.com/pages/470MPG/...20Fairing.html
I like the way you think... you are a kindred spirit.
I'll watch your build with interest.