Uber-Shcooter

The Yamaha TMax will be available for the first time in the U.S. this July with the introduction of the 2009 model.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/products/modelhome/607/0/home.aspx

(Be sure to watch the "Scooters Anonymous" video on the Yamaha site.)

Yamaha describes it as the worlds first supersport scooter. With a 499cc DOHC Fuel Injected twin on a lightweight aluminum frame it will some real get up and go. (Gee, that's double what's under the hood of the 'Flex).

The Honda Silverwing, and Suzuki Burgman 650 outgun in engine size but they also significantly outweigh it. This model focuses on performance instead of touring.

I wonder if there's a waiting list?

Sold Out

More Alaskans switch gears to motorcycles

Gas prices have bike dealers scrambling to keep fuel-efficient rides in stock

http://www.adn.com/front/story/423678.html

"...Some longtime motorcycle owners are turning from recreational riders to commuters this summer. But people who sell motorcycles also say they're seeing a rush of first-time riders running out to buy a bike, a national trend that's left dealers here scrambling to fill sales floors.

At the Motorcycle Shop Inc. in Anchorage, "anything that's halfway fuel-efficient is gone," said sales manager Shannon Dixon. The shop sells Kawasaki, BMW, Triumph, KTM and Ducati motorcycles.

"I do the best I can to supply an alternate choice but realistically, by and large, anything 650cc or smaller with a purchase price of $8,000 or less is virtually unobtainable at this point," Dixon said.

Two moms walked into Hartley Motors in Palmer and bought the last two scooters in stock, said Alice Mobley, who manages the shop for her grandparents. They knew exactly what they wanted: to save money on gas, and try something new with a buddy.

"We have at least four people a day coming in wanting scooters or small street bikes. Almost every person says something about gas mileage," Mobley said. "We thought about changing all of our price tags to say how many miles to the gallon they get but we never had the chance. They're gone."

Elementary Squeel

So what's it like to take a group of 71 kids from one place to another on bikes? I volunteered at Chugach Optional Bike day and found out. Strangely enough it wasn't half as chaotic as I thought it would be. Just don't go too far or too fast and everything works out fine. There were very few bike problems, and no whining from at least from where I was in the mile-long paceline.

Silverfish got a few compliments. Must have been the new red bar-tape.

Riding in a sandbox

Sunday was bike fix-it day. I should have changed the fluids and done the maintenance on the Reflex before I took the first ride of the season but whatever; it got done and I still averaged 62.5 mpg on the last tank. Next up were the busted chain and the wacky carb settings left over from last season on the little guy's JR50 dirt bike. It took only about 12 kicks before it sputtered to life after sitting through the whole winter; not bad for an old kid-beaten two-stroke.

Later that afternoon we took the dirt bike out. Too bad the wind kicked up bad turning the little guy's first season visit to the Kincaid MX park into a ride through a bad Sahara sand storm. Maybe it's just early training for the Paris-Dakar rally.

Eastside scootin'

Last Sunday I made a side trip to the new branch of the Big People's Scooter Store in Woodinville WA. Lots of pretties from Vespa and a few Piagio MP3's including a 500cc industrial-looking monster. There was also a small collection of oldies along the ceiling. Before I left I bought a nice Tourmaster jacket in light blue for Michelle. Too bad I don't have a single photo to show. Next time I'll read the manual about clearing the card from the camera instead of the USB connection.

After enough scoot gazing we went on to our next destination; The Red Hook Brewery. Unlike those Italian beauties at the previous location, these tall cool ones won't get hammered off a lousy Euro-Dollar exchange rate.

Profile Design Aerobar Mod

Cat-Dog was previously outfitted with Profile Design Aerolite clip-on bars (upper photo - top). While it's very easy to get a good fit on these things, they are neither "aero" nor "lite". The aerobars sit too high above the base bars and have too much mounting hardware. These 750 gram monsters had to go but this year's upgrade budget was spent on wheels. What to do?

A pair of Profile Design Jammers (upper photo - bottom) were just waiting in the parts-bin for something. I tried these things out two few seasons ago and couldn't get them to fit no matter what I did. The twisty hand grip and short length made me wonder why they didn't use a more descriptive name like "Profile Design Elbow-Jammed". The hardware and pads were fine but the tubes were junk.

With a little tinkering I discovered it's possible to use the same Jammer hardware but replace the useless twisty-elbow things with better tubes. I took a set of straight mountain bike handlebars (26mm center, 7071 aluminum, gunmetal powder-coated - also parts-bin), cut them in half, and mounted them with the narrow side in the hardware and the wider area up front. I popped the round end caps into the narrow end and my set of Dura-Ace bar-end shifters up front.

The flared area of the tubes makes a nice hand grip. When I get the fit dialed in then I will wrap the bars and clean up the cables. At 510 grams these aerobars are not as light as carbon or integrated setups but respectable for clip-ons in the "under $100/parts-bin" category. They are lighter and cleaner than the Aerolites and unlike the original Jammers they're usable. They look stock so you won't get that old-washing-machines-parts look of Graeme Obree's world record setting "Old Faithful". (But if you DO want that look then there is an abandoned machine near the old Rabbit Hutch parking lot just waiting for a serious hardware hacker.)

It may be possible to go a step further and mount the aerobars below the base bars with the hardware tucked neatly behind the base bars however it will require taller spacers for the pads. I work on that later.

There you go. If you've got a set of Profile Jammers (or T2's) and don't like the shape, hack a set of mountain bike bars, straight, curved, or angled, and get what you want.

First Ride

Spring has been so late this year. I finally started up the Reflex on April 12th. Still lots of snow and very cold.

Rode again yesterday and things were improved. There is still a lot of gravel around the corners.