Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in impact_vino's LiveJournal:

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Sunday, July 1st, 2007
11:08 am	TO 70cc OR NOT TO 70cc, that is the question.... Whether it is nobler to back up traffic and be a slug up hills, or to suffer the slings and arrows of an unpredictable 70cc conversion (which may blow up in your face)? Okay...this is complicated. I bought my Vino with the full intention of acommplishing two things; 1) Saving money at the gas pump. 2) Not having to deal with the time, trouble, and cost of getting a moto endorsement for my license. Here is what happened; the stock 50cc bike proved too slow to keep up with traffic, and so I sought ways on the internet to make the lil' Vino go faster. First came "de-restriction"; nice, but still I needed more speed. Next came the Airsal single-ring 70cc kit, which ran great for about two months until it ate the wrist pin bearing on my way to work. So to fix that problem I bought the KRD beefy wrist pin unit from Moped Hospital. Bike ran good for about 6 months and then the damn wrist pin clip worked itself out and destroyed the motor. Okay, now I'm on engine rebuild Number-3, what to do different this time? I decided to get the Airsal 2-ring piston kit. I like the quality, fit and finish of Airsal, so I stuck with that brand despite earlier problems. Well, the 2 ring kit proved to have so much compression I could not use my electric starter, plus it was killing my ankle to kick start it. After about 200 miles the bike got harder & harder to kick start, I haven't the foggiest notion why, so I just gave away the Vino for $200.00. Conclusion...I don't know if I can recommend the 70cc build-up. If I had to do it all over again I think I would just go with an Arrow extreme pipe and larger Michelin S-1 rear tire with maybe a stronger rear torque spring and the Zuma #80 main jet. At least you won't be committing "engine-cide" as the 70cc's just don't seem to hold up for long (at least they didn't hold up for me). Good luck to Thee and Thine, I gave up and bought a 125 Honda Elite. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007
10:14 am	Affordable housing question Hello from Portland, Oregon. Here in the US we have a thing called "The Baby Boom Generation" born after the second world war, and they have pretty much destroyed the planet. Their latest gift (around here, anyway) is buying up tons of the last good farmland in Oregon and building Mc-mansions to retire on. That would not be a big deal, except there is only so much open space and farmland left around here. The cost of housing has gone up five-fold in the last 10 years. If you missed out on buying a house (like me) then you are screwed as prices keep going up and up, and the babyboomers keep moving up here and chopping down every tree and developing every farm into a damn housing tract. And instead of the prices going down due to an increasing supply, just the opposite, they are starting at $300,000 and going ever higher. So that leads me to my question: New Zealand is not hellish and hot like Australia. My knowledge of NZ comes from the Lord of the Rings movies. I think I need to move there just to be able to buy a house and live and retire with some property. But...do you guys also have a 1960's generation baby boom that is eating up farmland for expensive houses? What is a median price for a tiny house that has a bit of space around it for quiet and privacy? I realize these are very general questions, but any answer is better than nothing at all. Thanks. And to the baby boomers who read this...bite me. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 15th, 2007
4:45 pm	Heed the word of the brother My Airsal 2 ring piston kit came in and was installed on Friday the 13th! There is so much more compression with the 2 ring kit that it has rendered my electric start useless (and my ankle is killing me, too). I think I had better buy a trick kick starter soon. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, April 7th, 2007
1:22 pm	Waiting for dual ring kit to show up in mail Last Thursday was riding to wok on first really nice day of Spring when fucking wrist pin clip came out again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lost 2 hours of work and had to take bus then walk 2 miles to work. Guy at work told me to rotate the clip until the little "wow" groove next to the wrist pin hole is covered by clip (don't leave a gap there, in other words). I dunno...I guess I'll try anything. Fortunately the weather is rainy and shitty, so I'm not missing anything. I'll have to give up on the Vino after this motor is installed. I'll never go through this heartache again. (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 18th, 2007
4:21 pm	70cc Kit Still Alive & Well and living in Portland, Oregon To anyone thinking about installing 70cc kit and worried about reliability (especially after all the stories of break downs). Well, have no fear, I am well into 200 miles on my kit and it works great. I must advise anyone to buy the racing insert wrist pin bearing from Moped Hospital, do not re-use the old one, and do not use stock Yammy. Ask me for more details. Happy scooting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, September 24th, 2006
3:22 pm	70cc kit still alive Well - Been a couple of hundred miles now on the stock 50cc head gasget and no problems running (so far). Great 80 degree Fall day, riding my scoot and generally having a blast with the 70cc cylinder. Moped Hostpital sells a gasget kit for $6.00, but if it's not broke don't fix it. 50cc head gasget is running great. Now, I shall boast of my scooters modifications: 2002 Yamaha Vino Classic with: Aluminum 70cc kit with single chrome ring piston and nickasil coated cyl. KRD racing wrist pin bearing Zuma #80 main jet and Zuma carb needle (on center clip). Malossi variator with 5.50 gram roller weights Malossi large-finned outer pulley Malossi white rear torque spring Carbon Tech carbon fiber reed valves Handy Bikes large rear shock over sized Michelin S-1 rear tire other mods: center stand welded up 1 inch to acccomodate larger rear tire drive side case vented all phillips head side cover screws replace with hex bolts stock gas tank swarf screen removed and replaced with inline gas filter stock vacumn petcock replaced with manual unit (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, September 4th, 2006
11:01 am	Been a cruel, cruel Summer... Man - Where to begin explaining this Summer? Ate my 70cc kit with a bad wrist pin bearing, ate my 50cc kit with a broken wrist pin clip. Shut down the other night due to shredded head gasget combined with loose head and had to take a bus home. Shut down last night when air box fell off and got run over by a fucking car... Man oh man, what have I done to piss off the scooter gods? Four days off for Memeorial Day weekend and all I did was wrench on my fucking bike. Now I'm barely rolling with stock 50cc head gasget wondering how long it will hold. I can't ride far from the bus lines due to fear of break downs at every minute. I should've bought the 125 Vino, but since I saved $200.00 a year in insurance for 3 years I guess I can't cry too much. Speaking of crying...I died last Fall, watching the leaves turn yellow & brown and having rare warm clear weather (for Oregon) to ride in and I just sat at home and cried. I will not go through that again!!!!!!!! I will pay whatever I got to pay to keep scooting through the 2006 Fall (now watch me eat it on some dead leaves while going around a corner). (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, August 26th, 2006
12:09 pm	Finally found aftermarket wrist pin bearing To All - Moped Hospital has a KRD racing wrist pin bearingfor $15.00. You MUST use this unit if you want to keep your 70cc engine alive. (Comment on this)
Saturday, August 12th, 2006
12:15 am	Going for my third engine... Damn wrist pin brike on my 50cc rebuild. Now I'm going back to 70cc and wondering how much longer I can put up with this abuse (Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 19th, 2006
11:32 pm	Wrist pin bearing broke...."Whaaaah" Dame wrist pin bearing failed on my way to work Friday. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Totally ruined the motor. shit. (Comment on this)
Saturday, June 3rd, 2006
10:52 am	Vino + 70cc kit = SEX To those of you sitting on the fence in regards to shelling out the $170.00 to buy the 70cc kit from Moped Hostpital...sit ye no longer! For on this day, at 8459.0 miles, on the year of Our Lord, June 3, 2006, I have done it! I am now at 70cc and loving it (35-40 MPH going UP HILL, my brothers). As I am writing this I'm letting the bike cool down after exactly one mile of hard riding (I being from the school that believes you have to ride a bike hard the first 20 miles to break the engine in right). Who knows...down the road I may be cursing the day I ever bought this kit, but right now I'm sure smiling. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 9th, 2006
11:01 am	Engine mods that work. Hear Ye owners of the Vino 2-stroke, for I have a few basic mods that will make your bike run better (a lot better). 1) Buy carbon fiber reed valves (about $60.00 from Provo Scooter). You can feel the difference in mid-range power, believe me. 2) Drill a few small holes in the front of your drive side casing and a few in the back to aid cooling. 3) Throw that black plastic drive side case cover in the trash (all it does is retain heat). 4) DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CUT HOLES OR DRILL HOLES IN YOUR FUCKING STOCK VINO AIRBOX...DO NOT DO IT....DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT. Just remove the air filter and gently wash it with warm water & dish soap, let it competely dry out for a day or two, then get it slighly wet with 2-stroke oil, squeeze out excess oil and re-install. AND ALSO LEAVE THAT SNORKEL-LOOKING DEAL AT THE TOP OF THE AIRBOX ALONE. The stock airbox is designed to cut down on AIR TURBULANCE, as well as keep shit dry. 5) Replace the stock #64 main jet with a Zuma #80 jet and Zuma carb needle (placed on center clip). 6) Buy the white Malossi rear torque spring. 7) Buy a fresh drive belt and keep the old belt under your seat for a spare. 8) Buy the larger Michelin S-1 rear tire. 9) There is no harm in running compressed air through your stock pipe to see if any swarf blows out. 10) Use only 30 weight fully synthetic oil in the rear end. 11) Use only fully synthetic 2-stroke oil. 12) check tire pressure every week and keep them properly filled. 13) Replace spark plug every 1,00 miles (DO NOT TOUCH PLUG UNLESS ENGINE IS ICE COLD OR YOU WILL STRIP THREADS). 9) Get rid of that slushy stock rear shock (try handy bikes usa, or e-bay, rear shocks are hard to find for the Vino). 10) Pretty controversial advice here: Drain your auto lube oil tank, plug-off the carb where the oil line feeds in and go with 3%-4% premix. I have my doubts about the stock auto lube keeping up with a tuned engine and as evidence I would like to submit photos of myself pulled over to the side of the road waiting for my seized Vino to cool down where I can ride it home. A gallon of gas is 3,800 milliliters...3% of that is around 117 mils. So I go 100-120 mils of oil per gallon and have never overheated again. The only mods I have left to try are a Malossi Vario (as soon as my 5.50 gram weights get here), and a larger Minarelli finned drive pulley. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 2nd, 2006
11:01 am	Clogged tailpipe = unhapiness & frustration Well, well, well, "Mr. Vino know-it-all" (that's me) goofed around with my scooter all Summer only to find out it was a clogged-up tailpipe that was causing me all he trouble. Some history: 1) Bike would start, but would not develop power or high-revs. 2) rebuilt engine, bike would still not develop power or revs. 3) Did compression check and found bike had 130 pounds (about 10 too much), concluded that since bike had 7,000 miles on it the side crank seals must be worn and letting in outside air. 4) On a whim, took pipe into work and hooked it up to air compressor to see if any carbon or packing crap would blow out the pipe (for the record NOTHING blew out of the pipe). 5) Started the Vino without the pipe on and boy did it rev. 6) Hooked up pipe and she ran beautiful...better than when it was new. 7) Held my head in my hands realizing I blew all Summer fucking around with scooter instead of riding it and all because of the most retarded lame thing possible; A CLOGGED TAILPIPE ("bleh"). So, NOW WHAT, my brothers? First of all, I am going back to bascs with this LJ and listing all the mods for the Vino 2-stroke that have worked for me. Then I'll write a note saying beware of earlier burblings on this site because they were all about me and the stress of not getting this bike to run right. Finally I'll just answer "viewer mail" from you guys in regards to the Yammy Vino. Enjoy. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 20th, 2005
11:37 am	Ho Ho Ho you Homos.... My carbon fiber reeds FINALLY came in the mail from PROVO. My gasgets finally came in from the Yamaha dealer. SO you KNOW what this loser will be doing over his lonely loser-assed Christmas vacation; that's right, rebuilding my VIno in the living room of my apartment while it snows and blows outside. Actually, they say the wether will be in the 50's, just warm enough to kick start it and take it for a short spin (are you listening, Santa?). And so I'm hoping the next post from me on this site will be a positive one. Merry Christmas. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 13th, 2005
11:41 am	A Christmas that truly sucks So this is Christmas...I have new reed cage gasgets on order and am replacing the air box with the stock unit (to those who read this; don't cut fucking holes in your stock air box). STILL WAITING for Provo scooter to send me my carbon reeds and Minarelli finned pulley after a month or so (fired off a mad e-mail to them just now). To all who read this; NEVER ORDER ANYTHING FROM PROVO SCOOTER. So there... (Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 6th, 2005
11:28 am	Thanksgiving Weekend Over Thanksgiving I took the goddamn little motor off the bike and set it on my kitchen table for a closer inspection. The side case seals look good, but there was a missing bolt on my reed cage (hmmm). Maybe this has been causeing my problems, or the Yamaha mechanics did a sloppy job of putting the bike together. In any case, I can't get down to the shop to order new gasgets until this Firday. Plus I noticed a slight bow in my reeds so I bought new carbon fibers and am still waitng for provo to send them. (Comment on this)
Friday, November 25th, 2005
12:24 pm	shit... Rebuilt the engine to origianl 50cc...still does not run. Been told it's leaky side case seals, but I have my doubts. Reed valves seemed a little out of speck with a serious bend in the middle, so another 60.00 for carbon reed valves. Here goes. (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 12th, 2005
2:16 pm	I dood it...the resurrection It took about $110.00 worth of parts and 2 months to get them all here in one bag from Yammy, but here I go ready to return to 50cc tonight. Weather is shitty here in Oregon, so I wheeled my Vino into my apartment and will work on it tonight (hopefully finishing before Sat night Live comes on). Here is how I figure I'll break it in: 1) let it idle 5 minutes 2) give it 1/4 throttle here & there for another 5 minutes 3) shut off bike and let it completely get ice cold 4) start it up and ride it fairly hard, yet not wide open throttle for extended length of time. I'll do this for first 20 miles or so, then let it cool. 5) That's it...sorry to inform you folks that the first 25 miles are all you get for breaking in a motor. Don't listen to the old wives tales out there. If everything works out, I'll be back here at the computer tomorrow raving about what a genius I is. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 16th, 2005
9:18 pm	A raisin in the sun... From the poem, Harlem: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it sag like load, or does it shrivel up, like a raisin in the sun?" And now you know how I feel about my scooter. Today I tried my last speck of "rigging" the bike to work. And my last bit of hope was shattered when the piston would not develop any rev's. Now, I'm just going to go back to 50cc...but that will be sometime in 2000 and six. Man, I can't even rig that bike to run me down to the store or bus stop, some mechanic I turned out to be. And here I am trying to give you good people advice. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
10:05 pm	Drive belt was slipping...now clutch is slipping Man oh man...nice October day with the leaves changing color and no rain, but I can't ride because my belt was slipping. So I locked the rear hub in place (by taking out the torques spring and puting in a plastic spacer). Well, it worked...sort of. You see, that did keep the BELT from slipping, but then the clutch started slipping. Frustrated? You bet. Mad and upset and depressed? Oh yeah. Down, down, down with no shoulder to cry on? Oh yeah. I've got nothing better to do but try a smaller spacer (so the rear wheel can gain more speed and force the centrifugal clutch out farther & harder. Here's what I really need to do, though: 1) Buy a new drive belt. 2) Buy stock piston rings. 3) Have the cylinder honed. 4) Buy 5.5 gram roller weights. Total cost: About another $100.00 that I don't have (and still no guarantee that this set up will work, either). Fuck...my little scooter sure let me down when I needed it the most and even $400.00 and a LOT of work wouldn't get it fixed. For some reason the bike just does not want to rev as high and develop the power that it used to and I can't for the life of me after trying 2 carbs and 6 different jets figure out why. (1 Comment |Comment on this)