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I always thought scooters were for Pee Wee Herman and people too scared to
ride a real motorcycle. But I was down in Key West last month after the 7
Mile Bridge Run, and saw all the people buzzing around on scooters, and
thought it might be fun to ride one. Yeah, I know the joke about fat
chicks and scooters. And in the past I've always declined to ride one in
Key West because I always figured alcohol + scooter = emergency room. I still
figured a beater scooter might be a fun little project. Mmmmmm, project.
So I looked on eBay, and in the classifieds, but I didn't see anything I
liked. Then I mentioned to Chris that I was looking for a scooter, and he
knew a guy, and the next thing I knew he was delivering a scooter to my
carport. Of course, that was the night I was stuck at work until 10:30,
but when I finally got home and opened the gate I was greeted by this stunning
Yamaha Riva Razz. And Linda.
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I found the center stand, and got the scooter up off its side.
It didn't look too bad. The tires were flat, and the front brake was stuck,
but the wheels still turned. At some time in its life it had lost its
keyswitch, but someone had thoughtfully replaced it with a rocker switch. And
the number taped over the headlight was evidence of a racing career. Perhaps
this scooter was elibible for vintage racing. Or maybe it had been a pit
scooter for some NASCAR driver. Who is #37, anyway?
The speedometer clearly indicated that it was capable of at least 30 miles per
hour. And the odometer read a little over 2000 miles. It couldn't have had
that hard a life. All of the switches (lights, horn, turn signal, starter)
moved okay, although they didn't make anything actually happen. The turn
signals were there, but the mirrors had been removed. But as that Italian guy
said in Gumball Rally, "Whatsa behind you, issa not important".
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There was some kind of panel missing below the seat, but that must made it
easier to get at the wiring. The seat itself wasn't in too bad shape, although
it did have a duct tape patch on the side. The hinge at the front of the seat
pivoted smoothly.
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Underneath the seat was the gas tank and the oil tank. Apparently it's a
two-stroke. There was even oil in the tank, although the gas tank was empty.
And there was a small battery that had seen better days. At least the
wiring to it was present.
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I figured it was worth a shot to see if the starter would turn over the engine,
so I got out the battery charger. It looked like a six volt battery, so I
set the charger on six volts and "start". I got the clamps onto the battery
terminals easily enough, and I was able to scrape through the corrosion to
get a good contact. I flipped on the charger, turned on the keyswitch, and
pressed the starter button. Nothing. I moved some of the switches around,
but couldn't get any response from the starter. So I pulled everything off
and continued looking over the scooter.
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For a moment I thought I had it, when I saw this thick greenish-white wire
hanging out of the engine compartment. Then I realized it was a vine.
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After a little more inspection I found the kickstart, and determined that the
engine would at least turn over. It still wouldn't start, though. I pumped
up the front tire with a bicycle jack, to see if the tire would hold air. It
did. I couldn't fit the pump head onto the rear valve stem. The wheel is
just too small. It needs a regular compressor back there. It looked like the
bodywork over the engine would not be too hard to take off. After I sat on
the seat and made vroom vroom noises for a while I concluded the inspection.
The first step will be to clean it and pull off the rest of the vines. Then
try to get the starter to spin the motor. That is almost certainly going to
require buying a new battery. That's a reasonable expense, as the scooter
has certainly been sitting for a while. Then on to the exciting part --
making the engine run! Stay tuned.
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