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I spent a good part of the day today trying to get the Vespa up and running so I could license it, but no such luck. I think its fuel line must be clogged. Feh, so much for brand-new parts, eh?
Anyway, I decided I wanted to get my Aprilia out and about, so dragged it out of hibernation in the garage, installed the new license plate, did some minor maintenance, and vrooom, it started right up! After letting it warm up, I decided to go for a baseline top-speed run out on 31st St. (a 4-lane road in Lawrence on the edge of town, no stop-signs for a mile or so).
Turns out my baseline is about 60mph in about 12 seconds (no radar here, folks, and I don't know how accurate the speedo is, considering this bike used to top out at about 45mph stock). The only modification right now is an 80cc cylinder kit. Next:
Best,
Chris
Anyway, I decided I wanted to get my Aprilia out and about, so dragged it out of hibernation in the garage, installed the new license plate, did some minor maintenance, and vrooom, it started right up! After letting it warm up, I decided to go for a baseline top-speed run out on 31st St. (a 4-lane road in Lawrence on the edge of town, no stop-signs for a mile or so).
Turns out my baseline is about 60mph in about 12 seconds (no radar here, folks, and I don't know how accurate the speedo is, considering this bike used to top out at about 45mph stock). The only modification right now is an 80cc cylinder kit. Next:
- Replace the sprockets. The only limiting factor on top speed right now is redline: I stopped accelerating at 11,000 RPM, where the tach starts with the yellow lines. No reason to push things until the world-record run. The bike has plenty of power at 60mph, and the engine seems to still be building power at 11-grand. C00l! Speaking of cool, the temperature stays right in the middle of normal during such a run. Yay!
- Replace the stock carburetor and airbox with the new, much-bigger race carb and free-breathing, washable filter.
- Replace the stock reeds with new, hi-performance carbon-fiber reeds. (It's a two-stroke.)
- Go for another baseline run and see what we get. I'm estimating it'll reach 80mph or more with all those mods.
- Install a teeny-tiny nitrous kit and go for the land-speed record... well, actually there's another step in there. *sigh* I'll need to drop down to the spare stock-bore cylinder I have before going for an official 50cc record unless I just want to try for an 80cc record. That'll be a bigger challenge, but hey, this seems like a great platform to use!
Best,
Chris
I spent a good part of the day today trying to get the Vespa up and running so I could license it, but no such luck. I think its fuel line must be clogged. Feh, so much for brand-new parts, eh?
Anyway, I decided I wanted to get my Aprilia out and about, so dragged it out of hibernation in the garage, installed the new license plate, did some minor maintenance, and vrooom, it started right up! After letting it warm up, I decided to go for a baseline top-speed run out on 31st St. (a 4-lane road in Lawrence on the edge of town, no stop-signs for a mile or so).
Turns out my baseline is about 60mph in about 12 seconds (no radar here, folks, and I don't know how accurate the speedo is, considering this bike used to top out at about 45mph stock). The only modification right now is an 80cc cylinder kit. Next:
Best,
Chris
Anyway, I decided I wanted to get my Aprilia out and about, so dragged it out of hibernation in the garage, installed the new license plate, did some minor maintenance, and vrooom, it started right up! After letting it warm up, I decided to go for a baseline top-speed run out on 31st St. (a 4-lane road in Lawrence on the edge of town, no stop-signs for a mile or so).
Turns out my baseline is about 60mph in about 12 seconds (no radar here, folks, and I don't know how accurate the speedo is, considering this bike used to top out at about 45mph stock). The only modification right now is an 80cc cylinder kit. Next:
- Replace the sprockets. The only limiting factor on top speed right now is redline: I stopped accelerating at 11,000 RPM, where the tach starts with the yellow lines. No reason to push things until the world-record run. The bike has plenty of power at 60mph, and the engine seems to still be building power at 11-grand. C00l! Speaking of cool, the temperature stays right in the middle of normal during such a run. Yay!
- Replace the stock carburetor and airbox with the new, much-bigger race carb and free-breathing, washable filter.
- Replace the stock reeds with new, hi-performance carbon-fiber reeds. (It's a two-stroke.)
- Go for another baseline run and see what we get. I'm estimating it'll reach 80mph or more with all those mods.
- Install a teeny-tiny nitrous kit and go for the land-speed record... well, actually there's another step in there. *sigh* I'll need to drop down to the spare stock-bore cylinder I have before going for an official 50cc record unless I just want to try for an 80cc record. That'll be a bigger challenge, but hey, this seems like a great platform to use!
Best,
Chris
.