Skip to main content

The Living Dead Scooter

Something didn’t feel quite right – after the top end rebuild in Whitehorse and a careful break-in on the Alaska Highway, I expected Red to be ready to tear up the roads through Canada and the US. Instead I found myself still sticking to around 40MPH due to a slight vibration and a perceived lack of smoothness in the engine. I wanted a professional to take a look before sliding around the deserts and mountains of the US and stopped by Fritz Scooter & Motorcycle Repair in Seattle for a health check.

IMG_3437IMG_3403
The result wasn’t good. Within a few minutes Jake realized Red was a dead scooter riding: the crankshaft is shot. The piston is burned to shreds, bearings are loose, seals are leaking, and the crankshaft is bent. This is definitely the reason for the original failure and it’s unfortunate that it wasn’t spotted in Whitehorse, though it’s understandable since they don’t work on these every day.

IMG_3496IMG_3502
So, nearly 12,000 miles into this journey, I’m stuck again waiting for parts from Chicago (which will hopefully get here much faster than they did to Whitehorse!) to do an engine rebuild. Jake and Nick at Fritz have been totally awesome, opening up on a Monday to help me out and sharing beers and their entire day with me yesterday and today (and most likely tomorrow).  Equally, Genuine and Scooterworks have been fantastic with the tech support on the road.

I’m pretty happy either way – for those not familiar with two-strokes, let’s just say these engines aren’t at all designed for the type of duty cycle I’ve been running this through. I’m stoked that this Rattler 110 has held up as long and as well as it has, it’s really a testament to the quality of the machine that it didn’t tear itself apart much earlier. When I planned this trip originally I expected an engine rebuild during a one month/5k mile ride and didn’t expect this to turn into an epic 15k+ mile over three months journey – if I had, maybe I would’ve picked up a four-stroke.

IMG_3495IMG_3446
Nonetheless, I’m stoked, looking forward to getting the parts in and the engine rebuilt, then breaking Red back in again carefully along the Pacific Coast Highway. This is what life is all about!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Patagonia Beckons

Today I begin what may become one of the most difficult tests of long term mental and physical endurance and strength I have ever undertaken: for most of its remaining 2500km through Patagonia, Ruta 40 is considered one of the most desolate highways in the world. Over half of the remaining road is gravel, sand, and dirt. The number of towns listed on a map once I pass Perito Moreno can be counted on one hand, and there are many stretches of hundreds of miles without provisions, fuel, or places to stay.
Post a Comment
Read more

Gear Review: Sea to Summit Big River Dry Sacks

In the past couple months on the road I think I’ve spent more time riding my scooter through rain than I have in the dry – this is clearly reflected in the fact that as time has gone by I’ve invested more and more money in things to keep my stuff dry, since wet gear sucks. One of my favorite purchases for this trip is the pair of Sea to Summit Big River Dry Sacks I picked up just before leaving, in 13L and 20L sizes. They cost me around $20 each and are one of the best pieces of gear I’ve purchased in years – extremely durable, effective, and simple to use.
Post a Comment
Read more

5 Things that Suck about Traveling Solo

I find it telling that it seems a majority of the interesting travel blogs I run across are written by solo travelers, most often women. I think there’s a reason why we write more than people who travel with friends or in groups and that it’s pretty self evident: it’s an outlet for our loneliness. In the last year and a half, the vast majority of my time has been spent away from home, alone. As I write this, it’s been over a month since I’ve conversed with anyone in my native language, and I can remember every single conversation in English for the month before that. The truth is, I don’t think I could have done this without the internet – without a blog to share my thoughts, without Facebook to see what my friends are up to, without the occasional e-mail to provide a façade of normalcy… without these things I’d likely have driven myself insane with my internal dialogue. Now, I grant, there’s a reason I travel alone and I do love it, but lately it seems all I run across in the blogosp
Post a Comment
Read more