Thread: Florence!
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Mr. Luddite[_4_] Mr. Luddite[_4_] is offline
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Default Florence!

On 9/15/2018 8:43 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 15 Sep 2018 17:31:07 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/15/2018 3:02 PM, John H. wrote:
On Sat, 15 Sep 2018 12:26:28 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/15/2018 9:34 AM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2018 18:00:09 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/14/2018 4:14 PM, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 14 Sep 2018 14:04:59 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 9/14/2018 12:04 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 9/14/18 11:50 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/14/2018 11:43 AM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 9/14/18 11:28 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 9/14/2018 10:50 AM, Its Me wrote:
On Friday, September 14, 2018 at 7:47:42 AM UTC-4, John H wrote:
On Thu, 13 Sep 2018 21:34:54 -0700 (PDT), Its Me
wrote:

Well, after we had to evacuate the house for nearly a week while
new hardwoods were being laid, sanded and finished,we are back in
the house today just in time for Florence. At this time the
biggest worry is power outage... the storm is down to a Cat 1,
but is moving so slowly it will dump lots of rain.Â* We're on a
hill so no worries of flooding, but power is a concern with a
well. Should have pulled the trigger on a gen, but we've briefly
lost power twice in ten years, so it hasn't been at the top of
the list. Work is 10 minutes away, and we have a huge gen,
kitchen and showers so really no big deal.Â* Plus I have about 5
ways to cook without electricity, so we are OK.

Hope anyone in the path fairs well.Â* I'll probably just spend my
time painting the newly remodeled parts.Â* All new appliances next
Tuesday!Â* Then we'll have a complete kitchen again after almost 3
months.Â* Whew!

I've heard nothing but good about this generator from the RV crowd.

https://www.harborfreight.com/3500-w...tor-63584.html


As soon as I find a buyer for my Honda 2200, I'm getting the
Predator.


Thanks, but I need 240V@30A to run the well pump.


I don't necessarily need 240v (split phase) but if my Honda ever
gives up the ghost I'll shop for one.

Speaking of the Honda ... I just pulled it out of the storage shed and
gave it three pulls.Â* Fired right up.Â* Last time it was used was last
winter when we lost power for a couple of days.Â* Still has the same
gas in it that it had then with a splash of Stabil in it.Â* I have it
running right now, trying to run it out of gas so I can use fresh gas
if and when I need it again.Â* It's just purring away on the old gas.

So much for the stories that gas goes bad in a month or two.Â* It may
lose some of it's BTU's so an engine can't develop it's full HP rating
but I see no evidence of that.Â* I put a 1500 watt space heater on it
as a load so it burns the gas faster and it runs just fine.




Ahh, you put Stabil in your generator's tank and the gas was good
enough to start up and run your generator and therefore "So much for
the stories that gas goes bad in a month or two."

Gotta love that scientific methodology.



http://funkyimg.com/i/2Le5c.jpg



Universal truth from a single observation?


Just an additional data point from the time the generator sat for five
years unused with gas in it. (again, used some Stabil). After all that
time it ran, although it took extra pulls for it to fire up.
Once running, it burned up the five year old gas with no problems.

I am in the habit of adding Stabil to the gas storage jug immediately
after I fill it with fresh gas. In that way the generator always has
treated gas and it has always fired up and run fine after long periods
of sitting (i.e. 5 years). Just my experience and only with the little
Honda generator. Works for me.

Doing the same now with the gas I use in the little scooter, based on
the luck I've had with the generator. The only difference is that the
scooter uses high test (93 octane) gas.

When it's time to put the motorcycle away for the winter, I'll do the
same for it. In fact, the owner's manual for the Suzuki specifically
says to fill the tank with fresh gas, add an appropriate amount of fuel
stabilizer (the manual recommends Stabil), run the motorcycle for a
while to distribute the treated gas throughout the fuel system including
the fuel injectors before permanently storing the motorcycle.


Are you up in Connecticut now or down south with us racists?

Why put the bike up for the winter. There's usually a bunch of great riding days in the winter, at
least around here. I just keep it ready to go all the time.


I am still in Massachusetts, not too far from the beginning of Cape Cod.
I am not a big fan of cold weather riding. I bought the motorcycle more
as an impulse buy anyway. Might keep it, might not. We'll see.
Actually, I enjoy riding the little scooter but it's not all that
comfortable for longer rides.


I keep kicking around the scooter idea. I'd get one of these. Very comfortable for a tall guy. There
is also an extension for the windscreen. With a 650cc engine, the thing will scoot over 100mph and
is fine on the interstate.

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/...ABS-5004031071


The inexpensive little scooter I bought is nothing like a Silverwing.
Only 150 cc and has a top speed of about 60-65 mph on a good day.
Still, it's fun to tool around with and make runs to the convenience
store. It's not comfortable enough to go much further. I bought a
color coordinated seat cushion for the seat that helps.


I've about trashed the scooter idea anyway. Scooters seem like they'd be much more convenient than
the motorcycle. But, I'd still have to put on long pants, a jacket, a helmet, and gloves, so the
convenience really wouldn't exist.



The thing I like about the little 150 cc I have is that it is super
lightweight compared to a motorcycle. It's nimble, easy to maneuver
under power or just pushing. It has a turning radius that is about half
that of the Suzuki. The Suzuki CT-50 weighs 696 lbs wet. The scooter is
just over 200 lbs.

I noticed that the Honda Silver Wing is about 550 lbs wet. To me,
although it looks like a scooter, it's weight defeats one of the main
advantages of one.

Each are made for different things.


Oh yeah. The Silverwing is more a 'touring' scooter, as opposed to a 'run around town' scooter. I'd
never checked the weight. Didn't realize it weighed that much. I've not ridden one, but when sitting
and rocking it I thought it was pretty light. A whole lot of the weight is down low, so maybe that's
why it felt nimble, as opposed to the Guzzi.



One thing that surprised me about the Suzuki C-50 was that it's
wheelbase (65.2 inches) is actually longer than the Harley Ultra
Classics that I had at 63.5 inches. The C-50 is considered a
"mid-sized" bike while the Ultra Classic is "full sized" or "large"
but I think it's more to do with the engine sizes.

My brother has a 2008 Harley Road King which is basically the same frame
as the Ultra Classic. Sitting side by side, they appear to be about the
same size but the seat on the Suzuki is noticeably (by a few inches) lower.

With a smaller engine and lower seating, the center of gravity is
significantly lower, something I like. I had a couple of Harley
Softails also but I can't remember what the CG was like on them compared
to the Suzuki.

BTW, one other thing I've noticed (and something I have to be careful
about) is that the scooter feels and handles very differently than
a motorcycle. Took me a little time to get used to it. I have to
think about it a bit when I alternate riding the scooter and the
motorcycle. For some reason the motorcycle feels more natural to me.