Syracuse Ska Forum

So late last week and early this week were my fun times at the DMV, trying to get my new 2008 Stella titled and registered.

A week ago Friday I brought down what they told me I needed over the phone, except now they changed what they wanted. Not a "bill of sale", but that special tax form they have and they wanted the original signature of the seller in Chicago. So I get that overnighted and go back last Wednesday and now they say they want a different paper. Long story short, I got the seller in Chicago to fax them what they wanted -- while I'm sitting in the DMV offices for over an hour -- while I sat there. So, after going through two supervisors, I finally leave with everything including my new motorcycle plate.

In between, I ran into numerous people at the DMV that I haven't seen in quite some time, some from shows, some not. One was Chris Nolan of The Action! who ironically enough was there about his scooter parked in front of the DMV, which is a Yamaha C3 (see photo below). Not my style, but an interesting-looking scooter. Apparently his brother-in-law has a matching one and they ride together, so we agreed they'll join us for shorter, slower rides this summer.


Yamaha C3

My Stella is a "new" (as in NOS = new old stock) 2008 and since I normally don't get home from work until after 6:30pm, we designated today to get it started up, with lots of daylight to sort out various issues. So, this morning a couple of us got it going, which was a bit of a task, but not horrible. We could only get the electric starter to work while it was on a battery charger and since I didn't have patience to let it sit on the charger, I've been kick-starting it all day, which is fine, since I started with a P200 anyway and am used to that. I also suspect the synthetic 2-stroke oil I used is probably the wrong kind, because it's been running rather smoky (too rich?).

I ran to the Mobil on Nottingham and topped off the gas for less than 3 dollars. That never gets old.

Ran to Recess for awhile, except Adam and Jesse were running errands of their own, so I just chilled there for a bit. Ran into a kid from ska shows and we talked about the shows this summer. He's excited about Slightly Stoopid and now I got him excited about The Aggrolites opening for them too, so that was time well spent. Anyways, Adan and Jesse finally got back and we got into the serious scooter talk. Until I started riding today, I failed to notice I have no mirrors at all. I also never realized before how much the cops swarm over our part of the city. I was passing cops all morning and afternoon, but fortunately with no incidents.

I ran some little errands around the Westcott Nation and then ran to Fred's Sport Motors on Erie Blvd. I didn't realize they aren't a Yamaha dealer anymore and thus, they have extremely little there that's very helpful. Lowe's was actually a much better stop for stuff. It felt good to push the engine on Erie Blvd in 4th gear to maybe 50mph. It's gonna take awhile to break the engine in, so that's a good little jaunt. Then it was back to the Westcott Nation for a bit and then I ran down to Marshall Street to use one of my own ATMs for a change (it costs me up to $5 to use ones that with my bank). And then the throttle cable broke on Marshall Street itself, in front of Cosmos. I checked and of course, the inner cable broke inside the outer cable. I was hoping maybe the end just popped off inside the carb housing, but no such luck.

Then I walked it to the WCC where I am at the moment. I had to laugh when a Centro bus driver stopped his bus just off the SU campus to ask me about the scooter while I was walking it. People have been admiring her all day, which also never really gets old.

So, I just ordered a cable from Scooterworks, along with a left side mirror and a floor mat. Overnight was like $53 which is crazy, so I went with the 2 day which was about $16, which is a heck more reasonable. But that also means I won't get the package until like Wednesday and won't be back on the road again until Thursday at the earliest. Oh well, I'll try to do some preventative work this week to see if we can keep this sort of thing down.

And that was my first day with my new Stella.

Okay, so now it's Thanksgiving Day and I'm about to put my tofurkey roast in the oven for dinner with friends later today.

I am kind of amazed there have been 177 views of this post so far. Not sure why, but I figured I may as well post an update since there seems to be at least some interest.

I have been riding daily since that original post. Yes, it's been quite cold lately, though not as bad as you would normally expect by late November. I now work 8:30-5 M-F now so it's been especially cold riding to work some mornings, but nothing horrible. It helps of course that I only live 1.6 miles from work, so it's a short ride. I park downtown where most of the Harleys usually park, except none of them have been around for weeks. Well, there was one especially nice day where one showed up, but that's been it.

I get some surprised looks on the morning commute. Yes, it's below freezing. But it's dry, which is the critical thing in my mind. 27F is a bit chilly to ride, but not as bad as it sounds. I know a lot of NYC folks ride like that. I've been wearing winter gloves the last couple weeks which keep my hands warm, even if they make working the controls a little trickier.

I've been wearing a full face helmet since mid-summer because a co-worker did a face plant at 55mph into a concrete curb off his motorcycle while wearing a half-helmet and now he's getting his face reconstructed. The lid saved him from brain damage, but he broke all the bones on one side of his face. I've always known a full face helmet was the better choice, but that was the motivation I needed to actually wear one again.

So anyways, the only real cold weather problem I've had so far has been the helmet. If I close the visor completely it's actually nice and toasty. But then if I stop it fogs up the visor completely. So I generally ride on the coldest days with the visor open a crack which is semi-annoying. On longer stretches I'll shut it completely and then open it at a signal. For those unaware, it's very easy on a bike to see when the signal is changing, so I simply drop the visor before heading off again. Kind of annoying, but it's a system of sorts.

I learned the hard way not to ride in cooler weather with the visor up. I rode to The Action! CD release party at the Dinosaur BBQ which was no big deal since it was mid-40s on the way out. The sound guy from Subcat Studios shrugged when I left my helmet behind his sound board, "Why not? It's above freezing and no ice". That made me feel good. But anyways, when I left it was still about 42F, so I tried riding with the visor up the whole way home, which felt fine actually. I was starting to think I had been a sissy not trying that more. But once I got home my sinuses were killing me the rest of the night. I work with a nurse and she told me that was not a smart move. Oh well, live and learn.

For what it's worth, I have been seeing a motorcyclist here and there in my travels the last few weeks, so I'm apparently not the only crazy one.

It's finally supposed to snow starting this weekend and into at least some of next week. I only have two wheels and they are only 10 inches at that, so my biggest concern is traction. I'll just keep monitoring the Weather Channel and take it day by day, though I'm sure I've got some non-riding days soon ahead. But I recall last winter being really mild and thinking I could have rode a good portion of it and that's my goal this winter -- to ride whenever I can get good traction and to stay away from road salt, which ultimately destroyed my old P200.

That's my update for now. More another day if there is continued interest.

Still riding off and on this winter. But most of February and March has been a bust. The irony is that it's just been too wet and cold at the same time. I can do wet and warm or cold and dry, but slushy snow mixed with salt and near freezing temperatures I won't do, sorry. But we've had a few nice sping-like days mixed in here and there and that's kept me relatively happy.

My horn cover got smashed when we had that big wind storm a few weeks back. It knocked my Stella into a metal post and I'm lucky that's all that got damaged. But it was disheartening to park a nice new shiny Stella downtown in front of LoFo in Armory Square with the ghetto-looking horn cover. I discovered that Scooterworks sells the stock ones in the original colors, which is awesome, since spot painting one would be a pain. But my heart dropped when I ripped it out of the packaging and it had a large crack along the side. It was packed well, so I'm wondering if LML screwed up. It was a clean crack, which I could glue back together -- a definite improvement over my existing cover with the big hole in it. But it was discouraging to have to glue it and then install it like that. Fortunately, Mark at Scooterworks is replacing it no charge, which is highly appreciated.

Jesse is itching for some group rides for this spring, so I'm looking forward to that. But I'm a bit worried if Adam will be riding with us, since I hear he left his Stella out in the snow this winter. Hopefully he at least brought his Primi indoors. I know he's been fixing it up.

That's my report for now. More soon!

OH WELL.

I've been the only powder blue Stella in Syracuse. Until today.

I'm chilling at Café Kubal downtown right now and one just rode by on Jefferson Street, heading off to Armory Square. When I leave here, I'll have to hunt him down.

Found the scooter, but not the rider, in front of Sound Garden. He was not in Sound Garden, so maybe he works in Armory Square somewhere? His is on the right with a PA plate, very clean, with the Zippy tires -- I have the Shinko whitewalls on the left with backrest and floor mat. BTW, I'm the one legally parked -- he is not.

Was the smoke white or blue when it was running smokey.

I meant to reply to this previously, as I have read all your comments here fairly soon after you posted them.

No blue smoke ever. Some visible white smoke only on cold mornings until I warm up.

I know the significance of blue smoke on a 2 stroke and it would get my attention, since I've always ridden 2 strokes and have seen blue smoke from other scooters, though fortunately never one of mine. I just don't share your view of the LML engines, sorry. I know you think they're horrible, but they are still widely sold here compared to other smaller brands that have been repeatedly run out of the country because of poor quality.

Overall, I have been very impressed with my LML scooter. This past year was bad, as it went down 4 times, but the body is remarkably sturdy, though I am getting tired of replacing broken horn covers. I have also become very skittish of my Shinko tires every time it rains now, as I went down twice in one month, both from panic stops in the rain where the back end slid out. To be fair, my overuse of the front brake didn't help, but I have zero faith in these tires now. I need to either upgrade to a much better whitewall which is very pricey or get some inserts for a less pricey option. I also really need some touchup paint!