Knowing your vehicle

With the onslaught of imported Chinese Scooters over the past few years, many of us are finding we need repair parts. For some, we can find a local Scooter shop, but for others, it seems near impossible. Even if we find a local scooter repair shop, some specialize in European Brands and don’t work on Chinese Scooters (aka Mopeds), and if they do, they may not carry the parts we need for our brand.

Here is one of the easiest secrets to learn more about our scooters. Chinese Brand Scooters come to America under many names, and even worse, many of us buy a Scooter, and 2 minutes later, can’t even tell our neighbor the make or model we just bought. Here is the best way to figure out who is the manufacturer, and that is to find the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number), aka the serial number of the Scooter. Read the rest of this entry »

Car brakes rarely get much attention that is until there is an emergency. Brake lines can be made from a variety of different materials, but one of the most popular among off- roaders and performance drivers is steel. Puncturing a brake line is always a concern for serious off- road drivers. A rock or twig can easily make a small puncture with soft brake lines, and such can end up in a disastrous situation. Steel brake lines do not swell as a flexible line might. With continuous use, a flexible brake line can stretch from the pressure of the fluid running through it. Such situation is called brake line swelling. Brake line swelling may not be a huge concern, but once the line is stretched the line pressure also lessens which results to weak performance. Over time, the decrease in brake performance will give you a headache. You definitely do not want to have a swollen line especially in emergency situation. Brake line swelling is no place with steel brake lines making your performance better. Read the rest of this entry »

When we change our belts, in most cases, the front clutch internally falls apart. Now don’t feel stressed, as it only takes two minutes to fix it. Anytime a belt comes off, breaks or is being replaced, we need to realize with the belt gone, the front clutch has no pressure on it to stay intact, so they fall apart internally. With all this talk about clutches falling apart, we might throw up our hands and say “forget it, just take it to the shop”. Well, don’t. You can do this, it’s easy. If you can change a belt on a car, you can do it on a scooter. All there is to do is the following: Read the rest of this entry »