Weird ZA50 Failure

I had a weird failure with my ZA50 motor this weekend.  After a hard night pushing the limits of our bikes with Soma-san on Japanese Hwys 129 and 246, I rode my bike the next morning to a rude awakening.  When I was at half throttle, my engine started to make a violent shaking sound.  I immediately thought it was the Gila's death rattle of seizure!!  But soon realized I heard this sound before.  I next thought it was my clutches blowing up.  In any case, I was lucky to make it home on 1/4 throttle.

Taiwan Scooter Life

Chan Kai Shek Memorial

I recently got back from a trip to Taipei, Taiwan. For all you scooter fans, this is one of the meccas for scooter lifestyle.  A ton of bikes and parts come from this Asian island.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go to the many performance shops around town.  I didn't see too many two-stroke scooters or mopeds either.  It was a plethora of four-stroke Yamahas, Kymcos, and SYMs.  And they were everywhere!!  And I mean everywhere!!  I haven't seen this many scooters in action other than Vietnam.  They even have devoted scooter lanes on the freeway.  Enjoy some of the sights around town:

Puch 32 Tooth Rear Sprocket

I've been looking for a 32 tooth rear sprocket for over a year now.  I've scoured the forums and asked my friends with no success.  I have two of them, but they're trapped on my bikes currently stored in Hawaii.  So, I decided to make one.  I initially contacted Chris at 1977mopeds to see if they could get or make one for me:

Ready Fo' Sho'...

Don't let it blind you...
 

"Puch Rigid almost ready"

...Drool

ZA50 riders drool...

"Because shims are sometimes hard to find, u just gotta make ur own..."

Street Fighter III: Back Road Blasting

I took my bike for a spin after a long summer hiatus.  Explored some of the back roads around my area blasting on my ZA50.  Brought along my GoPro Hero 1 and 2 to experiment with different camera angles.  Please enjoy the sights and sounds:

(Please excuse the ridiculous looking rider!!)

Almost Done!!!

All show and go...

All Honda MB5 Meet

Our resident Honda MB5 two-stroker Soma-san went on his annual pilgrimage to the All Honda MB5 meeting in Shimotsuma, Ibaraki Prefecture.  His travels took him from Kanagawa Prefecture to Ibaraki Prefecture which is approximately 160 km (about 100 miles) each way, 5 hours, in 37 deg C (about 100 deg F) HOT summer temperatures, for a one day meeting with his fellow MB5 otaku gear heads.  That's hardcore!!

Some new buttons

I added some new buttons to this blog to help you navigate to some specialized pages:

In Da Pits

Soma's Corner

Check it out next time on the left sssiiiiide ---->

Some Ridiculous Miyagase Pics

Puch Maxi and Honda MB5

Here are some pics from Soma-san and I's Street Fighter II: Miyagase Run this past spring.  People on mopeds look so ridiculous!!  Hahahaha....

ENTER THE BIG TOP...

Moto Champ Magazine: Taiwan Shoot Out

For you SYM peeps...Drool:

Bosozoku Scooters

Bosozoku (暴走族 = lit, violent running tribe) according to Wikipedia:

Bosu Mag

"is also applied to motorcycle subculture with an interest in motorcycle customizing, often illegal, and making noise by removing the mufflers on their vehicles so that more noise is produced. These bōsōzoku groups also engage in dangerous or reckless driving, such as weaving in traffic, not wearing motorcycle helmets, and running red lights"

Anime Charaters

 I've seen many of these biker gangs around my area.  You definitely can hear them coming.  Their bikes are "supaa urasai" (really loud).  I always thought they were Japan's version of the obnoxious Harleys.  In any case, their bikes are fully customized looking like something out of a Karmen Rider V3 episode: