What a day

[TC3]

I knew today would be a bit wet but i planned to be home by dark as it has been getting pretty cold. Today my nephew turned 16 and he was booked in for his CBT (one day training to allow him to ride a 50cc). He got a bit wet and it all went on for a bit later than expected. I had rode down so that i could escort him home after he picked up his bike from the garage. Unfortunatly we including my bro got side tracked and lost track of time. So by the time i escorted nephew home i realised i was kinda clueless how to get home. Out comes the satnav kept under the seat and that got me to familiar roads...the bloody M25 in the rain and left that to get to the a414 leading to A1m. Up the A1m and the heavens really opened and then a thick fog. Dont mind the rain but the fog is not fun as the visor becomes pretty useless. So visor up and stoppin at side of road when i needed to wipe my glasses
But you know what? I had a great time as i not been out on the bike all week.To see my nephew ride so well has put my mind at rest that he can control the bike well.

[maddiedog]

Sounds like your nephew got quite the adventure out of it.

Earlier this week, I got caught in a downpour in traffic. It was cold enough and foggy enough that my glasses and visor completely fogged over. I had to put my glasses away, flip the visor up, and let my face get soaked. My jacket is completely waterproof though, so it was still fun. Good gear can make any condition fun riding conditions.

What type of bike is your nephew riding?

[EddieC]

that actually sounds like a blast! I would always CHOOSE a sunny clear day to ride, but for us people that need to ride year round, it always feels good to conquer the weather and make the trek home. Also, I invested in the tucano urbano termoscud. got it shipped from urbanrider.com in england for €106.65. their website converted it to $167 US, but when paypal converted it it came to $175 and change. Still happy with my purchase seeing that I tried sourcing one a few weeks ago and couldn't find anything for under 200. Thanks for giving me advice on clubpcx (before I was banned for no reason) that has helped me take the plunge. I'ts going to be nice to have the right gear for the ride home.

[maddiedog]

Those lap covers look like they'd work really well, but they seem like a hassle to me. Are they easy to put on/off?

[Woolley]

Ive been riding in the rain alot recently too, having no car anymore. Ive noticed my lap doesnt really get wet at all though, so i dont really see the point in the lap cover. Unless it keeps you really warm or something.

[TC3]

My bro picked up a CPI GTR50 for my nephew a while back. Only 2 years old with 700 miles on the clock for a bargain price of 700 quid! Was in the garage last week for a good going over and service to get it ready for today.
My nephew on it a few months ago


Pic from today showing the newly sprayed R1 my bro rides which needs graphics applied


and of course my beloved PCX all nice and clean ... not sure why i bothered though

[EddieC]

dave - dont have mine yet, but should be here any time now. And the reason I got mine was for warmth, not so much rain, but it's an added bonus

[maddiedog]

My bro picked up a CPI GTR50 for my nephew a while back. Only 2 years old with 700 miles on the clock for a bargain price of 700 quid! Was in the garage last week for a good going over and service to get it ready for today.
My nephew on it a few months ago


Pic from today showing the newly sprayed R1 my bro rides which needs graphics applied


and of course my beloved PCX all nice and clean ... not sure why i bothered though

Yours is the shiniest.

That looks like a really big bike for 50ccs, here in the USA, we only have small scooters in 50cc. I wish we got the CBR125 over here, it would be a good starter bike to learn on.

Eddie - I would have only gotten one for warmth. I hide in my cage in the rain.

[ese12105]

i've gotten wet once since I bought my PCX in May and don't expect to get too wet anytime soon lol. Here in Arizona, weather is almost non-existant. But that ride home, lost in the rain sounds like a lot of fun.

Pretty sweet bikes though! And it seems like here in the US, people think that small bikes are pointless, but imo, I think that they are great to learn on. Start small and work your way up. Learn the fundamentals of riding and then work your way up to a speed demon, death machine :-) Really the only 125cc bike I've seen readily available around here is some 125cc cruiser style bike, might have been a Honda... But I've seen a few of them around.

[TC3]

My bro came round to dinner tonight. Yesterday was the first time he had seen my PCX or any PCX for that matter. I thought he was just being kind yesterday when he said he liked the look as he normally is no fan of scooters.However tonight he had nothing but praise for the PCX in regards to looks and economy and is looking forward to give it a go when we next meet

That 50cc of my nephews hit 45 mph (gps) so is likely deristricted by previous owner as it is legally meant to go 30 mph max......

[ese12105]

That's a pretty fast 50cc! Very nice! Now if only we could get the PCX speed up by 50%...

[EddieC]

That's a pretty fast 50cc! Very nice! Now if only we could get the PCX speed up by 50%...

Right? I'm sure someone will figure it out soon! I mean, with all they can do to the ruck, anything is possible.

[maddiedog]

I wish it were that simple... The Ruckus has a carburetor, not fuel-injection, so there is no computer controlling speed or fuel-air mixture. It is likely that the PCX's ECU limits the top speed via the speed sensor on the rear tire, rather than RPM, because the speedometer is connected through the ECU.

That is also why most people didn't see any speed increase with the JCosta variator on the US model.

There's no way of telling unless someone starts tinkering. There were some people doing this sort of experimenting on ClubPCX, but none of them really documented their results to get anything conclusive. Corsport deleted my top speed records, because they further supported my theory of ECU limitations, which potentially detracts from sales of the JCosta variator. Interesting stuff.

[rainburg]

So does the PCX have a speed limiter instead of a rev limiter? I don't think I'm likely to hit 60 on the local roads because the speed limits are generally 35-40 maximum and the roads aren't in the best condition. The only time I hit the maximum throttle is going up hills, where the PCX works hard to reach 40mph.

[EddieC]

ya we think its a speed limiter.. but no one in the US has been able to get around it.....yet!

[TC3]

Someone will crack it sooner or later hopefully as i need a bit more top end when on the fast roads.

[ese12105]

I'm pretty sure that there is a speed limiter and a rev limiter. There is a speed wall that people seem to have a hard time getting around (or maybe it just has to do with physics, as in wind resistance, etc.) but others like maddie have reported hitting the limiter (which I have yet to do, but I'm sure it's there). I have hit the max speed (which has varied from 62-65 indicated on the speedo) and not been able to get any more speed out of it no matter how long I kept on the throttle, but I did not hit any rev limiter. I think one of the biggest problems is just that the output of the PCX's engine simply does not have enough power out of the box to push it much past the 60's. Obviously this can vary from scooter to scooter because no two are alike. I have learned from working with small engines in nitro cars that there are a lot of factors that greatly influence the performance of a small engine. Things like humidity, barometric pressure, and temperature play a huge role in the performance much more so than in a larger engine like a car.

Anyways.... Sorry for the long block of text lol. But when the ideas get rollin...

[maddiedog]

It would make sense that humidity has an effect on the engine, especially with you hitting a bit higher than my max. I can't get anywhere past 61 indicated no matter what, and it's humid here, whereas it is dry where you are. I still think the limiter is tied to speed -- if you put the scooter on the centerstand and gently rev it up to max speed, it won't go past 60 (or at least mine wouldn't). It would seem like, despite conditions, under load the wheel should be able to get going even faster.

[rainburg]

That makes sense to me Maddie, but I guess I can't understand why they'd put a speed limiter in.....unless they are worried about stability & lawsuits at faster speeds.......

[Woolley]

I think it was to make the bike a certain class. In the UK anyway theres 2 classes of 125cc bikes you can take your test on. Theres A and A1 i think. A1 is anything that can do up to 62mph (pcx's limit) and A is anything above that. Maybe it would have been more expensive if it went faster, being in a different class of bike.