The weather this Labor Day weekend has been fantastic in Connecticut. I've seen a lot of bikes out on the road too!!!
Today I decided to do some trail riding on the Zuma and then a bit of local touring.
The forest road was a bit more damp than I thought it would be considering we are approaching drought conditions. The going was kind of rocky. The Zuma took the punishment but my plywood top box mount extension piece not so much. Pics to follow.
I also stopped by the center of a town called Chester. It was used to film some scenes in an old Jack Lemmon/Doris Day movie called "It Happened to Jane". These pics show the intersection and a view into the town center. Jack's office was in a building in a bit on the left. You can see Jane in the clip link below walking towards it. Things have changed over the years but it's still the original film site.
After that I stopped briefly at the Ferry Crossing to get another glimpse of Gillette's Castle while the Ferry was running.
So getting back to the plywood luggage rack thing. The lower layer of the plywood cracked. I noticed the top box seemed to be bouncing around a bit more than usual after the forest ride. Well . . . when I got home and investigated more thoroughly seeing was believing. Off went the plywood and I reinstalled the top box directly onto the luggage rack itself. I lost a bit of additional "tie down" area but what the heck. At least I didn't break anything serious like a shock or lower panel.
By pushing up on the plywood base the broken layer was revealed as a crack from side to side.
All back together and life is good. Just need to give the Zuma a good wash soon . . ..
Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
Did you feel the suspension and the ground clearance were enough?
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
My short answer is "yes".Did you feel the suspension and the ground clearance were enough?
That said, I had to pick my path through the trail with regards to my gut instinct on the ground clearance.
The Zuma 125 is quite durable. Mine is stock except for the top box. So the suspension did a good job considering my weight. It's not by any means a "plush" suspension. It tends to be on the stiff side but does what it needs to do under most circumstances. You know "where you are at" when it comes to feedback.
Once I did bottom out (slightly) and soon after checked the center stand and undercarriage for any signs of scraping. Despite the muddy splatter I didn't see any shiny metal and the oil plug was OK. But there was a rubber piece just in front of the rear wheel that needed to be put back on a tab.
It's not a "dirt bike" with more ground clearance and suspension travel. It's a good scooter that will get you around on roads and will provide the opportunity to go off road with a grin.
Going up some rocky hills I had to play the throttle as I worked my way through the maze of ground tumors (larger rocks) and intermittent tennis ball and grapefruit sized rocks . . . some round and some flat. The going was slow and I was thinking about how much wear it was putting on the belt. There was a lot of uphill left to right and right to left maneuvering at a snail's pace. Just tried to keep the momentum going but with TLC.
Once off the trail I continued with no difficulties and the Zuma would take me along at 55+ MPH when asked on the 50 MPH sections of road.
In retrospect I wish I stopped along the way of the more rocky/hilly sections and took some pics but just kept going. That said, here's one more for the trail.
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
One added note, when I said oil plug I meant the plug for the oil filter screen.
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
Okay. Glad you had fun with it. The wheels certainly look like they could handle the sand better than the PCX.
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
the zuma can do light off roading with no problems. The biggest issue is rocks the tires are small and the bike will kick out if you hit a rock
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Re: Mini Tour On/Off Road Today on the Zuma 125
Yeah . . . it's more about the wheel diameter than the tire width.The biggest issue is rocks the tires are small and the bike will kick out if you hit a rock
There's some "off road" vids on YouTube of Zuma 125 adventures.