Florida Keys 1000 (Scooter) Challenge, take 2

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shiphteey

Member
#1
#1
Greetings. Attempted it last year aboard a 150, which didn't pan out. A buddy was with along a 250 and was ok but bailed when I bailed.

Picked up 2 slightly better contestants:

Suzuki Burgman 650, all fresh fluids, brand new Bridgestones, in a way almost like new. Tall Givi windshield. 16000 miles on it. My 190 lb buddy will be board that one. Pulls to 100+ with ease.

CF Moto 250 (Honda Helix clone), abandoned with 2300 miles on it. All fresh fluids, carb clean, brand new Bridgestones. new taller Slipstream windscreen. May be the most comfortable bike I've sat on....plush and laid back. I'm a bit lighter than him. Rated to go about 70 mph or so give or take.

Cruising speeds last year based on traffic was low 60s mph in the 55 mph zones. Falls inline with the speed rating of the smaller wheeled Helix (62 mph J rated).

Absolutely more than enough space for tons of fluids, sunscreen, clothing, tools etc with the storage space of both of these long scooters.

Should be a bit more stable over 7 mile bridge than the shorter wb, lighter weight Elite 150 I tried last year.

Hopefully the stars allign.
 
EricV

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#3
#3
@shiphteey - Have you replaced the drive belt on the CF Moto 250? If it was "abandoned" for a while, that would be very high on my list of to-do's prior to attempting a SS1k on it. Good time to examine the rollers as well, and the clutch, but usually the clutch isn't an issue w/o serious abuse.
 
Greg Rice

Greg Rice

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#4
#4
Good luck!
When I did the first Florida Keys 1000 back in 2012 I was riding a Gold Wing. I felt if I had something smaller I would have been able to maneuver around traffic easier.
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#7
#7
EricV said:
@shiphteey - Have you replaced the drive belt on the CF Moto 250? If it was "abandoned" for a while, that would be very high on my list of to-do's prior to attempting a SS1k on it. Good time to examine the rollers as well, and the clutch, but usually the clutch isn't an issue w/o serious abuse.
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Agreed. So far I've done 3 separate 5 mile runs to get a feel for the bike. Developed a squeak up front, could be the speedo drive acting up. The last thing I plan on doing is going through the clutches/belt/etc. Visual inspection of the belt when the left side cover came off to replace the old gearbox fluid showed it to be "ok" but time/age are always an issue with these sort of things.
 
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shiphteey

Member
#8
#8
Greg Rice said:
Good luck!
When I did the first Florida Keys 1000 back in 2012 I was riding a Gold Wing. I felt if I had something smaller I would have been able to maneuver around traffic easier.
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Greetings, yes I would imagine so. A little bit of polite snaking thru traffic in the slower portions of the Keys makes it nice. The 150 I took technically managed the 60-62 mph continuous for quite a while. A testament to old honda durability for sure, but it was a bit much thinking I could/should manage that sort of riding for 24 hours. Maybe the speedo giving up the ghost in the early portion of the ride was a blessing in disguise. I'd imagine the Gold Wing is perfect for the longer bridges and stretches. In my mind almost any iron butt seems like cheating with a Gold Wing, lol. But in my mind I'm almost cheating with something so relaxed and plush so.....
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#9
#9
outdoorsntn said:
And another unique ride down that way to consider, and weather is getting good for, is the Lake Okeechobee 1000. Info is on Greg’s site.
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I'll look into that. I only have a few days in FL before I have to head back up North and its 2 days each way for me to get to the Keys. May consider it a year or so down the road, although the whole notion of "gators crossing" ... I guess it is Florida. I saw a sign for crocs leaving the Keys ... man that got me noided out. Them and pythons and anacondas...can't pay me enough to venture too far out/deep in FL NO WAY!
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#10
#10
Update: Been chasing my tail with the speedometer on this CF Moto 250. After installing a new genuine OEM Honda Helix cable to help with the flexing at the cable where it screws into the assy, still had rubbing sounds and it wasn't rubbing the front tire or anything like that. Ordered up a used (new was discontinued, something you run into resurrecting older gen bikes) genuine Honda Helix odometer (the portion where the cable threads on to, inside the speedo assy. Instantly could see superior build quality (metal gears/teeth vs plastic. Felt good about that, put it back together, took it out for a spin. Speed and odometer shows exactly 50% of what it should. 20 mile ride showed 10 miles. AND it still had the rubbing sound when I returned. Decided to pull the trigger on a genuine OEM Honda Speedo gauge cluster assy, retail is a whopping $1000 and discontinued for a new one, found a pre-owned one for $125. Fingers crossed, running outta time for the winter holiday run in the Keys but I am optimistic. My backup is another 150cc Honda Elite Deluxe, complete with large windshield and luggage rack. Just got that one running, cleaned out the rust from the tank with Evaporust with great results, new petcock, carb cleaned, new battery, new air filter, new spark plug, fresh coolant and synthetic motor oil. Should this speedo situation not resolve itself as much as I love the plush feel of the CF Moto, the build quality is really starting to have me question whether it will be able to do an honest 1000 miles in 24 hours or am I just better off wringing the 150cc's little neck out there since its all OEM Honda instead of a clone. I kinda had a feeling going into this the CF Moto could be a problem since its Chinese and I refuse to entertain the thought of working on those in general. Bend the rules once and get bit. Fingers crossed.
 
EricV

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#11
#11
Why are you working so hard to get the speedo working correctly? Mount a cheap GPS and use that for your speedo/odo on the ride. You don't need a moto specific unit, any older car unit will do fine. I run a Nuvi 40LM on my scooter that works very well. Some Gorilla tape over the ports and a zip loc bag if it's really going to rain. Better than the newer 2589lmt unit with an inductive screen. The Nuvi40lm works with gloves. The 2589lmt needs touch screen gloves and rain will cause inputs on the screen. It's no were near as durable as the Nuvi40lm and has a lot of bugs and will just stop working, only showing the road you're on and the direction of travel. Then after 10-15 re-boots it suddenly works fine again. Super annoying for me since only my warn weather gloves are touch screen capable.
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#12
#12
Simple. In order to have a functioning odometer you have to have a functioning speedometer. Last year I tried the ride and had an Elite 150 speedo go out due to too many pumps and speedo was stopped working, showing 0. Maybe 50 to 100 miles in, barely getting started, was a very bumpy section that did it, had I knows the speedo would have been so sensitive certainly wouldn't have wandered and explored in Key West before officially starting the ride. I rode a few miles to verify odometer stopped, and it did. If you can't prove mileage can't get your speed ceritifed/verified as an actual Iron Butt. Know what I mean?
 
EricV

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#13
#13
You do understand that the GPS shows speed and you can reset the trips to zero at the start of your ride? If you start with the GPS as your odo/speedo and use it in your pictures, I strongly suspect there is no issue. As it says below, and as it's always been, your ODO doesn't mean much, it's your receipts that document your ride.

From the SS1K page:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Unless your speedometer has been calibrated, do NOT depend on your own odometer readings for official mileage! Most Japanese motorcycles register at least four percent more miles than actually traveled. Over the course of a 24 hour period, this error can be quite severe - as much as 40 miles. IN ALL CASES, mileage will be verified with either Microsoft Streets and Trips, Google Maps, or in some cases, paper maps or other sources as required.
 
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shiphteey

Member
#14
#14
Fully aware that speedo has certain errors, and they can be adjusted, some by electronics, some by regearing. And yes, I do have standalone GPS units that can be used. I do, however, want to have a functioning speedometer and odometer. Its just me, I'm in some ways a little more old school.
 
EricV

EricV

Premier Member
IBR Finisher
#15
#15
My point is that you don't need it for the cert ride. Especially if you're not going to keep the scooter afterwards. If you want it, because you're going to keep it around, sure, I understand. If you wanted old school, you could always submit by mail, get witnesses and include a short note about the inaccurate speedo/odo to explain the use of the GPS. It's off, but you know by how much. Just as always, it's a comparative tool, not an absolute one. I'm simply suggesting you don't fixate on this. It's about the ride.

I suspect the rubbing sounds are from the cable if you have ruled out the speedo drive bearing. I have no idea if swapping to a Honda cable & drive will cure the error at the speedo head, but suspect it will, if the parts fit. '87 Honda speedo cable and drive

Have you run across this link yet? CH250 Speedometer Maintenance
 
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shiphteey

Member
#16
#16
Waiting on OEM Honda Assy to arrive, will install it, lastly speedo drive down at the bottom would be changed, but it worked fine with new tires and the OEM speedo, just the rubbing sound, which comes from right behind the bars, not down low. 50/50 on keeping it, sorta why I keep wanting the bike to have a proper speedo. Super plush, keeps me outta trouble, dumb amount of storage. My world is primarily hyperfocused fast bikes, and dink around on typical sized scooters. This long plush 250 is something different.
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#17
#17
Installed the OEM Honda Helix 250 assy. Definitely a little better built. Went out down the road seemed ok.

Did some hwy tests. 37 indicated was 55 on GPS. And 40 indicated I was seeing about 62 on GPS. Got it up to 67 or so on GPS.

Trip meter also lagging behind showing 3.6 on the gauges and 5.6 on GPS.

Leaving in about a week for FL so I snagged a used speedo drive assy, hoping that will fix it.

Bending my personal rule of no chinese bike...and the ONE time I go that route...what a pain...

I have the Elite 150 with tall windshield and 2 new tires and exhaust gasket on standby if that has to happen but the 250 is simply the more comfortable bike for 1000 miles no question.
 
S

shiphteey

Member
#18
#18
Success! With the OEM Honda Helix speedo drive down below you could see a different rate of revolution in the plastic gears spinning the cable compared to the Chinese original one. 68.8 on GPS was about 70/71 on the speedometer.

Lesson learned: When they say it is a "honda clone" it doesn't necessarily mean the parts are interchangeable.

Florida bound! Fingers crossed.
 
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