The excitement begins...
So finally an update. 40 Days until we board thy chariot and ride off into the thick of the Canadian wilderness. I can't wait! Just last night I got the C3 returned from Greg of Showbiz Automotive where it was getting a large cargo trunk mounted.
Shopping Spree.
Just back in the door from purchasing the necessary gear for the trip. I got two 80Litre ASOLO backpacks, a Pocket Rocket stove, two 1.5L waterpacks, and the Crampbuster thing arrived today. I tried the Crampbuster out for a little while around my place and so far....very annoying. But I figure it will be great when I need to hold full throttle for hours on end.
Practice Pack-Up
Now that the shopping is nearing a close, its time to figure out how to attach the gear onto the 49cc scooter. It would be pretty easy to carry all this stuff for a short ride of 5-10kms, but that's not the distance we're talking about in this case. At first I had planned to put most of the weight behind us on the trunk however since the trunk isn't exactly welded onto the frame any more weight and the seat will simply break apart.
What's missing from the pictures are the extra bungee cords I need to buy to hold the back pack sack, and gas tank more securely. The only thing I don't like about this set-up, is that I can't see the speedometer but more importantly the gas gauge and warning lights.
Please comment if you have any suggestions? I already bounced around the idea of pulling a bike trailer but decided against it for a number of reasons.
Wow.
Just back from a little trial run/camp this weekend. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get very many pictures, or the video I had hoped to take of the scooter riding fully loaded. Keri and I were lost for words after the ride.
Maybe it was because we were expecting it to go slower than a broken down car, but damn did the C3 just fly up the hills. On a level road its top speed was the normal 60km/hr, but it was a trial run after all so I took it to some STEEP hills. I'm talking about a 15% grade at least. I was extra cruel too as I stopped it right before the hill and then up the hill we accelerated. Yes ACCELERATED! It would top out at 30-35km/hr and then just stay there all the way to the top. I'm thrilled....I was expecting 5km/hr.
On the downside, after about 30 minutes of riding my shoulders were killing me. The weight on the front handle bars makes the front want to jackknife so I need to constantly hold both bars firmly. Thats fine for a 5 minutes trip...but 5000kms.....no thanks. The backpack on the back was also making the seat flex which was rather scary. I was expecting the seat to just crack in half at any moment.
So the outcome of the test run. I'm very happy about the pulling power. However I would be much more comfortable if I could get a bicycle trailer to pull behind with our packs. Does anyone know if a bicycle trailer can travel at 60km/hr? Also any ideas for where to mount it to the frame?
As for the actual camp...we ended up camping in my parents backyard as it started to just pour rain. The tent was great...not one single leak...but sleeping on concrete isn't cool.
Bicycle trailer here I come!
"Epic" Ride.
Yesterday Keri and I took the C3 on a 160km journey to see if it would overheat and what the gas consumption would be like. Filled up the tank before I left and had about 20-30km's left after the trip! Considering it was 33 Degrees out I was expecting it to overheat, especially with both of us on it and going full throttle for the majority of the 160kms. Amazingly it did not and was actually feeling FASTER by the end of the ride. We brought quite a bit of stuff (about 30lbs shy of what we will bring on the actual trip), and other than NOT wearing sunscreen the day went very well.
Things we found out:
-Helmets suck when its really hot out.
-Keri needs something for her feet...be it stir-ups or foot pegs.
-Mike needs riding gloves (or just more manly hands)
-When trying to get somewhere in particular....bring a map.
-Topped the scooter out at what we estimated to be 75km/hr down a REALLY long steep hill.
-Oh....and don't stand on railings. It's not cool.
Late night early morning...
We're now all packed. Took the C3 out for a test drive around my parents back yard. It rode like a heavy cow...or what I think a heavy cow would ride like. We went straight to bed after as we were hitting the road bright and early at 6am.