Glad to see more Trikes here By davec (Read 670 times)

[davec]

I got my Zodiac early this summer.
I need a trike due to a minor disability, otherwise I'd be back on two wheels.
I ordered my zodian from JIm, at Rapid Repair.
He's great to work with. We talked on a regular basis from the time of my first questions to well after delivery.

I only had a few issues when I first got the trike.
Talked to Jim and resolved the issues.
In addition, I went thru the bike and did my own PDI.
Found a few things and tightened em, oiled em, adjusted, fixed em, greased em, etc etc

I've only ridden about 600 miles (oil change at 500) due to work, rain, etc.

In that time, I've learned a few things about the Zodiac.

It is a bit of a hard ride, I assume due to the wide rear tires.
The rear tires stick out further than I thought. (hit the curb at the drive thru at McDonalds)
Top speed is just over 60, but I haven't GPS'd it yet. Although I do have the mount ready for it.
I haven't done any engine modifications yet at all.
Alley says it's already punched out so not much else to do.
And, realistically, if it'll pass cars doing down the major roads, that's all I need it to do
No long distance hi way riding. (but I can/do do short stints from one exit to the next)

I will be checking the rear brake calipers and pads
I like the rear trunk.
It's a chick magnet
I added a Shark Marine stereo and put the receiver in the glove box

I'm a big POW/MIA supporter

And it fits my needs


All in all, I'm quite satisfied with the scoot.
I'm gonna do the routine maint religiously and see what happens.

Any questions, please ask.

And, it's so good to see some more Zodiac and Magnum (sorry your dealer couldn't deliver) riders on here

God speed to all
Dave

[alleyoop]

That is a nice looking Trike, I like it that is why I was asking what the top speed is because I would buy one. But on all the 300cc ICE BEAR trikes it says 55.9 top speed. If that is the case my punched out 2009 150 ICE BEAR PST150H Trike has them for lunch
Alleyoop

[ellpee]

Bearing in mind that I'm running at/above 6000' most of the time, my Magnum tops out in the high 50's according to the OEM speedo. Smooth'n'quiet at 50-55, though, very pleasant cruising. Enough for me and for my local area; wouldn't want to take it on the Interstate for very far, though. Not because of the scoot, but because of the other drivers. I'm old enough to remember that Easy Rider movie!

I too noticed early on that trikes take a little getting used to when cornering -- those rear tires will catch the curb if you're not careful, and at any speed at all, that could be very unpleasant.

Chick magnet? Well, maybe -- my experience has been more that it's a geezer magnet -- every time I go out, guys my age and beyond come over and chat me up about it.

Davec and I have been PMing, though, and our combined experiences lead me to hold a rather poor opinion of the Chinese factory QC and of Ice Bear's $275 PDI. In 20-20 hindsight, even if for some reason I ordered and actually got an Ice Bear PDI, I would redo every single bit of it AND MORE myself when the scooter was delivered. WA-A-AY too many little things wrong in the first place, and it appears WA-A-AY too many of them slip through the PDI. Nice, fun scoots once everything is copacetic, but not to be trusted out of the box, dealer PDI or not. One man's opinion.

Oh, by the way, I'm chuckling while picturing Davec on his Zodiac, driving out of the McDonald's drive-thru while juggling a triple Big Mac, supersized fries, and a large drink. Now that's talent.

[davec]

Sept 23, 2013 12:52:14 GMT -6 alleyoop said:

That is a nice looking Trike, I like it that is why I was asking what the top speed is because I would buy one. But on all the 300cc ICE BEAR trikes it says 55.9 top speed. If that is the case my punched out 2009 150 ICE BEAR PST150H Trike has them for lunch
Alleyoop

I apologize Alley
I told them (my girlfriends san and his ignorant helper) to NOT move the trike, just the other two bikes.
But, they wanted to do it while I was at work so they wouldn't have to listen to me, and, bigger than chit, they took it, along with a bunch of other stuff.

But, I will dig it out and get the top speed fingered out

[ellpee]

UPDATE about top speed on the Magnum. And bear in mind we're talking about operation at 6000' and higher, so I've probably lost several HP just by running at high altitude, fact of life and nothing that can be fixed.

I reported that my Magnum tops out in the high 50's, but I did a run yesterday with my GPS running, and the speedo on the scoot is showing about 10% higher than the GPS. Scoot 40, GPS 35, and so on. So now I'm looking at two different gizmos giving different answers. I plan to have Mama accompany me one day soon and see what her car speedo says when I think I'm going at 40 mph; will post again here when I know the results.

[w4wpa]

With my Zodiac, I had 67 mph readout on the stock speedo and 64 on the GPS so I'll split hairs and say 65 MPH. Now I have a little bit of a popping problem I haven't figured out that starts at 54 MPH and it won't go any faster. The 65 MPH was while I was driving in Ohio with elevation of 1130 ft. My 54 MPH is here in Florida at sea level. Don't know if that will make a difference. I've also got an
exhaust issue I'm trying to get worked out with the dealer. Looks like when I buy my wife her own trike, I'll get it from Jim.
Dave, I have the Pyle 100w radio that looks just like the shark and have it mounted in the glove box also. A couple pieces of double back tape holds it right in place.

[alleyoop]

W4Wpa,
If its making POPPING SOUNDS when your on the throttle around 50mph or so IT IS TO RICH. Did you by chance put in a bigger Main Jet? If NOT then use the FUEL RATIO MIXTURE screw to LEAN it out a little by turning it CLOCKWISE, try 1/4 turns at a time UNTIL it goes away.

If you put in a bigger MAIN JET then go down at least 1 size on the MAIN JET.
Alleyoop

[ellpee]

Final on the Magnum speed thing is that I had wifey follow me at what the trike said was 40 mph, and she reported more like 35 on her car speedo, agreeing with my GPS. So the loss of horsepower at high altitude -- probably getting something like 13 instead of the advertised 19, combined with speedo error, means that my actual top end up here in the high country is just over 50 mph. Mostly two-lane secondary roads around here, so that's okay with me, but potential buyers of the Magnum or its other Ice Bear siblings, keep my experiences in mind.

As for W4WPA's experiences, makes sense to me that going from Ohio to Florida would make enough altitude difference to lean out the factory mixture a bit, leading to the reported symptoms. There should be enough "play" in the mixture screw to deal with that, I should think; my situation at 7000' was extreme and demanded new, smaller jets. But bear in mind you're probably going to find the mixture screw plugged, courtesy of the California EPA rules, and you'll have to remove that plug before you can get a screwdriver onto the screw itself. (That's assuming yours has the same engine as my Magnum, which I believe it does.)

[alleyoop]

Just about on any scoot you can expect up to 20% speedo error on the high side. Also the faster you go the worse it gets.
It may register somewhat close at lower mph but as you get into the higher speeds the speedo indicated speeds get worse.
Alleyoop

[ellpee]

Well, I'd rather have it that way than the opposite. Not likely I'll be getting many speeding tickets, though road rage might become a factor.

[alleyoop]

Well just keep off the high speed roads and you will be fine.
Alleyoop