2004 BURGMAN 400 SPARK PLUG CHANGE

No, there won't be a video. Changing the spark plug was a relatively simple operation except for the fact that it was the first time that I took off any of my plastics. If you want a video tutorial, they're all over YouTube. I watched one before I got started AND I took my laptop into the garage and punched up the service manual. You can't be too prepared.

And being prepared meant knowing that the fasteners holding the plastics together are likely to break when you mess with them. That's why I went to a dealer and picked up six before I started. Worked out well. Four broke. While I was buying parts, I made certain that I had all that I needed for my next oil change. And of course, I bought the plug, an NGK CR7E. The manual says to replace the plug every 7,500 miles. It's been a bit over 6,500. Close enough. My intention is to change the plug at every other oil change.

The object of the exercise is to remove the left side leg shield to get at the spark plug. So, first I pulled off the left side floor mats. Underneath are four Phillips screws and about six of the fasteners. There are a couple more fasteners that attach the leg shield to the under cover at the back and the lower front leg shield at the front. Once all the screws and fasteners are off, work off the shield. It's fairly sturdy plastic, bit it IS plastic. So be firm but be careful.

The workspace is tight but ample. The plug is seated in a deep well, so all that you see is the cap and the lead. After you pull the cap, making certain to scrape your knuckles in the process, you can just see the top of the plug. A 5/8 deep-well socket works, and if the plug is tighter than you expect, there's another chance to crack a knuckle.

The plug looked clean but lean, no visible wear but white with no color. On the edge of being problematic. I'm going to throw some injector cleaner into my next tank of gas to see if that opens things up a bit. And I'll keep the plug for an emergency spare after I give it a few stripes with a wire brush.

You'll never have a better chance to give the shield, the mats, and the deck under the mats a good cleaning.

Need I say it? Reverse the process. You can start the plug by hand, tighten it hand tight, then tighten it up with the socket wrench. Don't torque it down all the way - finger tight plus a quarter turn is the norm. Fit the leg shield on making certain that all of the tabs are positioned correctly in their slots. I turned in the Phillips screws first, then popped in the clips from back to front, then laid in the mats.

Voila. About one-half hour and two scraped knuckles and done.

THE ZEN OF SCOOTER MAINTENANCE - PART 1

I'm not a trained mechanic and I'm not what you would call a natural mechanic. I try to learn my machines. I keep a decent set of tools handy and I can follow clear instructions. I'm not fearless. I have my limits. But I'm not timid.

In the old days, if your car's starter motor or alternator broke you would loosen a few bolts, carry the offending device to the auto parts store, trade it in on a rebuilt unit, carry that back to your vehicle, replace the bolts, and drive away. I have accomplished this task in locales ranging from my driveway to a sandy beach in a campground in the Florida Keys. The entire enterprise cost less than $50.00, a couple of hours of time, and the favor that you owe to the friend who drove you back and forth.

No more. On modern cars, those kinds of jobs are too complicated, may require specialized tools, and are just not worth the effort. Heck, I couldn't even figure out how to change a headlight bulb in my Camry a couple months ago.

There are two reasons that I ride scooters - they are fun to ride and they are economical. (It's a bonus that I look cool when I'm riding.) Even though I've been stymied by the complexities of modern automotive mechanics, I'm still game to save money by doing routine scooter maintenance.

On my 2008 JMStar/Jonway Chinese 150cc drop-shipped scooter, maintenance was relatively simple. Unscrew a few screws, twist out a few bolts, and the machine would be sitting on its center stand naked and open to manipulation. The carb is right on top. The plug is in a slightly awkward, skewed position but if your fingers work you can replace it easily enough. And removing the valve cover can require all of the attributes of a skilled contortionist. On the left side, the air box cover screws out quickly and replacing the filter element is a breeze. The variator and clutch are easily pulled with the assistance of an impact wrench but removing the cvt cover to get at them is a chore - you have to keep track of a dozen screws and bolts of different lengths.

Parts for Chinese scooters are readily available on the internet and are inexpensive.There's an online service manual free to download, there are a plethora of YouTube videos detailing servicing procedures, and there's a Chinese scooter forum based in the UK whose members were tremendously informative and helpful.

Up next, how to keep a Chinese 150cc scooter running trouble free for thousands of miles. My JMStar/Jonway cost $1,600 new, gave me 12,000 miles at 72 mpg in under three riding seasons, and so paid for itself twice over.

SIMPLE BURGMAN OIL CHANGE

The yellow light on the dash of my 2004 Suzuki Burgman K4 has been lit for a while, indicating that it's time for an oil change. I took her in for a full dealer service at about 12,500 miles. I'm up over 16,000 now. Who would have thought that I'd have ridden through the entire month of December and into January in eastern Pennsylvania?

I dropped into Blackman's Cycle in Emmaus on Saturday afternoon and picked up a new oil filter, a couple of little rubbery pieces and a crush gasket for the oil drain plug. The place was packed, the parking lot was full, and everybody drove up in their cars! Only one other two-wheeled rider in sight.

On the way back I stopped by Auto Zone for some Castrol semi-synthetic 10w-40, then chugged into my garage. Up on the center stand, let the motor cool but not all the way so that the oil is still a bit runny, loosen the dip stick, off with the drain plug, discover that the crush gasket was the wrong size, shrug my shoulders, tighten up the drain plug, and drop in about a quart. Easy as pie.

No, I didn't change the filter. I'll do that next time - every other oil change, every 6,000 miles, a bit more often than the shop manual suggests. But if I had wanted to change the filter, it's a simple operation. Three bolts to remove the cover, pull out the old filter, replace the O ring - presumably with the aid of a trained monkey with thin fingers, replace the cover gasket, and tighten the cover back on. Remember, a filter change requires a little more oil than just a drain and fill.

Of course, you clean everything as you work - the drain plug and the area surrounding it, the interior of the filter housing, and the inside of the cover.

Start to finish, with a filter change, no more than 30 minutes.

MOVING UP THE CC SCALE

I've ridden motorcycles for a lot of years, but the first time that I rode a scooter was in 2006.. When gas prices spiked, I walked into a Yamaha dealer with an open mind, sat down on a used Vino 50, and fell in love - well, intense like.

It quickly became clear that a 50cc scoot was not going to make it through my commute - a combination of city streets (no problem) and rural blacktops (couldn't keep up). So I sold the Vino for the purchase price - and rode 1,000 miles in the bargain - and bought a drop-shipped Chinese JMStar Jonway 150.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, that 150 was a joy - very little mechanical down time over three years and 12,000 miles traveled, 72 mpg at high revs, and a top speed of about 60 mph (never verified by GPS). But all things must pass. The clutch threw a shoe and started wobbling. I was 25 miles from home so I kept riding. And the wobbling clutch blew its oil seals. Not a big job and not outside my comfort zone but I decided that I'd got my money's worth and it was time to move on. It didn't hurt that an old Honda Elite 250 was on craigslist cheap.

For a 25 year-old machine, the Elite seemed in good shape. She started right up, cruised all day at 65 - 70 mph (indicated and topped out), and was reasonably good on gas. I was firmly convinced that 250cc was the right size, that anything more belonged in a motorcycle. I said as much publicly.

It took a couple of months, but I found out why the Elite was cheap. First this, then that. Parts hard to find. More trouble than it was worth given the purchase price. Bad choice. Walk away. What next?

Another look on craigslist and two interesting prospects appear - a 250cc Honda and a Suzuki Burgman 400, both just a few years old, both in good shape, the Burgman cheaper than the Honda. Why cheaper? The owner was an idiot. But the scoot was solid. So I bought it.

I discovered the differences between a 250 and a 400 immediately. The Burgman is a big, cushy, rocking chair of a ride. You don't flick it around the way that you do its smaller cousins. Not a bad thing for me, an old coot whose reflexes ain't what they used to be and who doesn't mind being comfortable. And the extra size and weight translates to stability on the highway at speed - and speed is 80 mph with sufficient throttle left to get past the crazies if I have to.

I like my Burgman. 400cc are just right. We've been averaging 600 - 700 miles a month together. Not a single mechanical blip. 60 mpg. I highly recommend what I previously scorned.