Monthly Archives: January 2016

Pillioness.com Website of the Month Jan.’16

Posted on by motopsyco

Pillioness.com Website of the Month for January

I told you I was bringing back the website of the month feature, & here is a great one that is oriented toward motorcycle passengers. Let face it as fuzzy faced, hairy chested biker men we are usually talking about women. Now we all love tough strong independent women who ride their own motorcycles but there is truly a special togetherness in having your significant other sitting behind you as the miles fly by. And for those ladies who prefer to ride with us Dr. Liz Hardy has created a unique website just for them called Pillioness.com.

Among the truly great things Dr. Hardy does is to talk about the comfort aspect of riding pillion, the passenger accommodations on many motorcycles can be less than accommodating. If you’re trying to get your better half into riding with you it is definitely something that needs to be taken into consideration. For more information you should check out this post entitled, ” A Pillion Seat Fit for a Princess”

Another good thing for you to keep in mind is how you behave. Whether breaking in a new passenger, or trying to convince your life long love to try it for the first time, leave your machismo at home, keep both wheels on the ground, speeds reasonable, and control inputs smooth until they feel comfortable with stepping up the pace. If you scare the living shit out of her or make her miserable with an uncomfortable seat, I won’t blame her for not riding with you. In other words just don’t be an asshole.

That’s Pillioness.com Website of the Month for January 2016. Don’t forget to share this with that special someone in your life, Especially if you are still trying to convince her to join you on a motorcycle.

Clean Inside of Sockets & Wrenches

Posted on by motopsyco

Clean Inside of Sockets & Wrenches

Here’s a quick random tech tip for you. Although this one is mainly aimed at restorers & customizers it will be of benefit to anyone who values a neat and clean appearance on their project vehicle. When it is time to reassemble your motorcycle make sure that you clean the grease out of your sockets and box end wrenches. When appearances count you really don’t want the old grease & dirt that is inside of your tools dirtying up your clean shiny fasteners. Sure on chrome plated or stainless nuts & bolts it’s more of an inconvenience having to go back and clean them but with zinc plated, cad plated or even painted hardware the dirty old crap stuck in the recesses of your tools can stain the surfaces beyond cleaning. Not to mention that grit from dirt or metal shavings can sometimes be suspended in the old grease and scratch even stainless fasteners when you tighten them down.

Clean Inside of Sockets & Wrenches

So even if all you do is just twist up a rag & stuff it through the wrench, it will make a big difference. I think in the future whenever I finish a big greasy dirty project on an engine or an off-road vehicle, I’ll try to remember to run all of the tools used through the parts washer & clean them inside & out.

How I got reminded of this…

<Honda C70 Passport Restoration>
My last big project was the resurrection of an old ATV for use as a hunting & farming vehicle. It was filthy nasty & greasy even after being washed thoroughly. When I was done all of the tools were wiped off and returned to the tool box without a second thought. Then I used them to disassemble my crusty little C70 Passport, but today when I started putting it all back together with everything cleaned & painted the grease & dirt marred a couple of the bolts so I began wiping the wrenches out after that.

Today I’d also like to apologize to my regular readers for my reduced post output over the last few months since my shoulder injury. Things are getting better now and there is a ton of material saved up, so look for a lot more good stuff to come, including some classic four wheeler tutorials, product reviews, and the return of the Website of the Month category to active status. Still with so much going on there’s no way that I can fit every cool random event into this blog so why don’t you join me on Facebook, follow along on Instagram or on Twitter. 

Don’t forget the Psyco Youtube channel!

Peace Y’all!

 

 

 

Scooter Mania & Other Afflictions

Posted on by motopsyco

First there was an old 70cc Passport.

It all started out innocently enough, a guy I know just happened to post a picture of a dilapidated 1982 Honda Passport for sale on Facebook, and I thought that would make a great pit bike to putt around on at giant events like the Barber Vintage Motorsports Festival. So we worked out a trade and I dragged it home one night and with the help of my beautiful assistant got it running. Little did I know that it was just the first step to developing Scooter Mania.

We got it going and got all the paperwork straight and made it safe for the road so it could be thoroughly checked out. With my 230 pound self in the saddle it topped out at 41 mph, just a little above moped territory. Once it was determined that it was in great condition for the long haul, this little Honda C70 became a full blown restoration project. Here’s a shot of how it looks right now as I type this.

82 Honda C70 Passport frame

Next step to Scooter Mania came as a Honda Helix 250…

A short time later, the second more serious stage of Scooter Mania snuck up on me without warning. It started out innocently enough, with me listing my Suzuki TS185 for sale on Craigslist. Almost immediately, I got a message from someone offering to trade me a 2001 Honda Helix 250 for it. My initial reply was let me think about it a few days. Another scooter was not what I had in mind, in fact cash was the objective, partially to finance the restoration of the Passport but mainly so that I could purchase this cool 1/8 scale Redcat Racing RC dune buggy and mount my video camera to it for a future project that I have in mind.

After 3 or 4 day of irritating low ball offers and what seemed like a thousand scammers posing as U.S. military personnel, I sent the Helix owner a message & told him that I’d trade & we agreed to meet at a public location between his place & mine. The plan was never to keep the Helix, but to try and flip it on Ebay, but I made two mistakes. Mistake number one was that I rode it. Mistake number two was taking Mrs. Psyco out for a nice long ride on it. When we got back home she said that it is far more comfortable than any of my motorcycles. So I replied, “I guess we should make this one a long term adoption,” to which she replied yes. Now it’s sitting in the shop on brand new tires, and I’m waiting for the Ram mounts for the camera & GPS to get here. In the past it had crossed my mine that a maxi-scooter would make a fine touring rig, but a 650 Burgman or a Silverwing was what I was thinking of, not a Helix. Scooter Mania strikes again!

Hond Helix with a C70 Passport Scooter Mania

I hope this is not the start of another collection.

Of course the only downside is that scooter riders get no respect around here even though the Helix is larger and longer than most motorcycles, the first words out of every idiots mouth is moped. They don’t have a clue that there’s a whole lot more to the world of scooters than 50cc Chinese whiskey cycles. What’s really fun is when you are passing someone on a four lane highway and see the look on their faces as they realize that you are on a scooter. The really great thing about being the age I am now is that I no longer give a shit what anyone else thinks of what I ride, but am still young enough to enjoy it.

Helix compared to a motorcycle

The Helix is bigger than a CB650

This doe not mean that Motopsyco’s Asylum will become a scooter blog, fine vintage motorcycles will always be my first love, late model stuff and ATVs will continue to be covered as well, just think of the scooters as one more cool thing we can have fun with! Just watch out, Scooter Mania can be very contagious.

 

 

Motopsyco’s Asylum 2015 year in blogging |

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2015 was the best year yet for this little blog, click below to get the full report.

See the fireworks Motopsyco’s Asylum created by blogging on WordPress. Check out their 2015 annual report.

Source: 2015 year in blogging | Motopsyco’s Asylum

Moto Guzzi V9 – The Universal Custom

Posted on by motopsyco

This looks like an interesting offering from Moto Guzzi this year. I think 2016 will be the year for a great renaissance of classically styled motorcycles

Moto Guzzi introduces the all-new V9; fun, light, painstakingly crafted medium engine capacity custom, heir to more than forty years of custom heritage. Moto Guzzi V9 opens up a new product and engine

Source: Moto Guzzi V9 – The Universal Custom