The Dragon's Portfolio and Guerrilla Marketing

I began this blog almost two years ago with intent of it being a platform for promoting my creative endeavors, as well as a tool for archiving the assorted internet weirdness that inspires me. In that time, well it's turned into something slightly different.Ironically, I guess one of the reasons for that divergent development is that I have a hard time tooting my own horn, despite that being the

Art of Noise

That's right kiddos, the Dragon's here with another flashback video post, eating through your bandwidth like a chainsaw through a baby grand.Enjoy the techno-anarchistic glee!and what 80s flashback would be complete without a visit from Max Headroom?

Battery Care

During the winter I ALWAYS store my battery in the basement, where it is dry and the temperature does not fluctuate (it stays about 70 degrees) hooked up to a float charger. This will add to my battery's life span.
Battery care is pretty simple for scooters, whether you're riding a P-Series Vespa, Stella, or Bajaj. Scoots don't have alternators, like cars, and their batteries don't fair well when the scooter is not ridden daily. Say you're a weekend rider only -- the best thing to do is disconnect your battery Monday through Friday. But if you're like me and ride as often as the weather will let you . . .
you should invest in a "float charger," which will NOT overcharge your battery like a trickle charger will. Float chargers will give juice as needed and shut off when not. They cost about $30 at your local scoot shop, but you can buy then on sale for $5.48 at Harbor Freight Tools (available online). They go on sale several times per year. Run the float charger when ever you are not riding.

I purchased my Parts Unlimited RCB9-B battery at a local motorcycle shop for $19.99. I would recommend looking for your local "battery warehouse"-like distributor for the best deal. Battery Warehouse, where I live, charges $36 for a Yuasa YB9B battery, which is a premium battery. Scoot shops charge $55-60 for this battery. The two brands and model numbers I gave you will work on the Bajaj Chetak, Stella, and Vespa P-Series bikes.

Expect three to five years for the average life of a battery. The Yuasa will give you five if you care for it.

When the charged liquid gets low in one or more of your battery cells, add distilled water. This will increase the life of your battery.

Outdoor storage

Some where deep back in the archives of the Bajaj Yahoo Group there is a post that recommends going to Home Depot or Lowes and spending $20.00 on a BBQ cover (made of P.O.? something or other) and saving yourself $100 on a special motorcycle cover. I used bungee cords around mine and my bike was outside all winter long fighting the elements because I did not have a garage. The cover did a great job. If you park in a parking lot I recommend buying reflective adhesive stickers and putting them on your cover for cars to see at night. Don't want you scoot knocked over.

Oil Change

The oil pictured above was recommended to me by my dealer, Mike Lawless, of Philly Scoots. I recognize that it is synthetic, which goes against the manufacturer's recommendation. But, Mike knows his stuff and he has brother have both raced motorcycles and worked on them for a long time. Mike also runs Yahamalube in his Chetak. I have run it in my bike and my wife's for years without any problems.
Changing your oil is a quick and effortless job. Above you will find the instructions on how do so with the amendments handwritten on it.

Note: when you put your cylinder valve cover on (1) ALWAYS replace the o-ring. It costs about $.40 cents at Ace Hardware. Better yet, buy the big-o-bag of o-rings from Harbor Freight Tools for $5.00 or when it goes sale for $2.00 and you will have an assortment of 200 o-rings on hand. (2) Hand tighten the cylinder head valve cover back down until your fingers can not move it. Now with a wrench tighten the smallest amount until the it is snug. Be CAREFUL as I once stripped mine because I wanted to make sure it was tight. Stupid. I had to have a local Kawasaki shop Heli-Coil it for me. Unnecessary mistake. Fortunately, it cost me less than $40 to fix.

Performance pipes

I kick myself every day . . . my wife ordered chrome legshield for me for Christmas along with Bajaj Chetak badges from Phil of POC many years ago. He offered her $50 for POC pipe, because the first 50 buyers would get that price. I said, "hold off on it baby. I can get later when we have more cash." I thought it might go up to $75, not $300!

I have heard that the Hot Rod Al pipe is very nice too. I have ridden a Chetak with POC and the "noise" everyone complains of does not bother me. The acceleration was nice with increased power in the middle of the power range. Below is Al's pipe.




Here's a guy with a POC pipe on his Chetak:



Hot Rod Al pipes go for about $280 and can be bought directly from him or Scooter West. I'd like to buy one one day . . . better yet . . . I'd like Chetak to offer a 186cc or 200cc top-end for the Bajaj Chetak.

Like they say, "there is no replacement for displacement!"

4-Stroke vs. 2-Stroke

When it comes to rallies like the Cannon Ball (coast-to-coast) the Bajaj Chetak has one benefit . . . it is a lot less likely to seize because it has a 4-stroke engine.

Four strokes have dedicated oiling systems, putting oil under pressure where
it needs to go. Two strokes have to rely on the gas/oil mixture getting squeezed in where it's needed.

On the flip side . . . 150 cc 4-stroke kicks out the power of a 125 cc 2-stroke. A 2-stroke runs hotter, harder, and faster! That is why the motor-cross bikes are 2-stroke.

That is the only thing I'd change about my Bajaj Chetak if I could. I wish they installed a 200 cc 4-stroke engine (175 cc 2-stroke). That would have been great as I often feel underpowered on my Chetak, especially when riding double or going up hills.