As I mentioned briefly in a previous post, the first bike I had wasn't so much a 'bike' as it was a moped, but what a moped it was. It was a 1982 Honda PA50 II, and it was given to me by a neighbor who was moving at the time, and told me I could have it, as he didn't know how to get it running, and he couldn't take it with him.
Here's me at a stoplight on the PA50 II
I ended up finding a tuned pipe for the bike right before I sold it, in the trash no less!
Tuned pipe I found in the trash!
After I sold the moped, and envious of Joey's sporty 50cc Tank scooter, I found out that a man who lived on my street had an old Yamaha CV50 Riva that was sitting in his garage. So, I took a shot in the dark and made him an offer, and what do you know, he accepted it!
The '81 Riva 50 with Windscreen
Man, I loved that Riva. I couldn't wait to take it to school and show it off. I mean, the thing looked like it came right out of the showroom! It had 1098 original miles when I bought it. That scooter always started, never with the electric start ( I was too lazy to buy a new battery) but always with the kick start.
A while after riding the Riva 50 around town with joey, I began to realize that the 31mph top speed of the Riva was not enough to keep up with the brisk 40mph top speed of Joey's tank 50cc, so I began to look for something faster. After much searching on craigslist, I found a 1988 Yamaha Riva 200z, which I ended up buying for $530
The 1988 Yamaha Riva 200z
At first, the Riva stood for freedom and ultimate mobility. Prior to that, I had found myself confined to the bike lane, cringing as traffic flew past me. But this was different, now I could actually keep up with traffic! What a relief that was.
One night, while at a local In N' Out Burger, I was approached by a man who told me he had a scooter that looked just like what I was on, and that it hadn't moved in years, and if I wanted it, I could come pick it up. A little worried about what I might find upon arrival, Joey and I were stunned to see a Yamaha Riva 180 that was in decent condition upon initial inspection, so we agreed to take it off of the guy's hands. It was a bit of a handful for me, but I realized that the plastics which were on this bike would look far better than the plastics that were currently on my 200, so with quite a bit of work, I swapped all the panels and had a scooter that finally looked as good as it (appeared) to operate.
Some pictures of the plastics after they were swapped.
Then, the headaches started. First, the bike began to leak questionable fluids all over the place, and upon inspection, I was not able to locate the issue. I kept riding, but noticed that the bike was becoming harder and harder to start, and figuring it was the carburetor, I removed it and took a look at it. I was horrified to find that there were a great many things broken in the carburetor, the worst of it being that the float was not being held on, and therefore was not drawing fuel. Then, to my horror, I realized that part of the engine case appeared to be cracked, and after much fretting, realized that this may have also been due to fluids leaking out of the carburetor. When I re-installed the carburetor, the bike refused to start at all. For a long time, I could not, and did not want to try to solve the problem. This issue was made worse when I realized that Yamaha's parts support for the Riva 200/180 was very limited, and I wasn't about to be able to find what I needed easily. So after some ingenuity, I was finally able to get the Riva running again, and soon afterwards, sold it.
About this time, Joey had just purchased his 1986 Honda Elite 250, and I took a liking to the bike and its many features, such as liquid cooling and larger wheels. I decided to look for one for myself, and eventually found one. It had been spray painted by the previous owner, but it ran like a charm. As a matter of fact, it still does to this day. Needless to say, I still have it. I've put around 3500 miles on it, and it functions as my daily driver. It's held up incredibly well in the time that I've owned it, and I can't say enough good things about it. Honda quality is a given, but you really have to experience it to understand the brilliance of the design. Not once has it slipped up, the only work I've ever done mechanically to it was to clean out the carburetor and replace the seal, other than that I've only ever changed the oil and added fuel to the thing.
The day I brought the 1985 Honda Elite 250 home.
The scooter has taken me on many scenic journeys, including a trip to Silverado Canyon and Malibu.
Upper photo: Malibu, CA
Lower photo: Silverado Canyon, CA
And that's where I'm at right now. Hopefully sometime in the near future, I'll be able to find a good commuter motorcycle, because as well as the Elite 250 works, it's not as stable on the road as I'd prefer, and I do get pushed around by the wind quite often. The larger stance of a motorcycle and the larger tires would do well to correct this, but all in good time.
-Brody
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