The new CDI ("little electronic brain") for the scooter was supposed to arrive yesterday by 10pm.
I was hoping that it would arrive earlier (often the "by 10pm" delivery times mean "late afternoon") so that I could get it installed (about a 5-minute job) and take it for a short test drive (assuming it worked), then put the old one back in if something wasn't right (another 5-minute job).
About 7pm I started asking Alexa "where's my stuff." And I did so every so often until I went to bed at 9:30pm or so. The answer, every time, was that the package was "eight stops away" and just about to be on my porch.
This morning: No package on porch. So, I hit the web site to check, and:
Best guess: The truck broke down. No biggie. But I hope it gets here early enough today (and that I'm caught up with, you know, work, early enough today) to get it installed and take it not just for a short test ride, but for a 10-20 mile ride to see if the "bogs down after a while" problem is resolved (either by the new CDI, or the air filter change/carb-throttle adjustments).
Also arriving today, from other vendors: Big bore kit, seat cover, custom left side rear fender sticker, and plastic "keep your phone dry" box intended for showers but in my case for sticking to the scooter "dash."
My mechanic friend also got me a "car cigarette lighter" port that I'll be installing at some point so that I can charge phones/speakers while out and about.
Arriving soon: Yet more stickers, a little chest bag (my belt wallet's zipper is unreliable), a balaclava, a cold-weather face cover with built-in goggles, a bigger and better-looking (but still sub-$10) speaker than the "for use in the shower" one that I've been using, which has an SD card port so I don't have to waste phone battery on Bluetooth (I've already downloaded albums by the Grateful Dead, the Who, and Violent Femmes to a card). Oh, and some magnetic disks of the kind used with a magnetic phone holder, which I've already installed but probably won't use for the phone (beause I'm just not sure).
The "for use in the shower" speaker's suction cup doesn't work well, and it's not very audible unless I'm putting along at below 20mph. The bigger speaker will get one of those magnetic disks so that I can attach it to the bike facing me rather than setting it on the floorboard facing up.
As that stuff arrives, and assuming I can get just a little more speed out of the machine, I'll become better and better prepared for longer trips, even in what passes for "winter weather" in Florida. I probably won't take it out on the rare low-20s days, but I think I can handle town speeds in the 30s and open road if it's going to get up to 50 or more. Unless I'm still stuck below 40mph, I don't plan to install the bore kit just yet. In fact, I may not do so at all, depending on how it performs without it versus my evolving needs.
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