Chrome Plating

When you have chrome accessories on your scooter it is very nice to see how they glitter under the sun. Normally lot of scooter and other motorcycle owner pick the chrome accessories for some reasons. Chrome is easy to clean and add a special look on your scooter. Chrome really adds a benefit or advantage to your scooter. People tend to stare on your scooter when it has chrome accessories. The shine and beautiful look of your scooter with chrome is really a big deal. The best way to flatter a rider is to compliment how its motorcycle look.

Chrome plating is also a choice for you if you really love chrome in your scooter. Normal parts to be plated by chrome are the scooter wheels. This is the first part to come in your mind when you heard about chrome plating. Chrome plated wheels have lot of advantages specially when it come in cleaning. IT is easy to clean chrome plated parts and really saves a lot of time and energy. Do no more scrubbing and other cleaning techniques. 

The best benefits of chrome plating is that it adds a lifespan in your scooter parts. Chrome is a metal that is plated to your scooter parts and serve as a shield or protector. It prevents corrosion from different parts and make it less prone to wear even with long use. But there are also some disadvantages when using a chrome plated parts on your scooter. This are some disadvantages that I read about chrome plating.

Other riders that chrome is not good for your scooter specially when driving in daylight. The shine of your chrome parts from the direct sunlight can reflect to other motorist that you meet in the road. This reflect can make other motorist dazzle from the chrome glitters. Also chrome plated parts gets hot when direct sunlight hit it. This is why you will need to wear protective gear to prevent you from getting burned.

Continuously Variable Transmission

What is a CVT or a Continuously Variable Transmission? It is an Automatic transmission that can change gear ratios depending on vehicle speed, engine power or RPM and load. Engines have different RPM range where they deliver engine best power and engine efficiency. Its purpose is to allow the engine operate in an optimal power for varying driving conditions. It consist of three different components, a Primary Clutch, Secondary Clutch and a Belt. The primary clutch has two faces which are the stationary sheave that is connected at the engine crankshaft and a movable sheave that works in and out to engage the belt. The same with the secondary clutch is has also a stationary sheave and a movable sheave.

Lets start with the Secondary Clutch, this is where you can find the flyballs or rollers and ramp plate locations. As the throttle is depressed, the engine revs increase, centrifugal force pushes the flyball weights outward and up the ramp-plates surface. This will cause the sliding variator to move toward the outer fixed pulley half. As the variator slides closer to the Secondary Clutch it applies pressure to the drive belt that sits in between the angled faces of the front pulley half and the variator so that it forces the belt out to a higher gear ratio. This is the basic operation of the Secondary Clutch. Higher engine top speeds cause the belt to go outward changing the gear ratios.

Moving onto the Primary Clutch, has a center spring that holds together the halves of the Primary Clutch. Center spring is a large and powerful spring that make sure that the gearing is at correct level. Its has also three clutch springs that allows the clutch to bite. The front half of the Primary Clutch is placed under pressure by the center spring to make sure that the best gearing is at best tension. There are angled grooves that the pulley travels on, this is to ensure that the gearing ratio is not affected by the belt travelling at high speed.

Buying Scooter Guidelines

After you train and practice how to drive, buy your protective gears and helmet. The time comes that you will want to own your own scooter. This are some tips to be considered before you buy a scooter.

Scooter Type

Some beginners in the field of motorcycles had the attitude to buy the unit they want without knowing how they can handle it with their abilities. First thing to remember when you are buying a scooter is your ability. Purchasing scooters with far more performance than you can handle is a waste of money. Specially choosing a high powerful unit. When you are comfortable with the unit you buy that will be the time that you will become a better rider. Stay away from high powered models if you can't handle them in the right way. You should prioritize your safety than speed.

Where You Will Use It?

A service from school? Long distance or short distance travel? Is there a lot of traffics in the road you will take? This are some question you should consider. Scooters varies from sizes, shapes and weights. For short distance and less traffic, I recommend to choose the scooter with small size, slim shape and light weight. This will provide you the convenient when driving. Big size scooters with much heavy weight is recommend for long drive and heavy traffics. It size can be help in balancing your scooter for a long time and helps you to avoid sweeping from strong winds that you may encounter in the road. The big size and shape also makes you more visible in the road from other motorist specially from trucks and other big vehicles with low visibility. Knowing will make you and your scooter more useful to each other.

Brand new or Second hand 

There are lot of dealers that also sells used scooters, the choice will defend on your preferences. Considering the variety of benefits you would get from brand new and second hand, they really varies a lot. Brand new scooters comes with warranty and some free services offered. Used or second hand bikes are good for beginners that they don't worry anymore what can they damaged on the scooter. Sometimes they are also with better values since someone already use it but they might not be as reliable as the brand new in performance. When you are planning to buy a second hand scooter, remember to bring a mechanic maybe your friend or other friend recommendations to help you choose the scooter with a better engine and that can last much longer. Sometimes there are second hand unit that may cost more money in the long time regarding its maintenance.

Budget

Considering you budget not only for the scooter itself but also for yourself. There are lot of added expenses associated in owning a scooter. There are dealers that offers long-term plan in paying the scooter. Choose the right plan that suits your budget. As added expenses you will want to buy safety gears like jackets, gloves and helmets but be sure that protective gears you will buy are durable and with high performance. You can read my review about protective gears and reviews on this POST. Also remember to make a budget for the maintenance and engine break in requirement depending on the type of scooter.

Your Choice

When the time comes you are ready in owning a scooter remember not to be swept by the moment. You should make sure that you will love the scooter owning and riding it. Your passion with scooters will help you to take care of the scooter more than anything. Also remember to read all the features of the scooter before making a purchase. Be sure that in the near future you will not regret about the choice you had made. Choose well.

HELMETS

A very important gear that can help you have comfortable travel. This gear is the most important to have when you want to ride a motorcycle. Helmets varies in styles, designs, weights and compatibility.

How would you choose the most effective helmet for you. First of all I recommend to use a full face helmet rather than half face. Full face helmet are those that covers all your entire face. It is better than the half face that covers only almost the top part of the head. Full face helmets can have more effectiveness in avoiding injuries to your head.

In choosing your helmet face shield I prefer for the transparent or clear type of face shield. It can give you a very clear visibility in the road while driving. Specially when driving at night, you won't have a problem seeing the road. Tinted face shield are good when there is high source of sun ray but poor when driving at night. Some helmets also comes with a built-in internal sun visor that will help you to drive even in high source of light.

When it comes to color of your helmet you should choose bright colors. In driving a motorcycle other motorist see a rider in the highest part which is the helmet. That is why it is important that your helmet has the color that can be easily seen by others even at night. There are helmets with neon colors printed on them, I recommend this kind of helmet as I own one kind of this the Scorpion EXO 500 Oil Neon Helmet.

When it comes in durability and weight you should choose helmets which is light weight but have strong durability. Your safety will be base on how your helmet can handle a hard impact. That is why helmets with high quality and strong enough are your best choice. You should also think about the size of the helmet. Helmet size varies from small, medium, large and extra large. Don't just buy helmets when you see them try to fit them so that you will be sure that you are comfortable with it.

Leave your comments and suggestion if you have guys.

PROTECTIVE GEAR

Wearing personal protective gear when driving is the most important thing to remember. It will protect you from injuries when falling in the ground or hitting others and bikes. Usually a personal protective gear consist of a jacket, pants, gloves, boots, knee panels and elbow panels.

KEVLAR / JACKET

This will protect your body from scratches or injuries when falling off your bike. I highly recommend you to buy for jackets with armour inside like carbon fibers, titanium, hard polymers or foams. This will help reduce the impact of your body and reduce also the shears strain to the wearer. More important is the panel that will protect your backbone from injuries. Be sure to check the quality and durability of the jacket and be sure that you are comfortable wearing it.

ELBOW PANELS 

Sometimes you can buy elbow panels separated from the jacket. I recommend to do it so. This elbow panels are mostly made of steel, titanium, carbon fibers and hard polymers. Usually when a motorist fall off while driving his elbows are the one which will have contact to the ground because it will help to reduce fracture chances on the arm.

GLOVES

Motorcycling gloves are typically gloves made of leather. They may have gauntlets to protect the rider's wrists from injury, and help reduce drafts while riding in colder climates. Motorcycling gloves typically have reinforced palms intended to protect the rider from abrasion injuries in case of an accident.

PANTS / SHORTS

Pants also gives the rider a comfortable sitting on the bike. You can use either leather pants but be sure that they are thick enough to prevent shear to your lower of the body. Mostly there are shorts that can be bought with padding already equipped in the back part and in the hips part. If you plan to wear a short with padding be sure to buy knee padding also.

KNEE PANELS

These are like elbow pads that can be bought separated. Mostly its hard to find leather pants with already knee pads set that is why I just recommend to buy this stuff. It can help to avoid the fracture in the feet and scratches in your knees. It comes with a hard polymer or steel for the knee and a separate pad for the low part of the feet.

BOOTS

Boots are worn by motorcycle riders and passengers to prevent or reduce harm to their feet and ankles while riding and in the event of a crash. They are designed using materials and seam construction that are impact, abrasion, cut, tear and burst resistant. Tough, strong, moderately flexible boots with stiff soles provide the rider protection from a number of risks. It also gives a comfortable shifting and braking for your feet.