Reviewing The Honda Forza 300

   I'm probably the last person, honestly, that should be reviewing the Honda Forza 300, because honestly, I'm not someone that has been riding much at all.  The Forza was my first bike. Sure, first bike I rode was a '03 Burgman 400, but then I spent about 14 hours in the saddle of a Kawasaki 125, and didn't get any more saddle time than that in the Burgman 400 before I started riding the Forza 300.
Maybe that gives me a better view on it? Maybe not. But I can tell you that riding it was a lot of fun.

It was quick, but it wasn't fast by any stretch. Top end I got to was around 121km/h, but I didn't push it any further than that. I was quite happy keeping it under that speed. It is a lighter bike, so the wind buffeting from the trucks was a bit much.  After riding the Burgman 400 at the very least behind a truck at 50mph, I must say that the heavier weight of the 400 does make a difference at the higher speeds.

Practicality wise, tho, the Forza 300 is great. The underseat storage is quite large, capable of storing two full helmets.

But I will say I'm not a fan of the shape of it. I find that for packing things, like say, a couple of bags of groceries, not that easy to store in this bike.
The Burgman 400 can hold a fair bit of stuff, and has a better layout, I believe it's roughly the same amount, if not a bit more, in the Burgman 400, but in layout alone, it definitely is a win.
But if you only need a few things, it will hold a fair bit of stuff.  Since it was the only bike I was riding, I did many quick shopping trips on this bike.  More frequent thru the week, sure, but that just meant more riding the bike.
I didn't mind, it kept the car in the driveway, because honstly, I prefer riding over driving. It's just overall more enjoyable.  Sure, it can be considered to be "scarier" or, more dangerous, but many things are dangerous that we do in life.  It doesn't mean we shouldn't enjoy life to our fullest.  For me, I have really taken a liking to riding. Just something about it. And now it's something that my kid and I can bond over.  We've got a couple thousand kilometers now under our belts together, and we're only getting started!

So what is my honest opinion of this bike;

Well, honestly, if it was my only bike I was to own, I have a feeling I'd definitely get bored of it eventually. It is a lot of fun to ride, it has a lot of getup and go, but as someone looking at a commuter bike, this is not it.  It's a great little weekend rider, or city runabout that can do the innercity freeways, but as a bike that you commute on, I would have to pass.
But that said, I would happily get another, as they are an absolute blast to ride! Super nimble, and a lot of fun in the twisties, just not as my only bike.

Would I recommend One?

Yes, I totally would.  If you're learning to ride, or you are living in a city, or won't really be traveling the highways, this is a fantastic bike! But it is not great if you're a short rider.  If you stand under 5' 5" you'll likely be tip-toeing the bike a bit, as the seat does sit a bit high, at around 31".  For someone who lives in a city, I think more people should own bikes like this. It'll cut down on congestion, and make travel thru the city far easier, and more enjoyable.  I can't imagine how much faster Toronto would move if more people rode motorcycles instead of cars, considering most times it's a large SUV with one person it in, sipping on a latte, making a tiktok of herself and how she's going to divorce her husband for one silly reason or another. Which reminds me, it's quite scary how many people are STILL using their cell phones behind the wheel.

However, going forward, the Forza 300 will no longer be a part of this family, as it has since moved on to another owner, who was looking for something smaller for his wife.

We made a trade for a much bigger bike.  When I say much bigger, I mean it's more than double the size.

Until next time.

Stay tuned....

So I Bought A Scooter

 A couple years ago my wife purchased a Suzuki Burgman 400 Maxi-Scooter. I'm not going to lie, it wasn't necessarily her idea to buy a Scooter, but mine own. 
However when she got her first Scooter, it was about 3 years ago, for her 40th birthday, we found and purchased her first Motorcycle, which was also her first Scooter. A 2013 Honda PCX150, which was a really nice little Scooter, but at 150ccs, it wasn't quite fast enough for what she wanted for the roads around us. Sure, it could keep up with traffic fairly easily, but when the average speed is around 80km/h (50mph) it was into its top end of the powerband on its little engine.

But it served its purpose, and she learned how to ride.
Well, fast forward to the end of the next year, and she decides to get herself a second bike, because she didn't feel that she was ready to sell the PCX150.  A 2004 Suzuki Burgman 400, and this bike she rode 5 times.  Once to test ride it.  Second time was to get it certified. Third was bringing it home from the mechanic after it was safetied. Fourth was riding it to the gas station to fuel it up, and back. And Fifth was when my son and I decided we were going to get our Motorcycle license, and started learning on that, she rode it to the parking lot.

So it didn't really get ridden much at all, and mostly sat.
I had replaced both tires, so they're still basically new, the year we got the bike, because we knew the tires needed replacement.
Brakes were fine, basically everything was good on the bike, but it sat.
She sold the PCX150, for a Honda Rebel 250, but sold that at the end of the season because it was too slow.
After that she picked up a Honda Forza 300, which is a beautiful Motorcycle. Great colour, and is it ever quick, and nimble. However, it's a little tall for both herself, and myself. We're 

not that tall.

But yet the Suzi still sits there in our driveway, the only difference is now it has two riders taking it out.
Myself, and my son.  The bike is fantastic!  We both love the bike, we're very happy with it, but we are thinking of getting a Burgman 650, or a Silverwing 600.  Not to replace the Burgman 400, oh no, that bike I currently plan on keeping for quite a few more years to come. 

I do believe I'd be much happier gifting it to my son when he gets his Full motorcycle license.  I haven't told that part to my wife, but it is my plan.  What he does with it from that point is up to him. We have our youngest too, who has an Electric Scooter, which he really enjoys riding. We're trying to source batteries for it, as it definitely needs batteries.
We're not sure which cells are dead, so we're replacing the set, at this current point in time.
However the little scooter *IS* a lot of fun to ride, even if it only does 25mph (40km/h).

Honestly, the Burgman 400 is cheap to fill, gets 60+mpg, is highway capable up to 85mph. It's a very very fun bike to ride! The engine is really smooth for a single cylinder, corners very easily, and has plenty of getup and go power, which is great!

Well, it turns out that the Burgman 400, the bike I *THOUGHT* was mine, turns out it was more to be my son's and wife's bike, and I got the Forza 300, which I learned how to handle, and ride pretty well. Granted, no, I have not been riding very long at all! I love the little Forza. It's quick, nimble, and a blast to ride!

In fact, this video, I took it on the highway a few times, and it was brilliant!  I loved it on the highway, and found it sat there at 115km/h (72mph) quite comfortably, and felt good.  
However, it was the first time I noticed that it was also starting to reach out to its top end. 
At first I thought, "Well, if the bike can do 140km/h top speed, how much more do I need it to do?"
WELL, let me tell you, when you start reaching the top end, you start to realize that if you needed the extra power to get away, or out of, trouble, you can't. That's it, you've reached the top speed, and there is no more.
Sure, on most roads, that's more than sufficient, but on a freeway with speed limits in the range of of top end, you start to realize that you can get stuck in a bad situation pretty easily.

Now, for myself, 120km/h is a pretty high rate of travel, as I rarely travel much more than about 105km/h, which may not seem like much, but I just do my best to not exceed the speed limit. No, not because I'm some kind of "saint" and I'm a better driver than you, because you like to travel 20km/h over the limit regularly. That's fine, you have deeper pockets than I do, clearly. I keep my speed down, simply to save my pocketbook. 

On the Motorcycle I'm less stringent on the speed on the highway, as I believe you have to maintain movement on the highway to prevent blending into the background.
As Motorcycles are the smallest vehicle on the highway, it's very easy for them to be lost in the background noise of trucks, and large SUVs, which seem to dominate the highways. One way to stand out, is to keep moving, and to keep moving, means moving at a slightly higher rate of speed than traffic. If you have a thousand moving parts, all traveling at the same speed, in the same direction, it might as well not be moving at all, as it'll all blend together, however if you get something moving slightly faster than the rest, you'll see it pretty easily.
In fact, that's how they find objects in the night sky that are new.
They'll point a camera at a specific spot in the sky and take photos.  
Then they'll analyse these photos to see if anything has changed over the course of several days, or weeks.  If they notice something has moved, then they build a timelapse image to confirm.  Things remaining static disappear in the background, while things moving stand out.
So if you're on a motorcycle, visibility is the key to safety, not loud pipes.. Be seen!
The problem, tho, is that when you start to reach the top end, and traffic is traveling already at a higher rate of speed, if you need to maneuver in traffic, such as getting around trucks, you now have to have more speed left over to slip into another lane safely, and pass the truck so you can see, and stop getting slapped around by the wind buffeting.

But they are an absolute blast to ride, with lots of storage, comfortable seats, and a very relaxed riding style.

I'd highly recommend a Maxi Scooter to anyone looking to get into riding. Whether as your first bike, or your only bike! Scooters are basically like the Pickup Trucks of the Motorcycle world. You either love them, or you hate them. Myself, personally, I love these things!

Anyway guys, until the next one...

An Honest Review Of The Nissan Juke

 Last year, I had to say goodbye to my Scion tC.  I was pretty upset by the whole situation, as the car was owned, it was solid, never had a single problem with it, and it was a 2 door! They don't make cars, let alone 2-door cars, at all anymore. Sure, I know high end sports cars, or the such, but nothing in the price bracket, and reliability bracket, I'm looking at.

The 2016 Nissan Juke I purchased with the Insurance Money I got from the write-off didn't even come close to comparing to the Scion tC.

Let's go over some very key differences between the two vehicles, and some of the issues I've had with the Juke, vs the tC.

Problems with the tC

• Oil Sending Unit (Pressure sensor) started leaking, which is a common issue. It took me a whole of 2 seconds to diagnose, and just required the replacement of the sensor, although I probably could have tefloned the threads and it likely would have solved the issue.
• Front brake caliper had failed, so I had to replace that.
  
• Front wheel bearings had failed, so I replaced those
  
• Front sway bar links failed, so I replaced those too. Even made a video which did terrible on my channel, but that's okay.
• Battery failed
• Input Shaft Bearing was very noisy, which was a very common thing on these old tCs
• Air Conditioning Refrigerant was under filled

Everything, honestly, that failed on the tC was basically just wear and tear items, ones you do expect to fail, especially considering that everything was still original on the car, save for the tires, and the brakes.  I had flushed all the fluids, from brakes, coolant, even my transmission oil was changed. Upgraded the headlights from dim, dull, Halogen, to Ultra Clear HID LED bulbs, which lit up the night so much better.  
Nothing failed until well after 200,000KM on it (or 125,000 miles), and the first thing to fail on it, well, was the sway bar links. They made a little bit of noise going over bumps, so I replaced them. It was a very simple job, but holy hell Rust kicked my arse on it!

Now let's see, what about the Juke?  Honestly, this first thing should have been a red flag.

The day I bought it, the intake runner sensor had failed, and threw a CEL.  In fact, that happened during the test drive on it, which was interesting... BUT I ignored it, considering I am a mechanic that doesn't mind getting my hands dirty. 
But I did force the dealership to replace it at THEIR cost. There's no reason that shouldn't have been fixed under SAFETY considering IT'S THE ENGINE FFS! I guess if the car doesn't drive, it's perfectly safe hahaha!
Nonetheless, they fixed it, and problems never occurred again, right?

Wrong.... One I blame on myself for it, which was a big mistake.

Let's start off the top; What failed

• Intake Runner - Requiring replacement of the ENTIRE INTAKE MANIFOLD
• Front Main Seal (Leaking)
  
• Timing Cover (Leaking)
  
• Left Front Axle Seal (Leaking)
• Oil Plug Drain Plug (Leaking)
• Rear Brakes (Wear Item)

Those are not wear and tear items (save for the brakes), and the car has less than 72,000 miles on it (115,000KM).  Those things started failing around 110,000km (68,000mi).  The drain plug I entirely blame on myself for not doing my own oil, just once. That's all it took. I didn't do it because the weather was absolutely terrible (a foot of snow was just more than I thought I should be working in on my car) so I had it taken in for me.
They replaced the oil drain bolt, likely because they fucked it up, and sure enough... The car leaks. I wish I had sooner than I did so I could go after them, but it's too late now.  Hopefully it doesn't mean I'm replacing my oil pan, because that'll suck!

It's amazing how one vehicle literally had zero problems for more than 200,000km before the first non-wear and tear item failed (Oil Pressure Sensor) is a real testament to Toyota build quality, at least back when they built good cars, vs Nissan, who can't seem to make a good car at all anymore.  
The only advantage to the Juke I owned, vs the average Run of the Mill Juke, was the Manual Gear Box. Having a manual transmission means that the Juke *IS* capable or racking up hundreds of thousands of KMs without too much of a hiccup, unlike the CVT, which WILL blow up and fail. Not "may" fail, but *WILL* fail. They're horrible transmissions.
Aside from the Manual gear box, let me get into a proper dialogue with it.

The car itself isn't terrible. It really isn't. It's fairly sporty, it's fun to drive, it's comfortable,

for such a cheap car, has a good smooth drive, has some nice road feedback thru the wheel, and is pretty nimble, for a vehicle with as much ground clearance as it has.

It's sort of like a oversized Nissan Versa (which I think it pretty much is a Versa on stilts).

The 1.6TGDi engine is underpowered for the vehicle, and it would do a lot better with a 2.5L Naturally aspirated i4 instead of the Turbo-Charged 1.6L Gasoline Direct Injection.  Port injection, granted yes, it does provide slightly less power, and slightly less fuel economy, but it delivers better performance, by requiring significantly less maintenance, as there'll be less carbon buildup on the valves, and a lot less carbon deposits in the tailpipe.  Seems like GDI engines, especially Turbocharged ones, like to dump a fair amount of carbon deposits on the tailpipe.  And that's usually indicative that it's likely burning a little bit of oil. NOT a good thing to be doing.  If you're unsure and looking at a car that you want to know if it's burning oil, just run your finger on the inside of the tailpipe, and see what colour it comes back. If it is all sooty, with really thick dark, charcoal like material, or even feels a bit slippery, it's burning oil. Stay away from it! Maybe buy a nice old used Volvo?

The other issue I have with the car is cargo room. It has none.
If I do not fold the seats down, I basically have absolutely no cargo room, save for a handful of groceries. I think the Smart Car had a similar amount of cargo room.  The Juke has about 10.5 CuFt of cargo room with the rear seats up.
Meanwhile the Smart Car Fortwo has 7.8CuFt of cargo space to the top of the seats, or 12CuFt when filled to the roof of the car, making it have MORE cargo space.

However, yes, with the seats folded, the Juke has triple the amount of room as the Smart Fortwo.  That said, you can now no longer carry any passengers, save for one, with the Juke. It was made for 5 (four sort of comfortably) people, and the Fortwo was literally made FOR TWO.

The Scion tC have 14.7CuFt of cargo room with the rear seats up, and roughly the same as the Juke with the Rear Seats down, meaning you had a fair amount more room in the Coupe vs the CUV.

BUT There are some silver linings here, such as the amount of visibility in the car. It has good visibility, big windows, and even easy to see out the rear window.  The car has buttons, switches, and dials, without any touch screens, comes with heated seats, and the Air Conditioning was working out of the box, unlike the 3 year older Scion tC, however the AC on the tC was refilled and never had an issue for the almost 4 years I had the vehicle, which is normal, as the refrigerant on all cars slowly leaks out at the compressor seals.

The car is pretty comfortable, even on long drives, as I've spent many hours in that car, including an entire day of driving around South Central Ontario. It was a lot of fun!
The sound system isn't terrible at all, it is OKAY, but you'd expect on a vehicle named "JUKE" it would at least have a great sound system, which it simply doesn't. But it is okay. The Bluetooth sucks, as it has a .5s-1s delay on all audio, which is annoying, as it even does that with phone calls.
Plus allowing it access to your Text messages means that every time you get one, it would

auto-Reply "I'm Driving!"
It was extremely annoying, as some spam texts that came thru it would respond showing that it's an active number.. Blah!  I had to disable that.

Would I recommend a Juke?

No.  I honestly would not recommend a Juke. There's no reason that there should be an axle seal failing at less than 100,000 miles. The Timing cover should not be leaking, and the front crank seal should DEFINITELY not be leaking.  
Even the Rear Brakes shouldn't be as low as they are at 100,000km, as the rear brakes honestly don't do much braking at all. They should last about 2 to 3 times longer than your front brakes, unless they're dragging, as the front brakes do about 75% of the braking for your car.

In fact, I'd go as far as telling people to stay far away from the Juke, or any Nissan in general. The engines are French engines, which are not known for their reliability or longevity, and if you get an Automatic CVT transmission, you're guaranteed to have the transmission fail. Nissans are really terrible vehicles, probably easily on par, if not even worse, than Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep, Kia/Hyundai, Tesla.

They are truly shitty bad vehicles. 

So I'm actively trying to sell my Juke to be rid of it, and I'll be moving to something a little more reliable, and something a little bit bigger.
Heck, I'd even prefer a Ford Taurus Wagon over the Juke!

Until next time guys,

Stay Tuned.....

A Two Stroke Tecumseh

My Brother-In-Law dropped off his parents' snowblower, as they had recently purchased it, but it was not running properly at all.  
Not sure what the issue was, and no way to recreate the problem as the pull recoil rope had

nearly broken, and there was no way I'd be able to use it to start the engine.
Only thing to do was to crack into the case, and start monkeying around inside and see what I can learn.
A few bits of hardware were missing, but nothing major, considering it was all just outer casing bolts. Sure, they're pretty useful to have it all, but I'd be more concerned if the hardware on the engine was missing.

The first big reveal when I took off the top plastic case was the big "TECUMSEH" logo on the Pull Recoil. Imagine my surprise, and delight, when I saw that.
Even tho they may have a reputation for being junky engines, they really aren't that bad. They're fairly well constructed, they are... kinda eccentric? Or... something along those lines... But overall they are decent engines. 
The carburetor was really easy to access too, with its own little door.
A pair of 3/8" bolts is all that holds it on, and you have easy access to the bowl nut, so you can drop the bowl.

However, as it was pointed out, I think I may have not read the label as literal as I should have.
Misinterpreting the label as "ON/CHOKE/OFF" instead of "CHOKE ON/OFF"
My bad, but I still kept the operation correct, any way you look at it.

I mean, could I have reversed it back? yeah, but I didn't really think about it, until "AFTER" it was picked up, and I had explained it to him.

After cleaning up the carb, and the struggle to reinstall it, the snowblower came back to life, I also replaced the pull rope. Not that it was really bad, but I figure it was the right thing to do with the service.

When reassembled, I even gave it a little bit of a test with some leftover.. uh.. snow

IF you want to call it that, but the snowblower did a good job blowing it, even tho it's not really intended to be moving heavy snow like this.

And because the on/off switch fell apart, I changed it to a normal on/off switch, instead of a key switch.
I mean, the key is kind of pointless, but I understand it's for safety to prevent kids from playing with it, and getting hurt.

I would say this was a successful repair!

Anyway guys, until next time.

Stay tuned....

Trying Something Different

Decided to try to integrate two different, lives?, I think is the right word, together. Such as Photography, and Small Engine repair.

Taking out my camera, I've decided to try to do some photos of the lawnmowers around that I've worked on that I haven't sold, as of yet.

Murray 22" Cut Mower w/Briggs Quantum Engine

Honda HRS216 w/Honda GCV160

Honda HRS216 w/Honda GCV160

Canadiana Elite Self Propelled Lawnmower w/Briggs Engine

Craftsman Tiller w/Tecumseh Engine

I think it made for a different take on them.  Adding additional drama. An old technology, captured on an old technology, and it really managed to catch the grit and age of the equipment.

Expect more of this, as I actually enjoyed making these. Maybe making these into prints, and selling them.
Might be something to do on the page.

"Mikeanic in the Darkroom" hahaha!

Uh... maybe, we'll see

Until next time..
Stay tuned..

A Year On YouTube

 So it's been a year now, since I started my YouTube channel, and what have I learned?
Well, that's hard to summarize in a simple sentence, or as a singular question to that kind of question, so I'll have to break it down as best as I can.

What has been the most challenging thing about YouTube so far?

That's easy, honestly. The YouTube Algorithm. Hahaha, no all jokes aside, it's actually finding enough to do for content around Winter, as sometimes you have to find the smaller projects, and to make them into new videos, just to get a view or three, or YouTube punishes you for not having your channel active, and changing your rhythm. 

What are the unique challenges faced with building your channel?

Trying to stay motivated, it's a big one. But it's not really unique to my channel, in particular, but one that I'm sure many YouTubers get, whether they're big, long time YouTubers, or new channels, like mine, I sometimes find it hard to get motivated to get that video finalized, or the next segment set up right away.
Especially when one of my devices is full, and I have to empty the card, or device memory, to free up space.
Oh and forget having Hard Drive space! It's gone too!

Is there anything you'd change if you were to start over?

Yes, definitely. For one, I think I would have had done a bit more preparation into setting up a proper workshop/studio for it, instead of jumping headlong into it, however I think that's just what a lot of people do. It took me a bit to shake the nervousness from it, and sometimes I still get it when there are people nearby, or I perceive they are within earshot.  Not that they really care, they likely just think I'm nuts.

If someone was to start their own channel today, what would you suggest?

That's a really good question, and I have a couple things I would suggestion.

1. Make sure you have at least 3 to 5 videos ready to upload at the start.
   Make at least the first 3 visible right away, this way if someone watches one, they have a higher likelihood of watching more, and possibly subscribing if they do.
2. Don't be afraid to be yourself. You don't have to pretend to be some kind of different person, unless that's what your channel is all about.
3. Do not focus on subscribers. I know that's the most challenging one to get past, but views will bring the subscribers to you.
4. Do research into the niche you're looking at getting into. Check the competition, because it is a business after all, and see what you can do different. What you add to it, or maybe even a whole different breath of air on something.
5. Most of all, pace yourself. You do not want to burn out.
   Barely 1% of new YouTube channels get monetized, as most actually quit before their first 100 subscribers.

Also, check out channels like "VidIQ" for some help with your channel.

When posting a video, what has been the most frustrating part?

Oh that's an easy one. Getting it noticed by the YouTube Algorithm, and actually having it shared with people that are actually interested in that content.  One of the most frustrating things about the YouTube algorithm is that it has a habit of sharing the video with people that have a very low likelihood of clicking on it, however one thing that really does help.
A good, catchy title, and most of all, a very appealing thumbnail.  The thumbnail should summarize why the viewer should click on your video and watch it, with the title being a brief summary of what your video is about.

like "My Lawnmower Became A Tree Stump Grinder, No That's Bad News!"

or something like that, catchy, and could be about you repairing a lawnmower that hit a stump and bent the crankshaft, or damaged it in some other way.

What are your plans going forward in your channel?

Mainly, doing what I do best. Fixing lawnmowers, trimmers, and other small engines as best as I can.
It's a lot of fun, and I'll be documenting my journey along the way.
I've begun to roll out Memberships, and plan on even starting a merchandise line, like stickers, or hats, or even T-Shirts.
I wouldn't mind some button up Mechanic, or should I say, Mikeanic shirts, complete with the little YouTube ▶️button. I think that'll be nifty!
That way I can officially retire my old Mazda shirt. Very fond memories of that place. 

Thanks for tuning in guys!

Ever onward!

A Treat Find

There's nothing like getting old rolls of film developed. It's like a "Time Capsule" honestly. 
Sadly, the shop I was taking the film to, decided that they were going to be scumbags.  They refused to develop a roll of film, claiming "It's got some kind of chemicals, or fluids, on it"... When I do not do that kind of photography, and I even inspected the roll in complete darkness (pulled it out, and felt for any residues).  If anyone knows films that have accidentally been exposed to moisture, then dried, it's not coming out of the can. No matter how hard you try, it's not coming out, or it'll stick, and bind, and just be a complete mess.

Well, that was not the case. Was a clean roll of film.

Because of that, and I couldn't get into the city to collect the film back, it ended up being tossed into the garbage.

I don't usually call out places, but if you are thinking of visiting "GRAINATION" in Toronto, think again. There are better, more reputable shops, that will happily take your business.

It started out lovely with GRAINATION on Spadina Ave in Toronto, but then they showed their true colours, and I won't deal with them again, and put the word out, for anyone thinking about it, think again.
Downtown Camera is a fine choice of location to drop off your film, their kind, courteous, and knowledgeable staff (Yeah Stan, you may be a d1ck in store, but I know you're a softee outside of the store).

All that said, however, back to the film, it truly is remarkable how much of a time machine they can actually become.  What a treat!  This is Kodak Gold, run through my Spotmatic, with a SMC 50mm 1.4 Lens.

All the problems I had with this car, yet I really do miss driving it. The amount of space inside the
wagon was remarkable!  I'm definitely going to be replacing the current car (Nissan Juke) with another
wagon in the near future.

I just have to find a local shop that'll develop, and nicely scan, my film for a reasonable price, and hopefully I can get thru the small backlog I still have.

Until next time guys,

Keep those shutters firing!