HI all,
I was breaking in my new Vinson this past weekend and did some mileage comparisons. I have two Vinsons, one I bought last October. I have about about 350 miles on it now, and one I just bought this month.
I've rejetted both for altitude > 6000 ft., which is where I do most of my riding.

The older one has a #120 main (#128 is stock) and the newer one has a #122 main. Other than that, they're identical except of course for the mileage.

I put the first 42 miles on the new one on Saturday. Then on Sunday, my friend and I took both on a 55.4 mile ride primarily on dirt roads, with a little climbing involved. We didn't need to use 4WD at all.

So I filled both up after the ride, and the pump said the older one (350 miles) took 1.8 gallons and the brand new one (97 miles)took 1.9 gallons. That equates to almost 31 mpg for the older one and about 29 mpg for the newer one.

It was real obvious that the newer one was real tight, as expected. It accelerated slower and was louder. I swear I heard lots of piston slap, especially at around 15 mph. Anybody else experience this during their break-in? Is it normal?
I don't remember the noise during the break-in of the first one I bought.

Do the mileage numbers sound right? What are you other owners getting?

One last thing, I noticed that the rear disc squeal has gone away on the older one. Finally!

Mark

 

Mark:

Bought a yeller one for the wife a few weeks back. Got about 200 miles on it. Getting around 25 mpg. Definitely does better on go juice than my 650 Prairie. Haven't touched the jetting yet. Bought it from a dealer in So. Calif. and they said stock jetting is a little on the lean side to meet EPA BS. Most of my riding is around 5-7000 ft. Even when I get higher, it's not loading up. I'll do some fine tuning after I get some more miles on it.

As for piston slap, I haven't noticed any strange noises going down the road. At start up, it does make some racket until it gets warmed up. The shifter lever is somewhat tight, especially when you try to take it out of reverse when the scooter is facing up or down. We've had to rock it a few times to get it to move out of reverse. The only other thing, when shifting from 4wd low range back to high range, I've had it make a grinding noise like it was between gears. Has happened twice. What we do now, is shift from 4wd low back to neutral then up into high. No problems doing it that way. Probably just an adjustment issue.

Inquired about a service(shop) manual for the Vinson and they probably won't be out until later this year. Gonna run about $75. Ouch!!

As for the rear disc brake squeal, our unit also does it. Hopefully it will go away like it did on your first one.

Ride hard and safe. Later.

 

Zrider,
I bought a service manual last year about a month after I bought my first Vinson. I paid around $60.00 for it. It makes sense since the dealer mechanics use them too. They didn't have them in stock but ordered it for me. It only took about a week to arrive.

I appreciate the tip on shifting from L to H. Mine does the same grinding. Also on the stock jetting, I didn't know that they were jetted a little lean from the factory.

What's interesting to me is the degree to which the amount of oil you use on your air filter affects the air/fuel ratio. My older Vinson is jetted with a #120 main, and the plug looks like it is running richer than the plug in the new Vinson, which is jetted at #122. I couldn't figure this out until I pulled the air filters. The air filter for the newer Vinson had little if any oil on it. The older Vinson had been lightly oiled. It's very dusty where I ride so I'm pretty conscientious about keeping the air filters clean. The manual says to lightly oil them. I find that hard to do when you have to dunk them in filter or motor oil. I can try to ring out the excess as recommended, but never seem to get it all. I think I'm going to switch to a spray on type of oil in the future.

I appreciate your thoughts on the break-in.

Mark

 

Had my Vinson in the shop last week and had them check the rear brake noise. They said it was just junk in between the rotor and pads. They cleaned it and said if it starts again, just remove the caliper and clean things up. It seems OK now, but it was very annoying prior to their fix.

Haven't checked the fuel economy, but it runs forever without a refill. 189 miles so far with no real problems. The dealer said mine ran like a bat out of hell and they loved riding it around behind the shop.

 

Mark:

Got a couple of things to discuss. First off, could you let me know what the part # is for the Vinson shop manual. These guys here say they don't have one. I swear, they're brain dead. Also, have you done a valve adjustment on your Vinson? I'm doing the adjustment on my 650 Prairie at present, so I was thinking about the Vinson. The little manual that comes with the scooter said to do it at 100 miles?? Lastly, how accurate is your odometer? Ours is reading about 1 mile more for every 12 that you run. That can add up in a hurry. I wonder if the calibration can be corrected with the digital instrument dash.

Anyway, thanks for your time. If it's easier for you, you can email me at Zman2ride@aol.com

Don