Kei cars

 I may have written about this back a while, but Road and Track just published another article claiming that Kei cars are legal in Colorado. This is not so. The director of DMV is empowered to write "rules" that carry the force of statute law and remain in effect until he leaves. Way back when, one of them decided that Kei vehicles would NOT be recognized as motor vehicles in Colorado, which relieved the DMV of having to process paperwork on them. The biggest argument was that the 25+ year old kei cars didn't meet current safety standards.

Boo Hoo! I guess I'll have to keep riding my motorcycles.

Anyway, here's the article:

https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a63228977/colorado-scraps-kei-car-ban/

The ban is still in place. The catch in this is that for a brief while, you could bring in a kei truck or car if it was over 25 years old, and get a title for it. If you did, and kept it up, you could drive it on the streets. I still want a kei truck.

The Future Of Transportation - China

 With a few caveats, of course. Here's a couple of offerings from our friends, the Chinese. The first is a GM China product, the Wuling Zhengtu pickup. 

Looks like a real pickup although it's much smaller, and features a 1.5l gas engine and a top speed of 75 mph. Look closely and you'll see hinges along the bed. Yes, the sides fold down to make a flatbed. This is a GM design made by Wu Ling and lists for $9000 in China. Shipping for something like this runs about $2500, but drops quickly if you order more than one. I suppose it depends on how many can be stuffed into a shipping container. It's 16 ft long with a 6-1/2' bed so not too small. No word as to whether it meets any U.S. standards for import yet.

Next up is the GenX camper from China by Everbright:

The traditional pickup over-cab camper meets the lambretta 3-wheel ice cream truck. Having only 3 wheels makes it a motorcycle, which skirts most U.S. vehicle safety laws and probably makes it legal to import. The big drawback is that its top speed is limited to 25 mph. Of course that also means that it's a low speed vehicle which in some places exempts it from licensing requirements. $4800 plus shipping (see above). They claim a 240 mile range which would be 10 hours at 25mph which I personally tend to disbelieve. Might be a job opportunity here though selling ice cream in the neighborhoods.

Taking On A Project

 The Chinky Pox is an extremely dangerous disease. It traps you indoors in the winter, with nothing to do but stare at the computer, and nibble on snacks until none of your clothes fit. So I need a project:

Destiny calls and I ride! Maybe. What I'm thinking of is buying a Japanese Kei truck. This isn't as easy as it sounds as they are not normally sold in the U.S. Here's one I had been considering:

Cute, no? Vehicle shown is a Suzuki Carry. Many other makes are available but they all look alike. Similar vehicles are seen around here as Cushman vehicles used on golf courses or in large industrial settings to move parts or tools. In Japan, they are used to transport farm or industrial goods modest distances. Engine size = 660cc, top speed is about 68mph. Stay off the U.S. freeways.

People are discovering these things as a more comfortable transport for hunting, fishing, and farm and ranch work and are finding that if you're not going very far, they work well on the road. The sides of the truck bed all fold down to give you a true flatbed, and the truck bed is 4.5' x 7'. Steering is almost universally on the right and the vehicles themselves mostly feature 2/4wd with hi-lo ranges and a locking front axle. Pretty versatile. The big drawback is that U.S. standard crash protection is non existent, so be careful. This also means they only weigh about 1500 lb so they go OK even with no horsepower to speak of. 

These are imported for off road use only in the newer models, but after 25 years, the safety standards are waived and you can try to put one on the road. Every state seems to have different standards for these things so be sure to check before buying. Some have been licensed in CO so I know it can be done BUT...

I asked my county clerk for info on papering one of these if I bought it from an importer with a Japanese title and got this:

----------------------------------------------------------

1. Statement of conformity from NHTSA

2. Statement of fact from the importer (see wording below)

3. Any one of the following US Customs forms:

   a. CPB7523 – Entry and manifest of Merchandise Free of Duty

   b. CPB 3299 Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles

   c. CPB 3311 Declaration for Free Entry of Returned American Articles

   d. CPB 7501 – Entry Summary (does not require a Customs Inspector's signature)

   e. CPB 3461 Entry/Immediate Delivery Secure and Verifiable ID will be required

4. DR2698 Verification of Vehicle Identification Number (Colorado form)

5. A certified weight slip may be required when weight is not disclosed on the ownership documents. Weight in pounds = kg x 2.23

6. Odometer disclosure – Odometer disclosed on secure form. Owner must sign to begin odometer tracking.

7. English translation of all accompanying documents. Translation must be notarized.

Importers must sign a SOF stating the following: “All appropriate entry and conformity documents including photos were properly completed, signed, dated, and submitted to NHTSA for approval on ____________(date).

Agents, subagents, dealers, or notaries may witness (certify or notarize) the importers signature. Dealers may not sign in place of importer.

NOTE: If the odometer reading is in kilometers, it must be converted to miles. Use the following formula: Km x .621371 = miles.

NOTES: Item 1 Being over 25 years old, the vehicle should be exempt from this.

Item 2 Should come with the vehicle if you are the first US owner.

Item 3 CPB _7501 and 3461___normally come with the vehicle

Item 4 This is a Colorado form available at the DMV Must arrange an appointment and meet the nice CHP cop who signs these. What I have heard is that the existing VIN # will be acceptable.

Item 5 Self explanatory. I believe the Japanese title includes the vehicle weight. Just include the conversion to pounds in the translation.

Item 6 Again mostly self explanatory. Not sure what a secure form is. Probably notarized. See note above: Mileage in miles to 6 decimal places!

Item 7 Self explanatory. Metric numbers should also have US conversions.

The importers SOF as described above. This should accompany the vehicle.

Also required, but not mentioned, would be a proof of insurance (get some from Haggerty @ $45/mo or so) and since I live in a Very Special High Altitude Zone, I will also need an emissions test proving that the vehicle meets the requirements for one sold normally in the US for the year of manufacture. There are only 6 counties in the US that are included in this group, and 5 of them are in Colorado. And yes, I live in one of them.

That last item may be the really big stumbling block as the 1996 Kei vehicles, although described as having to meet “tighter emissions standards”, the standards in question are Japanese and I have no idea what those might be. Also fuel injection does not appear on the things until the late 90's and I have doubts about a carbureted vehicle getting through emissions. It could happen though.

If you are buying from an importing dealer, all items except #4 above should come with the vehicle. If you are buying one already titled, in Colorado or some other state, all you need is the bill of sale, insurance, and if you live near me, an emissions certificate. The emissions cert is required to get license plates but not to get a Colorado title. Anyway you can get the title and a temp tag good for 1 or 2 months regardless, so you can go to a testing station and watch the techs there explode their heads trying to test it.

If you decide to give this a try, and you live outside the Emissions Zone, your odds are pretty good. Others have done this and succeeded. In the Denver metro area getting one of these through emissions may be as easy as getting a good tune-up or as hard as having to replace the engine. Of course if it turns out you need to replace the engine, you can always just proceed to the point where you get a title, then sell the thing to someone in a less restrictive county. Ones I've seen offered for sale seem to sell the same day.

Product Endorsement

OK it's early, but here's my initial reaction. The aftermarket automotive fuel pump previous owner had installed on my Yamaha failed in that it would run for only about 10-12 minutes before ceasing operations. A 10 minute wait would get me back on the road for another 10 minutes but this is obviously not going to cut it.

Fuel pumps of the type normally fitter to the bike are available on e-bay at prices ranging from $15 to slightly over $500. Go figure. The same pump seems to be pictured in all ads. With some skepticism. I got one labeled "high performance". Not sure what that means in a fuel pump but aftermarket parts on e-bay tend to be factory seconds from China so any additional endorsement helps. Price was a bit under $21 so not bad, and it ships from CA. Surprisingly it arrived 3 days sooner than I had expected.

Not mentioned in the ad was any useful specs like flow rate or pressure. Not mentioned on the pump is any indication of inlet or outlet. You have to figure this out yourself. Put a few drops of gas down each of the hose connections and put some power to it and flow direction will become immediately obvious. Hose size is 5/16" which of course I didn't have lying around. No big deal. Pressure turns out to be about 3 psi which is fine for a carbureted motorcycle. One more thing: This is possibly the noisiest fuel pump I've ever dealt with. The rattle from this thing rivals the exhaust noise. It's louder when there's no fuel in it so I suppose it will be easy to tell when I've run out of gas. Or maybe it's just quiet in the garage by myself.

I'll take it out on a test drive today. I expect it will get me there and back again with no problems.

UPDATE: OK under normal running conditions I can barely hear it at idle so I was right about the garage being quiet. Forget what I said about the noise.

Transportation - The Fully Enclosed Motorcycle

OK one more time for this approach. Here's an all electric one person vehicle that the manufacturer does not claim to be a 3-wheel car

Not bad looking. It drives the rear wheel only which I suppose is less expensive and complex than driving both the front wheels although I suspect this will prove problematic on an icy, snow-packed road. Of course if you don't expect to see many of those, then this may be just what you want. Looks like a pretty good choice for either commuting to work or for your kid at college.

Range is listed as 100 miles, and top speed as 80-85. The usual caveat for electrics is that you get to choose. You won't get both. If your kids college is over 100 miles away, you don't need to worry about them coming home for laundry every weekend.

MSRP is about $18,000 which is a bit on the high side for a commuter motorcycle, but includes all the amenities you've come to expect in a car, including 2 doors and bluetooth.

The full-width body no doubt makes for a fairly roomy interior and a flat floor makes getting in and out from either side easy. This may sell well in places like Yuma and Florida where golf carts are popular even though I'm having a hard time seeing where your clubs would go. Maybe there's an aftermarket for a club caddy with highway rated tires to be towed behind.

Made by Electra Meccanica, currently at a motorcycle plant in China, they plan to move production to Vancouver in about 2 years. At the link there's even a calculator you can use to compare operating costs with various gasoline powered vehicles for gas prices as low as $1/liter (about $4/gallon).

They also have a 2-seat roadster in the pipe with more impressive performance and priced at $50K-$100K depending on where you source the price.

Here's another write up by a professional journalist with more info.

Helping The Handicapped?

Well, maybe. I saw a video of an attachment to a wheelchair that snapped on an electric front wheel which made the basic chair quick and agile. Looked like a swell idea. Priced at about $700 or about what you would pay for one of those kits to electrify your bicycle. Sounded about right as it included all the same parts.

Later I was visiting downtown and got to see myriad people using the Lyme electric scooters, tearing up and down the sometimes steep hills there. Get on, wave your credit card, and take off. Quick transport and no long term investment.

Put the two together and suddenly a person in a conventional wheelchair can get to the 16th st food court and back on a corporate lunch hour. I happened to have a couple of Razor scooters, and with a bit of scavenger hunting, I rustled up a chair:

The attachment includes a spring since you want some down force on the scooter. With a driver, the chairs front wheels barely touch the ground and there's enough travel to avoid getting high centered.

Scoot up to a scooter, wheelie over it, and use the clamps to get attached. This scooter has lawnmower batteries installed and sits about 1-1/2" higher than normal.

And off you go. Top speed depends on the scooter, but mine top out at 15 mph. I understand that the Lymes will make 20 and the city is trying to get them off the sidewalks as a menace to pedestrians. Maybe the scooters should have horns. Like the kind Texans like to put on the hoods of their Cadillacs.

The rig is fairly agile with a 4 or 5 ft turn radius. Since the chair is attached as a 5th wheel, backing is tricky but not impossible. OTOH scooters don't come with a reverse setting so be careful about taking one of these indoors. Not impossible, but really intended for outdoor use.

Having built this and tried it out, I notice that no 2 chair makers use a common frame layout which means that the adapter needs to be peculiar to your chair. Again, I don't know enough about the wheelchair market to say, but I would guess that 2 or 3 makers account for most of the market so maybe modest mass production is possible.

Improvised Transportation

Walking down the Highline Canal yesterday I noticed what seems to be a home made "houseboat" made from 3 plastic barrels topped with a mattress and box springs. Accompanying were a couple of couch cushions and what might be a domestic cable box or DVD player. Hard to tell from my vantage point. All this is located in the canal about 50 ft east of the trash can at the canal at Broadway and Caley. On shore on the South bank is a red wagon, a stack of bicycle tires and tubes, and bits of an encampment. The "houseboat" is rather large to be down in the canal and may have washed down there from further up stream. Anybody missing some household electronics? Lock your cars.

Quite the contraption, no?

Little Red Motorcycle

Topped off the tank today to discover that I seemed to be getting about 32 mpg. This is about half of what I was expecting but I'm optimistic that this will improve as I start using the bike to actually go places rather than just going around the block in the lower gears to check how things are working.

Didn't come out half bad I think.

Will It Run 8

Always something. Tried to take it over to a friends and only made it 2 miles before the engine died with a dead battery. Seems the voltage regulator was also kaput. Got a replacement which arrived NIB and 2 days earlier than predicted, put it in and the problems seemed to go away. NOTE: The VR has to dump about 6 Amps of current when the battery is fully charged and gets too hot to touch very quickly. Probably gets too hot to work shortly after. The original mount was a bracket on the rear of the engine case, right next to the exhaust collector can. Good thinking.

I built a new bracket with a big finned heat sink and mounted it on the opposite side from the exhaust system. This seems to be working. the regulator is running much cooler and the engine seems to like having a full shot of power to the ignition.

Side view

Rear view. Big fins. Lots of air.

Need to put 5 miles on it around the 'hood to prove it is now ready for prime time. The neighbors will be somewhat annoyed, but tough.

Will It Run? 7

It turns out that the gas tank filler necks across the various models of Virago are similar enough that the caps are interchangeable. Sort of. The standard flip-top cap will click into place in the under seat tank if the neck hasn't been bunged up too badly. If it has, one must obtain Yamaha special tool, # XV535-GT-RT-O1, or gas tank reshaping tool #1.

Yes, I know, this looks like a carefully bent screwdriver with a broken handle

but notice the careful shaping and polishing. There must be at least 5 minutes of careful thought and artisanal work in this. It reaches under the catch ring in the filler neck and pulls it back out so the fingers on the cap can engage it. Sort of an inverted pry bar.

And here it is:

Somewhat oval but with the edge pulled back out.

Voila! the wrong cap, but it snaps right in!

Whatever, it works. I also removed the remaining pint of gas from the tank and while the engine would run on it, it smelled a bit gamy. Fresh gas and I'm pretty much done. Got the plate and insurance so now it's off we go.

My variation on the song is that the motor sounded fine until it quit running with a flattened battery after 2 miles. The charging system is still not working.

Will It Run? 5

I may have spoken too soon. Driving around the block seems to flatten the battery, and a voltage check shows battery voltage lower with the engine running at high speed (12.4V) than when the motor is shut off (13.6). The book says I should be seeing 14-15V with the engine spinning in the upper rpm ranges.

Repeating the input voltage check with the original voltage regulator in the circuit gives the exact same results so it looks like I don't actually need the replacement unit and I can put the original one back into service which will get rid of the kluged up installation job

A resistance check on the stator wires gives readings way off what they are supposed to be and the recommended solution is to replace the stator. These things range from $30 brand new to $120 used on e-Bay so I'm thinking $30-$50 including gasket or pull mine over the weekend and see if the local salvage yard can help me. The part looks to be common across several models, but that wouldn't be the first time someone had told me that in error.

The backup thing to do is to visit the local Yamaha dealership and confirm that the part is in fact common. They also have a way of confirming my suspicions that XV535 bikes are made mostly from unobtanium by NASA contractors using space-certified parts.

Will It Run? 4

Well yes. It runs and I drove it around the block (3 x 3 block) today to prove it. Now it needs some minor stuff like a new turn signal relay and to figure out why the headlight doesn't work. The lamp that came with the bike seems to be undersized for the retainer ring, and the other one I picked up is way over sized.

The last bugaboo seemed to be a pair of hopelessly fouled spark plugs although cleaning out the float chambers and jet passages can't hurt. The insides of the carbs looked quite clean.

Runs nice, sounds nice, and even idles thanks mostly to having the right switches on the handlebars. Makes me wonder if the original voltage regulator is in fact good after all.

At this point I could get insurance and a plate for it. Only problem is that the DMV is closed for the weekend.  Oh well, Monday. Meantime I can work on the petty details.

UPDATE: Seems the headlight lens for this thing lists for $127 and the turn signal flasher/relay assy is $163. Seems awfully steep for relatively ordinary parts. They also seem to route a lot of the rest of the harness through the flasher relay widget so simply switching to more common parts is a bigger deal than it should be.

Will It Run? 3

I got the left hand switch set today and hooked it up. It sort of looks like it won't work completely until I've cleaned  it out as the switches feel like they've been lubricated in tar. Nevertheless, I get spark, fuel pump working, and starter function so I'd say I'm pretty close to hearing it run. If only the tiny battery was a bit bigger.

Top to bottom: H-L beam, Turn, Horn. Horn does not work yet.

Top to bottom: Run-Stop, Fuel tank on/reserve, Starter

Bloody damn cold in the garage too. The passing polar vortex left 3" of snow (officially) and got the temps down right next to freezing. Currently in the mid 40's and projected to stay there until Friday when we'll see 70's. Springtime in the Rockies.

The right turn signal switch gets me flashing on the right front and left rear. The left hand switch gets me a plaintive buzzing noise from the general area of the signal relay. I'm not seeing this as a big problem. The headlight still doesn't work under any circumstance. I need to soak both switches in some sort of solvent, then lube them with conductive silicone oil.

The fuel pump comes on with the key and there is now an odor of gasoline in the garage so it's going somewhere. A squirt of ether got me a couple of pops but no sustained running so there may be petrified fuel in the carbs although I was assured that the bike ran last year.

Springtime In The Rockies - Fine Scottish Morning

The Pedals and Pints group* has scheduled a bike ride in my neighborhood, coinciding with the arrival of the latest cold front that has dropped feet of snow on the Sierras. At start time it's to be 52 deg and overcast while we have out warm-up beer at Blind Faith Brewery. We then take off riding the uphill part South along the Platte river to Living The Dream overlooking the Platte Valley. By 3 PM we have only a 15% chance of rain for the return trip which might end at Locavore or might end at Jackass Hill Brewery which at least is on my way home.

If I get home soaking wet and freezing and thus die of pneumonia, I'll post about it.

*Happily combining the pub crawl with the urban bicycle tour. A fun group.

Will It Run? 2

Found the right hand switch set and that's on the way. The gas tank cap I got with the bike fits almost every Yamaha ever made, the exception being the one I got. Finally found the part number for the right one: Price = $182. It can be had for as little as $112 if you search but gee, that seems a bit steep for a gas cap. It also seems that when someone got the bike and found he had no key, he used the screwdriver on everything, leaving the filler neck slightly egg shaped. If he would only come around and bring that screwdriver, I could show him one more place where it could be used.

AOC's High-Speed Rail To Hawaii

Perhaps we could bring Elon Musk in on this as the basic infrastructure looks just like his Hyperloop scheme to get people from the suburbs of LA to the train station in mere minutes.

Submerged freeway. More at the link, so click it.

Submerged tubes containing high speed rail and hyperlink facilities will certainly do the trick. On top of that, the floating support pontoons up on the surface can be enlarged to carry service centers, rest stops, scenic overlooks, and in a financial coup, a couple of Chinese air and naval bases, the leases for which can go towards funding construction and maintenance.

We can be assured that the PRC outposts will not be used as a basis for the Chinese to lay claim to the Eastern Pacific as territorial waters or a claim that Hawaii should become a province of China.

It's one of the things I liked about being in engineering: Nothing is impossible. Now let's talk costs.

Small Pickup Trucks

The Chinese have seen the niche and leaped to (almost) fill it. This one is a  bit under sized but as they say, might be suitable for localized work.

There are 2 articles on this citing different prices ranging from $5000 to $8950.
Presumably the U.S. model will have door coverings. Vehicles like this are legal on the streets if you have the red triangle on the back and they are limited to 30 mph max. With a 75 mile range, I'm guessing they use lead-acid batteries. Probably uses the same tires as the Harbor Freight trailers which limits the thing to 45 mph max anyway.

Note the rather Spartan dashboard:

I guess you need a smart phone if you want the deluxe package. Either the photo is backwards or this is an export model intended for Japan or Australia.

If they show up it might be fun to fit one with one of the Subaru 22hp V-twin motors from Harbor Freight.

Details here and here.

Stealth Taxes

Here in East California Colorado, there's a thing called the TABOR amendment to the constitution that says that all taxes and/or increases must be approved by the voters of the state.

The issue relates to Tesla's corporate problems and California's efforts to bail them out at the taxpayers expense.

“Today, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission rubber-stamped California’s vehicle emission regulations,” said CADA President and CEO Tim Jackson. This will add a $2,110 tax to the sticker price of average new vehicles in Colorado, a tax that will be even higher on the SUVs and trucks that Coloradans prefer. This is hard-earned cash that the typical new vehicle buyer in Colorado will not recover and will have the biggest negative impact on working families and the economically disadvantaged.

Read the whole thing to see what's going on. Just as General Motors was bailed out by BHO, I guess we can rest assured that Tesla would be bailed out by a President Hickenlooper with taxpayer money so that $150,000 compact cars can be sold for $30,000.

UPDATE: So it's not an actual tax, just an estimate of the price increase on an average car due to Colorado's conformance to California's emissions and fuel economy standards. It's a very low number as the price of a new car seems to grow by 3.4-4%/year all by itself.

Pickups From Down Under

I have been looking over the offerings in the way of small pickups and have discovered that anything much smaller than a Kenworth just doesn't seem to be available in the U.S. Outside the country, however, there's a bunch. In Mexico GM sells the Tornado/Montana whose name varies depending on weather the Montana van in also offered, and Ford has the Bantam/Courier .

Chrysler has the Ram 700, a Fiat Stradabased pickup 

Shown here in long cab configuration, this is a 3-door.

GM has the Tornado, a Chevy Cobalt based unit 

Ford has been selling the Courier,based on the Focus 

for a while now  and the Bantam .

 The Courier may even make the US market eventually.

The Aussies have/had the Ford Falcon ute 

and the Holden which comes in a couple of styling and performance variants 

The long cab version is called the Crewman.

To the best of my knowledge, no cars are currently being produced in Oz right now. Seems the government originally subsidized auto manufacture to the tune of some $3200/unit in order to increase employment, but couldn't keep that big a subsidy going. The subsidies ended and the resultant economics produced no profit margin for anyone. Sucks to run out of other peoples money eh? Aussie cars are currently being built in Thailand.

Nevertheless, you can get a Falcon or a Holden in the U.S. if you don't mind paying a premium for the shipping and the required mods. Left Hand Utes will build you a Ford or a Holden in the $45K and up price range which will be equipped with either a Corvette or Mustang V8. Nice looking cars, real head-turners, and fast as well.

The process starts with getting a nice clean ute in Oz and having the engine and tranny removed. This makes the remainder classified as “parts” rather than a automobile, which the feds would confiscate at the port of entry. The parts arrive in Denver and the remaining odd bits are removed, the headlights, parts of the electrical system, the dashboard and the firewall panel. These are replaced with matching parts from a donor car, either a Mustang or a Pontiac GTO. The finished vehicle is given a US title, using the original VIN number and is ready to go.

Next to a mustang for length comparison.

Standard equipment includes a fiberglass bed cover and everything you'd expect in a performance vehicle.

Bathtub Drone

Some of us thought the bathtub drone project looked like fun so we're researching the idea. Testing indicates that nobody's lawnmower is going to fly with a passenger but it seems that treadmills use motors up to 3 hp, 6 of which look like they would do the trick. The big holdup right now is propellers. Seems you can get small ones at the hobby shop at pretty reasonable prices, probably because they get crashed and broken often enough that mass production drops the prices. When your payload gets to 220 lbs however, the required prop tends to be the sort that real aircraft use and those don't come cheap. The other problem is that if I were building an electric ultralight, one prop would suffice and one that size wouldn't be too bad. On a drone where you need 4 to 6 props, the size falls between large hobby and small aircraft and is much harder to come by.

Preliminary testing suggests that 1-1/4 hp/motor would lift a large drone if the pilot were limited to a lightweight dummy and the actual pilot were operating it from the ground. This opens up the path for building the structure and sorting out the control software first, then upgrading to more powerful motors later.

As has been noted before: Engineers should never be unemployed.