Getting the Homelite Trail King ready for 2019 mountain riding...

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The old girl is still going well with only slight wear on the driven shaft for the two speed gear box. The woodruff key was badly worn causing a lot of play.
I had to order several off of Ebay that were not Chinese steel and made of hardened steel here in the USA.
The gear box seals as I posted earlier this week were weeping Hypoid oil and no matter how many times the seals were replaced they would leak after a few hours of running.
I was able to get a case of tubes full of John Deere Corn Head Grease. What amazing stuff! The grease is pressure and temperature sensitive and clings to gear teeth like glue. The more the heat,the more it clings.
Best part,no more weeping hypoid oil! What a mess to clean up after a run.
A new Kevlar drive belt was installed.
The number 50 chain was removed and soaked in chain lube for 48 hours. No wear on the links at all.
Brakes were adjusted but not really needed as the drives clutch-brake system works as a Jake Brake when you back of of the throttle and it really slows the scooter down instantly. It took me an hour to really learn how to drive the scooter when I first got it as it was very unnerving having an engine braking you.
I got a new front tire for the front on order as the original Goodyear Diamond tire is dry rotting in the desert here and is pretty worn but still holds air.
I bought a tool bag that will hold,well tools,and a tire pump,spare drive belt, fix-a-flat,drinking water,camera,food,and emergency rescue gear.
Where I go you may not see another human at all. I check into the Ranger station and tell them where I'm going and when I should be back if only a day trip.
If overdue they will come looking for me. A nice touch.
There is no cell service.
I'm hoping to do Oak and Yucca Flat's trails next week. Each one is ten miles of mountain trails through some beautiful mountainous country.
We have had one of the coldest and wettest springs on record. I had snow this past Monday.
It is so green here it looks like an East Coast State. Not normal here.
The scooter is getting about 40 miles per gallon at 15 MPH in Top Gear. The engine never works hard.
This is not the top speed of 30, but I can go where most ATV's cannot go.
In Low Gear the scooter can climb a very steep grade or over a rock ledge with ease. It has a well designed suspension. The scooter is hinged in the middle and bends when you hit a rock or depression and is very smooth. It has one large leaf-spring in the center that takes up all the shocks. No need for front spring/oil forks that can fail.
I built a new exhaust system for the 6.5 HP engine with a spark arresting muffler that exits the scooter three feet behind my seat.
After all this is where Smokey Bear is from. Forrest Fires out here are really bad.
The scooter is rated for 400 pounds of cargo,not including the driver, which I have never carried but I'm sure it could do it with no problem
I did find an original dealer posting that said the scooter was 450 bucks! ( that is $4,771 today!)That was a lot of money in the late 40's early 50's.
Many of the Scooters were sold to Uranium and Gold Prospectors. That is what my scooter was used for in the Yellowstone National Park area.
I saw that a large Balloon Tired Trail King scooter was made as well for running on sand. Never seen one in real life.
My goal it to try to reach the summit of the ten mountains surrounding my home. I've done three so far.

 

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I took the scooter out today. We drove up to Pine Flat as Oak Flat was being used to film a movie. I have never driven Pine Flats and had no idea just what the trails were like and what the driving conditions are.
In short the trails are for full blown Mountain Bikes or enduro Motorcycles. Rocks and boulders filled 60% or all the trails I took.
After a few miles I turned off the main trail and picked up Dirty Bunny Girl Trail. It was without a doubt the hardest bike trail I have driven in the last ten years.
Massive boulders,felled trees and mud. The scooter held it's own and took every thing in stride. I had to shift into low range at least 20 times which I have never had to do before.
I was using a GPS so as not to wander off too far from the parked trailer and well out of any cell phone signals in case of an accident.
Being so engrossed in keeping the scooter from not falling off of the trail and into a very deep gorge, I neglected to notice just how far I had driven.
After one particularly steep and boulder filled portion of this trail, I paused to check my fuel. I was down to a pint! So much for fuel economy.
I was carrying a spare quart of gas and put that in. I estimated I could make it back to the car/trailer only if I turned around and back tracked the seven miles I just drove.
The trip back covered the same boulders but at least I knew what to expect. Most of the trail at this point for me was more down hill than up hill.
I passed two mountain bicyclist on the way back,one who did the " nose-in-the-air" routine and did not acknowledge my "Morming!" the other biker wanted to know all about the Trail King scooter.
I knew I was running on fumes by then and asked him how far to the paved road and he said 1 1/2 more miles. And of course this was the worst area of the whole trail I had to traverse.
I made the road and the engine had speed-ed up to a faster idle letting me know the engine was about to die for lack of fuel. I was 2 1/2 miles from my car. At least it was paved road and no boulders. I went towards the car and the engine died 100 yards down the road.
I pushed the scooter up the road and had the nice surprise that I only had to push it up two hills. I could coast down the back sides the rest of the way to the car, The scooter did just that and at one point I was coasting at 20 MPH down the mountain road.
The final straw was the parking lot was at the top of a bluff. I made it at last.
I learned a few lessons on this trip:
1. Carry much more spare gasoline or install a larger tank on the scooter. Low range really ate up the gas.
2. Do not trust the Trails of NM software and GPS talking to one another. It caused me to go three miles out of my way that was not needed due to loss of satellite signal.
3. Buy a really good set of FM Radios to talk to the wife who was hiking as I was riding, as there is no cell service. I need to find out what the Rangers use and can a Civilian use their broadcast towers?
The bike survived the trip with no damage other than a slightly frayed driven belt. The Corn Head Grease worked perfectly and there was just the slightest amount of one seal weeping. The tires show no wear or cuts. That is amazing as I bounched over some really nasty sharp rocks.
I feel fine,and I had a cardio work out like no other. Not too bad for a guy going on 70.
I caught the trip on my GoPro and will post some of the high lights after editing.

 

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The videos are shaking badly. Not owning a gambled camera mount , the images are poor,sorry.

 

[massacre]

I don’t see any videos but I love these stories! Thank you!

 

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I never posted them,they would make you sea sick! HA!
What I will do is put the camera on time delay mode and do a shot every few seconds. At least you get to see where I'm trying to go.
I will do Ortero Cannon this week and post a series of "stills". I'm blessed that one of the best off road trails that allow moter driven vehocles in New Mexico only 12 miles away from my home.

 

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I took the bike out my 1/4 mile back driveway to see if the time delay function had a fast enough shutter to take a sharp image. It does. Timing is an issue and I changed it down from 10 seconds to 2 seconds. You get to see more of the rocks and the bike trying to climb them.
I did some changes since last week as well. A well stocked First Aid kit is now in the tool bag. I didn't need one but you never know.
I replaced the original front 60 year old tire with a new 6 ply tire. The rocks and boulders are really hard on the "Baloney-Skins"as you might imagine.
I also moved the exhaust header down under the cargo deck to allow much more room for goodies to carry. The muffler is well behind me making for a quieter ride and no fumes to inhale. Yes that is a spark arrester on the end of the muffler.
I also added an alternator flywheel (12 volt) an well as an adjustable inverter. There is now a cell phone holder and charger as the Forrest really sucks the life out of the phone battery. I will be able to follow the map with out having to stop and take the phone out of the hip holster.
I also now have a one gallon Jerry-can for the extra fuel I'll need. I found 7 miles of climbing boulders really ate up the gas.
Here are a few test images of my back drive...

 

[massacre]

Looks like lots of fun! Bike looks great!