Destructive Testing

I’ve been following the Scooter Cannonball. https://scootercannonball.com/

One of the things I’ve really enjoyed is watching the behind the scenes videos. Much of that is field repairs, which I’ve paid close attention to. The YouTube guy Quazi Motard has put out some good stuff. https://www.youtube.com/@QuasiMotard He’s currently running a Honda PCX 150 much like my own. 

I’ve learned is that it’s probably a mistake to stray too far from Honda original parts. Seeing Quazi’s scooter transmission grenade on the highway was eye opening. The after market parts gave better performance, but didn’t go the distance. 

Endurance events are a good way to figure out how good different vehicles are when the going gets tough. I’m checking out scooters with this event, but I’ve followed boat events and 4X4 rallies. Often you find the most popular and/or most expensive do worse than less expensive options. 

For example Vespa scooters are stupid expensive. However, they’ve been falling apart during the Scooter Cannonball. Many are plagued by electrical issues. Even things that really shouldn’t go wrong are going wrong. Freaking tail lights are rattling out of their mountings and falling apart. While they are fast they don’t really handle that well in the corners. 

We love our vehicles. When the going gets tough we don’t want them to fail. If they do fail we need to know how to make repairs. Endurance events put things to the test. Years of normal wear and tear can happen in a matter of days. It’s a great learning experience. When I spend my limited dollars I don’t want a garage queen that can’t handle the real world. 

-Sixbears