Scooter/Moped questions

[brimic]

just don't want to drive a car without an alternator for 3 hours and try to charge it over and over the way down.

Yes, don't do this, you'll end up stranded in the worst place possible.

Wow. I'm willing to try, but:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5106239_change-alternator-ford-contour.html



Quote
Plan to take an afternoon to change the alternator in your Ford Contour. The Contour has an unusually complicated design, and you will become far less frustrated if you do not feel under a time pressure to do the job.

Emphasis mine. Looks like I might be in for a
n interesting afternoon this saturday. Hope it's at least 40º. (Weather predicted to be 43. Might be able to try it.)

That doesn't sound too bad. A few extra steps, but nothing complicated at all.

[erictank]

I remember the Ford Feista/Festiva (I can't remember which one it was, and I think they were the same car but different years.) Had a guy with one on my paper route growing up. Looked like a Yugo, but that thing just ran and ran...

A guy I worked with at the power plant owned a Festiva, IIRC.  A BIG guy - it would list sharply when he got into it - but it never did quit on him and it got him where he needed to go.  That little 3-cyl. engine was miserly on fuel use, too.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

http://fredericksburg.craigslist.org/bar/2176703865.html

[Harold Tuttle]

i did the alternator and idler pulley on my turbo beetle for less than 200 dollars and it took ~4 hours in the garage

I had to remove the alternator thru the passengerside headlight opening

[mtnbkr]

It was $700 for the alternator. And I realize that's high, but prices for all mechanic services are very high in the DC area. If I were nearly anywhere else in Virginia the labor costs drop by half, at least.

I've had work done in Lynchburg where my in-laws live and it's nowhere near as high. I just don't want to drive a car without an alternator for 3 hours and try to charge it over and over the way down.

I'll look into changing out the alternator. The other parts were suggested but not necessary yet.

According to this site, the Contour alternator can be a bit involved, especially for a 2.5L 6 cyl: http://www.ehow.com/how_5074709_remove-ford-contour-alternator.html

Chris

[Bogie]

Yeah, you might be able to get around taking apart the front-end stuff... Wouldn't hurt to lift it up and take a good look at it.

[Physics]

You will definitely save some money on gas.  I spend $3 to fill my tank currently, and only have to do it 2 or 3 times a week.

[MillCreek]

My 460 cc Aprilia Scarabeo 500 maxi-scooter gets 60-65 MPG and my 650 cc Suzuki DR650 gets around 50 MPG.  I have read that the 50 cc scooters can get 90-100 MPG easy. 

[KD5NRH]

Yeah, you might be able to get around taking apart the front-end stuff... Wouldn't hurt to lift it up and take a good look at it.

Definitely look it over; I've sometimes been able to bypass most of the "in through the wheelwell" disassembly steps by cranking the wheels all the way to that side, removing all of the liner bolts, and just shoving it over enough to reach through to whatever I need to get to.  Never worked on a Contour, though.

[GigaBuist]

You will definitely save some money on gas.  I spend $3 to fill my tank currently, and only have to do it 2 or 3 times a week.

Yep, that is nice.  I rode a moped for a while (it was stolen 10 days after I bought it) and you'd get a lot of weird looks on the road.  Not so much at the gas station.

[gunsmith]

I have years and years of experience on scooters and motorcycles and once I got on a motorcycle I kicked myself for riding scooters.

You can find a decent learning motorcycle for 1000. ... maybe this one, I learned on the same model but a 400 - great bike I put 100,000 on mine   http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/mcy/2178418634.html

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/mcy/2177010814.html

really, you can ride a mc for cheaper longer then a car or a scooter, scooters do not last long and are more expensive to fix. insurance for a mc is cheap