Passed another inspection !

Green inspection sticker with a green registration sticker.

Used a new shop ... most excellent:

My Glass Company
243 Main Street
Woburn, MA 01801


They are really well set up to do inspections. Hours are 7AM to 4PM ... + Saturdays !

Back in the saddle ... 2012 Season

Rode to work today. Started the season at 23072 miles on the odometer. The battery was fully charged, and the engine kicked over and purred on the first press of the starter switch. Snow on non road surfaces ... but the streets are clear and dry.

It promises to be a 65 deg day. But I'm sure winter will try to come back a few more times.

End of Season

A couple of nice weather rides this weekend ... ended the season at 23,071 miles ( bought it at 22,149 ...just short of 1K since July 28th).


Battery is out, fuel is topped of with Sta-Bil, tires are at pressure. Hopefully I'll be back on by the end of February or early March 2012.

Off Topic: Limited Uses Vehicle

After 8 years, the 50cc Honda Metropolitan CHF50 has been reclassified by the RMV as a "Limited Use Vehicle" (LU) ... no longer as a Moped.

So, now it needs to be titled, registered, insured, inspected, and excise tax needs to be paid. Also, a license with an M endorsement (or M endorsement with a J restriction for Limited Use Vehicles) is required to ride it. Also, it can not be used on roads marked with a speed limit greater than 40 MPH (but it may be ridden up to 40MPH where the moped restriction was 25MPH).

To get the bike titled and registered, I needed an RMV-1 from my insurance company (type of vehicle is "Motorcycle" ... registration ttype is "MCS LU"). All I had for paperwork on the bike was my last and first Moped registrations, the original bill of sale (no MCO) , and the RMV letter that informed me of the new LU classification. The clerk at the Wilmington RMV had done these before ... apparently people are unhappy, but are going through the process. The lack of an MCO was no problem, even though this was the first titling of the bike.

We now have a LU plate

LU4405 (Motorcycle Special Plate) MCS

Nice ride to Plaistow, NH and back today ...

Very pleasant ... Haverhill was looking good. Plaistow Center is a nice NH village. The merge on to 114 at Boston Hill Farms took a few minutes.

About 58 miles round trip ....

Off Topic: Replaced Speedo on the CHF50

CHF50 Speedo-2, a photo by goodharbor on Flickr.

I was about to drain some old gas from my wife's 2003 Honda Metropolitan (CHF50) when one thing lead to another and I totally busted the speedo's lens, cracked the white case that supports the meter to the frame, and chipped the blue front cover.

Replacements OEM parts would run over $150 ... but I found a complete unit on eBay for $50 including shipping.

One issue ... the replacement odometer is at 8565 miles, while the original is only 516. So, going forward, subtract 8049 miles from the odometer to get the Metro's real mileage.

This will hurt resale value, but the bike is already 8 years old (and only 516 miles !) ... re-sale value is low to begin with.

Rear of the replacement speedo (good view of the white case):

Lunchtime Ride

Very fun 20 mile loop. Grabbed a sandwich a Via Largo in Lexington Center (and ate it on the Battle Green). Nice fall colors ... quiet traffic.

Ended the day with the odometer at 22,769. Gas mileage a consistent 50MPG.