Gilera Runner 180 FXR
18,500 miles. Needed some more two stroke oil so I rode down to Fritz Speed (the two stroke wizard) at Brookvale. Got the oil and started the chat and I got him to look at the Bitubo rear shock. Even though Id tightened up the spring Fritzy reckoned that it still wasn’t far enough so we cranked it up another few cm.
Just as I was leaving he was listening to the idle and said hang on and proceded to fiddle around the carbie with his screw driver for a few seconds then told me to take it for a run around the block. I don’t quite know what he did but suddenly the scooter got its powerband right across the throttle range and took off like a scalded cat. Unbelievable!
That’s why his called the wizard, and the Runner’s back to being a ballistic missile.
This Gilera Runner FXR 180 is truly an amazing little scooter. The tightened rear shock has given me handling I can work with and the engine just blitzes just about anything else on the road. The next day CWC had a scooter run up to the Central Coast and I took the Runner.
It was fantastic on the freeway cruising easily at a real 130k/h really solid through the twisties and up the mountain of the Old Rd and handled the 250k ride like a chainsaw on steroids.
On the run Ian made a comment about the headlight vibrating.I didn’t take much notice but I was riding home Monday night and noticed that the headlight beam was bouncing all over the place. Got to a servo and examined it to find that the chrome backing plastic on the low beam side had broken away and that the H7 globe and surrounds were floating around behind the headlight. Got home and pulled the headlight set out of the scooter and realised that the whole unit was cactus.
I got onto PM tuning’s site and ordered a 4 halogen aftermarket headlight for only $45. In the meantime I tried to figure out how to mend the broken unit. My past experience of trying super glue/ araldite/ tarzans grip etc etc on these hard plastics had been a dismal failure and the only thing that I’d had any success with for sticking plastics together had been roof and gutter silicone sealant.
Its not generally pretty but it works great so it was out with the silicone and into sticking the headlight back in. It is all a bit messy applying silicone sealant into such a tight cavity but it worked. After leaving it for 24 hours it had set enough to be able to put the headlight assembly back into the scooter.
Full strength is 72 hrs.
My main concern was that the heat of the headlight would destroy the seal but Selleys reckon that the silicone will hold from -50C to 150C. After a 20 minute ride I could feel the heat in the light but so far the repair is holding. 150C is over 300F which I reckon is hotter than Id expect from a plastic headlight.
Any way we’ll see over the next few days.
In the meantime Im just blown away with how absolutely awesome this crazy Gilera is. I’ve had my ass on the seats of plenty of scooters over the last few years and the FXR is definately the best scooter Ive ever ridden for sheer grin factor, and it just keeps on getting better. I ride it every day on a 50k commute, it’s the perfect weapon of choice for arterial roads.
The GTS is almost pedesterian next to it. I dont know why more people aren’t riding and raving about them. Maybe its just one of those best kept secrets.
Daelim NS 125: Mighty 1st scoot from Korea that punched way above its weight. Sold
Vespa GTS 250: Modern Retro brilliance. I’ll ride it til it dies.
Suzuki DR650: That Thing Excellent Single 650 thumper chook chaser that was too tall. Sold
Yamaha T Max: Best Maxi out there and serious canyon racer. Sold
Triumph Bonneville: Modern Retro brilliance with the sweetest parallel twin.
BMW F800R: The Naked Hun. Great intro into sports bikes.
Gilera Runner FXR 180: 2 stroke scooter missile from Piaggio.
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