November 2020 – Page 2 – The ExhaustNotes Blog

Upon Further Reflection: 2020 Go-Bowen Fit Right DB003 40cc Mini Bike

When I first opened the packing on the Go-Bowen mini bike I was impressed by the quality look of the little green monster. That first impression has taken a bit of a hit as I ran into quality control issues with the Go-Bowen mostly relating to the back wheel. (So far, that is.)

The little mini came from the factory with the chain adjusted ridiculously tight. The mini would hardly roll. I loosened axle and took a few turns off the nicely made chain adjusters and all seemed well. I drained the factory engine oil and replaced it with a high grade of store brand stuff and dumped a few ounces of fuel into the gas tank.

Starting the mini was very easy. There is a primer bulb under the carburetor and a few semi-erotic squeezes later I could see the fuel flow into the clear gas lines. A bit of choke, a few easy pulls and the mini was running like it was made to run. For only 1.4 horsepower the mini has a get-go feeling. The idle was set high so I took a few turns off the idle screw. I took a hot lap of Tinfiny’s upper reaches when the chain flew off.

This was odd because I didn’t loosen the thing all that much. I pushed it back to the shop and had a look see. Turns out the axle adjusting slots are not indexed the same and to center the rear wheel in the frame you end up with the axle cocked in the adjusters.

Once I had the chain running true I noticed the rear brake caliper wiggling alarmingly. A severely wobbling disc rotor caused that problem. The thing is like 3/16” out of true. It looks as if the flange is machined wrong or the disc itself is bent. I haven’t gone any further into the disc problem yet.

The mini rides fine once you get the chain to stay on and if the thing had any more power you’d probably flip over backwards. There is a heck of a lot of noise coming from the primary chain housing so I’ll have to look inside to see what gives.

The exhaust pipe on the Go-Bowen exits directly on the rear brake cable. I will need to rig some sort of turn out to redirect the hot gasses but for now I slipped a short piece of silicone heat shielding over the cable for protection.

It was a disappointing first run with the Go-Bowen. I will work on the disc and the noisy primary situation when I get time. Even with the issues the mini still seems like it’s worth the $299 with shipping included but you’ll need to budget a few hours going over the set up fixing shoddy assembly from the factory before any long distance travel is attempted. It’s like they built a nice mini bike then had their stupidest employees assemble the thing. More will be forthcoming after repairs when I get a chance to road test the mini in true ExhaustNotes.us fashion.

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A TJ Roscoe

Roscoe: It’s slang for a snubnose revolver. No one is really sure where the term originated. There are others…heater, rod, piece, burner, gat (that last one is easy, with me knowing a little bit about The Gatling Gun and all), but the origins of most of these terms are lost in the haze of handgun history. And on that Roscoe terminology, I recently tumbled onto a very cool website I’ll be talking about a bit more here on the ExNotes blog. But that’s for later. This blog is about my Roscoe.

It’s a Model 60 (no dash) stainless steel Smith and Wesson snubbie, to be specific. I mentioned it and the work my good buddy TJ was doing to it not too long ago, and it’s back. And it’s awesome. I had TJ do an action job, a little cosmetics work, and fix a problem or two.

First, the action work. TJ lightened both the double and single action trigger pull, and he did it the old-fashioned way…lots of hand work, polishing, and fitting. Here’s what the guts of my Model 60 look like after a TJ Level 1 action job:

I initially thought I’d have TJ put a high polish on the entire revolver (it would have been something north of $300 just for that work), but TJ was looking out for my best interests. “I can do the whole revolver,” TJ said, “but it will look a lot better if you just have me do the ejector rod, the cylinder, the trigger, the cylinder release, and the hammer.” He was right. It looks awesome.

Here are a few more shots of the high polish TJ put on these components.

The work on the trigger is lot more than just cosmetic. TJ recontoured the face of the trigger in addition to polishing it, and it really makes a difference in double action shooting. It’s much easier to find and control that precise instant when the hammer drops during double action shooting with the new trigger contour.

As part of the Level I action job, TJ also applied orange Day Glo to the front sight. It’s a small touch that works wonders. Finding and putting the front sight on target is much faster with this Day Glo treatment. It’s not just a cosmetic thing.

I mentioned in a previous blog that the revolver was hard to open, and TJ found and fixed the root causes of that problem. The ejector rod threads had stripped, the ejector rod’s axis wasn’t concentric to the bore, and the barrel underlug catch was not properly configured. My Model 60 opens and closes the way it should now. It’s slick.

Here’s another small detail I like…polishing the cylinder release and its slotted nut (it’s not a screw, even though it looks like one). This little bit adds a nice touch to the revolver.

The grips are smooth rosewood, and they work well with their S&W emblems against the stainless steel revolver. I like the look.

So, on to the main question: How did the TJ-customized Model 60 shoot? Superbly well, thank you. I tried two loads with the new-to-me Model 60. The first was the 148-grain wadcutter with 2.7 grains of Bullseye; the second was a 158-grain cast truncated flat point bullet with the same 2.7 grains of Bullseye. I loaded both on my new-to-me freebie Star progressive reloader. Yep, the Star is up and running now, and how it works will be a story for a future blog (in the meantime, you can read about the Star resurrection here).

I fired four targets at 50 feet and the results are interesting. The first two targets were with the 148-grain wadcutter load (I use an Alco silhouette that has four small silhouettes on a single target sheet).

I shot the target on the left with a 148-grain Missouri double-ended wadcutter bullet; the one on the right is with a Hornady swaged 148-grain hollow base wadcutter bullet. I’ll tell you more about those in a bit.

Before TJ did any work on my Model 60, the gun printed wadcutter groups a good 12 inches to the right (good if you want to hit your bad guy in the elbow, I suppose). After TJ fixed the ejector rod issue I described above, the wadcutter bullets still shot a little bit to the right, but much less than they had before. That rightward bias is a function of the load, not the gun (as you’ll see in the next set of targets).

The really good news is how the Model 60 performed with the 158-grain truncated flat point bullets. Those puppies shot exactly to point of aim, and after warming up with the first group on the left target below, I got serious about focusing on that beautiful Day Glo front sight and shot the group you see on the right target. Point of aim was at 6:00, and for a 2-inch barrel Roscoe, that ain’t bad shooting.

If you’re not familiar with all this wadcutter and truncated flat point bullet business, here’s your lesson for the day. Let’s call it Bulletology 101.

The brass cartridge on the left is loaded with a Missouri 148-grain DEWC (double ended wadcutter) cast bullet; the nickel-plated 38 Special cartridge to its right is loaded with a Hornady 148-grain swaged hollow base wadcutter (HBWC). The Missouri DEWC bullets are symmetrical (they’re the same top and bottom); the Hornady HBWC bullets have (as the name implies) a hollow base (you can see those bullets in the center of the photo above, one inverted and the other right side up). The idea behind a wadcutter bullet is that it punches a clean hole in the target (that makes it easier to score). The two bullets on the right side of the photo above are 158-grain cast truncated flat points. I have a local caster make these for me.

I am enjoying my Model 60 and the custom work TJ did on it, but I’ll tell you what…this puppy bites. The recoil is significant (even with the lighter 148-grain wadcutter loads), and I’m a guy used to shooting big bore handguns. That little .38 Special cartridge is nothing to sneeze at (Elmer Keith, Dirty Harry, and all the rest of the bigger-is-better gunsels notwithstanding).

For a defense gun, I can live with Roscoe’s recoil (it’s not a handgun I would put 100 rounds through during a range session, though). For all you keyboard commandos out there, I know, I know. You can do that all day long. I can, too, with a 1911. But this little Chiefs Special is a handful, and after firing 5 or 6 groups, I’ve had enough. Your mileage may vary. I know, too, that if I put the Pachmayr-style oversize rubber grips on it, it would be more manageable (and I own a pair of those). But then it wouldn’t look like it does now, and I love that look.

Hey, there’s more to this story…TJ also did a little work on my Compact 1911. The latest improvements on the Compact 1911 are coming up in a future blog, so stay tuned!

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Want silhouette targets for your next trip to the range? Don’t pay exorbitant range prices. Get them here.

Custom grips for a snubbie Smith and Wesson? Take a look here!
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Want to turn your handgun into a one-of-a-kind combat companion? You don’t need to live out here; TJ’s work is carried daily by law enforcement officers (and others whose lives depend on their sidearms) all over the world. Here’s where you need to go to get started:

Tuk Tuks for Troublemakers!

There’s something about 3-wheeled utility vehicles that interfere with our brainwaves. They’re cool and most of us want one. Let me give you few quick examples.

When Gresh and I rode across China on RX3 250cc motorcycles, we started with a tour of the Zongshen plant in Chongqing. It was just the beginning of what was one of the grandest adventures of my life, and we met a lot of great guys over there, including Sergeant Zuo, a retired Chinese Army NCO who was to be our ride captain. That’s Sergeant Zuo in the video below.

Chongqing is exotic in many ways (think foreign city, 34 million people living in 80-story apartment buildings spread across a rolling and lush green landscape, incredible dining experiences, and one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers on the planet). More exotica? A tour of the Zongshen R&D facilities and a sneak preview of what was in the works (I rode the RX4 while it was still a concept, and we saw the new 400cc twin mocked up in clay). The vehicle that really lit Gresh’s candle, though, was a three-wheel 500cc diesel trike utility truck (it’s the one you see in the large photo above). “I have to get me one of these,” Gresh said, in tones that intimated an impending orgasm (that’s inference on my part, as I’ve never actually heard Gresh in such a situation, at least that I know of, and I’d like to keep it that way).

I mean, that yellow trike was nice, but Gresh’s reaction to it floored me. While I was still at CSC Motorcycles, Gresh was relentless in his full-court press to get me to get CSC to import the things. Go figure.

Next up? That would be a very recent Facebook post by good buddy Jackie showing a new passenger three-wheeler, no doubt intended to meet the pressing demand for tuk tuks (that’s what they’re called in the third world). I immediately asked Jackie what the powerplant would be (it’s an internal combustion engine for now, with an electric one slated for a follow-on version).

I shared the Zongshen post on my Facebook feed, and it drew an immediate response from good buddy Colorado Dan. He wants one. Maybe I could have predicted that…Dan is a guy who has an Enfield Bullet, a Ural, and a couple of Zongs in his garage. And a friendly moose or two in his backyard. Like the cannibals say, there’s no accounting for some people’s tastes, I guess.

I’ve sort of been bit by the bug, too. When Juan, Carlos, and I were assaulting the Andes in Colombia a few years ago, we stayed in a very rustic hotel on the outskirts of beautiful downtown Barichara (it’s pronounced Bah-de-chah-da, with the accent on the first syllable). Juan called a taxi to take us to dinner (it had been a long day on the bikes). I suppose I was expecting some sort of bright yellow sedan to appear, but nope, it was a little tuk tuk. All four of us squeezed in, and we all laughed like madmen on the ride down. It was a downhill ride and that little one-lunger didn’t have to work very hard (gravity is your friend going downhill), but while we were laughing, I was wondering how the thing would do bringing us back up that steep mountain. A couple of hours and an outstanding Italian dinner later, I found out. We could feel every stroke of that little tuk tuk’s motor on the climb up, and we laughed even harder. It was a fun evening.

Then there was Bangkok. Ah, Bangkok. It’s unquestionably one of the most exotic cities in the world. I’d seen these tuk tuks all over Bangkok, but I’d never been in one. It was a character flaw I aimed to correct. The video is a bit long at 16 minutes, but hey, you won’t have to suffer the 17-hour flight in a middle seat to get there (like I did). Just imagine 100-degree temps and humidity that’s off the charts, and you’ll have the compleat Thai tuk tuk travel experience.

9mm Jacketed Bullet Comparo

Back in January I tested a bunch of 9mm cast bullet loads in the three handguns you see above: A SIG P226 Scorpion, a Smith and Wesson Model 659, and the Springfield Armory 1911 Target. For that test series (you can read it here), all the loads used the Missouri 125-grain cast roundnose bullet with different powders and different charge weights. My cast bullet testing showed the SIG to be the most accurate, followed by the Springfield and then the Smith and Wesson Model 659.

I promised an update with jacketed bullets to assess accuracy and functionality of all three handguns (and to find favored accuracy loads for each). It took a while, but I finally got around to making good on that promise this past week. The six different loads I tested for the jacketed 9mm test series are summarized below:

Actually, the term “jacketed” doesn’t really apply to the Xtreme bullets (they are copper plated, not copper jacketed). The Armscor bullets are brass jacketed. Both the Winchester and Speer bullets are copper jacketed bullets. As you can see from the table above and the photos below, the Xtreme, Armscor, and Winchester bullets were of the roundnose configuration. The Speer 147-grain bullets were jacketed flatnosed bullets. I didn’t try any hollow points in this test series; I prefer roundnose bullets in my 9mm handguns. They are reliable.

All groups were 5 shot groups. I shot a total of 360 rounds in the two test series (both the jacketed and cast bullet accuracy tests).

While I was shooting last week, I was a little disappointed. I thought I had done a lot better with the cast bullets back in January. I thought my jacketed groups were larger when I eyeballed the targets, but you never really know until you measure the groups.

9mm jacketed bullets on an Alco target. I like using the Alco target that has four mini-silhouettes on a single target. All testing was at 50 feet.

When I returned home, measured the group sizes, and tabulated the results, I was surprised. The results of the jacketed and plated bullets were not too different from what I had achieved with the cast bullets almost a year ago. Take a look:

The most surprising finding, for me, was that the average results with the jacketed bullets (versus the cast bullets) were almost identical. Here’s that data extracted from the above, shown in a table that makes it a little easier to make the comparison:

My testing showed essentially the same results for the three handguns I tested whether I used cast bullets or jacketed bullets: The SIG P226 Scorpion is the most accurate (it is a magnificent handgun), followed by the Springfield Armory 1911, followed by the Smith and Wesson 659. It doesn’t matter whether it’s with cast or jacketed bullets: The averages are eerily similar for each gun, with a very slight accuracy advantage going to the cast bullets for the SIG and the 1911, and a very slight accuracy advantage going to the jacketed bullets for the Smith 659. But the differences between jacketed and cast bullets are so small they can be ignored. Cast bullets are usually a lot less expensive than jacketed bullets, so this is good knowledge.

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More Tales of the Gun are here.

Pffffft…Bond…James Bond

Like everyone else on the planet except the nefarious bastards of SMERSH and SPECTRE, we mourn the passing of Sean Connery, the great talent who defined and was the ultimate Bond. James Bond. Checking out at age 90, Sir Sean lived a long life. With that many years and many wonderful roles under his belt, he got his money’s worth, I think. So did we, speaking as one among hundreds of millions of people lucky enough to enjoy his work. Still, it was tough to hear of his passing.

That poster of Sean Connery above? A lot of gunsels may not know this, but the iconic early James Bond movie posters showed Sean Connery armed with…a pellet gun. A Walther LP53, to be specific. Take a good look, and then look at this photo of my Walther.

I’ve owned my Walther for a lot of years (I wrote an ExNotes blog on it a year or two ago that tells a more complete story of the Bond connection, with a bit of pellet pistol bragging rights thrown in for good measure).

Rest in peace, Mr. Connery, and thanks for the many good stories you brought to us.

Comments, bitching, and more

Gresh’s most recent blog (The 5 Stupidest Ideas in Motorcycling) really lit up the blogosphere yesterday. It’s a piece that got thousands and thousands of pageviews and a ton of comments. Gresh, you see, likes to stir the pot. And he’s pretty good at kicking beehives. We motorcycle riders are opinionated folks with big egos and prominent buttons that Gresh knows how to push. It makes for an entertaining mix.

We share a lot of our stuff with targeted Facebook groups (Big Tech lets us do so as long as it’s not anything from that Vinnie Bobulinski guy about Hunter Biden), and the Facebook comments were, well…let’s just say they were entertaining. Here are a few (spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and other errors included so you get the full keyboard commando impact). With that as an intro, here we go.

Written by a Luddite

I agree with the one piece riding suites lol, but I like everything else

Damn, dude. Just ride your own ride. Who cares what others do to enjoy their ride?

This read is more like a crybaby session than a useful blog article lol

He ain’t wrong…….

Fine article written by the worlds last typewriter repair man…

Total angry old man afraid of tech?

I feel “stupider” for even trying to read this crying, bitching, moaning “article”….

My Harley has all the technology this guy hates except the info system and intercom, and I’m glad it does.. Really don’t care with this dbag thinks

The author of that article is full of it. Seriously, what’s wrong with him?

Sounds like someone is jealous that the world and technology have moved on without them.

A couple of possible solutions are:
1. Intensive training in technology and joining a Technophobic support group.
2. Sticking to 20 year old bikes.
3. Harley still makes quite a few models that are still technological dinosaurs… I think even Royal Enfield has ABS these days on all their current models.

Leather one-piece suits are the greatest thing the motorcycling world has adopted. If you stow your clothes in your saddlebags and leave the ankles unzipped, you can just pee while you ride and it’ll funnel everything to the road where it belongs. Unzip the neck for some airflow and you’ll be riding dry in less than an hour.

Good list.

i think he is right

There’s been more than one occasion where an idiot made a left in front of me, and only the locking of the tires and slewing the bike sideways saved me.
ABS would have had me t-boning the car…

Kind of agree woth #5 but everything else this guy says is BS

Very bored ,angry little man😂🤣

I said I’d never be old enough to need a fairing or a radio. Now I wouldn’t be without either one of them. My aftermarket TPMS is a great item, especially with saddlebags, wouldn’t be without that either now.
This guy left out the kickstand, his attitude eliminates the need for that stupid gadget. Real men know they can use their helmet and save all that weight and eliminate the possibility of it catching on a log when bouncing through the woods.

Sound like someone is jealous of my Goldwing.

A boomer wrote this list.

I agree on both the ABS and the keyless ignition. Especially when they only give you one key fob. 😖

Wow … my grandad has a moto page. Who knew?

I have no experience with the ABS systems, key thingy, or one piece suits. I disagree with the comm systems, mine has made my wife and I’s two- up experience tremendously more enjoyable. My peeves are underglow lighting, and stereos. Stereos don’t belong on bikes. I can see how someone might enjoy having one, but for God’s sake man, turn that shit off when group riding. I don’t want to hear your crappy music. I usually just quietly peel off the group and go away if someone is blasting thier latest Gwar song.

Thank goodness. Thought there was going to be a debate on oil again.

Old bloke moaning warning

Absolutely agree with you.

This article may be the stupidest thing I’ve seen in motorcycling

What an absolutely stupid list. Clearly written by a technophobic, Luddite, Boomer troll.

Get off my lawn!!

Wow whoever wrote that just dated themselves . Somebody got old and refused to go with the times . All these innovations made motorcycling better . And complaining about abs for off-road use is just lazy writing : a) modern bikes have off-road abs that work amazing in the dirt ! B) abs saved probably hundreds of thousands of life’s

And this last one, which is my favorite:

It’s Joe Gresh. Nuff said…

Want more Gresh? Hey, we’ve got it! Check out the Gresh articles, the Resurrections, and our Product Reviews pages!