2009 Power Sports - First Ride By Deleted (Read 1,703 times)

[cyborg]

i use it rarely but i use a disk lock,,very hard to overcome ,,lite easily transportable and when parked outside (very rarely) i put them in high visability areas,,at night they are indoors either in my studio or my home garage

[Deleted]

Thanks everyone for your input. I am still hoping that someone can offer a personal preference for cover brands which might save me some time and money.

EDIT: info that might help others  without the need to replace parts for testing.

The ignition coils in the stator on the 50cc can easily be tested for opens and shorted to grounds, both conditions will leave a scooter unable to start. Disconnect the single red/black wire from the stator and check its resistance. It should read around 540 Ohms.

Follow up note about charging output;  it is now confirmed on two seperate scooters of the range in amperage from previous tests. This time it was checked on both scooters, one with a new stator and one with a used stator. it was tested with a good battery fully charged and a weak battery.

Battery reconditioning; I took a 7 amp battery that was described by a shop as bad, checked the water level and added water using a syringe, then charged for 12 hours using a simple 12Vdc .5 amp power supply from an old  lan router that I cut the end off and soldered some small alligator clips to. It is holding a charge and starting scooters.

Valve Adjustments; In several places on this forum, I found references that sloppy (misadjusted) adjusted valves will cause a scooter not to start. This was put to the test on the Sunny scooter. It started right up, but was very noisy of course. Checking the valve adjustment yeilded .020" on both I/E, reset quieted the valves.

Painting the Sunny; During the body panel prep, I noticed that the scooter used grey primer and the finish quality was poor in several areas where the factory gun dripped on it. Have decided to repaint it to a single color using an HVLP gravity gun from HF (on sale @ $9.95). It will be done as a single stage repaint using Martin Seynour enamel. If I like the look of it using the HVLP, I'll give it a shot doing a two stage on another scooter.

Info Sought; Visited the Peace Sports distribution center and the "sales person" there insisted they owned a 50cc with a long case, into which they had installed a second variator. I searched the net and this forum to see if that is possible or has been done, but could not find anything. Anyone with any info on this please share it.

[novaraptor]

Thought i'd wait for others to chime in on locks.. The steering lock is extremely flimsy on most scooters, and can just be popped. At a minimum, use a disk brake lock, preferable with alarm. Of course, it's hard to justify spending $100.00 if the scooter only cost $500. On my 250, I also installed a Gorilla Cycle Alarm, with tilt, tamper sensors, and flashing armed light (that's after it was stolen when I only used the column lock, recovered a day later missing the carburator). Mostly, these locks just keep the scooter from being rolled down the road. A stealing for profit crew usually uses 3 guys and a truck, so they just pull up and two guys toss the bike into the back. Others simply insure the bike for replacement value, and consider that security enough.

[Deleted]

Thanks, NovaRaptor, for both your knowledge and insight. Seems like a good way to protect a scooter when it is parked outside would be an alarm, but also a chain or cable and lock attaching the rear wheel to a fixture.

Those "stealing for profit crews" would still get it, but it just might be enough to slow them down for some owner action.

[richardv]

The most effective part of alarms are that they annoy the neighbors. And then they get ignored.

[novaraptor]

true enough about annoying the neighbors, but depends on where you live. I live on an acre of property, and the neighbors probably can't hear the alarm enough to either help or be annoyed, but I can hear it from inside my motorhome. Actually, the flashing red armed light is probably more useful than the actual alarm for warding off the casual grab n run. Make it too much work, and they will go on to easier pickin's.

[Deleted]

2009 Peace Sports Classic:

With nothing more than driving with the Mobil1, it is now climbing hills better and downhill has increased to 48 mph. I attribute this to the cooler air mostly. Even though the fuel mileage is acceptable, I think it is running too rich and intend to put it on an Andros bench to verify and or calibrate.

With the increased speeds, I have noticed a disturbing vibration in the rear so I think I'll check the bearings, tire, tire mounting, wheel wobble, and static balance the tires to see if some improvement can be had.

As I stated earlier, I prefer premium fuel, but as we all know regular grade starts better in cooler weather. So on the last fillup I added regular to the premium so that it would reduce cold weather cranking times and be easier on the starter.

Since my last post I have acquired a 2010 Peace Sports model #804 with a little over 4000 miles on it.

It was another one that was left out in the weather. Unfortunately many of the body panels had been removed as well as the air cleaner box. This allowed rain to not only ruin the carb, but to damage the cylinder and head with corrosion.

Another person had acquired it with the intention of repairing it but couldn't get it to start.

The Starter Solenoid (relay) had become corroded internally and he was bypassing the solenoid as suggested on this and other forums. This caused the plastic in the bridge contact to partially melt off and coat the switch terminals.

After seeing this on several "bad relays" I had checked, it was obvious and an easy fix.

Before attemptinmg a fix, it is best to check the coil windings, which can be performed dynamically by using a simple 12Vdc circuit probe (test light). With the key on and brake switch depressed, check for power on both wires. It can also be tested using an Ohm meter (4.4 Ohms resistance). ALWAYS backprobe wiring connectors, never probe the terminals.

The Solenoid asm is retained in the housing by three cutouts which can be pried back with a pocket screwdriver and a pair of long nose pliers. Then simply tapping the Solenoid housing on the bottom with the pliers allows everything to fall out into your hand for servicing.

After unbolting the switch terminals, and removing the water sealing o-rings, the terminals can all be removed and cleaned with a piece of sandpaper or a Dremel with a wire brush. Then reverse to reassemble.

Parts Notes:

The Sunny scooter developed a brake fluid leak through the "Sight Glass" as it is not glass, but plastic. I ordered a replacement from SrappyDog Scooters. Upon delivery, the master cylinder was the wrong one, but more importantly they sent a master cylinder that had wrench marks on the bolts and the swicth contact terminals were badly bent. This indicates it had been installed previously.

ScrappyDog Scooters was asked for an RMA, but they wanted a photo of the old one first. That was supplied quickly, they replied with another photo and nothing else. Nine days later I contacted asking them to make a decision. They did not want to accept responsbility or provide an RMA. I'll let you know if they come through with a refund.

The Peace Sports Distribution center is becoming a great asset. I needed an ignition switch for the 804 and they supplied a new OEM switch with a matched locking fuel cap for $25.

Think I'll re-ring the 804 and get the rings with gaskets from the Distribution center.

Camshaft Inquiry:

I have researched everything I can find on the stock cam, as well as replacements, but there are no ramp profiles anywhere. Can someone point to a source to acquire this info and disclose the complete numbering sequence for the "A" cams as well as how they are marked? Are the markings in the same place?

Without this camshaft info, how do you or the seller for that matter know that the cam you get is the number it is supposed to be?

[Deleted]

ScrappyDog Scooters RMA update:

ScrappyDog Scooters promised a prepaid shipping label to return the part, but have failed to send one. The previous purchases there have been acceptable, but unfortunately they do not take care of the customer when a problem develops. Problems do happen all the time, but it is how a company takes care of the problems that tells more about it than anything else.

Any merchant can tell you that it is difficult to attract new customers, and allowing poor customer service to destroy that business relationship is very counter productive. The original purchase date was 12 Sep, so as to not allow the dispute window to close a dispute was lodged today.

Interesting Fuel note:

I have a power generator that is used for standby power during bad weather outages, and I service it before the next season. It had several gallons of "stale" fuel left over in it, which was drained. Normally, I use this in the lawn mower, but a note about fuel quality in another thread causing a no start got me to thinking, so I tried the fuel in the three scooters. All three scooters are essentially the same, even carburetion, however the peace sports models use the fuel without any problems, but the Sunny won't even start on it.

[Alleyoop]

Concerning the fuel it could be the sunny is not tuned right and or has a weak spark or DUH you have the killswitch on. Remember they are basically modified lawn mower motors
Alleyoop

[cyborg]

Could be a compression issue as well,,,

[Alleyoop]

It's a SUNNY, what do you expect
Alleyoop

[Deleted]

Alleyoop & Cyborg,
Thanks for your input! Alleyoop, yes I have done some really stupid things in my life, but those were not included in them.

I swapped the carb with the 2009 PS Classic, and it fired up. Later I'll compare all the jet sizes

2009 Peace Sports Classic:

This little scooter has performed beyond my expectations and has never let me down even though I keep performing different tests with it.

Considering engine size and power I wanted to see how badly low air pressure in the tires effected performance and top speed. Started with reducing cold air pressure by 5 psi, lost mileage, performance and top speed dropped about 7 mph

Same test but 10 psi lower; even greater losses

Currently testing the fuel without Lucas Top Engine Oil and definitely notice it struggles more and doesn't run as smooth.

Have been very curious about speedometer accuracy, so tested speedometer vs a Garmin Nuvi. This GPS of course has a latency, but shows the top speed at 42 to 43 mph. It does not remain @ 43 mph long enough, so I'll call it 42.5 mph gps verified.

Sunny Scooter:

Painting the scooter with the HF HVLP gun took some getting use to. The first coat I sprayed as I use a Binks, but it was flowing too dry and leaving an "orange peel" finish. The second coat I changed the reduction timing and moved closer to the work and blended the two coats together.

Proper looking finish, but think the paint is thicker than 4 mils spec.

The Peace Sports 804:

the cylinder is definitely damaged from sitting in the rain, so was looking for a replacement P code. Found a distributor that offers an 80cc kit with head and rockers for only $65. Given how impressive the 2009 PS Classic is thought I would like to see the performance difference. Ordered it, the parts quality looks excellent. Even the boxing is premium quality and not the plain white or brown boxes. Properly protected with shrink wrap, and plenty of packaing material. Just a class act all the way through

Scrappy Dog Scooter:

After the Paypal dispute was filed, Scrappy Dog denied it and re-requested all the prvious info submitted by email and acknowledged. Scrappy Dog stated they would take care of it, but 6 days later and not a reply or any communications. Changed it to a claim, Paypal agreed within 60 minutes.

Shipping their previously installed part back cost about $11. Obviously after this I will not buy anything else from them. Selling and shipping previously installed parts is not good for customers.
During all this I decided to look closely at Scrappy Dog "terms of service".

I would strongly suggest that before anyone places any orders with Scrappy Dog to read their policies very closely. And for that matter, check any online suppliers policies. I have seen some that have zero warranty and no return as standard.

-- 30 --