The Matrix: Rebuilding By runningslow (Read 25,977 times)

[runningslow]

Lonnie, that really sucks! I feel for ya! I had to move because my house had been broken into twice in two years.

Its stories like that which lead me to think that I should get a disc brake lock. Thankfully, my bike is parked in a garage overnight.

[runningslow]

Motor update. I e-mailed back and forth with Rick a little yesterday and told me that all he knew was the ship had left port of Ningbo, China. He said he'll get a notification of its arrival in the US, but had not heard anything yet.

I wanna ride, darnit! Augh, this is killing me!

[Bashan]

Hey Josh, did you ever get your swingarm off? I took my wife's rear wheel off because it's making a clinking noise and the swingarm does come off with a little persuaion. I used a dowel rod to tap the left side of the wheel with the axle retaining nut and swing arm bolts removed. The exhaust had to come off of course. I took the C clip off you see in the picture but I don't think you would have to, it's just a dust cover retainer. I think the noise is due to a chip in the brake pad and/or the damn axle retaining bolt was hardly over hand tight! We'll test ride tomorrow and see. I just wanted you to know the swing arm, at least mine, does come off with some persistant tapping. Rich

[runningslow]

Thanks Rich! No, I don't have it off, yet. I just didn't want to try too hard with the gentle persuasion of a hammer. But, I'll give that a shot if that's how its supposed to work. I had the C-clip out at one point thinking that was the problem. Didn't help, so I just put it back in.

[runningslow]

UPDATE: As of last night, ScrappyDog's container was in port. Now it just needs to clear customs and get to Vegas, so that he can ship it off to me.

Also, If I can find the time tonight, I'm going to try and get that swing arm off with a little gentle persuasion.

[runningslow]

Jun 3, 2010 14:58:43 GMT -6 ccprof said:

If patience is a virtue, you should be a saint by now.

No kidding! Granted, I could probably have been up and running weeks ago with a standard long case 150 from eBay. BUT... I'm sure I'll be much happier after waiting for the GY6-200.

My patience was starting to run out, but now that I know my motor is in the US I can sleep a little easier. ;D

[jake aka:ventoscoot]

What is Rick charging you for the 200cc motor?

[runningslow]

Jun 3, 2010 18:42:25 GMT -6 jake aka:ventoscoot said:

What is Rick charging you for the 200cc motor?

$500 + shipping.

Actually, I don't know if its actually 200cc. What I do know is that its a 161QMK like my factory motor (which is 168cc) and comes with the same oil cooler. This one may have a longer stroke, making it closer to 200, but I'm not sure. It does however have the 61mm clyinder.

Regardless, I cannot wait until I have it and I can ride again! I haven't been on my bike since JANUARY!

[runningslow]

Here's an update, just in case anyone is still following my progress (and a bump back to the first page of the GY6 forum):

The Matrix continues to be a stationary object in my garage.

My new motor is still sitting in Vegas. Unfortunately, this is my own doing, since I have not been able to come up with the funds to pay it off.

At this point, it looks like I'll be waiting until my wife collects the first paycheck from her new job, but that won't be until the end of August.

I'll get to ride someday....

[runningslow]

Jul 8, 2010 7:51:23 GMT -6 Bashan said:

Hang in there buddy, we're all anxiously awaiting the continuation of the saga. I've already learned some things, embarrassingly, and plan on picking up more knowledge. Did you ever get that swingarm off? Rich

No actually... I tried, but not to hard. I had taken a small wood dowel and a hammer and tried to pound it off. However, all I managed to do was turn the dowel to splinters. I'll probably go invest in a rubber mallet. I'll also probably mount the motor back up to the scoot to hold it in place. It was hard to keep it steady loose on the ground, especially with the wheel still on.

Progress has been slow (7 months and counting), but I know I'll eventually get back on the road.

[runningslow]

It has occured to me in the few months that we've been at our new house that I may hit a roadblock (almost literally) once I get my scooter running.

We live in a gated community and there are the magnetic strips in the road (much like at a stoplight) to let the outgoing gate know you're there. I'll have to find a way to consistently trigger that. I was wondering if epoxying some large speaker magnets to the inside of the belly pan would work?

I know there are the commercial solutions (i.e. "Green Light Trigger"), but I'd prefer to get by with things I already have on hand. Worst case, the "Green Light Trigger" isn't expensive.

Who knows, maybe the gate's sensor will be sensitive enough to pick me up without anything special.

I've come across those strips at lights before, but typically at major intersections where a car would always come along to trip it for me.

[runningslow]

So, for anyone that has been paying attention to this thread, GUESS WHAT I DID TONIGHT?

(Here's a hint)





(Yeah, it took me awhile to get around to it, but the new motor is still about a month away, so there was no rush.)

[runningslow]

Finally got around to using some (not so) gentle persuasion from my new rubber mallet.

Once I got the swingarm off, the wheel easily slid off. BTW, is it normal to have to deflate the tire to get it past the oil filler tube?

Now, with that out of the way, I can focus on other things to get the bike ready for that new motor. I think the next project will be inspecting all the plastics and repairing what I can. That darn stuff just gets so brittle.

I also have to decide what to do with my front fender. It may be beyond practical repair since it has a nice hole in it where it rubbed on the tire after coming loose. Plus, one of the bolting points actually pulled out. I'll try to post some pics of that tonight. I don't want to replace it, but if I have to I will.

[runningslow]

Here's a bump, since I can't let my thread fall off the first page of the "50cc to 200cc" section.

I took some pictures over the weekend of my banged up plastics. I'm going to have some fun trying to repair this stuff, but I'm not really sure how to start. Some of the broken stuff looks pretty hard to fix. I'm especially worried about my front fender.

Pics are coming!

[runningslow]

Here are the pics!

Inside of belly pan, one of the little fingers has cracked off.


Outside of the belly pan, with a scraped up decal. That's going to have to come off.


This is what happens when the front fender comes loose at about 45mph.









These are the fork covers on the side of the fender. One of the bolting points pulled out. Not sure how to fix that one. There's also some alignement fingers that broke off both sides. Which you can see where they went about 3/4 of the way up on the inside.


Now just general assembly shots.










I've thought about trying to replace them, but the only factory original parts I can find are going to run me around $150+. Heck, even generic replacements are going to cost me about the same. So, I think I'm going to try and fix it. I might have to get a little creative and probably try some plastic welding.