MY ICE BEAR PST150H TRIKE By Alleyoop (Read 6,075 times)

[Alleyoop]

Hi Troops,
My current ride is the Ice Bear PST150H Trike. Bought two of them in March of 2009, one for me and one for my Brother-in Law.
I believe they were the first models for the Trikes and I do not want to take credit but due to some of the problems I had the later ones had changes made due to my complaints. But being a wrencher if it can be fixed I can fix it or I will have it fixed if I don't have the proper equipment

The Trike has very good low end torque and pulls very well seeing it weighs 353lbs + 180 for me. The Instrument Panel has a Mechanical Speedometer, Fuel Gauge, Volt Meter, Tach with a built in Date and Time Display. Under that centered on the Instrument panel are you Left and Right Turn signal lights and another light that shows Blue when you turn on your lights.
Lower on the right below the Tach there are two push buttons they are for setting your date and time. Lower on the left under the Speedometer is one push button that is to set your Odometer to zero.

On the left handlebar, you have high and low bean switch, horn, turn signal switch and a headlight Flasher. On your right handlebar you have your kill switch, Light switch which you can just light up the Instrument panel and not the headlights and starter button.

The Trike has very good low end torque and pulls very well seeing it weighs 353lbs + 180 for me. It is a very comfortable ride due to the seat being thick with a lot of padding. It handles very well and since its a trike you steer it like a car. On sharp turns you have to slow down otherwise you will lift one of the rear wheels ;D Other than that it is a very fun machine.

Now out of the Crate it would only do 50mph at 8100-8200 rpms. With the rpms that high the engine is screaming although I used to get it to climb as high as 8500 rpms. Well at first 50mph was ok, but right by my house there is a main street with 4 lanes and the speed limit is 45mph. My brother-in law lives 5 miles from me and I have to take that street to get to his house and he lives 3 blocks off that busy 45mph street. Well as you know if the speed limit is 45 cars are doing 50-55, so they were passing my butt all the time and i could not keep up with the flow of traffic. So I joined SD to get some ideas on how to get the BEAR to BEAR DOWN on the traffic, and what did I find by DR. JRR "CVT VARIATOR TUNING"

Well that started it, the trike came with 10g rollers and I did not want to be running in the RED zone over 8000rpms. So I bought heavier weights and tried different combos and I gain about 2mph getting the belt to climb higher. Now this was on my OEM Variator which was 107mm and the Fan was 115mm.

Then DR. JRR pointed me to a RACING PRODIGY VARIATOR on ebay. The Prodigy Variator is 115mm same size as the racing Variator Fans. The Face Plates has less of an angle so your belt climbs higher up the Variator face plates. So I put it on and tried different rollers weights and finally settled on 12g rollers then bought 12/13g Sliders. With the 13G Sliders it was running 6800-6900rpms at 54mph I then switched to 12g Sliders to get my rpms closer to the power band of 7500. I also installed a Performance Coil, Performance Purple CDI and Iridium Plug. With the the 12g Sliders it was running 7200-7300 rpms at 55mph "NOW WE ARE TALKING") ;D

Well it was good, BUT----not good enough . So me and this other Triker on SD Dwild62 decided to try out larger tires. We found some on Ebay Cheap, I went with 20.5x10-10 and Dwild62 went with 22x10-10. Forgot to mention that our OEM tires are 18x10-10 and the real diameter is really 17.07" and NOT 18" in diameter. So mine were 3 inches taller and Dwild62 were 4 inches taller. He had to modify his rear fenders to fit the tires mine fit giving me only about 1/2 inch clearance inside the fender. Well The tires really picked up our speed I was running 61-62 mph "WOW HOLY MACKERO" , now on a trike that is moving my friends

BUT!! The tires were cheapo tires and I believe they were seconds or thirds They were not round, it was bouncey, bouncey down the rode. I had mine balanced, one took 10oz of weights and the other 7.50 oz of weights. That helped a little but still it was not a smooth ride. When balancing any tire anything 3oz is the limit anything requiring more than 3oz is NOT GOOD. So we googled for about a month Dwild62 and I and we found Kenda Load Star Trailer Tires size 205/65-10 they are 20.8 inch's tall so that is 3" taller than the 18x10-10 OEM tires. The tires are for the street and have street threads. They are very smooth rolling and the rating on them are 905lbs max load per tire and 81mph rating(PERFECT). And with those tires it rolls really nice and smooth. My trike with the tires runs 61-63 mph depending how windy it is. Now I can even pass up cars on the 45mph street knowing they are doing at least 55. No problem keeping up with traffic now

Dwild62 and I are working on some other stuff but have to have some machine work done to try it out. So there maybe some more things to come.
Alleyoop

[widehide]

alleyoop, this is a real good post, Thanks for that run down, here is your first "exalt" on the new forum, good job.

[wolfhound]

Great article as usual, Alley Oop!! How are you doing with the variator problem?

[Alleyoop]

Widehide,
Thanks for the "exalt" .

Wolfhound,
I am still trying to run down WHY I am lossing 600 rpms. It should be running 7500 or so with the 11G Sliders I have in there. It is running 6900-7000 rpms so I am lossing at least 5mph on top end. I run right around 57-58 mph WOT right now.

Here is a little story that just happened to me
About 2 weeks back, my brother-in law and I were coming back from my Father-in Laws house and I was telling him about Aileronjack and Dwild62 and how there Trikes broke down and had to be towed ;D I told him I am going to get a light weight Tow Rope about 1000lb capacity and carry it in my Trike just in case we both are riding and one of us breaks down. With the Tow Rope the other can tow the DOWNED Trike

Well Yesterday it was a really nice day around 81, and me and my Brother-in law took a 15mile ride to a store he wanted to go to. Well we got there and my brother-in law bought a couple of items. We started back and about 1-2 miles from my house my Trike started to spill out gas from underneath. Stopped on a side street and checked and the DAMN CHEAPO Gas Filter nipple going to the Carb was complety broken off Gas was pouring out of it with the engine running naturally Thank god the Tow Strap had been delivered last week and I had it under my seat. Pulled that sucker out and hooked it to my Fork under the fender and hooked it to his towing hitch. He towed me back to my house and I went to a Yamaha Dealer a few blocks from me and got 4 of the Filters that Rich recommended in a previous post. Replaced the hose from the Vacuum pump to the Filter with 1/4 good hose and put on the new Filter. Back in business in about 10 minutes, beside the trip to get the GOOD GAS FILTERS that is

So be warned, carry a Tow Strap at all times just in case you break down $16.99 delivered. Heck even a good samaritian may stop and may be willing to tow you or you can call your better half or a friend but you have to have the Tow Rope
Alleyoop

[wolfhound]

Good info, Alley Oop!!! Sorry that you had that problem but it just spotlights my complaints
about the Ice Bear trikes. Too much cheap short cuts in the manufacturing of them. Most are
not major but should not exist either.
AS for rpms, mine is at 400 miles(too many scoots to ride, too little time!!) and it takes forever
to get up to 68-7000 rpms. At that point I am doing 45. Then it will get up to 7500 rpms and
hit 50. Every thing on mine is stock so I attribute it to the engine being the typical GY6 and not broken in yet. Had the same thing with my Tank 150 till it hit 800 miles and then it would top out and hold at 60.
Keep us posted on the rpm loss so that when you find the cause we can be on watch for it.
Tow rope is a great idea.

[Alleyoop]

Wolfhound,
If you put in a Prodigy Variator or Dr. Pulley and 12g Sliders you will be doing 40mph at 6000 rpms and around 7200-7300 rpms at wot close to 55mph. If you want to be closer to your power band 7500 put in 11g Sliders it should be just about right on. Then you can put on taller tires and get little past 60mph NOW YOU WILL BE COOKING:)
Alleyoop

[Bashan]

Wow alleyoop, that knid of encyclopedic knowledge gives me "thuh vapores....oh mah!" I gonna have to tap you for the tech section when we get to those kinds of things. Rich

[wolfhound]

Thanks, Alleyoop!! I eill keep that in mind as we solve the chinese puzzle that I call The Beast.
I am determined to get it running right and then I am going to sell it to a little old lady in
Pasadina!!! 8^) It is going to be my summer project.
Bashan, it is the vapohs, not vapuhs, and was a polite 18th Century way for a lady to say she
farted!!! Y'all not frum around heah, is y'all. 8^)

[widehide]

alleyoop, don't you think running the engine at 7200-7500 rpm on these small single cylinder engines will be very stressful and reduce the life span greatly. My 257cc engines are basically geared to cruise at 60 mph at 6000 rpm. Your trikes are very heavy for a 150cc class scooter. The 7500 rpm is a max torque figure, I would not expect that to be a steady cruising rpm. that would be like driving your auto at near redline. I would try for lower rpm with max speed, whatever that is. You want to ride this scooter for a while without expensive engine repairs. Just my humble non profrssional opinion.

[wolfhound]

Widehide. you make a good point. At 6500 rpms my trike is doing 45-50 mph. It takes a while
to get there but as I have said before a GY6 engine is not broken in completely before 1000 miles or so I have been taught by my dealer and others. My Tank 150 now cruises at 50-55
and tops out at 60 and that is fast enough for me. I have observed that with true mopeds, 50cc class you can modify to 70 cc and be OK but those units modified to 80 or more ccs do
achieve higher speeds but at the loss of engine longevity. Alleyoop is a very good wrencher
and you can learn a lot from him as he does the mods to his trike. I am content with a 150 that gives me good take off and a 50-55 cruising speed but there again. my driving needs and topography are different than his. I just traded my 07 Tank 250 for a TGB Delivery 150 with 5700 miles on it. It serves my needs a business and pleasure scoot. It is stock and
runs 50 -55, maxes out at 60. The other guy wanted speed and he got it, I wanted a TGB
so we are both pleased. And once again, I am a rider, not a wrencher(dont have the skill for much wrenching!!)

[Alleyoop]

Talking about max Rpms, the 7500rpm is where these engines make the max horsepower. The Redline on them starts at 8000 rpms, so running well below the 8000 redline I do not think it is to much. The way they come from the factory usually will run 8000-8200 rpms at 50mph. If you have a long stretch running at wot the rpms will climb past 8500 rpms.

I do not like running that high of rpms that is why I changed the Variator Weights to lower my rpms to a savaer level. But then you have a trade off, if you lower your rpms you loose top end speed and if the cvt is not tuned right you can also lose mid range pull. So to make up for the lower rpms and still gain top end is why I went with taller tires the tires are 3" taller than the OEM tires. This way I can run at much lower rpms and even gain top end and with the right weights still have good pulling power from start on through top end. Right now when I crank on the Trike from a stop light it gets up to 35-45 mph pretty quick at 6500 rpms which is good because the cars are behind me. Then it gets to little past 50 and starts to climb out to 57-58mph at 6900-7000 rpms. If there is a little downhill on the road it will get up little past 60mph.
Alleyoop

[Alleyoop]

Trikers,
It was raining all day today and I decided to get my hands dirty so I installed a Manual Choke Conversion Kit. It was pretty easy, went to the bike store and got a Bike Derailer Cable.

I had to drill out the hole just a little larger in choke controller so that the Lead Ball would fit. Then the other end that replaces the enricher I had to grind down the Lead Ball on the cable so that it would fit in the Plunger that comes with the kit.

I put the carb on and ran the cable along side the frame and zip tied it and then further down where the frame starts to go up I zip tied it there. Pushed the cable to the front and it came out by my horn. I pushed it up along side the Fork and out by the handle bar. I zip tied it onto the handlebar and connected the cable to the Controller. I had to drill a little hole into the left Light switch holder and attached the controller with the a small screw to the Light switch box. I had to do that because when I moved the choke lever the whole thing controller would rotate a little on the handlbar. Once that was done I put the Handlebar grip back on.
Alleyoop

Here are pictures of the Manual Choke Conversion Installed:

[Alleyoop]

Ok Guys,
Found what the problem is with this Choke Conversion Kit. Like I asked about not needing the Needle WELL it sure does need the needle. With the Kit when you use the Choke meaning you pull the Plunger Out to allow more gas it allows TOO MUCH GAS IN at once and Floods the engine and it dies.

With a Needle, the Needle is acting as a measure and Limiting the amount of gas coming in. The Needle and Plunger when retracted leaves part of the Needle still in the hole. I am going to switch the Plunger from the Kit and replace it with the Plunger and Needle from a Enricher. I already have the Plunger and Needle from my Orginal Enricher that came with the Trike apart and the Needle Soldered into to it. All I need to do now is Solder the Plunger to the Cable. Will take pictures when done and update with results.
Alleyoop

Here is the Modification to the Manual Choke Conversion and it works Great.

Here the Choke Extended(OFF).



Here the Choke is Retracted(ON).

[Alleyoop]

Are you tired of taking out your Enricher and or Disconnecting it to take your Carb out. Well how about doing this. Go to an Auto Parts Store and buy a Quick Disconnect for little over $2.00 bucks.
Each End has a Quick connect so cut it in half then Take your Enricher and cut the wires about 6 inches away from the Actual Enricher. Then Connect each Quick Connect to each side of the Enricher wire. Now you never have to disconnect the Enricher from the power source and or have to take out the Enricher when messing with the Carb, just unplug it

It was raining today AGAIN, so I decided to mess around and this mod just for the FUN of it. I don't really need the Enricher now since I replaced it with the Manual Choke Conversion But just in case and besides its COOL

The Quick Connect coming from the Power Source I wanted it protected so I put it inside a piece of Tubing and put it under the wire holder. The Actual Enricher Half I carry in a Zip Lock Bag with other essentials.
Alleyoop

Here are pictures of the setup:

[Alleyoop]

I adjusted my Valves the other day and noticed that when the Piston is at TDC, the Timeing pointer on the Case is NOT pointing no where near the "T" Mark on the Flywheel. To the Left of the "T" & "F" Marks is a Rectangler Indention about 1" in Length and it has Marks within the 1" long indention that creates little squares inside the bigger rectangle indention. I believe it is the Advanced Markings. When at TDC the Pointer on the Case points to the Third begining of the Third square from the "T".

Anyway I called Ice Bear to try and find what the timeing should be and they asked for pictures. So I sent them the pictures and yesterday he came back and said if I had more pictures because the manufactuer could not see it clearly?
I told him that I did not have any more pictures but since they build the engines and put them together they should be able to Take a picture when they set the timeing and or Specs .
They do not need a picture from me they should put a picture of where the timeing should be set as well as write it in their User Manual. I also told him NO DEALER knows the answer either that they all say to call Ice Bear.
So I am still waiting for their response.
Alleyoop
Here is one picture I sent them of where the Mark on the Case points to on the Flywheel.