New 250cc Chrome Edition, few glitches By tk3000 (Read 6,836 times)

[tk3000]

Incursions in the 250cc World...

About 2 weeks ago I ordered and received a 250cc motoscooter, an old stock (2006) chrome storm 250cc edition. I have had a 2-stroke turbo since 2005 and a gy6 150cc phantom clone since 2007, and have done pretty much all possible types of maintenances, improvements, and repairs in my bikes and other vehicles that I own. I received the documents (certificate of origin, etc) the following day after having ordered it online: it came via UPS Express; it wasn't really necessary (I could have waited a couple of days), but Kudos for them for that! At first the bike simply would not start (motor), but after having removed, adjusted and cleaned the carburetor (it had carbon deposits in the floating area, etc) the bike would start just fine. Overall the grade of the parts in such bike seemed to be above the average (better grades for fasteners, nuts, etc) and by all means better than the ones found in my roketa 150cc. I changed the engine oil (which actually was rather low) and gear oil, drained the old coolant and flushed the system a few times, and then replenish it with Prestone (yellow bottle) with the ratio 60% coolant and 40% water; I was able to fill the system (dual radiator) with about 20 oz the coolant mixture (does that seem to be the right amount?).

The only current issue is related to the CVT, it seems that the belt is somewant loose, rattling, vibrating and making contact with the cvt cover (the CVT cover gasket is not loose and is actually glued to the cvt cover itself). I only notice such annoying noise when the CVT cover is on, so it seems that the belt is hitting the CVT cover. Any insights about the CVT noise issue would be appreciated.

Below are some pics of the bike and at the end a video showing the CVT in action:

Frontal radiator in a dual-radiator system:



Lower radiator in a dual-radiator system:


Carburetor view:


CT Motor 247cc engine top view:


Decent amount of under seat space:


CVT Video:


The following is the belt installed in that bike: "First-Car Belt V-09" number 915 22 30.

Two flaws noticed were: 1) it does not have kill switch which seems even more essential in 250cc considering its larger displacement; and 2) it does not have a temperature gauge, only having a warning light in the instrument panel that I assume would turn on if the engine is getting too hot or about to overheat.

[damin69]

Sorry cant help with the CVT issue.

Wow they really pack 20 lbs of crap in a 10 lbs bag on them things.

You got some more pictures of that. Would love to see some over all pictures and some over all Nudes of that. Would love to see how they are running the hoses for the second radiator. Looks like it is running the 244cc Honda Clone that I have.

[ce]

That's awesome that you got all those radiators. It ain't gonna overheat.

Sounds like the belt's too big, maybe an 872 22 30 would work.

[Cruiser]

Jul 15, 2010 18:40:19 GMT -6 ce said:

That's awesome that you got all those radiators. It ain't gonna overheat.

Sounds like the belt's too big, maybe an 872 22 30 would work.

The newer models went to a single radiator. The older models with 2 radiators had the heating problems. I believe Zug has one of the newer models with one radiator and has had no overheating problems. Good luck with your new scoot, tk3000. We will be waiting for any updates. BTW, the single radiator systems like on the Reflex clones hold about 32 oz of coolant.

[zugzug]

Heres a pic of what things should look like under the cover. (yes Im being lazy tonite and attaching photo) When does it make noise? when your idling or when your moving?
-Zug

Attachments:

[tk3000]

Jul 15, 2010 19:42:34 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

Jul 15, 2010 18:40:19 GMT -6 ce said:

That's awesome that you got all those radiators. It ain't gonna overheat.

Sounds like the belt's too big, maybe an 872 22 30 would work.

The newer models went to a single radiator. The older models with 2 radiators had the heating problems. I believe Zug has one of the newer models with one radiator and has had no overheating problems. Good luck with your new scoot, tk3000. We will be waiting for any updates. BTW, the single radiator systems like on the Reflex clones hold about 32 oz of coolant.

Thanks, Cruser, I will be posting often about all the developments. As far as cooling system and radiators goes I flushed the system a few times (with a hose, with coolant and water to help eliminate and reminiscence of corrosion, etc), and I believe that I eliminate any old coolant from any hidden and lower spot. I also eliminate any air in the system with the engine running and radiator cap off, and even with the engine running for a few minutes (and sporadically slightly opening the throttle) and radiator cap off the level of the coolant did not change. But when I said 20oz I did not take into account the overflow tank; I still have to add coolant to the overflow tank (I need to remove the side panels in order to remove the overflow tank and clean it properly). Anyhow it is possible that the new coolant that I also used to flush the system took some hidden spots and lower spots, so can not say for sure it is 20oz.

I still did not look into the dual radiator system, but initially the idea would be that a dual radiator system would provide a much more reliable, effective and fault-tolerant system (if one radiator fails, there is still another one running [backup]).

[tk3000]

Jul 15, 2010 20:54:14 GMT -6 @zugzug said:

Heres a pic of what things should look like under the cover. (yes Im being lazy tonite and attaching photo) When does it make noise? when your idling or when your moving?
-Zug

Yeah, I also posted a video show the CVT in action; it is my last link.

[tk3000]

Jul 15, 2010 11:41:39 GMT -6 damin69 said:

Sorry cant help with the CVT issue.

Wow they really pack 20 lbs of crap in a 10 lbs bag on them things.

You got some more pictures of that. Would love to see some over all pictures and some over all Nudes of that. Would love to see how they are running the hoses for the second radiator. Looks like it is running the 244cc Honda Clone that I have.

Sure I will be posting pics of the radiators and their links and connections. Yeah, it is impressive how such a bigger engine and so many parts were put together in a such a nice and nifty way.

[tk3000]

Jul 15, 2010 18:40:19 GMT -6 ce said:

That's awesome that you got all those radiators. It ain't gonna overheat.

Sounds like the belt's too big, maybe an 872 22 30 would work.

Thanks, I will contact them about the belt issue. It really seems that the belt is hitting the CVT cover.

[tk3000]

Now glitches and beyond... Turned out that when test riding it the front column (handlebar + stem + shocks) would tend to sink when under some stress (stopping quickly from mild speed [30 mphs], so I had to investigate: at first it seemed that one shock was slightly (maybe 4 mm higher) higher than the other,and apparently one of the bolts (or maybe two) holding one of the shocks abs were not properly torqued and thus was undertaken unusual stress and probably was compromised. Anyway I tried to apply the proper torque (around 35/40 foot/pounds) and the bolt simply broke inside.

Bolt Extraction Phase:




Bolt replace by a slightly different bolt, but with the same basic specs (pitch, size, strength/grade, etc):



Next step is to take a look at the steering column nuts, castle nuts, bolts, fasteners, washers, and bearings.




Some more pics of the disassembling process:

The front handlebar and instrument cover is hold by many tabs and few screws:








To be continued..

[zugzug]

Welcome to the shoehorn club ;D

[tk3000]

Jul 17, 2010 14:31:41 GMT -6 @zugzug said:

Welcome to the shoehorn club ;D

Thanks! I saw your thread, very instructive and insightful!

[tk3000]

Some is wrong, maybe the related to the transmission: whenever I take it to a test ride and try to accelerate above 25 mph the engine roars, the bikes sort of trembles, but the bike does not take off (stays at the same speed: 25mph). Any enlightment?

[zugzug]

If the belts too long then its not getting pulled deep enough in the clutch pulley to get top gearing. Of course the opposite could be happening too. If the weights are too light then the Vari might not be closing fully and not pushing the belt to top gearing. The weights were too light in mine and I was at max rpm all the time. Once I put heavier weights in, it was less buzzy, accelerated better and I got better top speed.

[tk3000]

Zug :

I took the CVT cover off some time ago, actually in my very first post there is a link to video where the cvt is showed in action. One thing I noticed is that the with CVT cover on the belt seems to hit the CVT cover, and with the CVT cover off there is not such hitting noise. Also at first the belt seems to be too big (I found out inscribed on the belt itself: 915 22 30) it seems too large for that type of engine (I am not sure if there are variations of the engine case and engine itself for the CF-Motor 250cc, as is the case with gy6?). At first 915 22 30 seems too large, wouldn't a 828.22.30 belt size be more appropriate for such engine? If it uses the same belt used on a gy6 150cc (vento clone) I could take the belt off my 150cc and install it in the 250cc to see what happens. Of course I am assuming that there are weights inside the Dr. Pulley,etc, and none of the mechanisms have collapsed or failed.

The feeling that I have when I try to accelerate above 25 mph is as if I was trying to accelerate an engine with the clutch pulled in (makes noise but goes nowhere faster)

Thanks!