The Matrix: Rebuilding By runningslow (Read 26,527 times)

[runningslow]

Yeah, I just saw that thread this morning. In fact, I was a part of the thread on SD when it came up before. I'm sure the frame is modified to mount the larger motor, or they fabricated an adapter. Either that or the motors just have very similar mounting points and it worked. I've never seen one of the 250 motors to see. But, those bikes are basically my inspiration for my future mods.

However, for the time being, my flywheel puller came yesterday and within minutes I had the flywheel off (stator cover, as you say). I removed the stator and was able to remove the outer crankcase cover to expose the starter gearing and the oil pump. While I did find one small bolt in there that was really jacked up, I don't think it was the source of my woes. So, now I've hit another road block. There are still accessories that appear to be pressed onto the crankshaft that I can't pull, so I cannot completely open the crankcase. At this point, since the problem does not appear to be in the starter gearing, I'm going to assume my problem with the crankshaft. I have some pictures from the work I did last night and I'll post them up later.

So, I've decided to deem this motor is not worth repairing, at least not by me. The parts lists, especially if I order the UM specific parts from this website I found, is just way too expensive. I just want to get out and ride again. If I order a new motor today, I could in theory be breaking it in next weekend. Which sounds good to me!

[runningslow]

Ok, here are the pics from last night:

View of the Flywheel (Stator Cover):


Flywheel Puller:


11 Pole Stator:


Outer crankcase cover off:


Starter Gears, oil pump removed:


Close up on head of messed up bolt:


Messed up bolt:


Its obvious to me that someone had been in this motor before and cross threaded this bolt, and I know who. The dealer I bought it from (and who had done most of my early service and warranty claims) at one point did work on the "starter clutch" because I was having some unknown rattles. The work was under warranty, so I didn't ask questions. It was over a year and many thousands of miles ago. I don't think this screwed up bolt was the cause of my current problems.

There's also a chance that it was assembled that way in China. I have no idea.

[runningslow]

May 1, 2010 18:24:54 GMT -6 Bashan said:

Would you mind going over the procedure for removing the flywheel, how you screw on the remover and then what you do? I'll post it in the tech section. Thanks, Rich

I suppose I could write something up. It wasn't hard. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures while I did this.

The flywheel puller for a 150cc GY6 is a 27mmX1.0 L.H. Thread. I bought mine off ebay for about $20. Here's a picture of my flywheel puller:


To use it, you back the inner bolt almost completely out, then thread the female threads into the center of the flywheel. Remember, this is a left hand thread, so don't try to force it the wrong way. Once you have it successfully threaded into the flywheel, you can turn the inner bolt until it makes contact with the end of the crankshaft. The inner bolt has a right hand thread.

Now, to remove the flywheel you have to hold the flywheel steady and continue to turn the inner bolt. There are a few different ways to do this. The body of the puller has a place to put a wrench on it to hold it, while you can put on a socket on the inner bolt. Since I didn't have a wrench large enough, without resorting to a crescant wrench, I did something different. Since I had the cylinder and piston removed, I placed a long socket extension through the the end of the connecting rod, so that when I turned the inner bolt of the puller the flywheel was held in place by the socket extension. Another option might be putting a strap wrench around the flywheel.

That's it. You force the inner bolt in and pops the flywheel right off. Easy. I had the flywheel off within 5 minutes of the puller's arrival in the mail.

[runningslow]

Update on my situation. I placed a deposit on a new motor over the weekend with ScrappyDogScooters. Rick has been a great help. The motor is currently enroute from China and it should be here in a few weeks. I would have liked it sooner, but I'll survive. I'll be ready to ride in the hottest time of the year. I'm looking forward to breaking in a new motor.

I've been thinking that since I have to wait, I could paint my scoot and have it all shiny and ready for when the new motor arrives.

[runningslow]

170cc. I'm excited, I'm basically getting a direct replacement for what I currently have: 161QMK with factory oil cooler. Rick says that my disc brake will work with it, so we'll see.

I was looking at some of the options (all 150cc) on ebay, but Rick offered me this one for basically the same price. I couldn't resist.

I'm also thinking I may offer my current motor up for sale. It must have value to someone. I'm sure there is someone more skilled who'd like to use the case to build up a motor, they wouldn't need to machine the case to install a larger cylinder, since its already set for a 61mm cylinder, and it could probably go bigger. Someone could probably machine the crankcase to make one heck of a stroked GY6, too. One of the key benefits is that its already plumbed for an oil cooler, which I'll be able to include.

[runningslow]

Nothing new to report, except that my old motor is now listed in the "Parts and Scooters for sale" section.

Also, Rick @ ScrappyDog says he's expecting his container to arrive in port on the 24th. So, hopefully it won't take too long to pass through customs and then to him, so he can ship my motor to me! Would it be too much to expect it before Memorial Day? Probably, but one can hope.

[runningslow]

I'm still patiently waiting on my new motor, but I have another question.

I'm trying to figure out how to get the rear tire off the old motor. I removed the axle nut, but the tire won't come off. Do I need to use a puller of some kind to get the swingarm off the muffler side?

I've had the rear tire replaced before, but I took it to a shop and they did all the work.

[runningslow]

May 21, 2010 8:07:18 GMT -6 ccprof said:

The thread also talks about getting the wheel off.

Thanks again. I read the thread, but it still does not answer my question.

May 20, 2010 5:59:53 GMT -6 @jrryan said:

On the back wheel when one gets ready to remove the outside swiing arm the bolts will be very tight, in fact will have Chinese locktite, so one, make sure you use a very good socket or wrench, not a cheapo so you won't round off the heads and two if they don't budge with reasonable force use a small propane torch and put some heat to them.

This will loosen the junky locktite where they will come loose. Dr. JR

I basically followed that procedure, long before I read it there, and the swing arm is loose, but it won't come off. It will turn around the axle. It seems to be pressed on to the axle, not allowing the rim to come off. I don't want to pry or pull on something too hard, unless I know I'm not going to break something.

If someone is still questioning what I'm talking about, I could possibly take some pictures or a video this weekend.

The wheel has been off once before, when I had a shop change replace the tire, but I didn't see how they did it. Worst case, I'll just take the old motor to them and have them show me how its done.

[runningslow]

Another question. So, my stock airbox is the type under the seat. I've been thinking about going with a Unifilter, but I'm concerned about weather. Its not uncommon for me to get caught it a freak Florida rainstorm. I carry a rainsuit with me on the bike at all times.

What I'm wonder is, is there any performance difference between my airbox and the type of airbox that sits over the CVT?

Are my concerns about weather and a unifilter justified? Should I not worry about it and just get a unifilter?

[Bashan]

Josh, I do know something about your airbox issue......really, I do. Both the underseat and CVT air filter systems are restrictive to about the same degree. I actually like the CVT one better because it's at least somewhat out of the way, I've got one on my Amore. My Bashan has an under the seat and the hose is always in the way and kinks up a lot. You can improve the airflow by putting a pull tie around the kink and carefully tighten it to round out the restriction. I did this to my wife's Bashan without telling her and she asked what I did to speed up her scoot. For her to notice it had to be an improvement! Uni filters are notorious for getting wet and muddy, I've read about it in buggy forums a lot. If your going to ride in the rain I'd fashion some sort of a curved extension to point it up away from the fender area because it will get H2O into the carb. I don't know what to tell you about your wheel, it's a disc so maybe it's different. Drum units slide right off. Have you e-mailed Rick at Scrappy? He's got a tech question address. Discs are so new I don't think many have run into them. Rich

[Bashan]

I found a picture of the Uni mod I made, it's cut from the stock air hose and then I used good old duct tape to faten the Uni. I'm sure you could make some sort of adaptor for the Uni to hose but the tape works fine:



If you want to use your underseat bucket, one thing I thought of was running the air hose up into the bucket for protection and have a small filter in there. It would take up a little space but I think a guy could work around it; just an idea. Rich

[runningslow]

Based on what you just said, I'll probably stick with my factory airbox (for now). I need a reliable bike that can get wet. However, I cannot leave anything alone. If its not broken, take it apart and fix it. Down the road, I'll try engineering something that will work.

May 27, 2010 4:43:11 GMT -6 Bashan said:

If you want to use your under seat bucket, one thing I thought of was running the air hose up into the bucket for protection and have a small filter in there. It would take up a little space but I think a guy could work around it; just an idea. Rich

Rich, are you saying to use the under seat compartment to hold the filter? It wouldn't be airtight, but I think the end result there would be about as restrictive as the original under seat airbox. However, it may be worth an experiment.

Although, I don't know how well that would work for me, since I frequently have that thing packed full with stuff. That's usually where I'm carrying my rainsuit and I store my helmet under there when I stop while I'm out. Not to mention that's where I carry the occasional 6 pack of beer, unopened of course.

[Bashan]

No, mine has a little door near the front with a screw holding it. I meant take the door off and stick the uni up through it so that it was protected and you could still have the back of the box for storage. I think it would be problematic to have the box as one giant air filter container.........yet you could put a helluva filter element in there! Have you thought of drilling extra holes in your airbox to open it up? I've heard of guys doing that till it starts to run lean and then up the jet one step; cheap upgrade. I can't leave anything alone either, just look at my scooter. If it wasn't for the mortal fear of my wife's wrath if I messed hers up, it'd be frankensteinian too. I haven't even checked the plug or did the valves on hers and I'm not going to until it starts acting funny, then she won't be able to say anything if it doesn't go just right. She's really nice though, just touchy about her scooter. Rich

[runningslow]

Ha, yeah, I've got some serious upgrades planned for my truck, too, when the budget (and wife) allows. I want to put a 302 in my Ranger. The little 4 cylinder just isn't getting the job done (and the job is simply getting me from A to B. LOL). The truck is aging with well over 200K miles, so it needs a little freshening up and I think a V8 would breath some new life into it.

I want to get my wife a scooter, too. I know she at least likes the vintage style scooters, but is a little hesitant to get on two wheels. I've had her ride 2up with me a few times, but never very far. She seemed to enjoy it, but still uncomfortable since I don't have a passenger backrest. I think she'd be better if she had something to hold onto (other than me) and was in control.

I've had her ride mine around the cul-du-sac a few times to get the feel of it and she did fine, but the seat is waaaaay to high for her (35"). Also, the reliability of mine has turned her off from the idea. So, for her I'm considering spending the money for a Buddy or an Aprilia. Maybe even a used Vespa.

I know I've said this before, but I'm also considering a new bike for me in the next year. I'd like something that would be freeway capable, but I think I want to stay away from the chinese bikes next time. I'd love a TMAX, but that's alot of dough. I've been looking around at some others and I like the looks of the Aprilia SportCity 250 and the Kymco Xciting 250/500. Plus there's always the Majesty, Burghman and Silverwing. I might consider moving up to a motorcycle, or maybe find a vintage bike to restore.

I'll keep the Matrix as an ongoing project bike. Experiment with some things, like maybe try out that new EFI kit or put a bigger motor in it. Maybe try to turbo it (and quickly make it blow up).

Of course all of this rides on our financial situation changing. If not, they will remain dreams.

My wife just got her Specialist in School Psychology Degree and we're keeping our fingers crossed that she'll have a job in the fall, aside from continuing to work at Best Buy. If she can get a job in the schools, that will mean a significant bump in our annual income, so we can finally pay down some debt and fix some things (and have a little money to play with ;D).

[lonnie6890]

Well I was going to post some info on my LED kit. I was setting it up on my Roketa 250cc MC 13.
I went out in the early morning and BOOM, scooter gone with a empty beer bottle beside the anti-freeze jug. I had just tuned it and changed the anti-freeze as well getting ready to ride this week end. I have to say that I do not wish health to the thief. I will now start posting some of the upgrades I am doing on my 50CC MZ. I have followed this post and wish you luck on your engine. Lonnie