Question About Brand New Scooter By straightbangin (Read 2,676 times)

[straightbangin]

I ran my 1st scooter into the ground and just sold it to a repair kinda guy. I learned what to do and not to do with a 50cc scooter now. I am about to buy a new one from the dealership. I heard that you should have the brakes adjusted and the valves adjusted after so many miles. Is this true and why? How important is this? After how many miles should you? What happens if you don't? Thanks

[13lky2]

Are you buying a Chinese scooter or a Taiwanese/Japanese? This will determine our answers on maintenance schedules for various items.

[straightbangin]

I'm sorry, ur right... Cheap chinese scooter. $750 new 2011. I know you have to change the oil, pretty soon like after 500 miles im told cuz it comes w cheap oil, but then again, isnt cheap oil, cheap oil? the same stuff they always use? Maybe they just wanted to get me to pay for an oil change soon after.

[LUKE]

yes,all 4 stroke engines needs it's valve to be adjusted,even in cars,,,yes guys,,even in cars ,trucks and tractors. ,,BUT one should not set a time frame when to adjust ...say if the manufacturer says that it needs to be adjusted after 25K miles,it's just an idea,,,,in my opinion ,i won't adjust the valves unless i start experiencing problems,like hard starting and stalling @ stop lights etc.. ,,valve is one thing i don't want to mess with in scooter.,,i'd rather wait for it to act up before doing some adjustments...that's just me.
when it comes to oil, don't be stingy,,choose the best ,most expensive oil you can get...it pays more than using a cheap oil,,you get the best protection from quality oil than the cheapo oil, but since your scooter is brand new,initially you can use some cheapo oil,new engines needs to be broken in,and in the process of breaking in,some metal shavings are produced,this will be within the first 1K miles, change it with quality oil after 1k miles. or depends on what the manual says...our goal here is how to prolong the life of our scooters and how to put more hours in riding rather than fixing....wishing you the best riding experience and welcome to the scooter world gurl!

[straightbangin]

say if the manufacturer says that it needs to be adjusted after 25K miles

wow 25k, miles, that would rock. My last scooter lasted 9 mo and 2,600 miles before it would have cost more to fix than to buy a new one LOL.

Thanks for the advice on the valves. I tried to do the right thing w my last scooter and got the good fully synthetic oil and had them replace my current oil with it, then I heard that scooters shouldnt use this kind because it doesnt work well w the way they are made. Hmmm.

It would also be great if my scooter CAME w a manual but its so cheap it doesnt. I'll do the oil at 1,000 miles thanks. Hopefully I can get this cheap scooter to last 1 yr or more this time. I'm going to be more gentle with it, covering it when it rains, putting high temp engine enamel paint on the undercarriage parts that rusted out a week after i got the scooter last time ( i took pics to see what parts rusted ) also im going to be a lil more gentle w the brakes and it overall. Try to make this cheap lil guy last.

[Bashan]

Somebody has to get the shipping oil out before it's ridden. Your dealer SHOULD do it but make sure. I'd change it every 500-600 miles, it's less than a quart, chump change. The only issue with synthetic oil is that some think it's too slippery and gets by the rings and seals, I haven't found this to be true. I'd run dino oil for the first 1,000 miles to break everything in though. Change your gear oil with your engine oil. The front brake is hydraulic, it doesn't need adjusting, keep an eye on the fluid. If your rear is a drum (ba-dump) tighten the adjustment screw when the handle gets too much slack.

[straightbangin]

thanks

[straightbangin]

I think I'll go w the reg oil. One place on my scooter says use SAE 15w/40 and another place on my scooter says my use 10W/30, not sure which to use. These dont even come with a manual. LOL. I live in Miami Beach. Its about 80 degrees year round and humid during the summer. We get a cold 40 degree day about 5 times a yr randomly. I drive around the beach and usually drive around 20mph, sometimes I go as fast as 35 but I never really drive more than 30 min total and thats a long time for me. What do you think? 10w/30 for me? I drive the scooter daily too. I think the longest I'd let it sit w/ out driving it is 24 hrs maybe.

[robb]

I agree with the comment that you need to get the oil that came with the scooter out, and put oil of known quality in first thing. Cheap dino oil is good. I'd ride it 10 miles and drain it with the side plug and fill it again, you still have the tools ( drain pan and socket wrench for the side plug ) out from letting the shipping veggie oil out right ? I like to get the tiny bits that the screen doesn't catch out before you have too many miles on the engine. I consider a very early oil change to flush garbage out to be cheap insurance. Good luck with your new scoot.

[Bashan]

1,000 miles on the dino oil! Not 100, sorry.

[straightbangin]

thanks

[grocerygetter]

Had to jump in here as I'm finishing up a PDI.

YES - change the oil that came in it.

The test start that should have happend at the factory was enough to flush all the assembly debris down to the bottom of the crankcase.

I was blown away at the size of the particles that came out of my new engine. I'd tear down my cars/truck if I saw particles like that in an oil change.
And their oil reminded me of my grandmother's sew machine oil. Their oil isn't up to your 80F (I want to move south) weather.

My rear axle (might be called transmission) oil was extremely low. Hardly anything came out when I drained it. Put in close to 3/4 of a qrt of new stuff. Part of a thorough PDI.

Paint on the crappy frame welds - yepper. Not just pretty, in the longterm those rusty welds become safety issues.
Side note here on that - I bought a cheaper unit and a more expensive unit - paint on the frame considerably different. Cheaper unit already rusted at delivery.
Better unit needs no paint.
If you haven't bought yet, something to consider.

Depending on your wrenching ability, you really need to consider some of the things noted in the other posts.
Loose nuts and bolts that can be dangerous.

Considering you're not buying units upwards of 2g's with a plan to drive from state to state or over mountain tops - I can understand not being anal about some stuff and longevity to a point, but have yourself or someone check the nuts on the wheels, steering components, brake lines etc. Stuff that will hurt if it fails. Unless you're comfortable with your dealer. Maybe ask them to show you that they've gone thru this stuff. You can tell if they're on the level by the amount of detail they can offer.

My opinion for you on oil:
15w40 - engine
GL5 - rear gear/axle/transmission W/E they want to call it (this is where you likely saw the 10w30 comment)
Brake fluid - after seeing the other crap, I'd change it too - DOT3 is good enough for your little jaunts
Rad coolant - sounds like you're staying air-cooled so no need there, otherwise, I had to remove jelly from my hoses so it would be wise to change if you went to a scoot that big

good luck - keep asking - good experience here
L8tr

[straightbangin]

Thanks grocerygetter! Ya I bought some black, high temp paint for the bottom after seeing it start to rust a few days after I bought my first one.

[straightbangin]

I just emailed the manufacu. to see what kind of engine oil, gear oil and brake fluid to use. My manual does't say and its not even really in english. LOL. Hopefully they get back to me. I bought the scooter 4 hrs ago. I want to make it LAST. If they don't get back to me is there a generic / type of these fluids that go for all cheap Chinese scooters? The dealership said they have no idea either ( they also don't speak much English ) LOL.

Taizhou Chuanl Motorcycle Manufacturing Co. Ltd / Longbo 49CC is what the sticker on the Scooter says. My registration just says " black scooter " LOL. I guess the same scooter goes by a zillion different names. It often goes by " LB50QT-6 " though.

[13lky2]

In Miami, I would run 15W-40 or 20W-50 oil. For brake fluid either DOT4 or 5.