Post by bigkahuna427 on Apr 12, 2012 7:15:23 GMT -6
On Monday I went for a bit of a road trip and picked up a couple of scooters I found on CL in New Hampshire. One of them a parts bike for my Kymco and the other a Yamaha Riva XC125. The person I bought it from was 15 years old and his grandfather gave him the scooter hoping he would fix it up. It had 4500 miles on it and missing a front fender, handlebar cover and did not run. The battery was dead so I could not even crank it over and with no kick start no immediate way to judge whether or not it had compression. I stuck a magnet in the crankcase and with no metal negotiated the price and into the truck it went.
Yesterday afternoon I had a few hours to putter around with it. The gas tank was off with a leak. So cleaned the tank then did a fiberglass patch. The gas tank smelled bad enough I did not even try to start it. While the fiberglass was setting up I pulled the carb off. The main and pilot jets were totally plugged and the plunger for the needle was stuck. The idle mixture screw had a tamper proof plug and oddly enough the screw head faces straight up. Gave everything a thorough cleaning and blew with compressed air.
The gas gauge did not work and the screws were missing for the sending unit. I still had a little time to mess around with this thing. So checked the gauge and it swept fine. Pulled the sending unit out and found the resistor wire for the potentiometer broken right at a soldered joint. Soldered that up and boom all set. A little trip to the hardware store and for 75 cents I had the missing screws.
After assembly and a battery charge it literally started right up and ran flawlessly on a quick run around the block. So, for $150.75 investment I have a running scooter that needs just a few plastics.
I have to say I have purchased now seven scooters in the last 18 months and I have been most impressed with the quality of this one. It is almost 20 years old and all of the rubber gaskets and o-rings in the carb were still flexible. The electrical connectors are high quality none broken none crumbling in my hand. The plastic covers are flexible and of a much higher quality then the chinese stuff.
Anyone riding these? Have a source for used parts?
Yesterday afternoon I had a few hours to putter around with it. The gas tank was off with a leak. So cleaned the tank then did a fiberglass patch. The gas tank smelled bad enough I did not even try to start it. While the fiberglass was setting up I pulled the carb off. The main and pilot jets were totally plugged and the plunger for the needle was stuck. The idle mixture screw had a tamper proof plug and oddly enough the screw head faces straight up. Gave everything a thorough cleaning and blew with compressed air.
The gas gauge did not work and the screws were missing for the sending unit. I still had a little time to mess around with this thing. So checked the gauge and it swept fine. Pulled the sending unit out and found the resistor wire for the potentiometer broken right at a soldered joint. Soldered that up and boom all set. A little trip to the hardware store and for 75 cents I had the missing screws.
After assembly and a battery charge it literally started right up and ran flawlessly on a quick run around the block. So, for $150.75 investment I have a running scooter that needs just a few plastics.
I have to say I have purchased now seven scooters in the last 18 months and I have been most impressed with the quality of this one. It is almost 20 years old and all of the rubber gaskets and o-rings in the carb were still flexible. The electrical connectors are high quality none broken none crumbling in my hand. The plastic covers are flexible and of a much higher quality then the chinese stuff.
Anyone riding these? Have a source for used parts?
