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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 30, 2013 20:32:10 GMT -6
I have the same one...it is pretty cool....especially the pinups Have you found the 'Extra' features?
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 30, 2013 20:29:11 GMT -6
Wire the lights to the original headlight wires.
I have two 27W LED 30° 'spot' lights on my scoot for 'headlights'. The LED lights don't give a good beam without special lenses etc. The light emitting surface does not work the way an incandescent filament does. It is not a 'point' source so parabolic reflectors don't work. It is just physics and there is no getting around it yet.
With my headlights ON my electrical system holds the proper voltage at idle and at speed.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 30, 2013 20:20:50 GMT -6
I can understand your wife's position. My scooter is LOUD also. Check the advertising vendors at the top of the forum. One of them should be able to fix you up. Remember to tell them you are a member here. Some will give discounts.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 30, 2013 20:14:22 GMT -6
Batteries don't last forever. These scoot batteries like a 0.5A - 2A charge rate. Using the wrong charging rate will kill them. So will just leaving them on a regular charger that is not designed to reduce the charge rate to a very low maintenance rate. Some chargers taper off and others just pulse occasionally.
JB Weld is great stuff. It is basically a 2-part epoxy with a filler material in it. I keep a fresh package around while I use up my opened tubes. Epoxy does not go bad over time. I have some 40 year old Mil-spec epoxy that is still good as new. I have run into some consumer packages of 5-minute epoxy that would not harden when mixed. They did not go bad, they were bad from the factory. I try to stick to the name brand epoxies and other adhesives. There are some things not to do when mixing epoxy like using the mixing stick to apply the adhesive or scraping the mixing container surface.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 29, 2013 17:49:21 GMT -6
My 275# 50cc trike will keep up with 35mph speed zone (40mph) traffic with my 210# and 30# of tools. I loose a little on hills but gain it back downhill. For now mine is fast enough. The speedometer says I am doing 30-50mph. I need to get the thing calibrated.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 28, 2013 22:48:24 GMT -6
I don't know about that one. Someone else may know something about how that part is supposed to work. Your interpretation seems logical.
My airbox IS my catch can. The vent tube goes directly from the valve cover to the airbox and there is a drain in the bottom of the airbox. Maybe it is supposed to keep the filter oiled and damp.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 28, 2013 17:35:41 GMT -6
Cylinder blowby is combustion byproducts which will be water, hydrocarbons, CO, CO2, etc. The water condenses in the tubing and mixes with the other products. Short trips will increase the condensation. Let the liquid drain out.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 28, 2013 16:30:22 GMT -6
Join the ranks of the FrankenMechs.... I have done a considerable amount of tinkering in the past. I made things from pieces and parts of other things hence the 'Frankenstein' look at times. It is a lot of fun. Some things even turn out to be useful. I still do it very slowly.
Just check out that CDI connector.
Edit: I went through that ebay sellers listings and I have some pictures of what I need. My muffler is the same as what he sells with those big bore kits. It looks like that muffler 'tuning' plug is just a threaded plug with a hole through it. I would guess it is about 13-16mm. The one I had was just formed sheet metal with a hole and threaded OD. I did not think mine had anything else connected to it when I peered in with a flashlight. Now I just need to get one of those plugs or have one made. I wish I had the $$$ to get my lathe hooked up since it does metric threads easy. Determining the thread dimensions on an ID thread is fun. I may just contact the seller next week and see if I can buy just a plug. My muffler is new, so I hate to have to buy an entire new muffler. I will definitely safety wire it next time. Thanks for posting that link. I have been all over looking at mufflers....
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 27, 2013 21:36:56 GMT -6
I am too old, I just want mine quiet. I had plenty of noise back when I had 500HP on tap in my old high school hotrod. People could hear that thing over a mile away and it had mufflers!!! Now I am deaf but the noise didn't kill my ears, -aspirin did.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 27, 2013 21:27:14 GMT -6
For the battery mileage is not an issue. The age and state of charge are what makes a difference. I keep mine on a little charger while I am working on it to keep the battery up. I use a cheap $20 Harbor Freight charger # 99857. It charges and then maintains the charge. I did not install it in my scoot. I just keep it on a shelf next to the scoot and run a cord over to the cigarette lighter type power outlet on my scoot.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 27, 2013 21:09:59 GMT -6
Look at your CDI box. Check the smaller 2-position connector. If there are two wires it is probably an AC unit. One wire may be black/red (AC power) and the other may be black/white (KILL switch), unfortunately manufacturers use different colors. If there is just one wire in that connector you probably have a DC unit. That wire will show 12V when the ignition switch is ON.
That 'Power Plug' in the end of your BBK muffler is probably the part I need for my scoot. Mine unscrewed itself and blew out when I hit the pothole from Hell one day. Now my scoot is too loud. I would appreciate a description or picture of it since I don't even know what mine looked like inside before it exited my muffler. My pipe now has an opening that seems to be about a 30mm thread. Just eyeballing a tape measure though. Any info would help.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 27, 2013 16:20:00 GMT -6
Scooter depot has been OK for me. I know the two guys that do the tech service and parts by name and voice. Most of my part delays were due to my own slow work rate and zero knowledge about scoots. I am slow but handy so I am able to work on my own scoot. Someone with no mechanical ability or electrical knowledge would have been totally lost on the scoot I received. Scooter depot was the only dealer that had the model I wanted. I did read the complaints and noted that most of the complainers were clueless or trying to claim parts they destroyed due to negligence or crashes as warranty items. I am still waiting for one part damaged in shipment. It works but is just an appearance item. I bought a number of my spares from them and noted they were higher quality as well as higher cost than online replacements. It is a tradeoff... The part of my muffler that came loose seems to be unobtainable by itself. I may end up buying a whole replacement muffler. I just want a quiet muffler and so many replacement parts are listed as 'performance' aka LOUD. -If I had my lathe hooked up I could experiment with making a replacement. Unfortunately it is three phase which means a $$$ rotary phase converter and a bit of $$$ wiring is involved. Damn China has driven up the cost of copper so much that electrical work is expensive. I make a 'shopping' trip to Horrible Freight about once per month. The quality of their tools has increased dramatically in the last year or two. Some items haven't changed though and are still junk. I bought some strap wrenches that snapped under my feeble muscles the first time I used them. The tailpipe expander tools they sell are completely useless. Some HF tools take some TLC or modification to work well. My China scoot also took TLC and modifications. I am slowly learning to ride it and have even been able to make some right turns successfully. ROSCMA (Rolling On Street Crashing My A**)
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 26, 2013 23:45:48 GMT -6
Congrats! Now, how many bolts and screws do you have left over?
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 26, 2013 23:39:22 GMT -6
We ALL have our reasons for riding our scoot of choice. I can remember back in the 50-60's when Japanese products were cheap junk made in factories that the US paid to rebuild and filled with a desperate, and cheap, workforce. On the other hand we did not rebuild our own factories after the WWII and our production costs soared. In the 70-80's Japanese goods reached a point of excellence few but the Germans have matched. Every developing or recovering country goes through the same cheap labor manufacturing and export cycle. They continually learn and get better while polluting their 'nest'. Personally I think China is at that turning point where their product quality increases drastically and at the same time they start cleaning up their act in the environment and labor force. Taiwan went through it 10 years back. We have our own problems in this country bringing cost effective and environmentally sound manufacturing back. We have some examples to follow out there but everyone has problems of some sort. We just need to work together for the common good and put bias aside.
BTW, the build quality, parts, fasteners, and QC on my China scoot is a real mixed bag. I can live with it at the moment.
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Post by FrankenMech on Nov 26, 2013 21:39:30 GMT -6
Luke, I have one of those $8 fold-down 32L totes I can bungee to my rear rack to hold something. Of course I don't carry it around unless I know I am going to need it. The baskets that I always carry around fold up flat and are semi-permanently mounted. The P-clamp screws have green loctite on them and are HELL to get loose. Each one will hold one of those cloth grocery bags. I have crammed 4 each 2L bottles in one basket but mostly they handle three 2L bottles. The fold-down tote may hold four grocery bags by itself. My scoot is strictly a grocery getter, not a weekend cruiser or commuter. I am considering putting one of my old plastic camp boxes on the rear if I can figure out a quick release mechanism. The camp box locks so I would not have to carry my purchases from one store into another. In my area anything I just left out sitting in a basket would be gone when I got back.
kz, My 50cc 30+/- mph China scoot did cost me nearly $2000 because of that second front wheel and I put more $$$ into it with mods. Nobody else had one. I waited two years for someone else to come out with a scoot like it so I would have a choice. The 3 baskets alone were $70 from Wald. The plastic box I cut down and stuck under the seat was $13. All the new front lights were about $80. The strobe lights were $16. I have a bunch of $$ in spare parts and lots of my time. It all adds up, but it is useful to me and a real blast to play with...
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