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Post by runningslow on May 13, 2010 7:38:15 GMT -6
The original purpose of this thread was to pass on information to those wishing to get their hands on non-ethanol gasoline. Of course, discussion is will almost certainly follow on any topic.
I have been trying to avoid political sentiment in this thread, but with this topic it really is inevitable. So, if no one objects, I'll speak my 2 cents worth.
So, I agree that the use of ethanol is not helping with the oil supply, in fact on average we actually burn more gasoline per mile when we use E10 vs pure gas.
For example, take one gallon of pure gas. Then take a second gallon of pure gas and add 0.1 gallon of ethanol to make 1.1 gallons of E10. You car should actually go farther using using 1.0 gallon of gasoline vs. the 1.1 gallons of E10.
E85, may be a bandaid to using less oil, but from what I've seen its harder to come by than pure gas and there are so few vehicles on the road that can use it safely. None of my cars will, including my wife's 5 year old Corolla.
< soapbox >
What boggles my mind is that we're using all this corn to supplient our energy needs, when there other more viable options available and there are people starving all over the world.
< / soapbox>
Ok, I'm done. Maybe that was 3 cents worth.
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Post by runningslow on May 11, 2010 10:35:48 GMT -6
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.
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Post by runningslow on May 10, 2010 6:41:47 GMT -6
I had a stripped exhaust stud and the shop who fixed it for me used a helicoil. Worked great and it introduced some good quality steel to the problem. Of course, now that I'm getting a new motor, I'm not going to have that head on the bike. So, hopefully the new head won't strip. LOL.
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Post by runningslow on May 10, 2010 6:25:58 GMT -6
I have no clue what possible benefit you could gain from adding nitrogen to fuel. Its a very stable, benign gas, so its not going to burn. Unless, its going to make the gas burn cleaner, I have no idea...
But then, I've also never understood the practice of filling tires with nitrogen, since the atmospheric air that you would normally pump into tires is already 90% nitrogen. But people claim to see benefits, including my parents. I just wonder if that's the placibo effect.
As for the ethanol... newer vehicles that are designed to handle ethanol won't be damaged, per se, but you will see better gas mileage and have cleaner emissions with pure gas. In fact, I'd venture a guess that most fuel injected cars built in the past 20 years are capable of burning the stuff without damage, but all will have reduced performance. Heck, I'd like to compare the performance of the FlexFuel cars that can burn E85 and see how they compare to running E10 and pure-gas.
But, I have heard more than one story of it gumming up small carbureted motors, like lawn mowers and scooters. I have more than once had to clean out the carb and replace the diaphram in my lawn mower (which was getting regular use, year round in Florida)
I've never used Seafoam on the scooter, but I ran through the intake of my truck and made a nice smoke cloud. When I'm filling up my scooter, I usually fill it from a gas can that I premix with Pri-G. It does appear to help.
When I have my scooter running again, I plan to do some experiments on the matter. If I can in fact find some pure gas, I plan to compare my gas mileage with pure gas vs. E10 vs. E10 with Pri-G. Also, premium vs. regular. Maybe I'll mix in some tests with Seafoam, too. Of course I'll go through multiple tanks of each. I'm not claiming my methods will be perfect and definitive, but it might be fun and hopefully I'll get some notable results!
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Post by runningslow on May 6, 2010 12:45:21 GMT -6
I brought this up on another, non-disclosed forum, but I thought I would share it with this community as well. pure-gas.org/For those of you concerned about E10 (gasoline with up to 10% ethanol content), I just found this website. I don't know how reliable the information is, but it seems promising. It appears that I have a handful of places in my area, too. I'm sure the laws vary from state to state, but I found that website while I was researching the law here in Florida. In particiular, I was checking about marine gas, to see if pure gasoline was still available at marinas. What I found are the following exemptions to the law: (a) Fuel sold for aircraft (b) Fuel sold for use in boats and similar watercraft (c) Fuel sold to a blender (d) Fuel sold for use in collector vehicles or vehicles eligible to be licensed as collector vehicles, off-road vehicles, motorcylces, or small engines.With a little further investigation, I came to learn about Marathon Recreation Gasolines and from there I found pure-gas.org. It appears that most of the locations where "Recreational Gasoline" is sold are either marine or aviation related. Which, in short translates to airports and marinas. One of the stations listed that is close to me, however, appears to be a local auto mechanic with a couple gas pumps (presumably for recreational use). I haven't driven by to check it out, yet, since its a little out of the way for my daily travels. I'll check it out soon, though. |
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Post by runningslow on May 4, 2010 6:12:10 GMT -6
Agreed! Rick's taking good care of me. I can't wait for my new motor!!!
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Post by runningslow on May 3, 2010 19:23:21 GMT -6
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.
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Post by runningslow on May 3, 2010 6:51:22 GMT -6
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.
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Post by runningslow on May 3, 2010 6:49:55 GMT -6
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. |
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Post by runningslow on May 1, 2010 5:41:02 GMT -6
That's pretty much the route I'm taking. I'm doing the labor myself, but I'm going to have a shiny new motor to work with.
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Post by runningslow on Apr 30, 2010 13:53:21 GMT -6
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. |
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Post by runningslow on Apr 30, 2010 5:58:52 GMT -6
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!
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Post by runningslow on Apr 28, 2010 6:28:19 GMT -6
Yeah, I mentioned that I've been talking to Rick at ScrappyDogScooters about my motor. He has basically a factory replacement for me if I want it. Its a little on the high end of what I wanted to pay though, but then its a 170cc with the oil cooler and not the cheap 150cc's I've been looking at on ebay. The link you posted for a speedometer cable doesn't seem to work for me, but I'll talk to Rick about it. At a minimum, I think I'm going to get the speedo cable and a new air filter from him, and probably whatever jets I'll need for the carb. Turns out my flywheel puller didn't come yesterday, because that's when it got shipped. I should hopefully get it today. I'm not going to get home until about 9pm tonight, but that won't stop me from trying to get the flywheel off. I'm so close to having the crankcase open. UPDATE: Still no love from USPS. Must be tomorrow.  |
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Post by runningslow on Apr 27, 2010 10:31:56 GMT -6
I've seen this body several times, but only as a trike. Can this scoot be gotten anywhere as a two wheeler?
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Post by runningslow on Apr 26, 2010 6:34:05 GMT -6
I could have sworn I posted this yesterday. I tried again to remove the flywheel so I could crack the crankcase open. Failed miserably and broke down and ordered a flywheel puller from ebay. Free priority mail shipping from south Florida should mean that I'll have it Tuesday. Hopefully.
Also, this weekend, I discovered why my speedometer quit working. I just need to replace the speedometer cable, since the cable broke where there was a slightly awkward bend. Probably my fault, since one of the tie down brackets had fallen off and I had simply secured it with a zip tie. I'm glad that was the problem, because I did not want to have to replace the entire gauge cluster. The only place I've found a factory replacement for it has a list price of $708.86.
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