Winter Riding Scooter Mods

[dachurchpcguy]

I decided to ride all year for the first time since 1980.  I'm going to document the mods I've made to my scooters to allow for reliable running in sub 20° F (-7°C) weather.  This will not be about riding gear, just mods to the scooter.  These little engine do NOT like anything colder than freezing.  I will also note failed mods to save people some time.

2016 TaoTao ATM50

Mod 1

The first thing I tried was to cover the intake with three layers of T-shirt cloth to enrich the mixture, too rich, as was two layers.  One layer of material allowed the engine to start just fine once the fuel got to the carb.  It takes a bit for the vacuum petcock to release fuel in the cold, I normally put my hand over the intake to increase vacuum for a couple seconds.

So, it starts and runs okay with the one piece to cloth secured via a girls hair scrunchie. (Google it, if you don't have girls.)  I let the bike warm up as I put my helmet and gloves on. The big problem is that it will not go faster than about 20mph.  I rode with it on for a couple blocks and removed it to get up to speed.  So that works, but it's a bit tedious to do every time you ride.

Mod 2

The second mod is so simple, I kicked myself for not trying it... unplug the enrichment wire!  I have to manually choke the intake by covering about 2/3rds of it with a finger to get it to start. Once started it runs okay for 1/2 mile of so, then just fine after that.  This mod has been documented somewhere before, simple but effective.  I plan to add an enrichment switch to the bike later so I can turn the circuit on and off at will.

Mod 3

I keep my scooter's battery plugged into a battery tender when I don't ride. These little batteries die quickly in the cold. It's currently an issue because I keep the battery side bolted on and it just sort of flops about.  I'll be installing one of my RV connectors noted in the Veken mods section.

These mods work well enough for now since this scoot will become my backup ride when I finish my hybrid build.

[dachurchpcguy]

2009 Veken Hybrid Scooter

This will be my main ride once it's complete. I'm in the middle of switching body panels to make it yellow and sorting other issues. These mods have not been done yet, I just got the last of the parts in yesterday.

Mod1

Convert the vacuum petcock to manual and add a shutoff valve. These scoots have fuel flow issues that I had been fighting with until I arrived at this solution. It will eliminate the priming issues as well.


Mod2

While I'm adding in the manual shutoff I will also add a snowmobile primer. It's a small manual pump that will squirt a bit of fuel into the manifold for easier starting. I stole this idea from another scooter site. No more finger over the intake required. I will use the vacuum port on the intake as the delivery spot since I no longer require vacuum for the petcock.

Mod3

I'll be adding a switch to disable the enrichment circuit. this will allow the enrichment to run as long as I need it. I'll probably mount both in the same location if it's convenient.

Mod4

I purchased a bunch of RV solar power connectors with a flange. These have the same connection as my battery tender. This will allow for an easier and neater method to connect a battery tender while the scoot is parked until the next ride.



Mod5?

If those mods don't do the trick I have a Vito's power jet kit that I can install.

[FrankenMech]

Nice going!!!

Get that Vito installed. Life will be simpler then. Just a little knob to diddle with.

I had a problem with my snowmobile primer. It started to leak when exposed to the intake vacuum after a while. It became a sort of uncontrolled enrichment valve.

I used an electric fuel pump to solve the fuel system priming issue with my upside-down ruck clone fuel system. It makes starting instant. I have had it wired up several ways. One way it was hooked up to energize with the electric starter. I had a switch for it also. The toggle switch failed and shorted to ground internally... -damn China crap. Right now I just have it hooked up to a replacement switch. The best way to hook it up may be energizing from both the starter and a switch for 'emergency' use.

I use a plain old cigarette lighter type power port connected to the battery through a 10A circuit breaker to charge my SLA battery. I slapped my own battery tender together using a 'wall-wart' power unit. It just has a cigarette lighter plug on the end. The power port is very useful for a variety of things.