the Craigslist Killer - A 2015 TaoTao 50 from Hell
Jul 30, 2018 5:38:27 GMT -5
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Post by blackdog on Jul 30, 2018 5:38:27 GMT -5
Hello everyone!
This is my first post to the site. I've been a long time motorcycle rider but recently got into 50cc scooters when I moved downtown. I realized how practical they were, especially for the college kids in the area.
So after deciding that I wanted to play around with fixing up scooters, I jumped on Craigslist and starting prowling.
My first success came as a 2009 TaoTao that a guy had received as payment for something I can't remember. Anyway, the ad said it wasn't running and had been sitting for so many years and Blah blah blah. I haggled him down to $150 and drove my trailer to go pick it up. I drained the gas, changed the oil and spark plug, removed and cleaned out the carb (yes I had to drill out the screws and I ended up buying about 20 extras from Home Depot), adjusted the valves and viola! She fired right up and ran beautifully. This sounds like a quick day, but I was new to this hobby so I had to start my inventory. I didn't own a feeler gauge, compression tool, or have any oil around the house, so it took a couple days to assemble the goods. Oh, and also the plastic was in terrible condition so I bought some super glue and extra screws from the hardware store and performed some magic. Except for the broken pieces that didn't exist anymore. So with an all in investment of about $30, I was now all in at $180 for this scooter. I quickly put the ad back up on Craigslist and delivered it to it's new owners for $400. I thought, man this is easy, I'm going to do another one.
In comes the Craigslist Killer.
I found a posting that was dated for well over a month ago saying, "Chinese Scooter, No Spark, Please Help". The ad was very short and the guy literally was just looking for help with his scooter. I messaged him and asked if he had any luck. He told me no and then I proceeded to ask if he'd like to sell it and we worked out a price of $150. I thought this a good price for something I believed I would be able to flip in a day now that I had the proper tools. Boy was I wrong. Upon bringing it home I instantly realized that in my excitement of my new found hobby, I completely failed to ask this guy any questions about his scooter. He gave it to me in pieces and only after I brought it home and dove into the mess did I realize how terrible this guy had messed up. He clearly attempted a big bore kit and had no idea what he was doing. Either that, or this scooter was a demon from hell and was never meant to run. Ever.
So thus begins my nightmare that I am going to begin to explain to you all. Unfortunately it will not be tonight.
I'm excited to be a part of this new forum and I hope someone out there is excited to hear all about this horrible scooter. Take care and I'll be back soon!
This is my first post to the site. I've been a long time motorcycle rider but recently got into 50cc scooters when I moved downtown. I realized how practical they were, especially for the college kids in the area.
So after deciding that I wanted to play around with fixing up scooters, I jumped on Craigslist and starting prowling.
My first success came as a 2009 TaoTao that a guy had received as payment for something I can't remember. Anyway, the ad said it wasn't running and had been sitting for so many years and Blah blah blah. I haggled him down to $150 and drove my trailer to go pick it up. I drained the gas, changed the oil and spark plug, removed and cleaned out the carb (yes I had to drill out the screws and I ended up buying about 20 extras from Home Depot), adjusted the valves and viola! She fired right up and ran beautifully. This sounds like a quick day, but I was new to this hobby so I had to start my inventory. I didn't own a feeler gauge, compression tool, or have any oil around the house, so it took a couple days to assemble the goods. Oh, and also the plastic was in terrible condition so I bought some super glue and extra screws from the hardware store and performed some magic. Except for the broken pieces that didn't exist anymore. So with an all in investment of about $30, I was now all in at $180 for this scooter. I quickly put the ad back up on Craigslist and delivered it to it's new owners for $400. I thought, man this is easy, I'm going to do another one.
In comes the Craigslist Killer.
I found a posting that was dated for well over a month ago saying, "Chinese Scooter, No Spark, Please Help". The ad was very short and the guy literally was just looking for help with his scooter. I messaged him and asked if he had any luck. He told me no and then I proceeded to ask if he'd like to sell it and we worked out a price of $150. I thought this a good price for something I believed I would be able to flip in a day now that I had the proper tools. Boy was I wrong. Upon bringing it home I instantly realized that in my excitement of my new found hobby, I completely failed to ask this guy any questions about his scooter. He gave it to me in pieces and only after I brought it home and dove into the mess did I realize how terrible this guy had messed up. He clearly attempted a big bore kit and had no idea what he was doing. Either that, or this scooter was a demon from hell and was never meant to run. Ever.
So thus begins my nightmare that I am going to begin to explain to you all. Unfortunately it will not be tonight.
I'm excited to be a part of this new forum and I hope someone out there is excited to hear all about this horrible scooter. Take care and I'll be back soon!
