Flips #8 and #9: 2000 and 2001 "Pre-bug" Zumas! Twins!!

[niz76]

  Well I have a "two-for" for y'all this time! Two Pre-bug Zumas!

When I listed my 2005 bugeye Zuma on Craigslist I added a line to the end of the ad that stated:

"I'll be looking for a cheap 49cc scoot -with title!- to restore after I sell this Zuma so I may consider trade of cheap scoot (non-running is ok) plus cash."

I'm glad I added that because it netted me a pretty sweet deal! I traded that Zuma for these two 2000 and 2001 Zumas plus $200 cash.



"Hunny we have twins!" Haha. Apparantly the newer 2001 scoot does run but has a dead battery and the kickstart is messed up. The older 2000 doesn't run. As of this posting I haven't checked out either one yet...
  They both came with Leo Vince exhausts, one has a GP, and one a ZX handmade. The seller told me the older 2000 has a 70cc BBK also. We shall see.....


I like that they both have front disc brakes. I looked at a prebug Zuma (don't know what year) awhile ago and it had cheesy looking front forks and a front hub brake:


Does anyone know if these Zumas came with front disc brake or I wonder if the owner modified them??



Either way it's a nice improvement!

This (these) may turn out to be a little different than my usual flips; first off, the seller stated he'd actually like to buy the older (faster) scoot back from me if I got it running good and reliable. He said he liked the "rough" look with all the stickers and I wouldn't need to do anything cosmetically... Hmm I could re-coup some $$ fairly quickly and not need to d the time-consuming task of making the scoot look good!

As for the newer 2001 Zuma- well, I'm not quite sure yet but I may end up keeping this one! Time will tell....

[tiny]

Nice trade mate. The discs were standard on the Zuma/BWs other then maybe drums on the first 1989/90 Zumas.

[birdman]

Keep it! Or ship it to birdman as is. You like Paypal?

[Jwhood]

Wow niz thats a deal,i thought i was a wheel and dealer on the ole c.lister,but you got me beat by a mile,cant wait too see how these builds go!!!

[Mrx2002]

Wow what a deal! Don't like the stickers at all tho. Nice clean bodies is my thing.

[niz76]

  Tore into the older 2000. There was some coin spent on this scoot: LeoVince exhaust, Dellorto Carb, and Athena BBK.



It became evident very quickly that these vert. minas are not "maintenance friendly". I found it easier to just pull the engine rather than try to wrestle parts on and off in such a limited space.






I found the carb to be jetted pretty good at 97 and the plug looked good too. I put a 100 in. Also adjusted the carb float.

I also found a few more issues: Base gasket leak at the cylinder- I ditched the aluminum gasket in favor of Motoseal1- hasn't let me down yet.

The cylinder appears to have eaten a circlip at some time and I found no circlips at all on the piston! The scar in the cylinder isn't too bad and happens to be below the exhaust port. Looks like somebody already changed the piston ring- probably the same person who didn't install the circlips haha. Checked the innards of the engine the best I could and don't see any signs of debris...

  I also installed/repaired the center stand and put steel epoxy over a hole in the exhaust- looks like someone accidently drilled into the side of it while working on the center stand.


I'll check the squish and compression later on and with any luck I'll be doing wheelies on this baby soon! 

[2TDave]

Nice finds! I'm jealous. Good luck with them!

[existorlive]

Had one very similar to that build, wish I never sold it. Your going to like it. enjoy

[birdman]

Those vertical minas are potent powerplants!!

[Fox]

Hey Niz do you have any type of lift to get the scooters up off the ground a few feet?

[niz76]

Dec 13, 2014 19:26:10 GMT -5 Fox said:

Hey Niz do you have any type of lift to get the scooters up off the ground a few feet?

No- but that's certainly on my wishlist! I do all the work on the ground with a few rugs for padding- killer on the knees!

[niz76]

Finally getting somewhere after a few setbacks- The LeoVince exhaust was wiggling around due to the tab that connects the "V" bracket being worn thin and letting the whole exhaust move around and break the base gasket seal. Had to re-clean all the surfaces and start over again...

With @1.35mm squish I was getting about 128 psi compression. Removed Head gasket-copper spray only. Squish now 1.10mm and 135psi. 

Compression isn't as high as I'd hoped but it is a single ring piston and the cylinder unfortunately has a scar from what looks to be a circlip... Should run decent enough though...

[Mrx2002]

We know you will make it a runner again man!

[niz76]

 This scoot is kicking my ass. Got her all back together and been trying to start it for hours now. Drained the fuel, new plug, cleaned carb, etc. etc.
 It's difficult to even pull the spark plug on this vertical engine. Can't get the cooling shroud off without pulling the whole engine??? 

Now something seems to be binding and I can barely kick it over....grrr. Pulling the engine back out....

BTW- Found a Polini clutch and looks like Malossi gear case cover. Wonder if the vari is performance too?

[niz76]

Dec 13, 2014 20:59:52 GMT -5 Mrx2002 said:

We know you will make it a runner again man!

I'm tryin! I'm having real bad thoughts about this engine now. For some reason it has become practically stuck. I keep thinking about those missing circlips and now I'm second guessing myself thinking I should have tried harder to locate them inside the engine. Maybe I should've really flushed the cases out good... maybe of the two circlips I installed one has popped out and I'm causing damage by trying to turn the tight engine over too many times... All speculation until I dig back into her though. 
  The good news is I have a plan haha. There's nothing more frustrating than to know I have a buyer lined up and waiting and all I have to do is get this thing to run good! If there is damage to the crank or bearings I'm planning to swap the engines from the two prebugs. I'll take the Athena cylinder and LV ZX off and swap with the stock cylinder and LV GP... The buyer will have his faster Zuma back and that will give me time to install a new crank and bearings on the other one. Of course, the Polini clutch will probably end up in my 90cc
  Gearing up for round three with this dang engine!! 
Ding Ding byatch!