Conversion To Naked 150cc & Digital & LED To Boot

[jloi]

hi everybody. I stripped the scooter  yesterday and cleaned  it  up real good  in prep. for  conversion to naked & I want to rewire everything  and add  the  LED lights  I bought at Northern tools  and also I want to convert  the gauges to digital .  I want to keep the digital conversion as simple as I can. Nothing fancy, expensive  or elaborate ; but I would  like to find something that incorporates all of the signal lights , turn signals ,switches  etc.  into one  panel  if I can; at least as many as possible anyway.

I've been looking on ebay and the web  all over  but don't know what is the  latest  in tech gear . Can anybody  provide any links, ideas, sites, etc.  to check out ?

 Kind of a shame since I recently bought this new speedo  lens ...  Tip - never pay for "expedited" shipping from China . I think it took  twice as long - about 5 weeks  and was 15-17 dollars more . That's about a $36.00  lens .  I didn't have any thoughts  of converting anything at that time .

 I'm wondering if anyone has used bullet connectors  for scooter /cycle wiring as I want to do away with these  bulky pin connectors  that crack etc. over time . Instead  of completely rewiring , which doesn't really seem necessary maybe I'll just replace  the  pin connectors with soldered  bullet connections. I would really appreciate any input  or  links from  anyone with experience  in this  kind  of stuff .

 Things I have done  to this scooter  in the 3 years  I've  had it.

 new rotor and front caliper and bearing

 rear brakes and wheel bearing

2 new tires

new rear brake cable

new throttle  cable

all new switches

 new ignition switch

new extra large  mirrors

 new swing arm

 new speedo lens

new carb

 new drive belt

new motor

 new rear wheel and tire

new muffler

 new header  pipe

 

[jackrides]

Bullet connectors are cool with a few additions. Wire into connector must have shrink tubing over the junction, 1 is good, two layers is better. Wires should have a little dielectric grease on the ends before crimping. (Every auto parts store sells it cheap.)Female end should point down to keep water out. Connector ends should have a little dielectric grease on them.

[jloi]

all great points , thanks a  lot.

[oldgeek]

Neked scoots are EZ er to work on, that's for sure. I love mine. The Trail Tech Vapor cluster does some of the things you are looking for. I built a wiring harness from scratch for my scoot, it looks very sketchy but I like it that way. I also converted from a bunch of switches mounted in the panels like yours, to motorcycle style switches at the grips.

Took an angle grinder to anything that was not absolutely needed on the frame. There is no ignition switch or steering lock either. This is hands down my favorite scoot to ride, and I have had quite a few to choose from in my time.
This is not the best picture of it, but you can see many of the things I did. If you think it looks like poo its ok, that is the reaction I was going for.

[jloi]

Nah. No poo here. I'm sure it'll look great when you're done .

Is that a modified / custom floorboard ?

www.metalsupermarkets.com/

I'm thinking of some sheet aluminum ; 24"x24" just under 1/8" thick maybe 3/32nds  for about $40.00 for floorboard material; not sure what gauge that is . Then I can cover it with some kind  of rubber and screw it down to the alum. . cut a hole for battery box  and screw that down too.

I'm still hunting online for JUST a tach and speedometer gauge but I want a digital one . I don't need GPS and all the other stuff that comes with them these days .

 I think I want to put a partial plexiglass  skirt  on each side below the seat  and around the  back . I may try to use same material for surrounding the frame  coming down from  the handlebars  too .  This seems workable with lots  of rubber washers and grommets . What do you think ?

 This frame has so many posts/ standoffs  it should be pretty easy to attach material  to it.

 Wish I had one of those lifts  . Nice to work on it  up off the ground.  You an A/C guy ?

[jloi]

Update on conversion headway-

a while back I also got rid of emission pipe on valve cover and blocked it off.

just finished putting new stem and steering column bearings in .

1st real conversion thing after removing all plastic except front fender and instrument cluster was making and adding new stainless plate to mount new lights , horn ,and rectifier.Placed slab of silicone rubber underneath it to try to absorb vibration; don't know if it helps- still vibrates so this is just temp . I'll make a beefier version .












Even tho it's off topic I couldn't resist the last pik cause he/she was there at the time I was doing this work.
I wrapped things up one evening and was sitting in the garage door opening , just out of sight in pic, when I heard a flutter and caught some movement up high on my right . I got up and slowly peaked outside on the roof. This big guy ? was sitting there so I ran and got my phone. He/she let me take about5 pix and then he flew right across the street and I walked over and took some more but they didn't turn out like this one. Very cool. Ominous ? who knows ? about 3.5 ft. wingspan I think

only scooter - stock -2014 TaoTao ATM EVO 150cc long case QMJ 157

[90GTVert]

I have used rubber mat or grommets with light mounts in the past, but but had better results just making things beefy enough as you said. I've used rubber to try to isolate lights from the vibrations after having lights fail, but I don't think I accomplished much. The worst of my issues were when LED spot lights were a bit newer. Hopefully they're making them better than they used to.

[jloi]

So  ,  90 GTVert  ...

did beefing things  up help much  ?  I might waste some more slab silicone rubber  putting some   right behind  the "Y" mount  thingy that bolts directly to the  main column  ;  whenever I do beef  up  the mount   plate   for lights etc.  . 

[90GTVert]

I made my current headlight light bracket from 1/8" steel and it's bolted directly to the frame. So far so good. Mine also stays pretty narrow. Thinner materials and longer distances from center will likely exaggerate any flex/vibration.

[jloi]

Thanks a lot. I will make sure Igo at least 1/8" thick. I can get sheet aluminum cheap at a local place .

[90GTVert]

Steel is stronger and cheaper, but it's your call. 1/8" aluminum sheet/bar 2ft or wider for your signals is definitely going to flex quite a bit. You could design something with bracing and such, but I think the better bet is to use something stronger for the material (thicker or steel) and keep the bracket setup as narrow as you can. Here's my headlight and turn signal bracket and setup if it helps to give you an idea. Pretty simple. The one that you'll see all bent up is not from normal use. That's from hitting a deer.










Just looking at yours, I would prob mount the horn elsewhere or underneath and pull the headlights and turn signals in tighter to center. I do get that having the turn signals wider could be good for safety, but even stock scooters usually have a pretty narrow spread, especially on the front lights. Rough ideas...






Here's an old setup of mine just in case it gives you any ideas.








You can find bunches of turn signals that mount like the ones shown in the first pics, and for low prices, by searching eBay or amazon for "motorcycle turn signals" if they are of interest. The post mounts make it easier to get a little width without big brackets.

[jloi]

I wonder if 1/4' aluminum would be ok just for a base plate by itself to mount everything onto and underneath . I don't have an actual headlight yet .So I'm not fabbing an actual headlight bracket yet . That money is down the road for me .

This local place has sheet steel too. I just thought alum. would be lighter .

Also , no welding here . Bummer.

Yeah , I agree the lights are a little wide right now . Those little square ambers are fine for nite but worthless in daytime . I'll do more looking for something I can mount back to back for 360 line of sight .

I might have to hold off scooter parts buying for a while and save money instead . I haven't figured out the running rich problem yet but I can't keep endlessly feeding money into it . Before I continue on conversion, front lights etc. , and rear turn lights too, I need to get it to run right . I'm afraid I'm gonna burn up the rings , and all the bearings etc. , if I keep driving it with these too rich conditions .

[90GTVert]

For right now, and prob for free... move the horn. Move both headlights in to meet at center and move the signals in right up against them. That would have to help some with flex/vibration and likely for just time.

[jloi]

ok. got it

[PDub]

You can bend steel and maintain its integrity, where aluminum with sharp bends will become brittle. So you could fabricate a very similar bracket to Brent's by cutting and bending steel (use a vise and hammer -- make a cardboard template first).

(And cool owl!)