Which One would YOU use?

[tango]

Sept 20, 2011 12:36:39 GMT -5 gy6luver said:

what exactly is a "disc brake whore??

LMAO! The simple answer is that I won't even mess with a vehicle unless it has disc brakes at the rear and I will go to great lengths to have it that way. I haven't even had a car with drum brakes on it in years. I've actually relaxed that requirement a bit since so few 50s come with discs on the rear. Most of those are either 4Ts (like the Jonway F1, lower output than the 2Ts) or are liquid-cooled Europeans (expensive, complicated). I just hate seeing drums, I hate working on them, I hate using them. I just hate them, hate them, hate them.

[gy6luver]

got it

makes sense, dean (a guy from scootdawg) said he modified his scoot to take arear disc, it came with a drum, im guessing disc brakes on a scoot are better?

[lshigham]

My latest project has rear drums :tongue:

[Reign]

Looks like with those drums you couldnt stop fast enough and the grill fell out :laugh: Nice advertising with those flags all over the car too Now you just have to paint it green like Mr. Bean!

[Goosey]

Sept 21, 2011 3:19:22 GMT -5 lshigham said:

My latest project has rear drums

I like that :drool:

[2strokd]

Sweet Mini!!!! Luke, i love those lil buggers! They race the snot out of em Hehe.

As far as the scoots go, and im speaking from experience somewhat. A close friend of mine (Shakerdriver) has both of those style scoots.. He rides one daily with no troubles (other than running out of fuel Hahaha), and his wife rides the other daily with no troubles.

First off, they do look the same but there ARE subtle differences in design and plastics etc. They both are decent scooters IMO and worth the money. The "Baja" should be available with rear disc as well? But i wouldnt let it detour me. Ive had no trouble with drum brakes. The stopping power might not be equal to disc and they will fade with heat (cheaper shoes do) , but they always get the job done for me.
I would probably get the Baja and try to get it in the crate like Brent mentioned.. Like he said, all you need to do is put the front wheel on, maybe a fender or panel? and make sure things are snug and tight. Trust me! Your probably better off doing it yourself as they dont seem to do a very good job 90% of the time.
Another thing i might add.. At Pepboys you can haggle with em some! Jason and another friend both did it. For instance. Look a display model over real well and point out any scratches and or plastic mating points that dont line up.? Anything you can find on it that isnt right. Then ask them for a discount. The year! They are usually 3-5 years old already... The ones ive seen are. You could possibly get the price talked down with that.

Im not much for four stroke scoots at all. The 150cc ones ive riden arent bad tho. For around $800 for any new scooter you cant expect a diamond of a piece tho

[gy6luver]

I have spoken with shaker in PM's and he has nothing bad to say about baja, the only downside i have about them now is the fact you mentioned they are already "4 - 5 years old" and i want NEW NEW, the roketa i was going to get was a 2011 (manufactured in july of this year) I already have a 2006 scoot, i dont need another one lol

Ill have to check with pep boys to find out when they actually manufacture these models, also the install is putting handlebars on, putting the shocks in place, and front tire, seems fairly basic!

If the scoot is as you say and already 5 years old i would expect a DISCOUNT considering its not new but outdated, i wont pay 800 for a OLD scoot, i dont care if no one has ever ridden it or not!

[gy6luver]

the baja does have front and rear disc brakes

www.bajamotorsports.net/categories/scooters/products/SC150_sc150-on-road-scooter

you can clearly see them in the photo

[90GTVert]

I've rode with disc and drum rear brakes. I like the disc brake because it has a little better feel to me and some of the shoes on these are bad about irregularities that can cause vibration at speed. Either one works OK though. The discs do have a bit more stopping power... although in reality I can stop just as fast with the drum with less worries. The disc brakes will lock up the tire easier and you aren't stopping that fast when you're sliding. Also, I had to get off of a friend's scoot with disc rear because I was having too much fun skidding and didn't wanna flat spot his tire. lol

[gy6luver]

So i got on scoot *(btw carb is in but have not installed it yet) and road over to pep boys for a closer look at the SC150, it LOOKS like a real nice scoot for the price, fyi it IS a gy6 i saw the QMJ sig right on the engine block. It is BIGGER then my scoot or am i imagining it, it seems like there is more distance between the glovebox and the seat start, i could be just thinking that. when i sat on it it felt more like a motorcycle. it wasnt as skinny as the current scoot it was more "fuller" if that even makes sense.

I got down on the floor and looked it all over, there are a few scrapes on the body panels and one is not lined up clipped in right, the blinkers are loose, so are the mirrors, also it does have EGR on it i saw the piping (thats something i never worked with)

The disc brakes are on front and rear (for all you whores out there) and there is a tiny glovebox and a LITTLE underseat storage, would have to down size the tool kit or put it in the trunk for sure.

I got a few pics of it and you can see them here

www.dropbox.com/gallery/35382354/1/baja?h=df8d75

FYI: the guy in the store told me that the scoot was at least a 2009 but the vin and tag showed it to be born in 2007 (only a year older then my scoot) so it has been sitting there on the floor since 2009 he said.

I asked for a discount for the floor model pointing out all the little things and he said "the price on that bike is the price! Its brand new it went from teh box to the floor) but i asked another associate and he told me to come in tomorrow and speak with dan the store head honcho, said he was a real nice guy and he might do a deal with me.

Its a real nice scoot, i could have it as soon as tomorrow, but im still not sure, its an 07 do i want something that sat for almost three years on the sales floor (granted there are NO fluids in it, its never been started, and the sales floor is in a controlled environment)

if the roketa im looking at truly is a 2011 model im going to have trouble deciding BTW thats the only color, all the ones in crates out back same color,

Its a toughie! EDIT: forgot to mention that they said the scoot comes with the "pep guard" option, it seems that this is a one year warranty that starts after the manufacturers warranty expires (90 days from the scoot purchase) when i asked for a brochure it took them awhile to locate one but i brought one home, if the price on the scoot was right and the warranty didnt cost an arm and a leg i might be inclined, BTW i looked in the brochure all warranty work is done at pep boys (i didnt know they worked on scooters) unless one is not close by at the time of breakdown. Which is neat since there is at least a few pep boys in every state ill be travelling through on my trip!

[90GTVert]

Dang, that scooter thinks it can do 90! (See gauges.) Looks good. That really is a good price IMO. I wanna say my friend paid $700 for his 50cc Baja there something like 6 years ago IIRC. Of course your thought is that yours is 4 years old already, but that wouldn't worry me. Like you said, this one's been sitting in a heated and cooled store with no fluids in it. Things shouldn't be corroding and gumming up like it's been ran and sitting outside for 4 years or something.

I'd skip the PepGuard myself, but I never buy extended warranties on anything really. It doesn't sound like a bad idea though if the price is right given the circumstances with your upcoming trip. I would question the availability of parts though. I'd be kinda surprised if PepBoys locations actually stocked things like stators, rectifiers, ignition switches, coils... anything really scooter specific. So then even if you breakdown and get to a Pep Boys, how long will you need to wait for the parts to arrive so it can be repaired?

EDIT : If you plan to depend on the warranty I would ask someone there about what parts they carry. Even if they say they stock quite a few, I'd look at the store locator below and pick a couple of random stores near your route to see if stocking parts is common.

storelocator.pepboys.com/pepboys/

You probably aren't imagining things about the size. Some scoots are built with more leg room than others and wider fairings and other differences.

[gy6luver]

brent

always the wisdom one lol, i never thought about the parts thing, hell i got my carb from texas in TWO DAYS (thats faster then scrappydawg ever) lol, but i doubt they are a full scooter warehouse hidden under each pep boys, so the years old shouldnt matter? i did some checking on the VINS and it does not appear that baja has made an SC150 since that year, my guess is with scoots they dont get redone EVERY year like cars?

as for the roketa i have a sneaking suspicion that they are not as NEW as they are saying

its a toughie like i said, as for a scoot doing 90 i bet with the proper mods you could come close, i only want mine to do 65-70 flat out WOT, im hoping my gearing mods and other things im going to do will get me close

yeah it did seem bigger im going to track down the specs on the UM im riding now

thanks for the info

[speedy1125]

Sept 21, 2011 14:31:14 GMT -5 gy6luver said:

brent

always the wisdom one lol, i never thought about the parts thing, hell i got my carb from texas in TWO DAYS (thats faster then scrappydawg ever) lol, but i doubt they are a full scooter warehouse hidden under each pep boys, so the years old shouldnt matter? i did some checking on the VINS and it does not appear that baja has made an SC150 since that year, my guess is with scoots they dont get redone EVERY year like cars?

as for the roketa i have a sneaking suspicion that they are not as NEW as they are saying

its a toughie like i said, as for a scoot doing 90 i bet with the proper mods you could come close, i only want mine to do 65-70 flat out WOT, im hoping my gearing mods and other things im going to do will get me close

yeah it did seem bigger im going to track down the specs on the UM im riding now

thanks for the info

scooters dont get updated every year like cars. the only issue for buying a NOS (new old stock) scooter is resale value since 99% of people dont understand that they dont get updated every year and want to pay less like you do because its "outdated". I dont blame anyone for trying to get a better deal on anything though. The year doesnt matter very much with chinese scooters unless its like 20 years old.

MRP did every mod you can imagine on a scooter like that including a 180 cc bbk and saw 80mph tucked with no extra load. you will be very very lucky to see 70. WOT 65 is a realistic goal but it wont be cheap. you will need 180cc with a bigger carb, heavily worked over big valve head. cam, upgears etc..and with all the stuff you will be carrying you will be lucky to see 60. I am not trying to burst your bubble but dont expect too much out if such a small motor. If you want to easily cruise at 70 get a 250.
The faster you go, the more power it takes to go even 20% faster. My 83 runs 50 on flats with no wind. that doesnt mean that 180 is gonna do 100 since its twice as big. the faster you go the more wind and rolling resistance you have trying to slow you down.

Disk brakes are a good idea if you are putting lots of weight on it and are doing WOT all the time and never see rain. a drum works better in rain on a scooter. A heavy load in the rain on a chinese scooter with a disk brake in the rear sounds pretty darn scary to me. ever ride a scooter in the rain? the disk brakes dont work very well in rain. i would rather have a rear drum myself. problem is that few chinese scooter drums are truly round and are impossible to find someone to turn them. I got lucky in that mine is the closest to round on any i have had so i can adjust the rear very close. if i squeeze it hard enough it will lock. A hydraulic drum in the rear would be best on a scooter IMO but i have never seen one.

[gy6luver]

Speedy, love the words of wisdom, someone also mentioned that floor model may have tires rotting from the inside, things to think on thats for sure

[speedy1125]

Sept 21, 2011 16:52:05 GMT -5 gy6luver said:

Speedy, love the words of wisdom, someone also mentioned that floor model may have tires rotting from the inside, things to think on thats for sure

From the inside? i have changed a gazillion tires on every kind of car and truck you can imagine from the 50s on up and have never ever seen a tire that didnt look near new on the inside unless its been patched, plugged and fix-a-flatted to death. The main enemy of a tire is UV light. No light inside a tire obviously and no UV from florescent lamps like inside a showroom.
I am glad you mentioned tires though. For your trip i would change the stock valve stems to these:
kurveygirl.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=27&products_id=71

Also take a plug kit and those little compressed air cylinders with you:

www.partsforscooters.com/172-26-ATV-Motorcycle-Tire-Repair-Kit