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Post by Fox on Nov 15, 2011 23:22:39 GMT -5
I was sitting here thinking about guys who modify their scooters and how they think. I get it! It's fun to get a 50cc to go 50 or 60 yeah, I understand that, Roberts trophies are living proof of the fun you can have but I also think that it's just as fun to get a beat up wreck of a scooter and nurse it back to full stock clean as the day it was built. I find it rewarding not only cause I get money from the sale, but because I pulled it off yet again.  The hundred dollar bills are my trophies.  My daily driver is a stock Minarelli. |
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Post by jmkjr72 on Nov 15, 2011 23:35:39 GMT -5
well lets see i wrench on other peoples scooters to help pay for my parts
and some times its the best of both worlds i get to spend some one elses money makeing there scoot go faster
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Post by Fox on Nov 16, 2011 0:41:29 GMT -5
It's just that once you start modding there's no end to it and if your never satisfied with it then for me that would take away from the simple enjoyment of riding a scooter. I guess I'm just getting old.  |
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Post by 90GTVert on Nov 16, 2011 1:45:48 GMT -5
Not modding and keeping your money or restoring to earn money is definitely the smartest. Modding is the most fun to me and I think you will learn more taking that route. The need for speed tends to drive a desire to put more thought into some things than I feel most would just getting a scoot running. For a 2T for example, sure you might start with just throwing on a big bore kit.... but then you'll need a little more and you'll starting looking into a pipe or maybe port timing or maybe adjusting squish and compression and eventually you're swapping cranks and porting cases and whatever else you can think of.
It's a habit for me anyway. Whenever friends tell me I need a big bike I say, "I'd love it, but I can't afford to have the motor out every week." Then it's "Dude, get a 1000 and it's super fast stock." Me, "So? What do I learn by leaving it alone?" My car is the same way. Just kept building and learning and wanted more and more.
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Post by Fox on Nov 16, 2011 2:18:48 GMT -5
Yeah I will remain ignorant if I don't ever try it that's true. I'm just looking at it from a financial aspect. I see all the blown belts and cooked top ends of all you guys and I see money down the drain. I guess I'm just an old, cheap-ass now. :lol:
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Post by 190mech on Nov 16, 2011 5:45:04 GMT -5
In the experimental aviation world,Ive noticed 2 types of aircraft builders,the Builders,and the Flyers..Builders just enjoy the construction and constant tinkering with their planes and rarely fly them..The Flyers put theirs together and just fly all the time!!
I fall into the builder area for scoots as mine is just a 'test bed' for new and sometimes wild ideas,thats my enjoyment!!My hat is off to the 'iron butt' riders too!Everyone has their fun in different ways!!
;D
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Post by bigkahuna427 on Nov 16, 2011 6:49:41 GMT -5
I think the modding is a great hobby and interesting to me. However, in the years of mechanical experience I have seen hundreds if not thousands of examples of people who really don't know what they are doing spend thousands of dollars try to better what miilions of dollars of r&d and engineering accomplished. I think there are a good number of people who come on to these forums do a lot of research and then feel they "mod" something to make it better. Well, better is relative and subjective. IMHO the more you screw with the more you screw up. If you have made your scooter faster and then rode it 40 miles before it seized up that is not better at least not in my opinion. How many examples are there on these boards of "I just installed a BBK and it won't start" or "I took my exhaust off put it back on and now it won't start". If you can't make an engine run you certainly can't make it run better. For the many people who are "modding" perhaps you do not know how much you do not know..... My 2 cents for what it is worth....
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Post by bigkahuna427 on Nov 16, 2011 6:53:15 GMT -5
In the experimental aviation world,Ive noticed 2 types of aircraft builders,the Builders,and the Flyers..Builders just enjoy the construction and constant tinkering with their planes and rarely fly them..The Flyers put theirs together and just fly all the time!! I fall into the builder area for scoots as mine is just a 'test bed' for new and sometimes wild ideas,thats my enjoyment!!My hat is off to the 'iron butt' riders too!Everyone has their fun in different ways!! ;D Well put :clap: |
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Tweak09
Scoot Enthusiast
2011 Yamaha Zuma
Posts: 125
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Post by Tweak09 on Nov 16, 2011 7:33:35 GMT -5
To me modding is learning. Everything I've done with scoots, xbox's and rc cars. Had I not opened it up or tore in to it I wouldn't know anything about them.
Modding doesn't always have to make the item better, at least not in the beginning. I remember long ago I had an HPI RS4 rc car. I think stock it had a .12 motor in it but I wanted something bigger. Picked up a used .21 OS motor off ebay pretty cheap and went to town. Longest time it never worked. I didn't have the knowledge to make it work. Talked to a guy at the hobby shop one day about it. He had done something similar and aided me on what I needed to do to make it work. Because this guy modded I was able to get my project working.
That kind of touches base with what bigkahuna said about people joining the forum and saying after installing said part scooter doesn't work. If it wasn't for people who didn't mod there would be so many things in this world that aren't what they are today haha. Their joining this forum because people on this forum have made modding scoots an open library of information of what works and what simply doesn't.
Everyday I look on this forum and see what 90GTVert and 2stroked are doing with their scoots. Because of Brent's interest in modding I'm sure he's helped a lot of people into taking a beater or a fresh off the showroom floor into a mean scooter.
I've modded my Zuma with the help of info on here and zumaforums. Because of people modding I know what worked and what didn't. I was able to take their info with a small budget and have a very reliable scoot. Quite quick too for what I need it for. Zuma mods are: Stage 6 70cc, Leo ZX, Arreche 19mm carb and stage 6 vari/drive face.
My :2cents:
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Post by Fox on Nov 16, 2011 9:12:28 GMT -5
WOW! Great responses guys! 190mech, Everyone has their way of having fun..I agree. Let 'em rock! bigkahuna427, I was thinking along the same lines before. A kitted 2T Mina is like a candle that burns twice as hot but half as long. Tweak09... You're just plain smart. I will try to follow any projects you have. Because this guy modded I was able to get my project working. Humble and true. |
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Post by 90GTVert on Nov 16, 2011 9:18:41 GMT -5
Well, better is relative and subjective. That's very true, and that's one of the things you should learn before or you will learn after modding. I'll glady have an engine last me for a little less time if it will cruise at 50 instead of 30 and things like that. There's a bridge here with no shoulders in a 50 zone. I have crossed it at 30 before and cars will squeeze by because they can't stand to slow down for one second. That is pretty much terrifying to me pinched between a guardrail and a car and hoping they aren't on their cell phone or whatever and gonna squish me. The other option is to sit and wait till there's nothing coming and then try to take off and make it with no traffic. On a slow scoot, that's hard to do at times even on a short bridge. With my modded scoots, I just speed up and follow traffic over then I can slow down and get back on the shoulder. There are other spots like that here too, but I deal with that one very often. Modding has made it so I don't think twice about it now. Also, it's not like a modded scoot can't be reliable. I've took a few 200+ mile trips now on my Venus (not to mention tons of 30-100 mile short rides), riding pretty hard and only stopping long enough to get gas for the most part. So far it's done those without a hitch and got 50-70MPG pretty much like it would stock. I could do that on a stock scoot too, but then 200 miles would take 1.5X as long and I couldn't race people from red lights very well. lol |
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Post by bigkahuna427 on Nov 16, 2011 9:32:18 GMT -5
Oh don't get me wrong def a lot to learn on this forum and a great resource. I used to teach automotives. There are planty of guys out there that are mechanics but are really parts replacers. Tons of mechanics can tell you if the alternator is working or not and then replace it. Far fewer can take it apart tell you exactly what is wrong with it and put it back together having replaced one part and working. I literally had a conversation with someone recently who was doing mods talking about doing a BBK and then in another conversation asked me what piston rings were..... :lol:
To me there are different levels of skill sets here.
You can take something apart put it back together doing a repair you have mechanical skills. This would require you to have tools, skills and knowledge to understand a process of disassembly and reassembly in a proper fashion.
You can diagnose and pin point a problem using various methods and skills, you have technical skills. This is a another set of skills that are different in that the parts replacer only has to remove the part and reinstall it where as the technician actually has to know how it works to know why it does not work.
You could actually build it. Now there is where things get complicated. I am suggesting that with true modding you really have to have and understanding that goes beyond knowing how it works but also what are the parameters and why those parameters etc just as an example. Another example would be electricians. A licensed electrician works within code. He has parameters that are given to him so when he is installing things it is safe. An electrical engineer has a better understanding and might even be able to write the code (if it weren't so driven by the electrical manufacturers).
Could you come on here and say use a combination or formula that someone else has had? Absolutely and kudos to those who do with success! :wheelie:
If you read Brents fascinating thread on his 90cc you will see there is some real hardcore R&D there about what works what doesn't and some trials and tribulations. Now there is a guy who is experienced in modifying and has some skills with the experience to back it up.
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Post by 90GTVert on Nov 16, 2011 9:56:07 GMT -5
To me there are different levels of skill sets here. Incredibly true. Some of the toughest stuff to learn are the basics of mechanical stuff and the little tricks that experience teaches. I used to be so amazed at the little tricks my father would show me when I got in trouble with something and asked for help. He was a mechanic till health forced him to do otherwise at just past 50 and former speed shop/dyno operator many years ago. Now he pretty much asks me about a problem and I do most of the work to anything, which feels really weird, but he's still got tricks up his sleeve from so many years doing so many jobs and around so many other mechanics that had their own tricks. Just little stuff like putting grease on something to catch metal chips or to hold a screw on a screwdriver... that sort of stuff that seems simple once you know it, but you may not think of it on your own. If you read Brents fascinating thread on his 90cc you will see there is some real hardcore R&D there about what works what doesn't and some trials and tribulations. Now there is a guy who is experienced in modifying and has some skills with the experience to back it up. Thanks, but that's just me learning. It's one of those deals where I thought I was doing it solely for others, but it turns out I've been learning along the way. Once again, learning through modding.  |
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Tweak09
Scoot Enthusiast
2011 Yamaha Zuma
Posts: 125
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Post by Tweak09 on Nov 16, 2011 10:20:11 GMT -5
Brent's 90cc thread is what keeps me here. It floors me the kind of time and hard work he puts into his scoots.
I think a lot of people on this board start off as you say a "mechanical skilled person." Because of the info here though their able to learn technical skill.
I've always been the type of person who loves to build things. Is the economy wasn't so bad and I had the play money I think I would have my own build thread on a track racer. I get together every Tuesday and Thursday and race on a closed parking lot. Their are about 30 of us now. We run different classes. I wanted off the "stock class" but since I didn't have the money to really spend on a good project I did my homework and found what worked.
I could have posted a build thread but it's the same ol thing haha. No point really. But since someone else went through the process of taking parts or modding other parts to work I have a reliable scoot that I race a fake road course in the parking lot 2 days a week and drive it 12 miles back and forth to work the other 5 days.
I really don't like posting cause I re read what I wrote about 3 times and each time I sound so rude haha. I don't want to make it sound that way at all. I know a lot of you guys that I see post a lot are a lot older then me too so no disrespect at all if I come off that way. Can't really sense humor or sarcasm over the internet haha
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Post by 90GTVert on Nov 16, 2011 11:35:06 GMT -5
I get together every Tuesday and Thursday and race on a closed parking lot. Their are about 30 of us now. You still owe us some video... or pics... ;D OK, so you don't owe us anything, but I'm sure a lot of us would enjoy either if any of you have a camera handy at some point. |
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