Stretching my 2003 Zuma 50cc 2t

[furiousbob]

Alright.  I know I'm going to get a bit of flak for this.  I just finished building my 1986 Honda Elite 150.  As soon as that was buttoned up, I wanted to start on my Zuma.  It's getting an 8" stretch.  Here is the finished Elite and the Zuma after I sorted out the BBK and tuning:










So first thing's first.  Let's get a wheel!  It's a 12x7 Douglas




I had to bore out the hub bore to fit a hub I found on Drow Sports:




Then I had to make a spacer so the inside of the wheel wouldn't contact the transmission casing.  I had about .6" I had to space out.




Tire went on after lots of ratchet straps and some soapy water. Here's fitment:








Now it was on the fun part.  Making it longer.








I originally made the stretch kit out of 3/8 x 2" flat bar with a 1.5", .125" wall tube.  The thing weighs about 15lbs.  I picked up some aluminum stock in the same size and I'm going to try and attempt to remake it this weekend.

Made some brackets to relocate the shock:








And tonight I worked on making a spacer/rotator for the carb's intake neck/manifold




I have parts coming in to extend the throttle cable and the brake cable.  I also have a shorter rear shock coming from Aliexpress.

The front will get shorter shocks from a ruckus.  Some modification is needed such as shims for the top of the shock and I need to drill out the axle bore from 10mm to 12mm.  I also need to make a bracket to adapt the brake caliper.

[90GTVert]

Very nice work! Looking forward to seeing more.

[Zino]

Nice work Furious

[sToRm]

Ok I’m a little jealous of the Honda.
Got more pics of the Elite?
Also, what size is that rear tire for the Zuma?

[bigmatthew86]

I’m not a stretch guy but the work looks awesome. With the amount of force that’ll be on that thing I’d probably run the steel one. Wouldn’t want that to fail with me on it.

[furiousbob]

Oct 1, 2022 8:23:51 GMT -5 sToRm said:

Ok I’m a little jealous of the Honda.
Got more pics of the Elite?
Also, what size is that rear tire for the Zuma?

I'm glad you asked!  Literally nobody I know cares much about this Elite.  Even with all the work done.  So I'm very happy to show off my work!

Anyway I picked it up about 2 years ago.  Previous owner had it stored for 10 years.  Surprisingly, it just needed a new battery and it started right up.






First thing I did was rip the handlebars off and make me a new stem.




I ended up rounding everything over after that photo so it looked much better IRL.

Then I added the Trailtech Vapor.

AND then I decided to try my hand at painting my own panels.







Turns out, I suck at painting.  With my motivation sapped, I left the project to sit for a year.

One day I decided I wanted to lower the Elite.  So I started ripping her apart again.  I started with the front. 

Initially, I thought you could cut the spring down.  Turns out, there's only about 2" of travel.  Cutting the spring would basically be riding on bricks.



If you've ever owned one of these, you'll know there's ZERO parts for them on the market.  So I decided to swap to a ruckus front end.  I bought some cheapie shocks on AliExpress, a used fork off of eBay and got to cutting!




Turns out, after stretching the fork (stem?), everything else ALMOST drops in.  So the steering stop on the front of the fork tube needs to be trimmed considerably, the upper bearing race needs to be modified ( I ended up compression fitting the old with the new after doing some turning on the lathe ) and clearance needs to be made on the radiator support.  I ended up ripping the radiator support out, jigging it up on my table and massaging the arms out of the way with some heat.

Also, an adapter will need to be made to use the Elite's drum brakes with the Ruckus's disc brake forks.  Pretty easy.  Just two pieces of steel welded in a "T", drill/tap some holes, whabam.




For the rear, a pair of Honda Dio shortened shocks from AliExpress dropped right in with minimal effort.  Just needed some bushings/spacers that I made from some scrap aluminum rod.  The larger diameter shocks DO clear the exhaust.


The wheels were looking pretty tired. I threw em in my sandblast cabinet and powdercoated them back to silver.





At this point, I knew I was garbage at paint and I couldn't lie to myself any longer.  Tail between my legs, I sent them out to my favorite body shop.  $1200 later, they had it painted in Mazda Soul Red, or basically Candy Red.  It was a sight to behold.  It was gorgeous.  The shop did a bang up job.




I used SEM Trim Black on all the black plastics, making sure to mask over any legacy stickers.




It was nearly done, 2 years in the making.  It was still on non-op but I had it insured.  My buddies asked me to ride out in to the city for a night at the bar.  I parked it at the bar's parking lot and came back outside 3 hours later with my scooter tipped over on it's side. 

A hit-and-run.

My heart sank.  It almost brought me to tears.

If you wanna check out the bar's security footage.  Here you go, for your viewing pleasure






Picked myself up and got on eBay.  Nothing.

2 months later, after driving up and down the state.  Disappointment after disappointment. 

I finally found my parts from some dude across the country.  I sent them back out to the body shop.  Another month in the body shop.

She's now registered and ready to hit the road.



( I do have the access panel.  I was waiting on a knurled bolt from McMaster so I could easily open and close it to access my trickle charger cable )

To answer your question, the rear tire on the Zuma is a 140/70r12 on a 12x7 4+3 4x110.

The front will be a matching Douglas in 12x4 with a ruckus hub, ruckus forks, zuma brakes, zuma stem.  110/70r12 tire.

[furiousbob]

Oct 1, 2022 8:49:26 GMT -5 bigmatthew86 said:

I’m not a stretch guy but the work looks awesome. With the amount of force that’ll be on that thing I’d probably run the steel one. Wouldn’t want that to fail with me on it.

Honestly, I'm sorta glad to hear you say that.  I'm okay at welding mild steel but aluminum has always been a weak point for me.  I may just stick with the steel.  Time to go on a diet!

[furiousbob]

Oct 1, 2022 7:48:31 GMT -5 Zino said:

Nice work Furious

Thanks for all your help!  I wouldn't be at this point without all your help with the transmission.  You've single handedly saved this project haha.

[sToRm]

Thanks for the info on the elite. I’ve been toying with the idea of putting stock Ruckus wheels
on my Elite but I’m not sure of clearance, front and rear. Bought mine with only 110 miles on it
and now it has about 2000. 
My Rucks tend to steal the spotlight too, but the Elite gets love from riders.

[aeroxbud]

Nice work on the Zuma.
The Honda is a peach too. These old elite scooters are so retro cool.

[furiousbob]

Oct 1, 2022 11:13:43 GMT -5 sToRm said:

Thanks for the info on the elite. I’ve been toying with the idea of putting stock Ruckus wheels
on my Elite but I’m not sure of clearance, front and rear. Bought mine with only 110 miles on it
and now it has about 2000. 
My Rucks tend to steal the spotlight too, but the Elite gets love from riders.

I've been thinking about this too. Unfortunately, there are no aftermarket rear hubs available. I tinkered with the idea of fabricating my own but I'm not equipped to machine inside splines. The factory wheel does unbolt in to two pieces, however. The hub+drum+cooling fins and the outer rim. I think I could machine the fins down to make a hub that I could bolt a 4x110 pattern to.

The front is straightforward. Use existing aftermarket ruckus hub and just slap it in haha.

Also, laymen tend to gravitate towards souped up ruckuses while riders generally appreciate the elite more, I've found.

[hippo008]

I saw "stretch" in the title and thought oh god please dont....

But I saw the fabrication quality and I changed my mind. Whenever I see a """"""stretch"""""" done around here it involves a lot of Chin-easy parts, god-awful welding with a flux core gun and zero attention to detail. They end up looking like a ricer death trap. Your work however is much cleaner, seems safe and professional.

[furiousbob]

Oct 3, 2022 10:46:55 GMT -5 hippo008 said:

I saw "stretch" in the title and thought oh god please dont....

But I saw the fabrication quality and I changed my mind. Whenever I see a """"""stretch"""""" done around here it involves a lot of Chin-easy parts, god-awful welding with a flux core gun and zero attention to detail. They end up looking like a ricer death trap. Your work however is much cleaner, seems safe and professional.

Thanks! Yeah, I understand stretching in general is frowned upon.  I'm just doing this for poops and giggles.  It's slow season with work right now and I'm tired of working on my truck so this is the next best thing haha.

Anyway, weekend update!

Finished milling the adapter.  The float SHOULD sit relatively flat.  I may remake the part down the road for a better angle.

I didn't take in to account, though, that the throttle cable would now be facing the left of the scooter instead of the front of the scooter.  I'll have to hash this out once I get the fittings to make the new throttle cables.




Brake cable came in from Drow.  Although it's meant for a GY6, it worked with very minimal modification.  The drum actuator arm just needs to shift forward one tooth:




I powdercoated all the new parts I made in satin black.  I figured that would match the frame the best without venturing in to gloss black territory.  I weighed everything.  Not too bad!  Only about 10.5 lbs.  Still, I should go on a diet anyway.



I cut the CDI bracket off and re-welded it down the frame.  Extended the wires going to the CDI.  Even though my ground clamp avoids the fuel system, make sure you empty your tank and leave your tank cap off when welding.




I'm on the fence about re-making the two vertical supports for the stretch arm.  They're just 1/8" x 1.5" flat bar right now.  Looks a bit.... unfinished.  I've made ball joint or heim joint end links before for sway bar ends.  I'm thinking something similar to this.




Next, it's back to waiting for parts.  I was unsuccessful in mounting the front tire myself this weekend.  I'll have to bring it to my local shop to get it mounted.  Then I can start making spacers for the front wheel, making an adapter for the brakes, reaming out the aftermarket Ruckus forks to accept the 12mm axle and then figuring out a fender solution.

[repherence2]

Oct 3, 2022 12:17:35 GMT -5 furiousbob said:

Thanks! Yeah, I understand stretching in general is frowned upon.  I'm just doing this for poops and giggles.  It's slow season with work right now and I'm tired of working on my truck so this is the next best thing haha.

you got some Mad Fab Skills!  thank you for sharing your art and craft with us.  the ELITE is badass.  i appreciate and enjoy your work. 

P.S.  do not be afraid to share and showcase your work and projects on this Forum.  you do interesting work.

[jbjhillbilly]

Furious, that CH150 is sweet! And don’t feel bad about not getting the tire mounted. I’ve never had a harder time getting a 10” on than that rim. Eventually I took it to my mechanic.

Can’t wait to see how the Zuma comes out. It’s looking really, really good.