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Post by rollingbender on Jun 15, 2023 1:37:44 GMT -5
It’s trying to be a two stroke…. It throws a spark every time the piston rolls around🤪
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 1, 2023 15:23:55 GMT -5
My daughter is very much into horses and is a big fan of the Netflix series “ Spirit, Riding Free”. So we are going to badge the scooter “Spirit”  The horses are some aftermarket emblems for a Ford Bronco and the other emblems were pulled off an AMC Spirit. |
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 2, 2023 0:42:37 GMT -5
Today, I got all the controls mounted on the handlebars!  |
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 12, 2023 1:21:55 GMT -5
It’s quite a bit messier than I hoped it would be but the critical portion of the wiring is in and working.  The fuse box powers up and the tail light comes on when the key is turned on. When you pull the front brake lever, the brake light comes on. When you set the kill switch to “run”, pull the brake lever and hit the start button, the engine turns over and the spark plug sparks. Without the brake or the kill switch engaged, the start button is inoperable. Bad news… after many hours of blown fuses and temptation to utter foul language, I discovered that the rear brake switch is defective. 😡 I also wasted a bunch of time trying to figure out why I was getting spark at the plug at one point, and then no longer got spark. I believe that in the process of chasing down the brake switch issue, I fried the CDI because replacing it cured the problem. 😡😡😡 I ran the wires for the rear turn signals so basically, everything behind the handlebars is done. |
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Post by jackrides on Jul 12, 2023 12:27:55 GMT -5
Fine Work!
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 12, 2023 20:42:40 GMT -5
More wiring has been mapped out!
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 13, 2023 1:22:40 GMT -5
…And here’s what is best known as a “mess”…  The good news is that it mostly is working!!! Tomorrow, I plan to put some fuel in the tank and attempt to fire it up!!!! |
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 13, 2023 22:41:33 GMT -5
Today, the scooter breathed its first breath of life.
The exhaust was made by first cutting off the muffler from a 50cc exhaust assembly. Then, I did some bending and some un-bending of the pipe to make it conform to 125cc engine standards and welded on a flange that came with this cheap muffler I bought on Amazon. It has a really nice rumble at idle but seems to loose it’s mufflerness as more throttle is applied.
Tomorrow, I will clean up the rats nest of wiring, install and fill the tank, and connect the front and rear brakes.
And then…. We ride!!!
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Post by br4inl3ss on Jul 14, 2023 9:43:01 GMT -5
good job mate.
we gettin more video soon ?
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 14, 2023 21:51:34 GMT -5
Logged just shy of 30 miles on it today!!! Most was up and down the neighborhoods but I did take a short 6 mile loop out of town to open it up.  First impressions is that this is very comfortable and fun to ride. Even with the 10” tires, I think that extra 8” of frame (and stiffer frame) makes for an easy ride. My cobbled together exhaust sounds glorious at idle but it is loud when you get on it. I’ll need to do something about that because my daughter really doesn’t like loud noises. I still don’t have all the electrical stuff sorted out. I need to rework how things plug together to make it more tidy. Also, I was chasing several gremlins in the wiring and discovered that all of them live in the gauge cluster. When I unplugged the gauges, the gremlins became trapped an unable to cause unexplainable things to happen elsewhere in the circuit. I think I may just make my own custom dash. I would just make all the indicator lights and carve a docking station in the middle for my phone… most accurate speedometer/odometer anyway. Another quirk I discovered is that after 5 minutes or so of slow neighborhood cruising, it sputters and dies. It will start right back up. I figured out that at slow rpm’s, the vacuum doesn’t pull the fuel petcock open. Getting on it from time to time will keep it fuel happy. I’ll try a different petcock as we all know that every once in a great while, some things ship out of factories in China that should not have passed quality control inspections. |
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 16, 2023 21:06:25 GMT -5
Today I got the fab work done on the passenger’s backrest (don’t want my daughter falling off). We just went for a quick ride around town and both of us are loving the seat. Front seat is very comfortable and the back seat is roomy enough that she doesn’t crowd me forward at all. She just leans into the backrest and enjoys the ride and her new view from the elevated perch.    I’m convinced that the proportions being not quite right could be solved with a bit fatter tank that sits 2 or 3 inches higher. Don’t know if such a beast exists though… |
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Post by jackrides on Jul 17, 2023 12:19:53 GMT -5
Where's the baby seat and mechanical baby?
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Post by rollingbender on Jul 17, 2023 23:11:07 GMT -5
Where's the baby seat and mechanical baby? No baby yet🤣 Tonight, I addressed two issues. First, I replaced the Chinese made vacuum operated petcock with a different Chinese made vacuum petcock. I had the machine at work today and let a friend of mine take it for a rip. I poked my head around the corner and saw him doing the walk of shame😳. Luckily he had only needed to push it 50 feet or so. It had gotten starved for fuel and died. Then I made this doodad…  I removed the rivets from the muffler and welded this to the main pipe. There is sufficient space between the precision made baffle (piece of old microphone stand) and the packing screen that I feel I have done little harm to the flow of gasses but I hope I have done great harm to the easy flow of sound waves. When finished with these operations, it was too late for testing to confirm improvement. The weather forecasters have been so nice as to cancel the rain scheduled for tomorrow so it looks like I will be able to test on the way to work. |
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Post by br4inl3ss on Jul 18, 2023 10:45:47 GMT -5
dont waste time with chinese petcock. they're all terrible. Harley / Indian / Chinese petcock = same fight. go with honda, yamaha, or anything reliable ( so japan / taiwan ). but the best would be a manual fuel valve. imagine forgetting to open it and yelling for 15 minute before you realize you're a dumbfuck and just forgot it  thats what its like to have a real bike like those. even 60yo biker forget them from time to time. BIKE LIFE. i used to constantly forget it on my honda 250x before i swap in the R1 engine. same for my 74 zusuzki RS125. same for my neighbor harley ( when it work.... ). its my next upgrade if my scooter that identify as a harley stop breaking. done replacing those damn vacuum petcock. and they never break in the driveway, ALWAYS far away from home. |
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Post by 90GTVert on Jul 18, 2023 14:25:19 GMT -5
I'm happy to hear that your inaugural runs have gone quite well and comfy... aside from the petcock failure... but at least you managed to outsource the walk of shame. 😁 Mikuni vacuum pumps are the popular choice for those not wishing to use a manual shutoff.
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thats what its like to have a real bike like those. even 60yo biker forget them from time to time. BIKE LIFE.
