2003 Yamaha Vino 50

[2tdave]

New scooter rider here (but I have ridden motorcycles for many years). Last week I picked up a one owner 2003 Yamaha Vino 50 with 8500 miles. It came with the owners manual and all service records. The po maintained it very well and only used it for riding around his lakeside community. Needless to say it's in great condition. I've spent the last week riding it around and it runs great except for takeoff. When I get on the throttle from stopped, the engine spins up and the bike kinda starts to move. After a few feet it grabs and pulls fine all the way to top speed.

From all the research I've done I'm thinking the po never had the contra spring or the clutch springs changed and after 20 years they have sprung all they could spring. Am I correct in this and if so what springs should they be replaced with? The bike is bone stock, even still HAD the variator restricter in place, so I don't need racing springs. One thing, I live in Upstate SC and have LOTS of hills. So I don't need to focus on top speed but on hill climbing power.

[Zino]

The vino is a great platform easy to make fast .

Contra Spring.
If the contra is weak it will shift into high gear too fast just like you were running real light variator weights.
The contra pulls you back down into low gear when you are off throttle
This would effect the on off throttle while you are already moving if that feels good and responsive the spring is ok


Clutch Springs
The clutch Springs hold you from moving until you are in the power band
So if you roll slow for 30 feet and then pick up speed the clutch springs being a notch stiffer will clean that up

On my vinos I upgraded to medium polini green clutch springs from polini part # 245.012 or ncy blue or yellow ncystore.com/ncy/ncy-clutch-spring-1000-rpm-set-aprilia-jog-zuma-50

To really make that thing fun
pipe
A malossi wild lion bolts right up to it and will make it noticeably faster and these same clutch springs work well for the pipes power band

Variator
A malossi variator fits and gives you better shifting and higher gear

Jets
I used mikuni jets with the stock carb in the 70 to 75 range to feed it better with the new pipe

These 3 things had me pushing low 40's


.

[bigmatthew86]

Throw a 70 kit with what he just told you & they will run 50 on the flat. With the wild lion pipe they are still nice & quiet. It makes for a great sleeper setup.

[pili]

A sport 70 kit like a cast Malossi and the Wild Lion pipe will also give you much more torque to pull those hills. Night and day, best bang for your buck. You'll get addicted and want more like the rest of us, but first experience how fun these 2t's can be.

[2tdave]

Thanks for all the info. I was thrilled to be able to get a 2t. Now I need to keep learning about the cvt. I like the fact that it's so easily tunable

[2tdave]

I changed the clutch springs and that made a huge difference. I've ridden it to work and back a couple of times (30mi each way) and it did fine. I did notice a noise at about 30 mph coming from the clutch area. After some troubleshooting I think I need to replace the case bearing. With the cover off, there's no noise but the end of the axle starts to vibrate as speed increases.

I'm having trouble finding a part number for the case bearing. Also would it prudent to just replace all the bearings?

[aeroxbud]

If it's a vino YJ 50cRAR classic www.revzilla.com/oem/yamaha/yamaha-93300-63813-00-bearing?sku_id=1533285
If it's the YJ 50RR www.revzilla.com/oem/yamaha/yamaha-93300-63813-00-bearing?sku_id=1533285
It's the same bearing, so you might be able to get it cheaper by searching the part number. Or your bearing should have a part number you could order cheaper.

[2tdave]

Model is YJ50R. How can I tell the difference between R, RR and RAR?

[aeroxbud]

From a quick search. The RAR classic is the four stroke. The R is an earlier version sold in Japan and Europe from 1997.
The RR is officially imported by Yamaha in 2002 to the States. It's a two stroke.
Not sure about the difference between the R, and RR. But I'm guessing it's emissions as this changed in Europe in 2003. So probably has a cat in the exhaust.

[wiscootsin]

did you do anything to the clutch pads? Sometimes they need replacing and sometimes simply sanding them a bit restores their ability to grab the clutch bell (you can clean that too). a Friends vino started doing that near similar mileage.

[2tdave]

I did scuff the shoes and bell. Not sure why but the problem eventually fixed itself. Go figure