Post Unusual Or Inaccurate Things You Hear About Scooters
Aug 30, 2024 20:04:22 GMT -5
190mech and aeroxbud like this
Post by 90GTVert on Aug 30, 2024 20:04:22 GMT -5
A dude asks me yesterday if he "can come by to show me something" just "really quick". Shows up with a piston and a head for a Minarelli. I advised this guy to put a Polini Sport on his scoot prior. Told him the whole plan of what that requires, exhaust to get if he wants more and what goes with that and so on. He found a "cheap eBay 70cc" that he didn't even know he had. Wants to try that first. He says he doesn't see how it's supposed to go faster if the crank isn't heavier, so he wants to put the cheap kit on to take it down the road and see if he wants a 70.
What he actually asked me about was building a 90. I looked at 90 stuff available today, I know how this guy is and he'll do the top end and tuning himself, so I thought a good iron 70 makes way more sense than him using 90cc stuff that's all mismatched (ports timing sucks, compression all wrong, cheap stuff).
I'm like, "Dude! Most people that own a two stroke put a 70cc kit on it to go faster. It works. Everyone knows it works." He says, "You know because you've done it a bunch of times, but I haven't." Then tells me another guy we know has 2 70s and they're pretty good. So he's seen 70s work well, but he hasn't had one himself so it may still not be true?
This cheap kit that he has came with no head. "Just cut the head bigger real quick. It doesn't have to be perfect. I just want to ride it down the road." I'm annoyed at this point. I don't like games so don't tell me you want to show me something real quick so I'll say you can stop by and then ask me to cut a 49cc head to be a 70cc head. I said, "Let me see what I have here, because I don't feel like $%^&ing working on a bunch of #$%^ right now." I proceeded to dig out a head from a Polini Sport, o-ring and all, and told him to take that and try it because it's way better than anything I'm going to do "really quick" on the mini-lathe.
It gets better. The piston that he brought is a 10mm wrist pin. He wants me to "cut it" so it fits his 12mm pin engine. I tell him I can't do that. "You're talking about a fit for the pin in 10 thousandths of an inch. The best I can do is go at it with a drill and that won't work." He says it'll be fine. I tell him it's going to either not fit or be loose and that's bad. He says it's OK just to take it down the road.
I point out that it has a circlip groove that would have to be cut. He says no problem. Just cut one in it. I tell him this is a precision thing too. If it's wrong the clip comes out and that's the end of that top end. Could ruin the whole engine. I said if you want to drill it, you can do that. I'm not going to.
I tell him just order the Polini Sport from the link I gave him (ScooterTuning.Ca) and it will be here in 3 days or so. Don't do this stuff. He then doesn't think it will be here in 3 days from Canada. Come on man. Again, I don't BS and I deal with them more than anyone else. Instead, he looks on amazon. He can get a 47mm piston with a 12mm pin for $9 and have it in 4 days. Says he may do that. I said at least that makes way more sense than drilling the piston, but I'd just do the Polini... it works... it's quality... do the job once. He still says he may cut the piston himself and that it won't be that hard to just grind a groove for the clip; again stating it just needs to make it down the road so he can see how it runs.
I spent 2 hours trying to talk him out of dumb stuff and into a sensible way to modify a scooter and I don't think I really got anywhere. MAYBE he'll at least try the amazon piston? There's also the fact that he thinks riding a 70 with a head that is all wrong for it and a drilled piston would tell him pretty much what it would be like with a quality 70cc kit.
Just to make it better, he asked about the scoot I'm working on now (T1... check the builds section). I said it's taking a long time, but I'm trying to do it how I want it done. His response was "OMG. That's your problem. Just get it done. I want to see this thing on the road." His ideology seems to be that it's better to get everything running as quick as possible, even if it's at great risk of failure. I was kind of worried when he brought one scooter over with the wiring harness twisted together in many spots and the engine mount in finger tight. I'll hope he would have tightened the motor mount up if it ran.
What he actually asked me about was building a 90. I looked at 90 stuff available today, I know how this guy is and he'll do the top end and tuning himself, so I thought a good iron 70 makes way more sense than him using 90cc stuff that's all mismatched (ports timing sucks, compression all wrong, cheap stuff).
I'm like, "Dude! Most people that own a two stroke put a 70cc kit on it to go faster. It works. Everyone knows it works." He says, "You know because you've done it a bunch of times, but I haven't." Then tells me another guy we know has 2 70s and they're pretty good. So he's seen 70s work well, but he hasn't had one himself so it may still not be true?
This cheap kit that he has came with no head. "Just cut the head bigger real quick. It doesn't have to be perfect. I just want to ride it down the road." I'm annoyed at this point. I don't like games so don't tell me you want to show me something real quick so I'll say you can stop by and then ask me to cut a 49cc head to be a 70cc head. I said, "Let me see what I have here, because I don't feel like $%^&ing working on a bunch of #$%^ right now." I proceeded to dig out a head from a Polini Sport, o-ring and all, and told him to take that and try it because it's way better than anything I'm going to do "really quick" on the mini-lathe.
It gets better. The piston that he brought is a 10mm wrist pin. He wants me to "cut it" so it fits his 12mm pin engine. I tell him I can't do that. "You're talking about a fit for the pin in 10 thousandths of an inch. The best I can do is go at it with a drill and that won't work." He says it'll be fine. I tell him it's going to either not fit or be loose and that's bad. He says it's OK just to take it down the road.
I point out that it has a circlip groove that would have to be cut. He says no problem. Just cut one in it. I tell him this is a precision thing too. If it's wrong the clip comes out and that's the end of that top end. Could ruin the whole engine. I said if you want to drill it, you can do that. I'm not going to.
I tell him just order the Polini Sport from the link I gave him (ScooterTuning.Ca) and it will be here in 3 days or so. Don't do this stuff. He then doesn't think it will be here in 3 days from Canada. Come on man. Again, I don't BS and I deal with them more than anyone else. Instead, he looks on amazon. He can get a 47mm piston with a 12mm pin for $9 and have it in 4 days. Says he may do that. I said at least that makes way more sense than drilling the piston, but I'd just do the Polini... it works... it's quality... do the job once. He still says he may cut the piston himself and that it won't be that hard to just grind a groove for the clip; again stating it just needs to make it down the road so he can see how it runs.
I spent 2 hours trying to talk him out of dumb stuff and into a sensible way to modify a scooter and I don't think I really got anywhere. MAYBE he'll at least try the amazon piston? There's also the fact that he thinks riding a 70 with a head that is all wrong for it and a drilled piston would tell him pretty much what it would be like with a quality 70cc kit.
Just to make it better, he asked about the scoot I'm working on now (T1... check the builds section). I said it's taking a long time, but I'm trying to do it how I want it done. His response was "OMG. That's your problem. Just get it done. I want to see this thing on the road." His ideology seems to be that it's better to get everything running as quick as possible, even if it's at great risk of failure. I was kind of worried when he brought one scooter over with the wiring harness twisted together in many spots and the engine mount in finger tight. I'll hope he would have tightened the motor mount up if it ran.
