My 2014 TaoTao CY50-T3

[Upgrayedd]

03/07/14 - Picked up my new TaoTao CY50-T3 Scooter, still in crate.

Got it home, did a PDI on it and upgraded some things. Most of my upgrades were in line with what others here have done:

    * Picked up scooter and brought it home. Unpacked from crate.
    * Removed license plate bracket. Removed several stickers. Removed 'TaoTao 50' logos from both sides.
    * Replaced main fuse with Bussman inline ATM fuse holder and 15A fuse.
    * Adjusted Kickstarter.
    * Installed new fuel filter, fuel shutoff valve, all new fuel lines and vacuum lines.
    * Drained, flushed & filled forks with Valvoline ATF+4.
    * Mounted front wheel, fender, front end plastics. Greased axle, speedo cable.
    * Installed Prima magnetic drain plug set in rear end, and both in engine.
    * Drained factory engine oil. Filled with Rotella T 15W40 oil.
    * Drained factory final drive gear oil. Filled with Valvoline conventional 75W90 gear oil.
    * Drained factory brake fluid. Filled with Valvoline Dot 3/4 Brake Fluid. Adjusted front ABS brake bottle.
    * Opened airbox, checked and tightened all connections, removed assembly tags, verified integrity of air filter.
    * Carburetor: Drilled out cap over fuel enrichment needle. Removed all headless/soft screws, Replaced with stainless steel screws + lock washers.
    * Removed fuel enrichment needle. Dremeled the back end flat and slotted it for a flathead. Reinstalled. 
    * Installed new washers and nuts on intake and exhaust manifolds.
    * Installed battery in scooter. Padded and zip tied battery in place to prevent vibration.
    * Installed NGK Iridium spark plug.
    * Removed CVT Cover. Cleaned out old gasket, cleaned up CVT. verified no restriction washer. Reinstalled cover.
    * Modded Pickup for timing advance. Reassembled with timing set to stock, but can now be easily advanced.
    * Relocated all hoses, wires, and lines up behind both side panels of scooter.
    * Removed license plate light. Moved reflector up. Plugged 3 holes below that with black plugs. Put screws with black plastic washers in plate holes.
    * Used dremel to clean up rough spots and bumps on all plastics up and inside of back fender.

03/17/14 - Started scooter for first time, adjusted idle fuel mixtue. went for a ride.



  

All things considered, things were good on the first ride. The scooter started right up in under a second. I let it warm up for about 5 minutes then adjusted the idle fuel mixture. I spent some time running the engine up and down through the rpm ranges, varying RPMs. The scooter runs decent. On a short downhill section after a flat, the stock speedo quickly went to 40mph (I suspect its off somewhere around 10% as most bikes are) and it would have gone faster but I didn't want to on the first trip out. I think I may be having some similar issues as 90GTVert had with his TaoTao in the beginning.. a bit of sputtering when rolling on the throttle, Some weird spots in the throttle.




Where I'm at now:

Intake, exhaust, and jetting is all stock.

I am going to order a tachometer for tuning.

My biggest issue at the moment is getting more power for hills.  Going up any hills other than a tiny one with a full speed running start, the scooter is just a Dog. I have one hill I have to climb on the road I live on, its not a long hill but has just enough incline that the scooter barely makes it up it. Another hill in town is not much incline, the scooter slows further and further all the way up it til its dropping below 20, and RPMs are very low.

This is what I need to get figured out.

[dan50]

Looks like you'll be in the market for a BBK soon. Hills around here are not bad, but they will slow my stock scooters to 20mph at WOT.

[Upgrayedd]

Mar 18, 2014 1:36:42 GMT -5 dan50 said:

Looks like you'll be in the market for a BBK soon. Hills around here are not bad, but they will slow my stock scooters to 20mph at WOT.

I've thought about that 47mm BBK.

I've also thought about heavier clutch springs/clutch mod for higher rpm engage, and lighter rollers/sliders to get my rpms up where the power is.
I'm going to hang back for feedback on this for a few days while I wait on my tach to come in, and wrap up a couple other things in the mean time.

Makes sense to me if I'm going to have to do a BBK no matter what, to do it first and then tune the CVT afterwards. But... this is my first scooter. I'm not sure if I have to have the bigger displacement, or if I might gain enough power through a CVT tune.

I don't have any massive hills to fly up really, just small ones. And no need to book up them doing 40 either. 25 or 30 would be fine.


The clutch is engaging at so low an RPM, there's just no real power down there. Am I correct in thinking that heavier clutch springs/modded clutch for higher RPM engage would still engage at the same RPM with a 72cc bore vs the stock 49cc bore?

[dan50]

Yes you are correct. The clutch will engage at the same RPM regardless of the engine size. A BBK will net you more HP, and the ability to handle some hills.
What it seems like you want in not a clutch mod, but to change the rollers in the variator to build RPM's a little quicker.

[90GTVert]

Lighter rollers or a set of sliders may help. Nothing it going to do the job of a big bore kit on hills, but mine definitely accelerated better with the RPM raised from stock. May be enough to keep you happy for a bit, maybe not.

[Upgrayedd]

I have a couple questions about the 47mm big bore kit.

1) Will it work with my stock carb/intake, and stock exhaust?
2) I see bbks with piston and jug, but no head. And other bbks, a head comes with it. Do I need the 47mm machined head, or just use my stock head?

[90GTVert]

1) Yes. You will most likely need to install a larger main jet and tune the idle mixture and needle settings though.

2) Many use the stock head with 47mm bore kits. That seems to be about the limit of using the stock head. Some aftermarket heads are nothing more than a stock head with the diameter of the combustion chamber increased to match the new bore diameter. The major effect that has is decreasing compression vs using a stock head. The enlarged combustion chamber should have a greater volume than a stock combustion chamber, so the mixture will be compressed less (lower compression ratio). This can be good or bad. With 47mm kits many report that a stock head works better because the compression ratio is still acceptable for daily use (most likely with premium pump gas only). There is a chance that compression will be too high and you may experience detonation and/or overheating that cannot be resolved with simple tuning.

If it's a big valve head then it's a different ball game. You may see increased potential with larger valves or better port designs. On the flip side you have the risk of piston to valve contact when valve size and/or angle/location are changed, more so without a piston with matched valve reliefs.

[Upgrayedd]

I just got back from another ride around town. Before leaving I pulled the plug to read it. The plug showed rich all the way around, so I removed the inside snorkel from the airbox while leaving the outside snorkel and cap in place. I also readjusted the idle enrichment just a bit as I had left it around 1/4 turn toward rich at first. This time I set it only about 1/8 turn to rich, which was about that much leaner than the initial setting.

So on this ride, my scooter did have a bit more power up hills, although it wasn't much more it was enough that the scooter only slowed down to 12mph on the big monster hill leading out from my home. That was better than yesterday where it almost came to a stop, but still not where I want to be.

Even in its lowest gearing ratio, the engine just doesn't have the power to deal with the bigger hills, and that's something I don't think lighter rollers/sliders will fix.

To dan50 and 90GTVert, thank you for the feedback. I really appreciate it, more than you guys know. I can't say thank you enough, I am OK with working on engines, but I've never dealt with a scooter before and we're on a tight budget so figuring things out beforehand, vs. spending a bunch of money for things that don't help, is important to us.



I am thinking the best next step will be the 47mm bbk. I am OK with trying it out with the stock head - we have a good gas station up the road with non-ethanol 89 and 93 octane so I have that at hand. The scooter has 93 in it now.

Going to look around some more online for the 47mm kit. If anyone knows of a good reputable seller I can source one from, that would be super cool. Thanks again you guys.

[Upgrayedd]

Just did the first oil change at 25 kilometers. The Prima Magnetic Drain Plugs really seem to do the job - both of them had quite a bit of silvery metal putty on them if you will. No actual chunks of metal. But the oil that came out had no glitter effect in the sunlight. Seems most of the metal was picked up by the 2 magnets and the filter basket, which I suspect may have been magnetized a bit by the magnet sitting under it.

As I followed 90GTVert's TaoTao build thread and videos heavily for information (thank you again) I find it notable that I did not find room for 750ml of oil in my engine either on the initial dump of factory oil, or on this change. (1P39QMB engine)

Again this time, roughly 625ml of oil came out, and about 625 ml brought it to just under the very top of the 'full' range. I've read many different figures on how much oil to fill one of these, from 550ml, to 750ml, to 800ml, to the manual specified 900ml.. but even with a thorough drain with the engine warm/hot, mine is only taking about 625ml.

I also changed out the gear oil. The magnetic drain in it also had the metal putty-like coating on it. The gear oil drained did have a bit of a glitter effect to it though, the tiny metal flecks shined bright in the sunlight.

[90GTVert]

Enviromoto has 47mm kits (discount info on banner on main page of forum) :
enviromoto.ecrater.com/p/16137104/enviromoto-72cc-big-bore-kit-with

There are quite a few on eBay for around $50 shipped.

Racing has a Naraku kit that may be higher quality. Not sure if it's worth the extra or not.
www.racingplanetusa.com/cylinder-naraku-72cc-kymco-50cc-p-4934-1.html?cPath=27843_27845_27851&sessID=51ea68998edc54b0f7e032f4da0962b7#.UyjN7oWBUxE

[flqu06]

WHeres the other mirror? The real mudflap on that model is one of the ugliest and does wonders for the look to remove it.

[flqu06]

mmy old scoot

[Upgrayedd]

Mar 18, 2014 21:07:13 GMT -5 flqu06 said:

WHeres the other mirror? The real mudflap on that model is one of the ugliest and does wonders for the look to remove it.

I have both mirrors : )     I was thinking about relocating a single mirror off the left handlebar end, that was what led to having just the one mirror up top there. Looks better with both for sure.


And that mudflap - I couldn't agree more : )  I've sat and looked at it over and over and thought about trimming it, or removing it.  The gas tank, and other stuff sits lower than the rear tail light and side panels, so I think if I remove the whole thing I will need to fab up a piece of trim or 2.

Maybe trimming it is the best option. I agree, It wants something done back there.

[Upgrayedd]

Mar 18, 2014 21:10:00 GMT -5 flqu06 said:

(pic) my old scoot

Looks like the same body style as mine.

I took the whole rear mudflap off of mine a little while ago and bolted the rest of it all back together without it, to got a better look at what's back there, and how it could be made to look. The two metal brackets that the turn signals mount to could be cut off of the frame and turn signals relocated. A side mount license plate would be easy to setup, but I don't require one where I live.
 
A single piece of body trim/molding made to cover that open back section could be cut and painted up easily, and would look real nice. I might could get away with using some plastic from a rubbermaid bin, or even cut one from a rubber car mudflap.

Well it gives me something to think about. I'm not sure I want to cut off those brackets and delete the entire mudflap. I do think it looks NICE with it gone though. I am also not sure on cutting the stock mudlap, both of those are more permanent mods.

Thanks for posting the picture

[Upgrayedd]

Here's the tail end without the mudflap: