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Post by scooter on Apr 10, 2015 16:10:21 GMT -5
Well the back is starting to fall apart from the heavy headwinds..going to have to superglue it back together. The only other worry I have now is that I made a kind of bad investment in the cheap scooter since I couldn't afford anything else. Do the engines really rattle themselves to death at 2k Miles or 2k KM? If so..that means in my car I would have spent $268 in gas..which is nothing compared to the $1300 I spent financing the scooter..and the muffler is rattling off too..lol.. I was wondering if there's ways to get a LOT more life out of it, or if there's things we can replace so it actually lasts long enough to pay for itself. I Drive 7.7 miles to work 1 way..so that's a minimum of 14 miles a day..which equals to about 66 days before dead engine..though I've been driving it a lot more than that (409km today on the odo) and it's just got me kind of in a funk if it's really going to finish falling apart around 3628KM I can't speak for TaoTao scoots but I had one with over 3,000 miles on it and it ran great, I have another one with over 7,000 mile on it and it runs great, I have another one that the first number isn't showing and I think it has about 14K or 24K on it and it runs fine, and I see them online in the twenties so I wouldn't believe what you've heard about them dying at 2,000 miles. The body panels are cheap. I've been meaning to post a tutorial on how to fix them better than new.
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Post by wingsltd on Apr 10, 2015 20:28:25 GMT -5
Well the muffler bracket was cracked from the rattle, and I has to set it down as a speeding car ran a red light while I was left turning..spilled some gas but she's running okay. I'll take some pics
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 11, 2015 11:55:12 GMT -5
Wingsltd,
I wouldn't have any worries about the engine failing any time soon. While there must be a "lemon" once in a while, generally these Chinese GY6 motors are quite good. The main gripes riders have against Chinese scoots usually consist of the irritating "little things" like CDI's, vacuum-petcocks, carb-jetting, poor-quality switches, etc. All these issues while frustrating are easy fixes. The engines, bearings, clutches, variators, brakes and "important" stuff are usually just fine.
I rode my old Xingyue 150 for nearly seven years with no mechanical problems whatsoever... Never used a drop of oil, never got "loose" or gave any reason to worry about the engine wearing out. If the old scoot would have been able to keep up with 70 mph traffic, I'd still be riding it. I only "moved up" in displacement for safer riding in faster traffic.
If you follow the general advice of the guys and gals here, who have "de-bugged" their Chinese scooters, you will probably end up being very pleased with your new scooter. And, newer Chinese scoots are getting better and better. If you DO have to make a few upgrades to simple parts, it won't cost an arm and a leg, and you'll have good, affordable transportation.
Enjoy that ride, and don't worry!
Leo in Texas
PS: The MUFFLERS are pretty poor on these, and often DO begin to come apart inside. It doesn't necessarily hurt anything. I rode mine for five years after it began "rattling" inside... LOL! Just be sure to check the external mounting bolts, and the nuts that attach the header to the head, as these often come loose. So long as the exhaust system is solid on the engine and scooter, you're good... When you finally get TOO tired of the internal rattles, you can replace the muffler at your convenience... When you do, or any time you remove the header from the engine for any reason, you might want to either replace the header with a full-diameter one, OR, simply "chamfer" or bevel the inside edge of the header to ease the exhaust from the port in the head, into the small header. I have NO idea why Chinese makers use a header smaller than the exhaust port, but opening that header made my Chinese scooter run better, and easier to tune. Few riders do this, but it seems to be a worthwhile yet simple mod.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 11, 2015 11:59:40 GMT -5
Well the muffler bracket was cracked from the rattle, and I has to set it down as a speeding car ran a red light while I was left turning..spilled some gas but she's running okay. I'll take some pics I just saw this post... With that bracket broken, PLEASE be sure the muffler/header are NOT hanging from the engine head, unsupported. If needed, just use a piece of strap-steel from the home-improvement store to keep in in place until a better fix can be made. If the exhaust system "hangs" from the head, unsupported, it can damage the head.
Leo in Texas
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Post by wingsltd on Apr 16, 2015 7:27:22 GMT -5
Sorry for taking a while to get back on but work work work.
The scooter seems to be running a lot "better" (save the cosmetic damage and slightly longer accel time) since I changed the oils, which makes me feel better. I've been running it around 6k rpm on the tac and I'm hoping that's in the right area (6-7).
I don't even judge my speed by the gauge because I know that once i hit 30 it's all looks and doesn't mean anything. In ~4 weeks I'm going to have a fair amount of money saved up to put on as upgrades so making the list of exactly what to buy will be nice.
Sorry for not understanding jetting..ect. I know headers, exhaust and a few of the other things, and I also see that some people have replaced the airbox, but where do they put the new one? I don't see hardly any room anywhere for it to go under the seat.
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Post by wingsltd on Apr 17, 2015 13:35:46 GMT -5
My fuel gauge and tach stopped working after I went over some bumps in The Colony on the way to work (Thanks Construction..) Anyone have pics on where teh wires are/go so I can troubleshoot where they may have come disconnected and how to fix them? Thanks!
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Post by wingsltd on Apr 29, 2015 12:27:46 GMT -5
Just hit 1000km!
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Post by JoeyBee on Apr 29, 2015 23:02:28 GMT -5
Wow.... 1,000km already. You are putting the kilometers on quickly. I've owed mine now for 5 months and just hit 1015km.
Have you been keeping up with the oil changes? Some and the manual saw we can do oil changes every 1,000 km at this point. But I plan on doing it at 500km intervals just to be save. 750ml of oil is very cheap.
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Post by wingsltd on May 4, 2015 15:40:30 GMT -5
Wow.... 1,000km already. You are putting the kilometers on quickly. I've owed mine now for 5 months and just hit 1015km. Have you been keeping up with the oil changes? Some and the manual saw we can do oil changes every 1,000 km at this point. But I plan on doing it at 500km intervals just to be save. 750ml of oil is very cheap. I do mine every 300 because of my high usages. I also need a muffler because mine fell off..thanks road construction
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