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Post by earlwb on Mar 13, 2013 21:29:02 GMT -5
It is typically that the valves need adjusting. When the valve gaps close up to zero then the valves tend to stay open at low speed (idling) and the engine stalls out when you try to idle or stopping at stop signs or stoplights. The engine may run fine when cold but after it warms up good is when you see it happen.
I would suggest adjusting the valves.
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Post by earlwb on Mar 10, 2013 10:33:03 GMT -5
Well, you know we are all in trouble when Congress is trying to legislate "stupid" out of people too.  |
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Post by earlwb on Mar 10, 2013 9:17:14 GMT -5
Danno, that tire install that went bad was hillarious. The wheel is supposed to be locked down and the guy in the video didn't lock it down. You also really need to use the four foot long tire tool as well as the two to three foot long tire irons. One thing is the odd ball size wheels on some of the scooters require drilling a extra hole or two into the big red tire install removal tool so you can lock the wheels down better. The large red tool in the pic comes stock for 12 inch and 14 inch wheels but it needs a extra hole or tool to lock down the 13 inch wheels. Some smaller 10 inch scooter wheels may need some mods made to the tool as well. I use liberal amounts of extra soapy water as a lubricant as well. But I will say that last bit of tire bead is a bear to pop in place even with a five foot long tire tool. I also cut up a old plastic laundry detergent container to get the plastic pieces to use as wheel rim protectors so that I don't scratch up the wheel rim too much. One thing to help is to use a C-clamp or two to squeeze the bead together opposite of the last bit to pop over the wheel rim. You want to try to get the tire angled so that the bead is in the center more deep part of the wheel where it has that little bit extra room to help allow the bead to slip over the rim. I will say that the cheap Chinese tires go on so easy that you almost don't need tools to install them. But that troubles me a lot though. if you get a flat the tires will come off the wheel easily then, causing you to crash.     |
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Post by earlwb on Mar 8, 2013 16:49:26 GMT -5
I have been a big fan of the Pirelli S26 tires on my scooters. The tires are more stiff and the bead tends to stay in place better. Once I had a flat on the way home from work but I rode all the way home and didn't figure it out until the next morning. On the way home the scooter felt sort of squirrelly, I stopped twice to check the rear tire and it felt Ok doing a simple bob up and down on it and a simple kick test, so I figured I must be imagining things. it was definitely flat the next morning though. But the tire stayed on the wheel good and the tire's bead didn't come loose like it does on some other brands. So it was rideable.
Now I don't reccomend riding on a flat tire as it might cause severe handling problems. But I was nonetheless impressed though.
The rear tire does seem to wear down a little faster, but the rubber formulation is more sticky for the road surfaces, so it works better having a better grip, especially in the turns.
I do my own tire replacements on my scooters and I can tell that the tires are more difficult to put on and take off, due to the more stiff beads and sidewalls on these Pirelli tires. The tires are really well made and are so round and nice that I don't even bother balancing them on the wheels.
The Chinese OEm no-name brand junk tires pretty much almost fall off the wheels after you let the air out with weak soft beads and thin sidewalls and poor rubber compounds that have little to no grip on the roads especially when wet. Plus the Chinese tires tend to be lumpy, out of round and next to impossible to balance sometimes.
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Post by earlwb on Mar 2, 2013 9:57:59 GMT -5
Well actually a CVT belt that was a little longer might do it as a longer belt changes the gear ratio. That is a problem with the Chinese 250cc scooters a lot, as they may have more than one belt length that was used on the scooters. There can be a issue with having too tall of a gear ratio that takes the engine out of its best powerband which results in the engine not being able to pull the higher gear and thus it runs slower then. A good example is some guys putting on huge oversize wheels and tires on their 4x4 vehicle, but the engine doesn't have the power to pull the vehicle as it would with smaller wheels and tires.
One other thought is altitude can affect performance. Someone in Denver, Colorado at 5,600 feet elevation is not going to be able to go as fast as someone in Los Angeles California at 200 feet elevation. As mentioned already most speed measurements for advertising are done at sea level and when weather conditions are ideal (tailwinds?). Also weight can be a big issue, a big heavy fellow will never go as fast as a small person on the same scooter. The sitting upgright will cause a lot more drag than being tucked down in a racing position. The rear tire being worn down can affect the top end as the tire's circumference gets more small as it wears down. Thus a new tire on the scooter can yield a higher top speed than when the tire is worn out.
Then changing the variator weights was a mod some people did too. Using more light weights results in better acceleration around town but slows the top end down a little. Heavier weights can reduce accelleration but improve the top end a little more. The variator may not close up as much at high speed resulting in a lower gear ratio. This is actually a pretty common modification done to scooters for around town riding and where it is more hilly too.
Then of course if the engine has 15000 miles on it and was poorly taken care of as well, it just may be worn and tired and not capable of going as fast as before. The compression could be a little less, valves leaking a little bit, et cetera.
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Post by earlwb on Mar 1, 2013 15:17:58 GMT -5
62mph on a 125cc scooter is pretty good actually. That would be better than I would expect. Many years ago I remember a friend of mine had a Honda 305cc motorcycle and it would only go 70 to 75mph tops. Now maybe if you went downhill with a tailwind, you could get more speed out of it.
My Roketa 150 scooter would only do maybe 60mph after a long run at it. I had to get a little bit of downhill help in order to get it over 50mph though. But then it was about a three mile run WOT to get up to 60mph.
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Post by earlwb on Mar 1, 2013 15:12:32 GMT -5
Thanks folks, I appreciate it.
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Post by earlwb on Feb 28, 2013 21:30:52 GMT -5
I am a big fan of Pirelli tires myself. I had a low profile tire on my 250 pickup a sheet rock screw (maybe going to work in the morning) and I rode it 22 miles or so home and I didn't really notice it being flat. It just felt a little odd in the turns but nothing special though. I had stopped and kicked the tire and it felt OK too. But the next morning when I checked it was definitely flat then. I had the Pirelli SL-26 tires on the scooter. of course the tires have strong sidewalls and it was a bear getting them off and on the wheels. But they stay put good.
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