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Post by prodigit on Jun 30, 2013 21:05:52 GMT -5
Brake drums brake just as good as disc brakes.
Sometimes even better.
The problem is if they use the same drum brake for a larger sized wheel, it brakes less good.
The drum brake on the TaoTao ATM50 works excellent, with it's 10in wheels.
The front disc brake of the BMS TBX 260 works bad, with it's 13in wheel and large tire.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 30, 2013 19:59:08 GMT -5
You need aerodynamics, some windshields are not aerodynamic, and thus slow you down.
Best thing you can do is just keeping it simple. Put a BBK on it, put a performance exhaust (one with large exhaust tip), rejet the carburetor, change the gearing, and adjust the rollers.
Additionally you will want to play around with adjustable CDI's.
That's it. A good $300-$500 to gain perhaps 5MPH tops.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 29, 2013 21:50:59 GMT -5
Drum brakes have spacing between the pot, and lid (where the pads are mounted on).
Enough space to get rid of the braking dust.
If anything, it's better to leave the dust in there, as it does not affect braking much at all, and it could help save the pads, however most of the time, the pad dust gets blown out, by the centrifugal force of the rotating tire.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 29, 2013 8:50:30 GMT -5
LOL  I do fear more water entering under the handlebars. If you want an even more dirtbike looks, you can remove the plastics on the handlebars too (never done it, but on most scooters it's just clicked together. That way you'll have a steel black handlebars, way more dirt-bike-ish than the plastics they put on there (I actually prefer metal handlebars over the plastic cover). Installing the rear sprocket should take less than 15-20 minutes time. Should it be, when you adjust the chain, and there's still too much chain slab at the farthest setting, then check your chain, somewhere on the outside, one of the links has a clip. You can take off that clip and shorten the chain there. I didn't knew, and bought a chain breaker and re-installed the original rod. Taking out the rod with the chain breaker is no problem. Putting it in there is. I bought this one: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GTXNI6I also bought some cheaper ones, but they where for bicycle chains, not motorcycle chains. |
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Post by prodigit on Jun 29, 2013 1:49:56 GMT -5
Yeah, they are. I was actually hoping to find some convex mirrors, but current mirrors work ok for me; not good, but I can use them; to look behind the left or right lane. I can't look straight behind myself because they are too close to the center like you say, even for skinny guys... Looks like you're riding without the front wheel fender  |
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Post by prodigit on Jun 29, 2013 1:25:03 GMT -5
Usually the ratio seafoam/fuel should be 1fl per gallon. The bottle is 16fl, and is recommended for upto 20gal tanks, so, yes, you probably put about 4-5x the amount in there.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 29, 2013 1:04:34 GMT -5
Seems like it uses the same clutch/gearing system as on my Roketa MC-05-127. The good about it: It's manual geared, good for optimal MPG, and top speed. The bad: The gearing often is geared too low (meaning you'd have to shift too many times, in a too short time to get to 20MPH, and the engine has to rev too high in final gear to get to top speed). It's all done because they made the bike to work for 2 people, but if you're mainly riding alone, a sprocket change could do wonders. If you're over 5'8" you might have problems sitting between rider and passenger seat, see below:  Solution: Rebelgears! They're the sprocket specialist. Just give the dimensions, and send a photo; or send them the sprocket, and order a smaller sprocket, but be sure you're not getting a too small one. The weak part about those gearing systems is the clutch pad, and the fact that the gearing lever needs to be lifted/pressed quite far. If you ask me, I'd prefer a fully manual geared bike. From my estimation on other bikes, and my own bike, I can say with a good sprocket change, you can get a bike that accelerates normal in traffic, like a 50cc (not much faster), ~  -110MPG, and a top speed of 50-55MPH. They could accelerate faster than a 50cc, when you're riding them like a nut, with the clutch slipping like crazy, running WOT at high revs, but under normal conditions, the gear shifting actually slows acceleration down, compared to a CVT which accelerates continuously. The good thing about this is that you can choose how to accelerate. Shift gears quicker, and MPG drops. Shift gears slower (stay longer in a gear), and acceleration will be faster than normal CVT's. The cons look like the bike does not have a lot of storage space. If I manufactured these bikes, I would have created more under seat storage space, and put the gas tank either between the legs, or more towards the front. They tried making a practical bike with that basket in the front, but IMHO it's not very practical at all. The basket is directly mounted to the handlebars, or fork, meaning that it moves left and right, as you steer (if it was mounted to the frame, at least it would largely be saved from sideway motion). This makes it very difficult to carry many goods in front (definitely no heavy goods, as it slows down steering), while zigzagging. It also looks like a very small bike (for people upto 5'8", preferably people under 5'5"). I like the 100cc size. Great for town. It can keep up with traffic, upto about 45MPH, and then should climb slowly to 50/55MPH. If the engine is anywhere near the same as on my roketa, it will mean they have a lot of low-to-mid range torque; unlike most 50cc scoots that get their highest torque from highest RPM |
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Post by prodigit on Jun 28, 2013 23:33:42 GMT -5
try squeezing the front brake, and releasing the lever.
Sometimes the front brakes get out of alignment (assuming it has a disc brake), due to rust on the disc, or rust in the caliper, or sometimes a warped rotor
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Post by prodigit on Jun 28, 2013 23:21:49 GMT -5
My stock TaoTao EVO150 gets about 69MPG. So it's not that unusual
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Post by prodigit on Jun 28, 2013 16:03:52 GMT -5
My ATM50 is a squeaker too!
It takes a few brakes to get the glazing off the pads, before they will operate normally (without too much noise) again.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 28, 2013 1:33:17 GMT -5
yeah, if anything 80W90 is heavier than 75W90
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Post by prodigit on Jun 28, 2013 0:53:52 GMT -5
Parts can be gotten from Roketa. Only stock parts. No aftermarket available.
The CDI is not custom, the engine is not your custom chinese engine, not to mention the transmission. What worries me is the clutch, that already starts skipping a bit.
Concerning gears, like I said before, going down to 31T basically is the same as having a 36T sprocket with a 'fifth gear'. In first gear acceleration, initially, it will accelerate slower. However once the clutch grips, it should accelerate just as fast as the 36T, because of less shifting. The gears become very long though (like you need to accelerate long in 1st gear).
And normal riding in 3rd, not 4th gear, unless you're going over 35MPH, then 4th gear will be that extra gear you've felt like you needed, but didn't have.
I'm going for it anyway. If my engine breaks, you all know what for.
It doesn't pay off to put yet another sprocket in, but if you buy the bike stock, and plug in a 31T from there (~$40-47), you can get that money back within 80 fuelups, lol, as each fuelup saves you ~$ 50ct, compared to the stock sprocket!
I may indeed be going very low with it. I decided I wanted to try it out, and see what happens. As soon as Rebelgears reply my email, to see if they can fabricate the 31T, I will let you guys know.
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Post by prodigit on Jun 27, 2013 20:24:03 GMT -5
Thanks! I'm just short of 1000km's on mine, and some parts are getting loose too. Somewhere in the back something is ticking, I think, everytime I hit a bump, I think it's the rear wheel rod levelers or whatever it's called, those things to keep the rear wheel rod at a fixed position, to adjust the chain tension; but I'll have to look in detail. With regulating the choke while riding, it's easy to find the optimal fuel/air mixture, because the bike performs better when you hit that sweet spot. In the sweet spot, I have gotten speeds of upto just over 70MPH on the speedo, that is leaning forward hard. Regular speeds are 60-65MPH tops on the speedo with the 34T. I'm only 170LBS, so gotta keep that in mind. I've noticed that there is no particular fuel that works better than the other. When the bike is jetted too lean, BP Premium gives that tad extra power, but with regulating the AF ratio with the choke, that same 'perfect air/fuel mixture' and performance can be gotten with regular too. The only difference is MPG. With regular, my MPG drops by 5, from 100MPG with BP premium to MPG with regular fuel. Now I'm only gonna fill her up with regular, as the cost of BP Premium ($3.999/gal) does not work out better, financially, compared to regular ($3.499-3.599/gal). So even if MPG's drop, overall you'll still be paying more with BP Premium gasoline per mile, than with regular. averageguy, whenever you feel upto it, and the bike has warmed up, take it out on a wot trip of at least 10 minutes with the 36T sprocket. I'd be interested in what your top speed amounts to. As far as lugging the bike, you can always refrain from going WOT in final gear. If you're easy on the bike, it won't lug; especially not because the clutch prevents that the RPM's get too low. A 31T is going to be very small! I think a 34T is small, at stop lights I can barely keep up with other cars, and if I go wot acceleration, I can accelerate just like peppy cars would. With a 31T it'll be a true econo rider! Slow acceleration, probably recommended to accelerate to nearly top revs in 1st gear, to keep up with the rest of the cars. |
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Post by prodigit on Jun 27, 2013 3:06:31 GMT -5
I know you always want to look at the negative side of things. I probably listen better if you're not always looking down on other people without reason. Because I don't agree with you on one topic, you should not assume I don't on another. The choke is merely adjusting AF ratio's; you can tune the carburetor to a sweetspot, where it's working most optimally. The carburetor is still letting -99% of the air fuel mixture in the cylinder, which is pretty close to what it would be when it was jetted correctly. it's not running lean, when the choke is set correctly; it's just not letting the full 100% of mixture flow go to the engine, or would be the same if the bike was jetted correctly, and the throttle was just opened to -99%, instead of fully opened. I don't know about lugging the engine. The transmission and clutch probably will give out sooner than the engine. The engine still has power spare with a 34T, so I'm gonna go for it anyway. Not to go WOT, but to cruise around. I don't know if it causes a lot more wear than when one would go just as fast at 7k RPMs. I think at higher RPM's there's more wear. Since the engine is broken into (I'm at just over 870km right now, did about a 3 hour wot ride today on the interstate), I might switch to mixing heavier oils (diesel oils, like 15W40) with the recommended oil 10W40. I feel like above 500 miles (~800km) on this engine, it starts to run smooth. For the break-in anything above 10W40 is overkill. I'm still trying to determine the perfect oil mixture, but the transmission needs heavier oil than the 10W40 for the engine. Reason being that a lot of the metallic debris is from the gears, and the clutch sometimes is slipping. The gears need 80W90. The engine needs 10W30 to 10W40. I think the best compromise would be to mix 10W40 with 15W40, as I tried 15W40 last time was too heavy; perhaps now it'll run better on 15W40. |
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Post by prodigit on Jun 26, 2013 21:19:35 GMT -5
What are your opinions?
I think I'm going to try the 31T sprocket upgrade.
Instead of riding in 4th all the time, I'll be riding in 3rd; using 4th for 35-50MPH roads as a cruising gear; since those roads (35-50MPH) are the majority of my roads.
I do this mainly to lower RPM further and increase gas mileage, as well as for the experience.
I will have to learn how to downshift.
By rotating the left foot outward (to the left) and using the heel to hit the shift down, is the easiest way to downshift.
With the stock 40T sprocket I got 85MPG.
With the 34T sprocket, I get 100+MPG
So roughly guessed, with the 36T should be getting 95MPG, and the 31T I should be getting
110MPG.
With the 34T, first gear is still a bit short. Second gear is long, and barely can keep up with traffic, but it can. Third gear needs to rev high to keep up with traffic, and by 4th gear acceleration is mediocre but it is there. By further lowering the rear sprocket teeth, final gear acceleration will be traded in for lower RPM and lower MPG, lower wear and engine heat.
Changing to 31T, should make 1st gear heavier and taller, meaning longer acceleration in a faster gear (1st gear) before shifting to second gear. Second gear will barely be able to keep up with traffic, so I expect I'll have to rev it high before going into 3rd gear, which would give a similar gear ratio than a 36T in 4th gear. Still acceleration in that gear is acceptable for the speeds, sometimes the ride is asking for an extra gear there, which will be created as with a 36/40t rear sprocket in 4th gear the revs will be just as high per speed as with this 31T sprocket in 3rd gear.
So instead of focusing on final gear = top speed, which is standard for a well tuned bike; now I'll focus on 3rd gear = top speed, and final gear = cruising gear.
There's really not much calculation to be done, as ~30T is the smallest sprocket that would fit, but the front sprocket is 15T, so chain wear will be high. The next logical step would be a 31T, as a 29T will more than likely cause clearance issues with the chain and the fork.
I do this change to get a good econo ride. But if the ride is not working out, I will just simply switch it back to 34T.
I will keep you updated with my findings!
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-110MPG, and a top speed of 50-55MPH.