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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 22, 2014 17:13:01 GMT -5
Kind of thinking about doing a handlebar conversion on my TaoTao EVO this winter (yes, it's a little while away but for now I want to ride! lol). I think this is looks great: www.adrenalin-pedstop.co.uk/Gallery/thumbnail.aspx?width=600&height=800&file=d314e165699949929af8ec5ee4f8433a.JPGDo the stems made for the euro scoots work on the Chinese scoots? I have a cnc mill so I'm not afraid to make my own but it would be nice to just buy the parts. I'm a bit surprised that I can't find a single picture or mention of someone with a Chinese scooter that's done a conversion like this. Surely someone has already done it. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 21, 2014 14:11:55 GMT -5
Just put up a quick video of my scooter for anybody interested in how a GY6 150 will run and sound after some mods  Sounds good! I'm actually glad I saw the video. I was thinking about ordering that same exhaust if (when) mine breaks again. I'm getting old though.  I prefer a bit quieter sound from my scooter. I wonder if anyone makes a quiet performance exhaust. I noticed the scoop on your cooling fan shroud. Looks cool. Does it seem to help at all? |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 19, 2014 9:50:34 GMT -5
I suppose I should restate my last post. The factory brakes on my TaoTao were terrible when I got it. After adjusting the rear and putting NCY pads up front mine stops very well too. The factory pads on the front almost didn't do anything. I suppose it's possible they were contaminated with oil or something. The initial impression I got of Chinese scooters has been very bad but I'm slowing getting everything fixed and the thing actually seems decent at this point  Either way, I wouldn't want to ride with just one brake and I can't imagine any would come from the factory with just one but who knows? Maybe someone just messed up assembling it. Kinda sad the original dealer didn't notice it was missing. My money is still on the first owner breaking something and just removing it. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 17, 2014 22:35:55 GMT -5
I've been reading up on Chinese scooters for over a year now and finally bought my first one. It's a used JMSTAR Princess with 240 miles and wasn't running when I bought it, but it was an easy fix. Anyway, the scooter only came with one brake lever on the right side for the front disc brake. On the left, where the brake lever should go, was just a bracket welded to the handlebars with a threaded hole for the mirror to screw into. Most of these brakes levers have that threaded hole built into them, but this one clearly came from the factory without a brake lever on the left. The strange thing was that a drum brake was installed, cable and everything, for the rear brake. I've already installed a new brake lever for the drum brake so I have proper front and rear brakes, but I'm still wondering if this is common practice? I just can't see why they would install everything up to the lever and leave that off. Maybe it's a production line thing where they are only set up to build with rear brakes but this model was manufactured for a lower range so they left it off? Just curiosity really. Is this normal? I'm happy to say I've done all the tune-ups and fluid changes and it's running great now. Just need to get it registered and inspected. Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk Yeah... No, that doesn't sound normal. I have a hard time believing even a really cheap Chinese scooter would come with just one brake. Some of the brake levers are clamped on to the handlebars. I would bet someone broke the left one on your bike and took it off. Not normal at all and the brakes on most of these are marginal at best so I would make sure both work. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 17, 2014 0:14:02 GMT -5
I bet the blue ones I have would work on yours . No need now but I was gonna send them to you to see if they would work for u. The xrta couple inches should have been just right . With both shocks screwed all the way in the blue ones measured an inch longer then the black ones which are prob same as yours. Then u had the xrta couple inches to play with by loosening the cap . I'm guessing the cap on yours were already turned out to get your shocks to measure the 13.8 and u didn't have much more threads left to work with . That's really nice of you! Thanks, but what I ultimately decided was that even if I found an odd set of shocks that did work what would I do if I ever needed to replace them? You mentioned having a small indentations on your caps, that's exactly what mine had but if you think about what is going on that's putting quite a bit of stress on the shaft of the shock. Mine was bending right under the cap on the threads of the shaft. I'll get some pictures of it up soon. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 16, 2014 22:50:15 GMT -5
Hey Todd what type shocks do u have ? Are they like the blue one or the black one ? If they are like the black ones that could be your problem . Because even though my black shocks measured 12.8 eye to eye all they had to do way move the cap out an inch to make it 13.8 . And I'm not so sure if many of the shocks out there are like the black ones or not but if so then the extra inch on the blue stock shocks could really help out . There is about an 1/8 inch of threads showing at the bottom of the cap and nut so it has plenty of room to be adjusted and it already measures 13.8 eye to eye . They look more like the black ones but they have preload adjusters on the bottom. They measure a little over 13.5 center to center. I'll take a picture of them tomorrow and upload it here. Longer ones would have been handy but I couldn't find anything. These would have worked great since the upper part of the shock is longer: scooterpartsplace.com/scooter-rear-shock-absorber.aspxBut... I've read terrible things about scooterpartsplace. I tried calling them to verify they had them in stock and none of their numbers work at this point and they don't respond to email. Kind of sketchy so I passed. Of course I couldn't find them anywhere else. Anyway, I went with new stock replacements and just slightly reshaped the bottom of the brackets. That ended up being the easiest route but a little bit of a pain since I removed the gas tank to make sure I didn't make sparks around gas fumes.  I decided blowing myself up would be worse than having the shocks hitting. lol On the upside I found a loose wire that was causing my fuel gauge to not work. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 16, 2014 20:32:45 GMT -5
I just looked at my shocks and found that the right shock clears the bracket by about 1/4 inch and the left is about 1/16 away from the bracket . I also noticed that the I can see threads where the cap screws onto the shock about 1/4 inch or so on the right shock . And on the other side there are no threads showing meaning it is sitting lower due to the cap being screwed on further . That's interesting. Messing around with mine I noticed the two brackets are welded in slightly different places on the frame. Mine had about that much of a difference from one side to the other. I messed around with raising the cap on the shock with no luck. It makes a slight difference but if the shock uses it's full movement you need quite a bit more clearance on the bracket. I took the spring off of one of my damaged shocks so I could use it as a guide to see how much room was needed when they pivoted. I was surprised just how much they pivot from fully extended to hitting the bump stops. I really don't see how any of these are not hitting the shocks unless the rider is very light. If you have one that's only 1/16" away or even 1/4" away I would be very surprised if your shocks arn't hitting too. It's very hard to see with the shocks on. Mine were fouling the inside of the brackets and the top of the shock caps where it was a bit hidden. I'm guessing most people bend the shaft on the shock pretty quick after getting the scooter and apparently nothing more comes of it. My big fear was having a weld on the mount breaking. |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 16, 2014 17:47:14 GMT -5
Ok, I ran into another scooter rider today. He was riding a Hunter style 150cc scooter not sure of the brand but not a TaoTao EVO. We started talking about problems we've run into with our bikes and I mentioned the shock problem. We looked at his and it was exactly the same and the shocks were obviously bent.
I'm starting to think all the Hunter style 150s are like this. Did they design these like this on purpose? There's no way there's enough clearance for the shocks to pivot without hitting those mounts.
I'm just curious if I'm missing something. Surely they didn't intend for the tops of the shocks to hit and eventually bend. Did they? Seems like a huge problem waiting to happen. I'm really shocked (pardon the pun) there's not more people talking about it being an issue.
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 14, 2014 14:56:51 GMT -5
I of two possibilities , either the fan shroud has been replaced with one that is bigger the the stock one or the header has been replaced with an aftermarket one . Or three, the quality of TaoTao is questionable at best. My EVO has some amazingly bad things like that going on. I keep plugging away fixing stuff then I find some new exciting challenge the next day. I imagine an aftermarket header/exhaust will be the way to go to fix that. The problem is you never know until you try the parts on your scooter. - EDIT - I just noticed that might not be your TaoTao. Sorry about that. I'm just bitter about my scooter. lol  |
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 11, 2014 14:29:26 GMT -5
Has anyone else had a chance to take a look at the shock mounts on their EVO?
I looked at another one for sale here locally and it had the exact same problem as mine. The shock was pivoting up and banging on the shock mount. Tops of the shocks were bent worse than mine. Seems like a really bad (and dangerous) design to me.
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 6, 2014 14:38:36 GMT -5
I feel stupid for asking the question now. Looking at it closer I think it's probably just the drum brake making the noise. Not 100% sure but it's looking that way.
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Post by toddscoot71 on Jun 6, 2014 10:27:01 GMT -5
Ok guys. I'm slowly getting all the little annoying stuff fixed on my TaoTao evo 150.
While working on the exhaust I noticed that if you grab the rear wheel and move it in and out there seems to be a clunk that comes from around the gear box. The wheel isn't loose (no play in it either) and there's no strange noises while riding. If you give the side of the back tire a sharp hit with the palm of your hand it makes the same noise.
Since it's around the same area I thought it might be the clutch but everything is good there too.
It really sounds like a gear sliding back a forth and hitting a stop if that makes any sense.
I did some searching and found people on Ruckus forums (gy6 swaps) that talked about a similar sound being normal. Anyone here know for sure?
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Post by toddscoot71 on May 30, 2014 14:54:17 GMT -5
Ok, I think I'm done. Exhaust bracket just broke off of the swing arm. No real reason for it either. I had taken the exhaust off and made sure everything fit together nice with no binding. Nice big crack right in the center of it.
I could weld it but I'm sick of working on it.
This thing is built like a kid's toy. Absolutely terrible quality.
I think a lot of people are fooling themselves with these things. Cheap for sure but if you spend more time working on them rather than riding it's not worth it. I keep thinking I'll get over the initial teething problems but it just never ends.
- Update- I went ahead and welded it. No idea if it will last or not. Seems kind of stupid that everything on the exhaust is mounted solidly. It's no wonder you see a ton of people bitching about Tao Tao exhausts breaking. Actually, that seems to be the least of the issues with these things but still...
Has anyone ever used some kind of rubber bushings on the rear exhaust mount?
And while I'm complaining. I was looking at replacement swing arms and it looks like Tao Tao is the only company that has the extra bracket welded on the the arm for the exhaust. Seems like it would have been easier for them to bolt a bracket on instead.
Sorry for all the whining about this thing but wow. I'm just stunned by the lack of quality.
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Post by toddscoot71 on May 29, 2014 10:06:06 GMT -5
John,
I'll have to place my next order with you. I seem to be having really bad luck with this stuff from other places.
Even the new triple tree I got is terrible. The casting is so bad that one leg of the fork won't go into it and the other is so loose that you can't tighten it up enough.
I've been really into electric bikes for a few years. I use a lot of downhill bike parts so I'm not used to parts that are this bad. Granted, they are a LOT cheaper but some are scary. Not really something I want to trust my health to.
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Post by toddscoot71 on May 29, 2014 0:18:41 GMT -5
Finally got it to stop making the noise. I spent some time adjusting and adjusting then adjusting the bearings some more with no good results. So... I pulled the upper race and bearing out and compared them to the old one that I replaced. For some odd reason the new upper race appears to have been made wrong. Actually, two brand new ones look like they have something wrong with them. The bearing surface doesn't look right and they look to be really bad quality. I pulled my calipers out and they are all over the place. Just plain 'ol junk.
I put the old bearing and upper race in and it worked first try. It doesn't appear to be that hard to get everything lined up. It just pulls itself together. Well, if all the parts fit together right.
Like I've said before. I actually enjoy wrenching on my projects but holy cow! I'm having trouble even getting good new parts.
Has anyone ever come up with a sealed bearing system for these?
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