the new - what have you done to your ped today thread.

just fitted the topbox. 48l jobby. should be big enough. looks huge on the scooter. about to attempt a 2 up trip to the shop.

 

my plan: fit a kinda suicide brake shifter thing to the tomos today.
whether or not i actually do that is another story!

 

my suicide shift brake arm works

 

Pictures you crazy fool..pictures...dribble.dribble.

 

the one good thing about owning a Chinese scooter. when you need replacement parts you can always find somebody who is breaking one cheap and aslong as it looks the same you can mix and match parts from different makes and itll be fine. whole panel set, lockset, fuel cap and part of the wiring loom bought for £25 to sort out the daffier city 50 piece of shit ready for work.

 

oil change, fresh spark plug, valve clearances, air filter, gearbox oil and new drive belt just done for £30 and the dealership that sells these things wanted £130 to do the lot

 

we would charge nearer 200 for that service...

 

and that's why I did it myself... for £30 in parts and 30-45 mins of my time I saved £100.
oil @ £08.00
spark plug @ £02.00
air filter element @ £1.50 per sheet (only used one sheet)
gearbox oil @ £8.50
drivebelt @ £10.00
valve clearances aren't exactly hard to do, remove fan cover on side, push fan around until the marks for TDC line up, remove spark plug and very gently poke a screwdriver down the hole to confirm its at TDC. whip off the cover, feeler gauges at the ready and loosen nuts off to adjust accordingly,tightened back up... put it back together and jobs done. took me a whole 15 minutes to do that. the hardest bit was getting the airbox cover off to change the air filter (never been done on this scoot.
if people learned to do this and made sure it was done every so often there Chinese scooters would last a hell of a lot longer and cost them a lot less compared to taking it to a dealership. granted ive got a mechanical background but it was piss easy to learn to do all that.
the quote I got was from a Chinese specific dealership and they wanted it for a day and a half
no dealership servicing for me. ill find the time to service it regularly myself ta very much.

 

i dont do timing by the marks, i just turn it by eye till the valves are closed,mostly the engine sits on TDC anyway.
its CRAZY how easy it is to service some bikes, you should see a first "service" on a jog or other 2t scooter, it takes me 5 mins and we charge about 100 pound for it!

 

i just play it by the book mostly, do as the manuals say, do it that way cant really go wrong but my scoot needs some tweaking soon, needs a new carb for sure and im looking at modding the front and rear indicators to take LED`s so theyre more noticeable. standard ones are just shite. i look like a right prat at 6`7 on the little thing but its been performing really well and getting good MPG aswell as MPH. the one thing i don't like about it is how quite it is, sitting at the lights and ill think its switched itself off its that quite so ill go to start it again lol maybe a different exhaust is a idea.
2t scooter are a doddle, fresh plug gapped properly, blow out or change the air filter, quick clean of the carb depending how many miles its done, fresh gearbox oil and inspect belt and rollers. that's how i do it anyway.
4t can be just as easy to look after, virtually the same except you add in a oil change and every other service do the valve clearances.

if im honest, as commuters if theyre looked after Chinese bikes can be the perfect solution, theyre cheap but they do the job when looked after and treated right. they do commuting well but they don't do much else, theyre just not made for that, theyre made for getting from point A to point B cheaply and that's where i think people go wrong with them, they expect them to do everything and don't look after them and that's why everybody hates them, yes theyre not made to best specs etc and ive hated on them before but theyre made that way for a reason, to be cheap, theyre cheap transport and once looked after well and the frame is hammerited + loom wrapped they can last and do the job well. the one im riding now is a 57 plate and still doing good.

 

Never had the valve cover off mine yet... Had every other bloody thing off it mind.only ever give it an oil change and rode it.as scootz knows,broke down before it got half way from Wolverhampton to Walsall but a bit of spanner work on the carb saw it back on the road(for a few days)new carb.filter.coil.plug.exhaust. headlight bulb.indicators and a bit of a once over here and there and it hasn't let me down too many times...dunno if I'de buy another one in a hurry but it hasn't put me off...having you lot on here has helped..I've learned alot and am still learning..swings and roundabouts when it comes to upgrades..if your planning on getting it for a runabout...cheap enough to buy a new one.wanna spend shed loads doing a road bomb...buy a shed and start spending and then the fun starts..

 

Yours was a shed lol.. Might be a good idea to do the valves.. When I get new bike this chink will be used for nipping to shop and for gf to use but its now got 33,000km on it and still running! If I'm getting another one though will be new and assembled by me. Properly.

 

This is pissing me off:

With everything that is on it, it should go like a lunatic, but it doesn't.
So while i'm deciding what to do with it, This little lot will get done:


Runner SP 125 LC lump.
Needs a new water pump, which means an engine split, so it'll have new bearings and seals as well, and of course my obligatory engine paint job.
I've also got the loom, cdi, rectifier, 28mm carb and the standard 20.5mm carb, technigas RS2 pipe chrome, rad and bottle, and two rear wheels. Everything that is needed to put into the Katana in fact.
So I'll have a think while I'm doing this lot, and if i cant put my finger on the problem, then i'm doing a new build.

 

does that sticker look the wrong way round on the katana? maybe you put the belt on backwards to match the sticker?

 

OH yeah Same on the other side as well.
Didn't realise until i had done the panels and put them on the bike, then it was a case of DOH!

 

drilled some speed holes. Being a sad git I actually sat down and tried to calculate the aerodynamic pros and cons of said holes. Then thought fuck it and got the circle cutter out

 

ok... speed holes.... like the holes you see in the fuselage of planes? or the holes on the spoilers of racecars....

 

The kind you put on the inner legshield panel and glove box door to improve airflow over the radiator

 

you mean cooling holes then? not speed holes.
making holes in the front panel for air to get to the radiator I get but holes in the glovebox door wont improve anything, you want that cool air staying in the fins and veins of the radiator as long as you can get it to stay there so that the coolant cools quicker, by putting holes in the glovebox door aswell as the front panel the air flow wont be as efficient hitting the radiator as it could be because it has a place to escape.

 

ah yeah, now i get yeah. lets see the pics! i love it when people do that, think it looks real cool... seee what i did there! cool.... get it?...... huh?..... cool, radiator........ hurrrrrr hurrrrr its way too early for me!