Well............some of you might know from some of my previous posts that i have a 70cc zip engine in an accident damaged bike that i acquired last year. Well, it's been sitting there, gathering sawdust and cobwebs and flies and general crap from everything else i do. The weekend before last, one of my customers happened to mention that one of his mates had just sold his VX125, and had also put his old zip and pitbike on Gumtree. At the mention of the zip, i took notice, as i need a frame and forks and V5 for this one. I asked him how much he had it up for and he said £130. Offer him £100 i said, he did, he said yes, and now its mine. A complete, but shabby 02 plated zip, with a knackered piston and barrel. Don't care about the engine, got the other one to drop straight in. Oh yeah, nice little bonus, its got a Malossi exhaust on it, in pretty good nick as well. Now my customer needs most of his panels replacing on his zip, so we came to a figure of £50 for the panels he needs, but he fits them himself because i'm too busy with other stuff. Deal done, we're both happy. So.........on sunday just gone, all the jobs are finished, i've actually got a day to do MY stuff for a change; so i'm onto this zip build. I dragged the damaged one out the other side of the garage and plonked that on the floor and put the other one on the ramp, and practically ripped the knackered engine out of it. Same with the other engine, out in minutes, and into the one on the ramp. Then i stopped. I had been told this bike had a 70cc kit on it but had never actually checked, so here was the perfect opportunity to do it. So off comes the cylinder head, measured the piston, and sure enough it had a 47mm piston in it, making it 70cc. Great! I picked up the head again to wipe it over and put it back on, and stopped dead in my tracks! It has PM Tuning on it. HUH? Lets take a look at the barrel...............ooooooooooh! Thats got PM Tuning on it as well. So this engine that i have left sitting in the side of my garage for over a year has a pretty decent top end on it, fantastic! Then i got to thinking about the rest of it. If the previous owner had spent the decent money on the top end, what about the rest? Started looking..................oh s**t, F**K ME, sit down and think.................. I found a Malossi Multivar Variator with PM Tuning 4.59gr rollers, that looks like it aint done a lot. Malossi Kevlar Belt that looks brand spanking new Scooter Assasins adjustable clutch with shoes that look like they are barely worn in. And the 17.5mm Dellorto carb jetted to 84 main. What about the crank??? Looked down the tunnel, full circle crank! So now i'm sitting on the stool, just staring at this engine. A 70cc PM Tuning complete top end Malossi variator Scooter Assassins clutch Full circle crank 17.5mm Dellorto And dont forget the Malossi exhaust already off the other one. Needless to say, i spent all day sunday building up the new zip with this engine, sorted the loom problems, installed the new ignition barrel, fitted the panels, did the brakes, checked the tyres, took it out the garage and the damn thing threw the front wheel right up in the air with such little effort that it nearly caught me off guard. Now I have another problem to think about..............do i re-paint it all, engine included? I never expected to have all this tuning stuff on it; i just thought it's got a 70 kit on it, i'll whack it together, stick 12 months mot on it and knock it out for about £350, but now???
keep the thing and get to some scooter meets with us lot when i get mine back (long story) make a new loom and get it riding... paint it up btw... dont sell it...
It runs great, had it up and down the grove tonight, found the vin sticker on the frame so can get it mot'd, hopefully over the weekend, gotta wait for the papers to come back from dvla to tax it though
well, the good thing is that this zip engine doesn't need running in, its already been done. Ordered a new speedo cable and pair of mirrors, missed the delivery today!!!!, have thought about re-painting it, saw a really nice looking one in white, looked sharp. Won't take long to do either, only 4 panels on it. So you never know. I am doing the Bike 4 Life thing on the 27th, got 3 mates from the club to come along as well, they were majorly surprised that i was actually having a day off out the garage to do something 'normal' as they put it
i only like them in white or black, dont know why lol but white would look nice with some subtle black details. might be going bike4life as pillion on my stepdads bike if he gets enough time to service his bike/has a new bike by then. so might get to see you there you come out of the garage? bloody hell...
Just done a quick check on the PM Tuning site for details of this 70 kit. It's a PM Tuning Aluminium X-Tech 70cc Cylinder kit. It's the only one they do with their own name on it for this bike, Apparently it produces 13hp at 10000rpm and they recommend a gear-up to prevent over revving. So now, for my own peace of mind, i've got to check the gearbox to see if its been done.
