Trying again: 150cc craigslist scooter

[fratermus]

I revived a little 50cc scoot (in sig) but am having title problems. So I'm using it as an around-the-farm beater and have been sniffing around for a cheap/non-running 150cc.

Picked up a TaoTao Evo (which appears to be the successor to the ATM-150) this morning. {Edited to add: I have all the paperwork on this one from the original/only owner. Title work should go well }



Young man put 2400km on it before "it quit working". He dragged it home to the apartment complex where it sat until they started putting "we will tow this inoperable vehicle" stickers on it.

I have no idea what caused it to "quit working" but it will be fun to find out. Looking it over it's clear he slid it, breaking a mirror and skinning the plastics and pipe. The exhaust pipe mounting bolts are loose and at least one has fallen out. But it does not look abused which is a nice change from the little 50cc project.

Starting in on changing fluids, vacuum and fuel lines tonite. Will put the likely-dead battery on the charger. I have a plug, coil/wire, and CDI on the way courtesy of Amazon. I'll let you guys know how it goes. I learned a lot on the 50cc and hope to learn more on this one.

[BlackBike]

Is the evo already plated?

[fratermus]

Yes, plates were issued in June 2015. All the paperwork looks good/complete on this one.

[Weldangrind]

This story reminds me of when my Pastor skinned the plastics on the right side of his 50cc scooter, and it quit running. I pulled the rest of my hair out trying to determine what could have been damaged by a low-speed low-side crash. After much troubleshooting, it turned out to be that the valves required adjustment. For whatever reason, they picked that moment to present themselves as in need of service, which had nothing to do with laying the scooter down.

[lee47512]

If it is a 2012 or earlier could be the stator tao tao stators then were crud.

[humanbeing]

Originally Posted by lee47512

If it is a 2012 or earlier could be the stator tao tao stators then were crud.

DC-CDI is a quick fix for BAD "source coil"...

[fratermus]

It's a 2014.

Changed engine oil and tranny oil. Nothing scary in the oil screen.

Pulled the CVT cover and was delighted to see:



... an imploded drive belt. This could be Good News if that's why "it quit working".

I'd never seen one in person that had come apart; holy crap. Looked like a bomb went off in there. Luckily I already had a replacement Gates on order and it will be here in a couple days. The NGK plug and fuel/vacuum lines are in so I'll pull the plastics tomorrow and replace those. Will also set the valves tomorrow.

The battery was charged by this morning but appears to be very weak -- no surprise there. The signals / markers/ brakelights/horn work but no headlights. Dunno if they are burned from overvoltage or if a fuse/switch is dead. The weak battery will activate the starter but it doesn't have enough oomph to turn the motor. I can move the motor by hand so it's not seized.

THat's enough for tonight. Will pick it up tomorrow again.

CORRECTION - turns out the battery is not dead. The shredded belt shards in the front pully was preventing the engine from turning over very far. The scooter started but the exhaust manifold is clearly loose. I shut it off - both nuts are missing that should be holding the header onto the exhaust port. Doh!

[Weldangrind]

Wow, 2400km is not very much on that belt. At least it's nothing serious.


Sounds like this will be a runner in no time!

[culcune]

I remember reading the advrider.com thread about the father and son who crossed the country from San Francisco to New York; the father on a Skyteam CT70 replica (125cc) and the son on a $100 150cc scooter. According to the father, he wrote on the thread that all it needed was a battery. Hopefully that is one of the few things needed, as you already discovered it needed a new belt.

[fratermus]

Still looking good.

Set the valve clearance. Intake was tight, exhaust was very tight as I've come to expect. Put both to .1mm (approx .005").

Popped in the NGK; it was pre-gapped at .026 so I left it there. The old plug wasn't bad.


Here's the coffee filter I cleaned out the oilscreen over before. Two small bits in there:



The vacuum and fuel lines were of the expected quality and started to crack; they've since been replaced with silicone (heavy) and tygon respectively.



Part of the original vacuum line routing was poor and pulled on the (manifold?) between the topmounted air filter box and the carb until the rubber split:


Any ideas what that manifold thing is really called?

[tortoise]

Originally Posted by fratermus

Any ideas what that manifold thing is really called?

Airbox snorkel . . but the TaoTao Evo 150 port appears to be missing on many vendor images.

[fratermus]

Originally Posted by tortoise

Airbox snorkel . . but the TaoTao Evo 150 port appears to be missing on many vendor images.

Great information, thanks.

Since the port has already been problematic I think I'll get one without. From memory, I think it was connected to PCV system line. I can handle that some other way. I've temporarily patched the split with E6000.

Today's progress: EGR delete, exhaust header nuts came in and got installed, exhaust hangers secured with generic bolts from the hardware store.

Got in the Gates kevlar belt and installed it. Engine started fine but didn't want to rev, seemed out of balance, and rear clutch engaging at low engine RPM. Wha-a--aa--a-t?

Ok, experienced folk probably figured out there was something wrong at teh variator end, but I'm still learning this stuff. :-) . I hadn't taken the inner plate off (the one with the rollers and ramp) to see if any belt chunks had ended up in there. . I spun the variator around and looked in the holes; one of the rollers was stuck in a weird/outward position. I think this was pushing the belt outward as if the engine were revved, increasing the belt RPM and engaging the rear clutch. Since only one was out this could also explain the increased vibration.

I ordered a set of 18x14 13g sliders and some of those little v-shaped "variator slide" pieces that fit on the ramp. One was missing, or I dropped it, or it turned to dust with the belt.

At this point I think I am a week out from the traditional Highly Illegal Test Ride.

[Weldangrind]

I'm curious to learn about how the 13g sliders work for you.

[fratermus]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

I'm curious to learn about how the 13g sliders work for you.

They work, although I have no baseline to compare them to. Never rolled the scoot with the damaged stock rollers. I got the sliders in 13g because the stock rollers were 13g. Since I hear you are supposed to go up +1g with sliders I figured it would be an incremental net lightening.

They came in today and I dropped them in the variator a few minutes ago. Generic eBay sliders, "ForExtreme", $14 shipped.



Put some air in the tires, cranked it up on whatever gas was still in the tank from god-knows-when the P.O. put it there. :-) and took it for the first test ride. Since the headlights don't work yet and it's dark on this farm-to-market road I didn't go too crazy.

Motor seems seems strong and willing. I've never ridden a 150cc scoot before and the acceration was surprising. Idle is too low. Ran it up to indicated 50mph before I got scared running on the marker lights only on the unlit roadway.

CVT is smooth and holds a steady indicated 4k rpm on the dash tach under load and readjusts appropriately at neutral throttle and decel. The wikipedia page suggests the max HP is at 7k so if the tach is correct there is plenty of headroom. I'll leave slider weight where it is while I learn how the rescued beast likes to run. After that it sounds like I could lighten them up. I'm not chasing performance though. It's an around-the-village explorer.

Maybe I'll make a video tomorrow and y'all experienced folk can tell me if it sounds like 4k rpm to you.

[Weldangrind]

There's a song lyric in there: "I ain't scared; brakes are good and tires are fair."


I'd only be guessing what 4000rpm sounds like. It's really cool that you've made the scoot run under it's own power already.