145 miles on the new scooter and 2 important questions!

[nwscooterboy]

It's been nice here this weekend and I've had the opportunity to start breaking in the new Tao Tao Roman 150.

I have 2 completely different questions that I'd like to throw out there. The first one I'm very concerned about.

1. When I first received the scooter I noticed the front axle was slightly bent. I showed it to my landlord who has some background in fixing cars and what not and he thought it wasn't too bad to be concerned about. You really have to look closely at it to see the bend. Rolling it on a table top reveals the bend a bit easier. I can put down the center stand and spin the front wheel and notice a slight wobble...the front tire should look like one straight black line while it's spinning as far as I'm concerned but you see a bit of bumps here and there while it's spinning. I'm wondering if it is contributing to something that I experience while riding.

It's been a long time since I've been on a 2 wheeled motorized bike but I did ride a small motorcycle quite a bit when I was a kid. What's happening when I ride this scooter is it feels like I'm always fighting to keep it in a straight line. I can shift my weight even slightly in a horizontal fashion and it affects the scooter's ride a lot. I never feel fully comfortable and have rarely felt completely relaxed because when I do I have to make some correction to get it back the way I want it. And this is happening on straight, non hilly and smooth terrain. I've been chalking it up to I'm a newbie just learning the feel of the scooter...that the wheels are smaller then a motorcyle so even slight movements on the handlebars will affect it greatly but now I'm not so sure...I'm wondering if the axle IS bent enough to be causing this issue.

2. The last 2 times I've pulled it out of the shed to go for a ride, it's taken several starts of the electric starter to get it started. It cranks over fine....and I can aid it by turning the throttle a bit to get it running. If I ride somewhere and turn it off...get gas, something to eat, etc and come back out...starts up just fine and the idle speed seems great. I still have the crappy battery that it came with in it and I know that they suggest you replace that almost immediately but I haven't yet....and as I said it seems to crank just fine but maybe it is the battery?

Thanks again for all your input...I know I've been blowing up the forum with my stuff but I'm really excited to discover this...um...hobby? LOL and it came at a perfect time in my life!

And I believe I'm due for an oil change...since I'm at 145 miles. Tomorrow! : )

[seamus26]

I'm no expert, but the front axle would bother me. It's a whole lot easier to lose control and wipe out on two wheels than it is four. Er ... so I've heard.
I'd have that checked out at a scooter shop.

The hard starting sounds like it could be a lot of things. I've noticed my carb is finicky, but that seems to be not an unusual issue. Make sure you run premium. I posted somewhere else that I look for gas stations that have separate hoses for the regular and premium. If there's only one hose, you are getting a whole hose full of whatever the last guy pumped before you get your "good" gas. Just my $.02.

And CHANGE THAT OIL!!

[nwscooterboy]

Originally Posted by seamus26

I'm no expert, but the front axle would bother me. It's a whole lot easier to lose control and wipe out on two wheels than it is four. Er ... so I've heard.
I'd have that checked out at a scooter shop.

The hard starting sounds like it could be a lot of things. I've noticed my carb is finicky, but that seems to be not an unusual issue. Make sure you run premium. I posted somewhere else that I look for gas stations that have separate hoses for the regular and premium. If there's only one hose, you are getting a whole hose full of whatever the last guy pumped before you get your "good" gas. Just my $.02.

And CHANGE THAT OIL!!

Thanks! Yes, changing the oil is top priority this week. I still have the cheap Chinese battery that came with it...I read somewhere that your body can be strong enough to turn over/crank the engine but it could still be weak enough to not make it fire? Can't remember the exact wording...

[seamus26]

Originally Posted by nwscooterboy

Thanks! Yes, changing the oil is top priority this week. I still have the cheap Chinese battery that came with it...I read somewhere that your body can be strong enough to turn over/crank the engine but it could still be weak enough to not make it fire? Can't remember the exact wording...

I've had cars where that can happen, but if you crank and crank and crank and THEN it starts, it's probably not the battery. As you are cranking you are running the battery down. If it doesn't spark right away, it's sure not to spark at all after puling juice from it. If you really wanted to test it, hook it to a battery charger on maybe a 12 amp setting and see if it starts cold any better.

Personally, a cold start issue like that sounds to me like more of a carb issue. If you have some spare time, pull the carb out and clean it up really well, blow the jets out and everything, and see if it makes a difference.

[nwscooterboy]

Originally Posted by seamus26

I've had cars where that can happen, but if you crank and crank and crank and THEN it starts, it's probably not the battery. As you are cranking you are running the battery down. If it doesn't spark right away, it's sure not to spark at all after puling juice from it. If you really wanted to test it, hook it to a battery charger on maybe a 12 amp setting and see if it starts cold any better.

Personally, a cold start issue like that sounds to me like more of a carb issue. If you have some spare time, pull the carb out and clean it up really well, blow the jets out and everything, and see if it makes a difference.

I may just do that. There is a guy on YouTube that has 13 videos on doing the PDI on a new Tao Tao scooter and I followed nearly every step....the only one I didn't follow was pulling out the carburetor and drilling out the studs that keep you adjusting the fuel mixture. I should just go ahead and do that. The interesting thing that led me to think it might be the battery is it starts first time after I've been driving for a little bit.

I just spoke with Scooter Madness and they are sending me out a new front axle no charge. it seems like a lot of people have issues at first when they get their scooters but I'm so thankful that these guys are great with the customer service.

[seamus26]

Originally Posted by nwscooterboy

I may just do that. There is a guy on YouTube that has 13 videos on doing the PDI on a new Tao Tao scooter and I followed nearly every step....the only one I didn't follow was pulling out the carburetor and drilling out the studs that keep you adjusting the fuel mixture. I should just go ahead and do that. The interesting thing that led me to think it might be the battery is it starts first time after I've been driving for a little bit.

I find that hilarious only because mine is exactly the opposite. It hits first spin when it's a cold start, but a lot of times after I've been riding and it heats up, it takes many many cranks for it to fire. Crazy!

I just spoke with Scooter Madness and they are sending me out a new front axle no charge. it seems like a lot of people have issues at first when they get their scooters but I'm so thankful that these guys are great with the customer service.

Awesome! Customer service is what will keep you coming back.

[nwscooterboy]

Seamus...one thing I didn't do was bother to set the gap on my NGK sparkplug...I just assumed it would be accurate. Bad assumption? And it's not the irridiam (sp?) kind.

[seamus26]

Originally Posted by nwscooterboy

Seamus...one thing I didn't do was bother to set the gap on my NGK sparkplug...I just assumed it would be accurate. Bad assumption? And it's not the irridiam (sp?) kind.

Never hurts to check. Then you know. It's one of those quick and easy jobs. And I'm sure that I don't have to mention to check it cold and find some anti-seize. I don't trust many "from the factory" adjustments.

Just poking around the forum I see all sorts of opinions on plugs. My thoughts have always been that if there's a good / better / best choice for anything for my car, I always go best, unless best is really cost prohibitive.

For the price of a plug I would go with whatever is "best" simply because the price differential isn't all that great.

[nwscooterboy]

I forget to mention that yesterday I tried the kickstart and it started up right away. I don't know if that changes anything regarding the diagnosis but thought it was worth mentioning.

[nwscooterboy]

Originally Posted by seamus26

And CHANGE THAT OIL!!

BTW...you might think I'm still running the scoot on the shipping oil. I dumped that before I even started her up. I was talking about the 100 mile oil change that some people recommend....

[rks]

I would definitely gap the plug....that plug is probably used on a hundred different engines, all spec'd to a different gap.

About the oil changes...did mine at 100, 300, 600, and 1000 miles....after that every 500. For about $12.00, Wallyworld will sell you a jug of Mobil Delvac or similar 15w/40....thats enough for 5 oil changes...cheap insurance

As a side note...It wasn't until the 2500 mile change, that the filter screen, and magnetic drain plug came out free of any particles or debris.....takes quite a while to fully 'breakin' these engines....at least in my case it did....Bob

[nwscooterboy]

Originally Posted by rks

I would definitely gap the plug....that plug is probably used on a hundred different engines, all spec'd to a different gap.

About the oil changes...did mine at 100, 300, 600, and 1000 miles....after that every 500. For about $12.00, Wallyworld will sell you a jug of Mobil Delvac or similar 15w/40....thats enough for 5 oil changes...cheap insurance

As a side note...It wasn't until the 2500 mile change, that the filter screen, and magnetic drain plug came out free of any particles or debris.....takes quite a while to fully 'breakin' these engines....at least in my case it did....Bob

I wasn't sure exactly how to read the gap tool when using is....it's one of those cheapy circular ones. The span of the electrode covers 2-3 points so I just looked at the number that fell in the middle of the electrode. At any rate, it was pretty tight...set at like .021. I've read everything from .022 - .035 so I went with .028. I also turned up the idle speed a bit and that seems to help with the starting.

[nwscooterboy]

Well, it was quite an interesting afternoon. My buddy - who has been riding motorcyles and scooters since he could walk - came over to help ascertain my squirrely, steering issue. I thought I was almost imaginging this and tried to tell myself that it was because I was new back on a two wheeler, etc but after my buddy rode it, it was apparant that this was a real issue.

He came back from a test ride shaking his head and was in disbelief that I even went on the short Sat morning ride with the local scooter club. He said there was something seriously wrong with the steering and he suggested not even riding it until we figured out the problem. We decided to take off the front plastic and he determined that the steering nut collars (? Do I have that term correct?) were cranked down waaaay too tight. He did some adjusting...a couple of adjustments actually and test rode after each one...he said it was better but still not the way it should be. We decided to take off the collars entirely and this is what we found....



There is a bearing missing! I'm not sure how much this would attribute to this steering issue but he feels it is causing some of it. Needless to say....I'll write to Scooter Madness AGAIN asking them so send another part.

We put most everything back together and I did my own test ride and I have to say...even after he just adjusted the collar nuts (and even with a missing bearing from the cage) it seemed to "track" much better while riding...I thought it was night and day. He thinks it's about 50% better.

Anyone else think one missing bearing would affect the ride?

[blueboy5000]

Greasing the head-set is YOUR responsibility as part of the PDI. You should also have greased the front wheel bearing and speedometer puck.

A missing ball bearing is REALLY UNSAFE, but lucky for you the bearing is easily available on most cheap bicycles.

[blueboy5000]

Proper gap is .025