From the Ashes to the Streets

[sleestak]

It has been a long while since I have posted to the boards here. I believe at the time, I was only asking questions on the old site. Well I am here to finally report back on the scoot that I have resurrected from the dead.

Back Story: A few years ago, I received this little 49cc scooter from my father in-law. He picked it up from a scrap yard, where it was dumped by an angry father who didn't care what he got for it. His only words were, "We just don't need this anymore." It was scrapped up, the forks were bent, it ran rough, had no battery, etc.

It was a Big Muddy Aries50 except mine was a god awful teal color. I believe its a Tao Tao that is rebranded.



I took it under my wing thinking it would be great for beer runs, and small local errands...driving a turbo'd car kinda drinks gas, so the efficiency and less wear for local drives was welcome.

First off, I didnt like the color and it was scraped to shit...so I started out by dismantling her and sanding it all down. A bit of rattle canning and she had a new look.

Next I started thinkering with rollers, variators, contra spring, etc. To help get up the hills, but this wasn't enough. So here is the final list of mods....

• 5gram roller
• NCY performance variator
• Gates belt
• Yellow contra spring
• NCY clutch springs
• 72cc Airsal BBK ( nikasil plated)
• Oversized head
• Orange CDI
• Orange Coil
• Iridium plug
• Paper cone filter
• Modified (drilled) exhaust
• Header wrap (for lol'z)
• EGR delete
• Charcoal canister delete
• inline fuel filter
• blade fuse upgrade

The Airsal kit is amazing, but the compression was WAY too high. It made starting very hard so I tried doubling the gaskets and it was still too high. It finally led me to get a bigger head and that did the trick. Once I got it all together, it was rejetted and got some tweaking done.



Now she isn't as pretty as the others I see here, but she runs like a raped ape. I added some funny little touches to make it look a little tougher, like the red caliper and the header wrap. Today I got her out on the road and we hit 49mph on a slight grade, but overall it is easy to hit 45mph flat out and I am 6'5" and 225lbs.





So, here she is all rattle can painted and ready to rip. I plan on cutting some vinyl for her and making some fun, racey lookin' decals for her.





Red Calipers because racescoot.




Thought the header wrap was hillarious...



Tiny little cone, but it sounds mean.





I removed the rear plastic flap to give it a more aggressive look as well. I dont ride in the rain so I have no worries about getting a wet back.






Final touch today was adding the grip tape...the rubber mat was never on it. This made for a nice grippy spot for my feet.



And that's about it for now. Decals are in the works and I will likely add an A9 cam and some LED lights to finish it up.

For all the tips, info, etc. Scootdawg. She is now a blast to ride.

[wheelbender6]

Very nicely done Sleestak. I'd love to find a needy 2 stroke to resurrect.
By the way, last night I watched the Tim Ferrell "Land of the Lost" movie.
We own the DVD but probably haven't watched it in over a year.

[sleestak]

Thanks! The project gave me a good feeling of accomplishment once she got running smoothly. I think the jetting and carb tinkering were the past I hated the most.

As for the screen name, it has been a nickname of mine for years now...probably 20. Used to love the old Kroft Brothers TV show of Land of the Lost.

[wheelbender6]

I watched a lot of the Kroft shows.
I loved Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. (Burp and Slurp were really funny)
I never missed the Banana Splits,
I never missed "Electra Woman and Dyno Girl" either.
The actual Electra Woman vehicle came up for auction on EBay a while back. Ironically, it was powered by a Buick V6, rather than an electric motor. It was out of my price range.

[sleestak]

Banana Splits was my absolute fave. Never heard of the Electra Woman show but I would totally drive that vehicle around, lol...

[rks]

Nice job sleestak...