Tao ATM50, maintenance done

[prodigit]

So I did some maintenance at 2k miles,
turns out I found a few nice things about TaoTao that surprised me in a positive way:

1- First of all, I checked the belt. When removing the CVT case, I noticed that all bolts where sealed with some sealing like locktite.

2- I was surprised to see that the CVT housing has an air filter in, and an exhaust, where most of the rubber dust of the belt goes.

3- The belt after 2k miles looked as good as the new Bando belt I had. The only difference, the outer layer of the Bando belt felt harder; so the Tao's stock belts are more flexible, which is what you need to get every ounce out of the engine's performance.
Like this I presume I can get about 5 to 8k miles out of the stock belt.

4- I had to remove some of the tupperware, because there was a rubber sealing ring stuck on the spark plug.
Turns out the spark plug has this perfect tan color, which makes me believe they're not running as lean as first suspected.

5- I played around with spark plug gappings, and did some tests, and turns out, a stock spark plug (like a new NKG plug), comes with a 0.025in gapping (0.635mm).
After a bit of fiddling around, I found that the TAO performs best when reducing that spark plug gap to 0.010in (0.254mm).
Any smaller and it gets hiccups on a cold engine.
Any larger, and initially you won't notice the difference, but from a stock spacing, the Tao loses top end.

6- Reducing the spark plug gap, by almost 2/3rd, to 0.010", I maintained a top speed of 55MPH one way, on a cold engine!
Literally, where the engine was cold cold before, it would get upto 40MPH. Now it gets between 42 and 45MPH.
When the engine got hotter, not fully hot yet, I got speeds of 50-55MPH.
I wondered if it could have something to do with wind or hills, so I returned the same road (long stretch), and maintained speeds of 42-45MPH. So the average speed increased by 2MPH.
This is on a relative cold engine (not fully hot), and with pretty stale gas, plus, the tires wheren't upto max pressure; and I've optimized the taotao for long life, not for speed (used a mix of 10W40 and 15W40 oil); so theoretically I should be able to gain even more MPH's when equipping it with 10W30, pumping up the tires, and let the engine warm up (which usually takes a good 15-20 minutes riding WOT).

At these speeds (45-55MPH), the wind makes too much noise on the ears to be riding without helmet.

I'm pretty content about the mods so far! Really;
If you have the time, and have an ATM50 or clone, buy some feeler gauges, a thin screwdriver, bend the spark plug pin to have a space of 0.10in between the positive rod, and the negative arm, and fuel up BP premium fuel. Then also pump the tires to 36PSI (max tire pressure), and test out to see how much your speed has improved!

6- Turns out that the sticker on the tao is correct.
Oil changes need to be done once every 1000km, not 1000mi.
I tried changing the oil at 1000mi, and it was too black for what I want it to be.

7- I checked the air filter for the first time at 2k miles, but the filter was very clean.
It also was dry, so from the factory they didn't put oil in it.
If you fear of running lean, get your airfilter foam out, dip it in oil, and squeeze it out. It'll reduce some of the airflow, and at the same time, trap more dirt; as either I've been running very clean air, or the filter's not working at all!

8- The air filter sticker also says to change the air filter chip every 3k miles. Anyone knows what an airfilter chip is?

[prodigit]

The chinese have come far in their manufacturing!
The next step is solve the rust on the bikes.

[prodigit]

I've done yet another interesting find, when opening the TaoTao ATM50!
It turns out that not only does my model (and therefor i presume all models made after 9/2012), have the correct jet size, meaning if they run lean, they don't run too lean, only a little,

But also, when opening, I saw that the ATM50 engine is enveloped in a plastic cage. That plastic cage is to reduce engine noise, protect the engine from water and dirt, but also traps heat.
If you're living in a hot place, like florida, you may want to peel off some of this plastic; as it could be the cause for pre-ignition/detonation of the fuel.

I previously said that the pre-ignition happened because of running too lean (which would heat up the engine).
I was right about the hot engine, but wrong about lean running being the cause of the engine running hot.
The spark plug tells me the A/F mixture is actually quite good.

Now that I know that the little engine is encaged in a plastic plating, just around the engine, within the tupperware of the bike, I know also to put heavy oil in the engine. Don't go with 10W30 on the ATM, it's too light;
Instead diesel oils are much better. In hot environments with summers in the 100's of degrees, I wouldn't put anything under 15W40 in it.
In normal temps, I would recommend 10W40 or heavier.

Fuel, only premium gasoline (93 oct), due to pre-ignition.

And it also explains why my TAO is going so fast, and has a better output than most scooters, all the while having MPG's in the hundreds!

I hope this shreds some light on some of the issues associated with the ATM50.

[skuttadawg]

Shell Rotella 15w40 is good oil . a 2T is still more fun to ride

[prodigit]

OK guys,
It's a recent error that I've found,
I don't actually own a TaoTao ATM50-A1, but it is a TaoTao ATM50-A2.
I didn't know of this difference.

TaoTao has recently released a slightly lighter TaoTao ATM50-A3, which isn't nearly as good looking as the A2's.

So, if the math doesn't add up compared to your TaoTao ATM50-A1, it's because I have the A2.
(the grey black one)
Sorry for that misunderstanding!

[scootnwinn]

I sure thought the plastic engine shroud was standard on all air cooled scooters. I thought removing it in hot climates basically guaranteed meltdown. Glad I was set straight.

[skuttadawg]

The shroud helps the cool air brought in ny the fan to cool the engine

[millsc]

keep the shroud on

[prodigit]

Ok, thanks for the advise.
I did see the fan on the side, I didn't know it acted to cool the whole block.

[skuttadawg]

Now you can install an oil cooler like this one www.monsterscooterparts.com/oil-cooler.html