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Post by smeagol on May 2, 2006 6:23:36 GMT -5
Started Friday evening on the way home from work. Got about a mile from work when blaaaaaaaa She cut out on me. Got her over the curb and restarted after I had flooded her trying to keep her going. She died again at a light downtown, fired right back up. Got on the HOV lane and she died again about half way to the loop, once I got her stopped she fired right up. Died again about three more times before I got home, then two blocks from the house she died and wouldn't restart, so I pushed her home.  Sat. afternoon after work I pulled the trim off and checked for loose wires and such. She fired up and I rode through the subdivision for about 15 mins. She died twice more and I took her home. Sunday I had to move her to get to the lawn mower, she fired when I pulled her out but wouldn't when i put her away. Was convinced it was the 10% ethanol they have added to fuel this last month so I got some octane booster and added to the last gallon in the tank. She wouldn't fire , so i messed around with the plug wire and she fired right up. Dah, this might be it. Pulled the plug wire assembly apart and no cap on the plug itself just the threaded stem sticking out of the ceramic on top. This is from the factory. So tonight I'll get a NGK DR8EA plug and that should take care of the problem (I hope).  |
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Post by fulltiltone on May 2, 2006 8:23:40 GMT -5
Sorry to disappoint but just the threads on top of the plug is normal. Inside the plug cap there is a spring wire that is a pinch fit on the threaded portion of the plug. I've had this spring clip break inside the plug cap, and exibit the same problems.
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Post by smeagol on May 2, 2006 10:52:56 GMT -5
I pulled the assembly apart last night, there was a brass threaded hollow plug on top with a spring wire across and around the brass plug. Under it was a spring and below that was a ceramic rod. Put all back together and she fired right up.
I didn't pull the plug so don't know what brand the plug is. Will try to do that tonight if I can find the right plug.
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Post by Admin on May 2, 2006 15:39:23 GMT -5
I don't know much about the 260cc but I do know that octane booster has dissolved the diaphram in the fuel petcock on smaller scooters. It then works it's way into the carb and gums stuff up. This ethanol crap isn't good for high compression engines. Can you find non-ethanol fuel or is this some new law in your area?
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Post by smeagol on May 3, 2006 6:18:06 GMT -5
Federally mandated about a month ago, major cities switched from an additive M--- (forgot other three letters) to mixture of 10% ethanol/ gas to lower emissions.
My wife is headed out to the country this weekend, I'll give her some 5 gal. cans and let her fill them with straight premium.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 3, 2006 8:17:51 GMT -5
Hmm. I wonder when China will introduce a diesel scooter?  Actually, there have been a few diesel motorcycles, but they never really gained popularity in the US. |
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Post by zach on May 3, 2006 10:16:20 GMT -5
Sounds to me like an alarm problem. I know my Matrix will do this if the alarm is set off. If you don't have an alarm then I have no idea.
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Post by Admin on May 3, 2006 13:44:38 GMT -5
Federally mandated about a month ago, major cities switched from an additive M--- (forgot other three letters) to mixture of 10% ethanol/ gas to lower emissions. My wife is headed out to the country this weekend, I'll give her some 5 gal. cans and let her fill them with straight premium. Wow, and I thought I followed the news. I haven't observed them switching to ethanol here in KC. Next time I stop at the station I'll check it out. I wonder if that could explain why the idle on the Matrix has gone bonkers. |
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Post by Aaron on May 3, 2006 14:20:18 GMT -5
Speaking of diesel bikes (which we weren't!)javascript:add("%20;D") Grin Check out www.m1030.com these are the KLR650 based diesel bikes the military had developed to meet there one fuel requirement. They just released a civilian version. Wish I had the coin! |
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Post by Admin on May 3, 2006 14:39:12 GMT -5
Those are pretty cool. That reminds me that very smart guy I know was going to build some sort of diesel hybrid scooter. I think I'll email him and see how it is going.
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Post by medman1952 on May 3, 2006 21:58:19 GMT -5
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Post by smeagol on May 12, 2006 8:25:53 GMT -5
Update. Took scoot in Tuesday to Scootersmith (dealer I bought her at). Got word yesterday scoot is ready, turns out one of two ignition wires had vibrated loose.When I was looking for loose wires etc. I could only get to one of the two wires going to the ignition, guess it was the other. At least it was something simple. Will pick up scoot at lunch, will ride in Art Car Parade tomorrow in downtown Houston. Sunday is Scooter battalion poker run, should be fun. Glad to get a working scooter for the weekend.  |
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kank
New Puppy Dawg
Posts: 2
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Post by kank on May 16, 2006 22:35:00 GMT -5
I'm not a scooter expert, but I've done a bit of research on automotive fuels and performance. I just wanted to note that ethanol ("corn" alcohol) is actually very good in high-compression engines, because it has excellent octane ratings. That is why they are using it to replace MTBE as an octane booster. Which brings up MTBE. It has been phased out because it is a pretty serious carcinogen and because it's manufacture is pretty nasty towards the environment. It's about time they got rid of this nuisance to us all, imo. Ethanol is very tame in comparison. The only "problem" with ethanol is that many engines use gaskets and things that don't hold up well to it. If you wanted to, you should have no trouble running a scooter engine on 100% ethanol, so long as there were no parts in there allergic to alcohol (ie. diaphram in carb?). A rejet would almost certainly be in order and cold-weather starting would likely be very difficult, but performance would otherwise improve. The only real problem with pure ethanol is that it's hard to evaporate it at low temperatures, which is why we don't run cars on it already. Feel free to correct my mistakes here, but my understanding about alternative fuels and piston engines is that alcohol excels in high compression engines. This is why they use pure alcohol in certain types of racing. I'd love to take a scooter and run it on pure ethanol if I had the opportunity . |
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Post by medman1952 on May 16, 2006 22:47:40 GMT -5
Kank as I understand it you are on the mark. I have a cousin that used to race three wheelers and the fuel he used was ethanol. I believe he had to nearly double the jet sizes and he also lost about 50% in fuel consumption but he didn't care about that it made more power. There also used to be (perhaps still is) a dragstrip racing class called AAFA (awful awful fuel altered) I think their fuel was essentially alcohol.
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Post by Admin on May 17, 2006 10:26:00 GMT -5
Interesting discussion here on fuel, which I will confess I know little about. I do know that octane booster has been known to dissolve the diaphram in some scooter fuel petcocks. I have no clue what is in the octane booster that would do that. We can only hope that these scoots aren't "allergic" to ethanol, because it is certainly becoming more prevalent.
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Post by Aaron on May 20, 2006 20:22:53 GMT -5
If you ever question the additives in auto gas, you can buy AVGAS 100LL at your local airport. Airplane gas is still leaded, and it is 100 octane. Almost all small aircraft are powered by air cooled flat 4 or 6 cyl engines very similar to VW or Porsche and many sit for months at a time without use. This is a very pure stable fuel doesn't go bad easily. It is however $4+ a gallon. I used to blend it 50/50 in my motorcycle. The FAA does not like change so they do not mess with the formulation very often. They will not sell it to you into the scooter but most will sell it into an approved container (gas can).
Aaron
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Post by strangerdejavu on May 20, 2006 21:24:35 GMT -5
Aaron is right about the 100LL, and its price will go up with normal gas prices. You very well may be able to pump it directly to your vehicle, though. I'm a pilot and have seen people drive up to the pump at my local airport and fill up their cars. If you live in a metropolitan area, chances are they won't let you get close. But if you live near a small podunk airport, chances are they won't care about you buying avgas for your vehicle. Often there are pumps that pilots can just fill their plane (or any other vehicle) up bythemselves, and it takes credit card. They're also open 24 hours, if you don't want to risk dealing with people.
Also, be careful when you're buying it! Make sure that the fuel you are getting is BLUE! If it's red or green, the scoot will likely run but perhaps not as well (green has more lead in it, red is 80 octane, I believe). If its clear, you'll be spending some time cleaning the system, unless you have a turbine powered scoot! :-D
Actually, speaking of which... does such a vehicle exist yet? Not quite the "alternate fuels" being discussed, but a jet powered scoot would be pretty cool!
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Post by Aaron on May 21, 2006 18:01:19 GMT -5
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Post by Admin on May 21, 2006 20:56:11 GMT -5
Something tells me it's not street legal.  |
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Post by drf8 on May 23, 2006 11:19:12 GMT -5
I don't know much about the 260cc but I do know that octane booster has dissolved the diaphram in the fuel petcock on smaller scooters. It then works it's way into the carb and gums stuff up. This ethanol crap isn't good for high compression engines. Can you find non-ethanol fuel or is this some new law in your area? MTBE is an oxygenator added to gasoline to improve emissions. It was mandated for cites that do not meet EPA air pollution standards. MTBE is also a powerful groundwater contaminant (a little goes a looong way), so the Feds ordered it replaced with ethanol. Besides being a lower order fuel (reduction in gas mileage), it also absorbs water, requiring special transport (no underground pipelines) and mixing facilities (mix must be done near the point of commercial sale to reduce the chance of water getting in and ruining the ethanol. This drives price way up. |
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Post by drf8 on May 23, 2006 11:24:54 GMT -5
Actually, speaking of which... does such a vehicle exist yet? Not quite the "alternate fuels" being discussed, but a jet powered scoot would be pretty cool! Jay Leno has a jet turbine-powered motorcycle and there is one guy who is putting twin jet pods on his wife's Honda Metropolitan |
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Post by strangerdejavu on May 23, 2006 16:52:37 GMT -5
Hahaha. If it has a wheel or two or three, and it's been created, then Jay Leno has one (or has had at one point in time) :-p
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Post by medman1952 on May 23, 2006 20:35:41 GMT -5
That VW looks like the answer to tailgator problems
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Post by drf8 on May 24, 2006 15:06:10 GMT -5
That VW looks like the answer to tailgator problems And that's not the biggest burn, either. The third picture here is a mini-burst he does on the street. The builder says the standard fireball is about 4 times bigger than the one shown. |
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Actually, there have been a few diesel motorcycles, but they never really gained popularity in the US.
