My Roketa MC54-250B Experiences at 13,200 miles

[JiuJitsu]

Earl, thanks for a SUPER post, I have it bookmarked and this should get me through my first several thousand miles on my '08 "Road King" (when it arrives).

I asked on the other post about VINs, but I'll ask again here-
where did you get all that info from the VIN?
All the searches I try are only giving information about cars and trucks...

Thanks again!

[earlwb]

heck, I don't know what service I used for that now. Seems everyone wants you to pay now for a VIN check.
If I remember right it was a government site, with a dot .gov on the end of the URL.

[JiuJitsu]

Thanks again.

I haven't seen my bike yet, but the more I read and see, the more convinced I am becoming that "Road King" is just the new way Roketa says "MC54-250B", for 2008.

My VIN begins 5RYMC054xxxxxxxxx...

So I think I will have basically the exact same scoot you have.

Nice!

[earlwb]

The MC54-xxxxx scooters appear to use a copy of a Honda Reflex frame and body. But they can put in either the Honda Clone engine or the Yamaha Clone engine inside. They use all the same parts except for the Engine and Carb. Even the CDI and voltage regulator are the same. They use a more or less generic wiring harness so they can swap engines easily at the factory. So you can order things like a Windshield for a Honda Reflex and it'll mount right up no problems. I would not be surprised if one could actually put on Honda plastic body parts even, maybe even other parts like steering head bearings etc.

Now they did go to 13" wheels whereas, if I remember right, the Honda Reflexes uses 12" wheels.

From what I see, a lot of importers import them under many different names, but they are essentially the same.
Now there are some subtle differences, as some scooters may use a "real" Linhai engine and others use a clone of the Linhai engine. same thing for the Honda clone engines, being the CF-Moto engine or a copy of the CF-Moto engine.

The Honda clone engines use a clamp on carb based on the Keihin Carb, whereas the Yamaha clone engines use a bolt on carb based on a Yamaha design that has some similarities to the Keihin.

[earlwb]

Cool. Oh yeah, the Yamaha type of carb has the idle speed adjuster wheel easy to reach and the air mixture screw is easy to reach as well. it gets more interesting if you need to fiddle with them on the keihin style carb.

But then the Honda clone engine has a unique externally adjustable valve gap system, versus the Yamaha regular valve gapping method.

[JiuJitsu]

Earl I have a question or two about the air filter.

I opened mine up and oiled it with K&N like you recommended, but I ended up with one screw left over... It is a machine cut screw, different from all the others... do you remember where that belongs? No harm asking, I guess...

Also, that K&N filter you put in - any noticeable performance enhancement, MPH or MPG?
Would you recommend the switch over my brand new, freshly oiled stock foam?

Appreciate your feedback, thanks.

FYI, I deleted my last post because it was too much about me on your thread, sorry for the continuity bust-up above ^^^.

[earlwb]

I suspect it is the screw in the lower center of the air filter box that you forgot to put back in.
There is a hole in the outer cover half and a screw goes in there to meet up with the post on the back half.

[scooterherox]

Earl,

how fast can your roketa MC54-250b go at stable speed?

scooterherox

[earlwb]

Beats me, I have never gone over 60mph.
I have had no reason to go faster.

[scooterherox]

Earl,

Fair enough. What about the acceleration?

scooterherox

[earlwb]

I don't know, I never tried to measure acceleration.
I can usually accelerate off from a stop light away from the cars behind and beside me though.

[JiuJitsu]

Thanks for the point on the screw Earl.
Any comment on the K&N filter?
Any difference you could notice?

[earlwb]

No differences noted with the K&N filter. Basically the OEM stock foam piece wasn't oiled and had no air resistance to it, so since the K&N is a low resistance filter, it did not change anything. Albeit with air filter oil on it, less dust gets into the engine cylinder.

[JiuJitsu]

Thanks for the info, maybe I'll just leave it alone and keep my twenty dollars then!

[chaplained]

Hello folks,

Recently acquired a 2006 Bali 250. Fan won't run and it is getting hotter than it should. Anyone know where the fan is powered from or where the temp sensor is located? Thanks.

Chaplain Ed

[earlwb]

chaplained,
Your Bali 250 uses the engine based on the Honda engine, whereas my scooter uses a copy of the Yamaha engine.
But referencing the parts diagram for your Bali 250, the water temperature fan switch sensor is part number 61 here:
roketa.com/product/parts_detail.jsp?partId=23249&partName=ENGINE%20ASSEMBLY(3)

On my scooter if you...
If you remove the left lower rocker panel and look at the lower left radiator corner you will see where the water temperature fan switch sensor (#1) is located. #2 is the fan, and #3 is the radiator. Anyway when the temperature of the coolant reaches a little over 160 degrees, (i think it is like 166 degrees F) it closes the contacts and turns on the fan.
There is a second engine temperature sensor on top of the engine cylinder head in front of the carbuerator, that goes to the temperature gauge on the dash. If your temperature gauge is indicating around full scale while a thermometer check shows it down around 160 degrees, then you can put a 400 ohm 1/2 watt resistor in series (in between the wire from the engine temperature sensor) with the gauge and that should get it indicating a more normal temperature range.


On the Yamaha clone engines, on the lower left side is the water inlet and the lowest bolt is the drain for the coolant in the system.
The slightly rusty allen hex head bolt is the one you remove for draining the coolant, the little chrome bolt to the right of it is not the drain.


Here is a right side view of the radiator if you remove the right lower rocker panel.


Here is the Roketa website parts list and diagram for the MC54-250B engine design.
roketa.com/product/parts_detail.jsp?partId=30732&partName=ENGINE%20ASSEMBLY(3)

["Big Guy"]

Earl has crappy drawing software ;D
Just so there's no misunderstanding, I circled the water drain plug:

[chaplained]

Thanks for the info. I will get into it tonight. I also suspect the water pump may not be putting out. I've only had the scooter about a month and am having a ball with it.

Chap Ed

[earlwb]

hey Big Guy, I think you circled the bolt that helps to hold the crankcase halves together. I was really pointing at the hex allen bolt at the bottom of the water inlet gooseneck thing.


I double checked my engine and the small chrome bolt you depicted is holding the crankcase together. The real drain is the bolt I pointed the arrow to. The CF-Moto Honda engine has a chrome bolt in the place where my engine has the regular allen hex bolt at. The CF-Moto has the drain on the right side of the engine whereas the Linhai engine has the drain on the left side of the engine.

[mg]

The water temp sensor is located on top of the cylinder head on the spark plug side of the engine. Look just below and in front of the auto choke on the carb.

["Big Guy"]

earlwb said:

hey Big Guy, I think you circled the bolt that helps to hold the crankcase halves together...

Really? That's the one I always have used to flush the system! Are you sure?

[scooterollie]

Like Earl, I have used the bottom water pump bolt on both the CFMoto and Linhai engines - as per Stan Jessup. Didn't know about the other bolt. My CFMoto powered scoot is gone now so I can't check it out.

[earlwb]

thanks mg, for some odd reason I forgot where it was. Must be a senior moment.
Big Guy and Scooter Ollie, I guess we learn something new everyday.

[chaplained]

Is there an english wiring diagram available for these things? My start switch next to the throttle sometimes works and sometimes dosen't I can always start by shorting across the solenoid, but that's not practical out on the road. I think there is a broken/loose wire in one of the harnesses.

[earlwb]

Yeah there is a wiring diagram, it appears to be correct, but it is generic to the whole series of scooters that look like mine, unfortunately it came with the package of paperwork I received with the scooter. I don't know where I put my scanner, I think the scanner wound up at the rear of my storage shed.
So I have taken a high resolution photo of the circuit diagram that I have and I put it here. If your image viewing software lets you, you can zoom in on the photo reasonably well.
home.roadrunner.com/~earlwbollinger/scooters/Circuit_Diagram.JPG
You may have to download the image to your PC and view it using a decent image program.

Oh yeah, and before someone asks, a
A Magneto Resistor is the kill switch.
A Manostat is the voltage regulator.
The thermostatic switch is on the bottom left rear of the radiator and controls the radiator fan.
The Single Stand Stall Switch is on the side kick stand.
The liquid adding valve is interesting. Someone came up with what it really is, it is the automatic enrichener unit on the carb, that is the heater coil for the unit. (many people call it a automatic choke).
The Starting Relayer is the starter solenoid.
The water temperature sending unit is on the top of the engine in front of the carb.
The fuel sensor is a potentiometer (variable resistor) mounted on a float arm in the fuel tank.
The Electrion Horn is the of course the horn.
The turn signal flasher is located under the dash inside the front panel on the scooter, along with the alarm remote system and radio.
There is a diode semiconductor pictured on the circuit diagram. It is a power diode mounted in a small heat sink and bolted to someplace on the scooter. I haven't found it yet, you I can't tell you where it is or what it really looks like yet. it may be near the voltage regulator, ignition coil and CDI, which are mounted under the front middle floor panel in between the fuel tank and engine.

[fufu2wheel]

Apr 19, 2008 22:40:59 GMT -5 earlwb said:

Yeah there is a wiring diagram, it appears to be correct, but it is generic to the whole series of scooters that look like mine, unfortunately it came with the package of paperwork I received with the scooter. I don't know where I put my scanner, I think the scanner wound up at the rear of my storage shed.
So I have taken a high resolution photo of the circuit diagram that I have and I put it here. If your image viewing software lets you, you can zoom in on the photo reasonably well.
home.roadrunner.com/~earlwbollinger/scooters/Circuit_Diagram.JPG
You may have to download the image to your PC and view it using a decent image program.

Nice work, two thumbs up.

[earlwb]

Today I decided to go for it and install my front LEDs and some instrument gauges that I had.
This is what the backside of the front panel looks like.


Here is where the lights are located on the backside.


To replace the little turn signal bulbs, you twist to unlock and twist to lock the rubber light socket. I used the extra powerful SMD LED 1156 lights I got, they have something like 39 high power LEDs in it, contained in special 3 LEDs per module on the light.


Yes you have to remove the four screws holding the turn signals lenses in place in order to get to the light bulbs.


Gauges all installed and ready to go to work.


The voltmeter is working pretty good, but the ammeter appears to be not sensitive enough to work Ok, The needle moves about the width of the center yellow Zero current marker. I put it on the black wire with the 15 amp fuse, as they fused the negative wire going to the battery. If I manage to find a compatible ammeter that is less sensitive or has a external shunt resistor (I can trim the shunt to make the ammeter more sensitive). I'll switch it out in the future.




This is the gauge operating as the engine idles. The needle is actually bouncing back and forth like crazy, I was lucky in getting the pic of the needle at about the 10 mark. I'll see if I can get a video of the vacuum gauge as it works with the engine running later. This is about what I expected it to do on a single cylinder engine, the engine intake suction pulses and pretty wild and variable at low speed.


I installed a cigarette lighter power socket inside the left glove box in the rear. It has its own 15 amp fuse, and if needed, I can plug something in and have it more or less, out of sight inside the glove box. The front glove box has two deep pockets for holding things. So I could put in a battery tender inside there no problem.


I routed the vacuum line and the extra wires from the engine compartment forward using some plastic conduit to help protect the wires and stuff. A few zip ties here and there keeps it in place good.

[chaplained]

Thanks for the diagram Earl. Came through great and will help a bunch! Blessings.

Chaplain Ed

[scooterollie]

Earl,
Great job on the mods! Pretty soon our scoots will look like airplane cockpits. (LOL)

[cat0020]

I've seen this unit installed on a motorcycle:

www.cbxmanmotorcycles.com/Kisan-Cg-10-Digital-Multimeter-Charge-Guard.aspx



chargeGuard display is a digital multi-meter with 4 modes of display: a voltmeter, ammeter, ambient temperature and ICE ALERT warning.
Full description could be found below:

www.kisantech.com/index.php?cat_id=5