Back on the Road

One day the dog will work out that sleeping underneath the letterbox isn't a good idea. I've got all of the bits to put the scooter back on the road, and the dog's got a bump on his head.

The new speedo cable's dry, so I greased it lightly and fitted it. A quick spin of the front wheel and the speedo needle moves, that's all it needed. I've also ordered a replacement front brake lever which bolts straight on. That lets me push new fluid through the front brake system as it was a little discoloured and of unknown origin.

All that's left to do is sort out the non-functioning horn, then bolt the plastics back on the bike. A quick check with the volt meter shows that nothing is getting through to the horn when the button's pushed. Taking the switch apart is simple enough and reveals that it's fallen apart internally, fortunately nothing's broken so I reassemble it and the horn springs back to life. Back on with the panels and I'm ready for a test drive.

A couple of prods on the kickstart and the engine's burbling away. On with the riding gear and we're off up the hill.

Gawd it's slow....

It crawls up to the top of my hill onto the flatter road and off it goes. At speeds up to 31mph, when the limiter kicks in and performance hits a brick wall. I'd noticed a sensor next to the clutch bell when I had the covers off. That's what senses the speed of the bike and when it reaches the preset speed limit the CDI retards the ignition preventing the bike from going any faster.

This is dangerous. At 31mph, you don't pick up enough momentum going downhill to give you enough oomph to get up the other side so you end up with a queue of impatient traffic behind you as you struggle uphill at 15mph. Allowing the bike to run to its real top speed downhill will reduce this problem, so I removed the sensor from the belt cover. This is the "pink wire" mod you'll find described on the internet without having to butcher the loom.

That's better. A 50cc scooter isn't ever going to be fast, but it'll pull 43mph on the flat and doesn't struggle uphill so much.

I'm going to ride it to work for a few weeks to see if anything breaks. Worryingly, the kickstart's making odd noises already....