how to Fix It - part 4

An oil change on a scooter takes under 5 minutes and costs about $3. Since there is no real oil filter (the "filter" is just a mesh screen), changing the oil during the break-in period makes sense since it removes small metal particulates that the filter just won't catch.

During the break in period try to vary the engine speed as much as possible. This isn't particularly easy with a CVT scooter since they tend to try to keep the revs pretty constant and change speed by changing the gear ratio. I know my scooter seems to like to keep the engine speed around 5000rpm if it can. Still it's good to speed up and slow down and not ride at a constant throttle setting for long periods. Also avoid rapid starts and let the engine warm up for about a minute before moving off when you first start the scooter from cold to allow the oil to circulate. This is good advice even after the initial break-in period too.

It's probably not a good idea to use synthetic oil during the break in period. Good old dino (dinosaur!) oil is probably what you should use. Synthetic oil may be too slippery and not allow the parts (mainly the piston rings) to "bed in" properly. I'd stick with the manufacturer's recommendation (typically 10-30W) until after the break in period of 500-1000 miles. Then you can switch to a synthetic blend if you want to. Amsoil make a synthetic oil which they calaim is specially designed for scooters - see http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/aso.aspx

My break-in technique was to gradually increase speed over the next 300 miles (201-500) and at 500 miles do another oil change. It's cheap insurance. From 500 miles on I've ridden the scooter normally. After break-in the engine oil should be changed at least every 1000 miles as part of normal routine maintenance.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke® 10W-40 Synthetic Scooter Oil (ASO) is formulated specifically to meet the special needs of today’s high-tech air- and water-cooled fourstroke motorized scooters, offering unsurpassed wear protection and friction reduction for longer equipment life and cooler operating temperatures. Its exceptional shear stability ensures consistent viscosity protection and provides additional protection for transmissions and gear boxes, while its friction modifier-free formulation ensures wet clutch compatibility and smooth clutch operation. A special anti-corrosion additive package provides long-term protection during periods of inactivity and storage.

Shear Stability

High engine rpms common to scooter applications increase shear, causing conventional lubricants to lose viscosity and reduce their ability to control wear, resulting in shorter engine life. The synthetic formulation of Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil effectively resists shear, delivering consistent viscosity protection for unsurpassed wear protection and extended equipment life.

Thermal Stability

The operating temperatures of scooter engines fluctuate greatly, especially with air-cooled engines. Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil resists breakdown at elevated temperatures, maintaining its protective viscosity for maximum wear control.

Transmission and Gear Box Compatibility

In many scooter applications, the engine and transmission and/or gear box share the same oil reservoir. Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil is absolutely shear stable and will not thin out from mechanical activity, providing superior protection for transmissions and gear boxes.

Wet Clutch Compatibility

Some scooters utilize a frictional clutch to engage and disengage the engine from the drivetrain. In many cases, this clutch is immersed in the same oil used in the engine and transmission. Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil contains no friction modifiers and is wet clutch compatible, offering smooth clutch operation and increased clutch life.

Rust and Corrosion Protection

Scooters are often subjected to extended periods of inactivity and storage, exposing the equipment to internal rust and corrosion. Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil is formulated with a special anti-corrosion additive package designed to provide long-term protection during periods of inactivity and storage.

Applications and Recommendations

AMSOIL Formula 4-Stroke Synthetic Scooter Oil is recommended for use wherever SAE 10W-40 motor oil is specified in air- and watercooled four-stroke motorized scooter engines, transmissions and gear boxes that require the following:

API SG, SL/CF

JASO MA/MA2 (motorcycle wet clutch)

Engine manufacturers include, but are not limited to, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha, Vespa, Aprilia, Piaggio, Benelli, Kymco, Vento, Tank, TGB and many other 150cc Chinese Scooters shown on our website.

ABS stands for "Antilock Braking Sytem". ABS brakes are now pretty standard on cars. They work by using an electronic sensor on each wheel. If the sensor detects that the car is moving, but the wheel has locked up and is skidding, the brake pressure on that wheel is electronically modulated so that the wheel isn't locked but is providing enough braking power to be just on the verge of locking up. That gives you the maximum possible stopping power.

99% of the time, ABS brakes are much safer than non_ABS brakes, the only exception being when stopping in something loose like sand or gravel, where a locked wheel can "dig into" the ground better and slow a vehicle down faster. However on the road, ABS will outperform non-ABS for almost all drivers. So if ABS is so great, and if locking up the front wheel on a scooter usually results in loss of control, wouldn't it be nice if you could get a scooter with ABS brakes, or at least an ABS front brake? Well, you can - if you pay for it. For example the Honda Reflex sport is available in two models, without ABS for $5550 and with ABS for $6050. The Honda Silver wing without ABS is $8100, with ABS it's $8600. So at least on those Honda scooters, ABS costs you about $500.

"BUT", you may say, "I've seen a bunch of Chinese scooters with ABS brakes and the price for the whole scooter is only $1200. Am I getting a bargain?" The short answer is no, you're not getting a bargain and you're not even getting ABS brakes.

Well, I suppose you are getting a sort of ABS braking system, but what it is (if it's more than just a decal on the scooter) is a pressure limiting valve which limits just how hard the brakes can be applied. Above a certain pressure in the hydraulic brake line a pressure relief valve may open. Obviously if you can't apply the brakes really, really, really hard, you probably won't lock the wheel, so in a sense you have an "anti-lock" system, but it's not the ABS system that you might expect.

Is it dangerous? Well, maybe. If you want to apply the brakes hard and the "ABS" system decides it wants to dump 50% of the stopping power just to make sure you don't lock the front wheel, then there could obviously be problems. My own scooter has such "ABS" brakes (at least on the front disk) and so far I'm quite happy with the braking power. I've never felt any sort of modulation of the brakes and the harder I brake, the faster I stop, so either the "ABS" isn't working or it's set to some high value of braking power that I have not yet reached. However I have not tried an emergency stop from 60 mph because if the brakes do lock up at that sort of speed, the "test" may quickly become an accident!

True ABS braking works well on very slippery surfaces such as wet roads, snow and ice. A pressure limited "ABS" system won't do that, so even if the chinese ABS system did any good under hard braking on dry roads, it would still fail miserably in the rain and snow, which is exactly when you most need it. It wouldn't be any worse than regular "non-ABS" brakes in the rain, snow and ice, it just wouldn't be any better or safer. I have tried hard braking at safe low speed on a wet surface with my scooter with an "ABS" frint disk, and just as you'd expect from a "pseudo-ABS" system, the wheel locks and the scooter skids. Pressure limiting ABS does absolutely nothing to help prevent skids on wet or slippery roads.

The point to be made here is that NO Chinese scooter has true ABS brakes such as are found on cars. Any claims of ABS braking are at best misleading and at worst illegal. The only scooters with true ABS brakes are a few of the "maxi-scooters" and it will typically add $500 or so to the scooter price. The "ABS" braking label on Chinese scooters is very misleading. It's been suggested that APS actually stands for "AntiLock Braking Sticker". Opinions differ on whether it's actually dangerous, but there are probably tens, even hundreds of thousands of such scooters out there and so far I haven't heard of any product recalls mandated by the DOT or other regulatory or government actions due to safety concerns, so I'd have to conclude at this point that the "ABS" system on chinese scooters doesn't do a lot of harm.

BTW Chinese scooter rear brakes aren't even claimed to be ABS. Normally they are drum brakes and my experience is that even if you apply all the braking power you can, you can't lock them up on a dry road because they aren't that powerful! At least 70% of the stopping power of any scooter or motorcycle is done by the front brake just because of the mechanics of weight transfer under braking.

Scooter Maintence

Have you ever found yourself driving along quite happily, but when you look down at your dashboard you see one of your indicator lights is blinking? With a helmet on, the engine running and wind noise, the quiet "clicking" of most indicators is pretty hard to hear and so unless you remember to cancel your signal, it may stay on much longer then you intend.

This can be annoying to other road users and it can be dangerous to you. If a car on a road to the right thinks that you are about to turn right because you've accidentally forgotten to turn off your right indicator, it may pull out in front of you and cause an accident.

The best way to remind yourself to cancel your indicator is to add an audible signal which is louder than the "click" you get from the standard signal unit. This is easy to do and costs less than $10. That's not much to spend for your safety.

All you need to do is to wire a small 12v buzzer or beeper across each of your indicator lights. I found the easiest way to do that was in the dash assembly, taking the voltage from the left and right turn indicator arrows, but you could wire then directly across the turn indicators themselves if it's easier. Each indicator bulb has two wires going to it. One wire is the ground (negative side of the battery) and the other side goes between +12v and ground (or open circuit) when the indicator is operating. If you wire the buzzer between these two connections, each time the light comes on the buzzer/beeper will sound. Most buzzers/beepers have to be wired the right way around, so typically the red lead will go the the +12v side and the black lead to the ground (battery negative) side.

A typical 12v buzzer/beeper draws so little current (usually under 20mA) that it's a negligible drain on the battery. You can find suitable buzzers/beepers at electronic components vendors such as:

AllElectronics.com

Radio Shack

If you have some experience with electronics you can do the job with just one buzzer/beeper if you use a pair of diodes as shown below. Diodes allow current to flow only in one direction, so you can join the left and right indicator signals without having both directions flashing all the time (as you would if you didn't use the diodes). Any general purpose diode will do, such as a 1N4003 or 1N4001. If you don't have electronics experience, just get two buzzer/beepers! I've found the additional audible signal to be very useful. I can hear it even with a full face helmet on and it's a very effective reminder to cancel the indicator. If you've found this article useful, please bookmark it via one of the services listed below it or link to it so that others can find it.

Different manufacturers recommend different break in procedures. For example in what passes for a "manual" that was supplied with my Chinese scooter it recommends the following:

 0-150km maximum speed 30km/hr 151-300km maximum speed 40km/hr 301-800km maximum speed 50km/hr 801-1500km Maximum spped 60km/hr

Of course the speedometer is calibrated in mph and the oddometer reads in miles, so some translation is needed. In round numbers these instructions correspond to

 0-100 miles max speed 20 mph 101-200 miles max speed 25 mph 201-500 miles max speed 30 mph 501-1000 miles max speed 40 mph

You'd have to be pretty patient to follow that to the letter and really, it's probably not necessary.

On the other hand there a school of thought which is exactly the opposite of the "slow and gentle" method.

Basically the technique involves riding the machine as hard as you possibly can from day one, with lots of speeding up, slowing down, high and low revs and wide open throttle use. Even if this method worked well, it would be difficult on a scooter with an automatic CVT transmission since you can't really control the revs very well. Personally I wouldn't try it on a scooter and I didn't on mine!

What I did was use the "ride it like you'll ride it (but gently)" technique. That involves riding pretty gently for the first 25 miles (speed under 30 mph, revs under 4000 rpm), then I changing the original chinese engine and transmission oil (see the article here on changing the oil for details).

The original oil might be OK or it might be "cheap and nasty". You have nor real way of telling, so change it, then you'll be sure. I replaced the original oils with Castrol GTX 10-30W in the engine and Castrol Hypoid 80/90 gear oil in the transmission. For the next 175 miles (25-200) I still took it quite easy with no rapid acceleration, keeping the speed down below 40mph or 5000 rpm, then I changed the engine oil again.

Scooter Carburator Adjustment

Troubleshooting - Scooter Won't Run

Brake: Drum vs Disc

Adding Auxiliary Lights

Adding Auxiliary Power Outlet

Scooter and ABS Brakes

Scooter Breakin

Amsoil Formula 4 - Stroke Oil

Adding Audible Turning Signal Indicator

Oil Cooler for Big Bore

High Octane Fuel-Do you need it?

Five Popular Spark Plug Patterns

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