Totally agree! I decided that if I would get a scooter, it would have to be 150cc to keep the road rage at bay. In DC it is so crazy that I would have to be armed to deal with what Garret is dealing with. What a guy!! Hell, he has a Ducati and 4-wheel vehicles! He does not have to deal with all this BS... But he does for us, which i do get bc I do a YT channel for people, not me...
You can in fact derestrict this scooter. This particular scooter (type of CDI) just needs a different 'unrestricted' CDI. What I also noticed is you didn't use the oil drain bolt on the left side of the engine case. To add one more thing, the air filter is an oil stained medium like on a dirt bike so the oil in the air box is normal (cranck case blowby does occur when too much engine oil is added or running temp gets too hot), also adding a little bit of oil at service interval will help the life of the engine and richen the fuel mixture as your filter becomes more restrictive. I'm just here observing and sharing as a fellow mechanic who works on these types of scooters daily.
As a fellow scooter mechanic. Ive had nothing but problems with those unrestricted CDI's on the GY6's. Now if i use one on a 2 stroke like a Genuine Roughhouse they run a little faster but nothing really serious
Im running my 150cc gy6 Chinese scooter with no air filter now, only a screen. There was a SIGNIFICANT increase in power and throttle response from doing this as well as also punching out a bigger exhaust hole at the same time. I started running no air filter at 8000 miles. So far I'm at 8,500 miles. I'll keep you updated how long this experiment lasts lol. Anything for more speed!
i’m at 3000 miles with my tao tao and it only broke down once. the belt broke but i fixed it asap edit: i’m at 4500 miles now, got a flat tire but got it fixed and it’s still running strong. I’ve been riding since march.
Is it the same model? Overall, I heard it is a good bike...just not this model. Am I right, cause I'm new to the scooter thing. I just purchased my first one. It's a 2021 Wolf v150
@@thatdcdude7434 it’s is the same model and it is a good bike to own just don’t get this model. Mine just recently stopped running and i’ve tried to get it to run but nothing fixed it
I just watched through all of your videos in this series (up until this point) and honestly, you earned my subscribe within the first minute of part 1. I have absolutely enjoyed every minute since! The fact that you are seeing this experiment through with such attention to detail and meticulous data logging is commendable, inspiring, and SO refreshing. Thank you for your consistency and dedication. I know I've been gushing, but your efforts thus far have been downright heroic, and although I find this series to be incredibly informative I wouldn't blame you if you ever wanted to take a hiatus from living with that tao tao! ❤️
It's still going then! I admit I was concerned, but the exhaust mount weld snapped, ah well you knew it was coming. Another useful video and can't wait 'till the exhaust replacement and re jet of the carb one as fitting a nice shiny stainless exhaust was the very first "customization" I did to my scoot, I was so proud of myself, a lot of swearing around the manifold bolts and the crush washer kept slipping off as I was fitting the exhaust (solved with a blob of copper grease), and that was three years ago, can confirm exhaust still going strong and still very shiny.
As a long time Chinese scooter owner I have been following these videos with interest. Initially I was pleased to see a qualified mechanic take ownership of a Tao Tao thinking the scooter would be given a fair shake. It wasn’t long before I began to see that this was not the case. While doing a proper Post Delivery Inspection Garret dwelled on totally non important issues. Testing to see if the ignition trigger had the proper resistance was beyond all needs. If it runs, it works. Continually testing those functions is simply unnecessary. He also ignored previous experience with these and took no action to prevent the exhaust from breaking. My pet peeve. Comparing an $800 scooter to a $2100 Genuine or a $4200 Vespa. Does your Honda Accord ride and perform like a BMW, Audi or Mercedes at many times the price? No. In a scooter it’s the engine that gets you down the road. Which brings me to my last peeve. The spark plug looks too white. In this age of ethanol and no lead gasolines all plus on stock motors look too white. In a mad attempt to satisfy his fears he jetted the heck out of the scooter. As you can see on his maintenance chart his gas mileage plummeted from 110 mpg to 74mpg. He has finally abandoned the “Living with a Tao Tao" having not taken the scooter to work since the beginning of September or riding it all since the beginning of October. So I guess he has proven after all that the problem with Chinese scooters is the owners after all.
I am an licensed aircraft technician and engineer, I also drive a corvette and build race car engines but I can NOT stop watching these videos. Fascinating. I have a buddy 150cc and buddy 50cc scooters btw. I don't think I could hang with a tao tao. Love the crocs btw.....
Always fun to see how the experiment is going! I wonder what is starting to degrade that is causing the voltage drop? To me the magnet/wires spinning around seems like a pretty stable and simple thing. Maybe the magnet is losing a bit of pull/strength with the heat from running the engine?
Ill also say, if youre having carb problems, swap your carb to an 18mm slide carb for a relatively stock scooter, or a 21mm slide carb for a big bore kit. It eliminates the vacuum operated needle and the throttle response is 10 times better. You have to change your throttle cable to a slide carb cable, and may have to bypass your vacuum line system depending on your carb, but its so worth it. On 150s and 125s its negligible, but on a 50cc the CV carbs are so slow and so finicky
First thing I do with ANY new vehicle (40 years @ ASE Master) is buy or download a service manual and put together a little tool kit with some Harbor Freight disposable tools or leftovers from old sets. Even pot metal wrenches are better than turning nuts with your fingers on a road side.
For many years, VW beetles had even less of a "filter" for oil and did quite well. Junk/sediment usually accumulates in the cap/cover. Now you see why they recommend such frequent oil changes. Think push mower engine.
The whiting on the header is making my teeth itch, can’t wait for the upjet. Seriously 😂 Ps great vid and loving the series!!!! I’d not be surprised if the stator was wearing, at least on my Vespa when the voltage starts creeping UP - that’s a sign the regulator is done. Once you have completed this test and if the motor is still in good working order - id love to see you fit a cam, fully derestrict and put lighter weights in. Just to see if it can commute to a reasonable level 👍
The welds are bad. The welded in nut from my trunk broke off so I had to take it off. Those "tools" they send you are junk. You really shouldn't be performing work with them because a wrench set is cheap . If you own this scooter you should be able to afford the $40.00 for tools at harbor freight or at the auto parts store. If you're looking at buying one include an extra $300 for parts and tools.
You dont know how happy I was to see the new video notification...really enjoyed that But Dude...stop with the air quotes ✌️✌️ Looking forward to the exhaust fit
It looks like there are tiny but important differences between importers of those things. For example placement of ignition module inside or uotside the batery box, also quality control most probably differs. It may result that more expirienced welders in factory made mufflers for those demending clients, that will send back poorly made parts and ask money back. Emploee with a welder first time in his hands made the one for his scooter, same as child labour made his electric instalation not political prisoners, threaten by death, that made mine and I never had any problems with it - electrical instalation ofc. ... damn it may be true abaut children and slave labour... I feel bad that I treated badly maybe even someones last work in life ...
Dude. When I bought my Bashan they advised to ditch the battery for a new one asap. If your standing battery voltage is dropping it means the battery is drawing more from the charging circuit and lowering your idle voltage. How do I know. My Kawasaki just killed it's five year old battery and was dead at the start of an event I went to. I got a jump and monitored the voltage on the meter in the speedometer Kawasaki graciously provided. All the way home I monitored output and never saw more than 12 volts. A load test revealed that with the key on, lights on, voltage dropped to 11.6 volts. Trying to start it gave a voltage of 5.6. I bought a new battery and voltage at 4,000 rpm indicated 13.1 while at 5,000 rpm the onboard meter on the road showed 13.8. All you have to do is check standing voltage with the key on and lights glowing to see a drop in standing voltage each time and why your test voltages are dropping equally. A battery requiring more charging voltage is a resistor in the circuit affecting your charging volts.
I've had Kymco engines with charging problems. Both were Xciting models. One bike was 10 years old, the other was 12 years old, when the charging system failed. Replacement of battery (following the standard fill up new battery and charge fully with the battery manufacturer's own charger) resulted in a dead battery within about 3 days, on both bikes. The funny thing was that whenever I checked the charging system on the center stand (using the procedure in the service manual), the battery was going UP to 13.8V while revving the engine. Something was happening after the bike was running for a while which caused the charging system (on both bikes) to cut out. (I would literally drive 20 miles, then stop to fill up gas and not be able to restart the bike.) I ended up (when I bought the 2nd replacement battery on the first bike and it was still dying) replacing the stator coils and the regulator as a set and the problem went away. I still have the older bike. I never did figure out if it was a stator (insulation) or regulator (heat) problem since I was unable to reproduce it while I had my test equipment on the bike, although the electronics guy in me wants to say it was probably the regulator.
glenn doiron I get it when a component breaks down or fails when it gets hot. That's not what's happening here. He's admitting his standing voltage is dropping but extending the lack of charging voltage to a weakening regulator. Not only that but checking the charging voltage at 5k rpm is ridiculous. His running flat out is done around 8k rpm. Plug in the voltmeter there and probably see about 14 volts charging the battery.
@@kz1000st1 The service manually usually specifies the RPM to check the voltage at. In this case, he's noting that the voltage is falling @ 5,000 rpm each time he does the health check. The voltage regulators in these bikes are usually very simple, they take the 3-phase AC from the stator, change it into DC, and have a crowbar circuit to stop it from exceeding a set voltage. The crowbar circuit stops the stator output voltage from annihilating everything electrical on the bike when the engine revs to higher RPMS and/or the load on the electrical system is low. The output of the regulator itself tends to have a ton of voltage ripple at lower rpms or higher electrical loads. You won't normally see all of the regulator ripple because the battery is attached - the battery will smooth out the peaks & valleys by discharging/charging as the regulator voltage rises/falls, and any peaks are chopped off by the crowbar circuit if they are above the maximum allowed voltage. (The battery charging portion, however, tends to be... a diode. No voltage monitoring, no current limiting, no cutoff, no trickle charging - there is no battery management on these bikes. This is why they usually set the regulator crowbar circuit to trip at 1 diode drop above what they want the maximum battery voltage to be.) If the battery fails in such a way that the internal resistance gets higher (which is usually the way that they fail), it limits the amount of current it can charge and discharge on each cycle. This would normally have the effect of making the peaks and valley taller on the electrical system.... but the peaks are actually limited by the crowbar circuit on the regulator, (maybe they are / aren't at idle, but I'm 99.9% sure they are being crowbarred at 5000 rpm) meaning that only the valleys get lower. For the engine running test, on your typical DC multimeter (which basically samples the voltage several thousand times a second and displays a rolling average) this would show as a lower voltage than if the battery was in better shape (and feeding more current into the system when the regulator output falls) even if the standing (no load) battery voltage is **exactly the same** for both battery conditions. As you rev the bike up in RPMS, the valleys would get higher, (if it weren't for the presence of the crowbar circuit, the peaks would also get higher too, but if the regulator is Ok they are still being clamped at the same maximum allowed system voltage), so yes, you could see it at around 14 volts if you keep revving it up. **But this tells you next to nothing about the battery, or its status. This just means that the output of the regulator is higher (in the valleys) than it was at a lower rpm, which is exactly what you'd expect. You don't know if the battery isn't pulling down the voltage because its fully charged and doesn't need to pull that kind of current, or because its damaged and it just can't pull that kind of current.** It is also possible for the zener diode in the crowbar circuit to drift over time (this one is a long term effect, talking years here), or to be damaged (due to environmental stresses), and clamp at a different voltage. Or, you can have a failure (open) in one of the windings in the stator, which will also tank the voltage (although stator winding failure would result in a rather significant loss of battery charging ability especially at lower engine speeds). You just can't tell for sure with the battery connected, whether the drop is due to the battery going bad, or the regulator (or the stator, but as I said before, loss of a winding would cripple the regulator's output and you would see a huge loss at idle). It requires deeper analysis, which nobody but an electronics hobbyist with free time could be bothered to do. The thing is, the battery is usually the thing that goes bad, and batteries for these bikes are readily available AND easily replaced by the owner, so all other things considered I would definitely replace the battery first, before replacing the other parts of the electrical system, which tend to require more labor.
Wikipedia: United States: in the US octane rating is displayed in AKI. In most areas, the standard grades are 87, 89-90 and 91-94 AKI. In the Rocky Mountain (high elevation) states, 85 AKI (90 RON) is the minimum octane, and 91 AKI (95 RON) is the maximum octane available in fuel. Europe: 95 RON & 98 RON are normally available at most automotive fuel stations.
in Europe, we have a 98 octane as standard and 100 as premium, and ethanol is forbidden. at least in Slovenia that is a bit more advance than other countries
Ethanol forbidden? You Lucky bastard! In Denmark you have to Cash out to just get down to the 5% Ethanol mix. No such Thing as without Ethanol.. Bunch og hippies thats what i say
Looking forward to the upgrades. A new carb with better jetting will make the biggest difference in my opinion. Exhaust will make no difference at all. Let’s see if I’m right.
loving this series of your videos man ...... i cant believe you're still riding the tau tau ..... when it blows up please do a massive big power build like jack Cecil from horsepowerlogic /HPlogic. donno if you watch his CZcams channel ...
Now i cant wait to see which exhaust you put one! A cheap knock off? Or something with the same price tag of the scoot!? IF you go with the expensive options i can recomend a Turbokit Brand exhaust or Leovince. They do have a Nice moto sound. And they are stainless.
I think your most average Taotao owner with a busted exhaust will either tie it on as was done, knock it off and hope they don't get ticketed or buy the cheapest thing they can find that will fit. Usually that will be some junk off ebay for 30 or 40 bucks. it will be a flimsy header pipe and a straight through can with a little glass pack around the perimeter an be very nearly as noisy as running an open header. I have seen many of them brought in to a shop for low power, runs hot, poor acceleration and the shops have rejetted them making them much more rideable. Usual problem is that since it's such a cheap bike, they want it for $10 or $20 and really balk at $75 to $100 for getting the work done. We have one guy around here who tells them when they bring it in it will be a minimum of $50 to touch it. That will get them 45 min of labor and maybe a cheap part or two. He says about half of them turn right around and leave saying it aint worth it, they'll just live with it. I am enjoying your series. You are confirming, yet again, what I have already figured out on my own. These are made very cheaply to run when they leave the sales floor and hopefully until the end of the 30 or 90 day warranty. They are made to be sold, not used. I have an 08 chinese 50...not Taotao that runs like a scalded dog and is rock solid reliable. The day after I bought it, I had all the plastics off fixing wiring connectors, plugs, wire routing. I greased everything that should be. Chinese have a severe aversion to using grease. If it should be well greased, it gets a drop. If it should be lightly greased, good luck finding any. The frame flexes on mine but hasn't been a problem. I found many loose or barely tightened fasteners during my initial inspection and repairs. The welds look like crap but are apparantly holding up well. I rejetted the carb that day as well. Body parts are no long available for it. It wasn't designed to last anywhere near as long as it has. I have replaced the throttle cable twice and had a clutch go bad and start eating belts which I replaced with a stock type clutch. Installed sliders instead of rollers. Transmission works very well. To this day, the exhaust valve adjustment still changes after a couple hundred miles. I guess it's just not work hardened yet. The intake valve stays put very well. I run that poor thing to death. WFO pretty much all the time. I find I can get across town on it faster than I can in the car. So far, it's held up better, performed much better, and lasted much longer than that piece of junk Yamaha C3 I have that keeps eating engines. Although the Yamaha is in another class altogether with its ride quality and suspension, user comfort, I just can't deal with an engine rebuild every thousand miles. Please keep up this experiment and let us all know what happens with the scoot as the miles tick away. I venture you'll find the engine is the best part of the bike and will probably outlast the rest of it.
Great video as always, Garret. Are you convinced that a few simple modifications to the scoter will make it more reliable? I'm curious what you would chose to modify now to a brand new scooter if you were to do it all over again. Also, I'm wondering if you'd consider doing a motorized bicycle series like this one, it's super cheap, but suffers from the same quality control problems (either real or imagined) as the Tao Tao. There are also a whole host of cheap "upgrade" parts, just like the Tao tao.
JUST A SUGGESTION... If you are going to teach viewers about the combustion process, you might start them out with a better understanding by remembering to call "fuel" gas or gasoline. The reason for this is, which will no doubt be contested here by some, is because gasoline isn't fuel. Gasoline is gasoline. Gasoline and oxygen make "fuel". Since we live in an oxygen environment, we almost always take this for granted. That's why when teaching any part of the combustion process to those who must diagnose combustion issues, it's important to give a clearer understanding. This will allow students to be better equipped to figure out what's actually going on. And for the record, I don't think using the word fuel is wrong in a casual context, but when teaching about combustion, I think it's a teachers responsibility to clarify it. I hope you do too.
So.. Since you're re-jetting the carb are you going to take that opportunity to un-restrict the air intake as well? I realize that'd create an even leaner condition but since you're re-jetting you should be able to dial it in. Maybe make a little more HP for that off the line acceleration that machine struggles with. Pretty sure that in combination of the exhaust replacement/upgrade is going to turn that thing into an entirely new machine as far as feel.
You are right on the derestricting sir flow, i did that and lose more then 5mph on the top end. I did put in a higher output coil and CDI thing but no noticable imprivment. Did go through 3 Carbs in my time 2 of them were leaking gas into the air cleaber abd onevsine how got a hole in that diafram thing. The 4th has beed good last 5 or 6 k miles (or Kilometers)
The exhaust replacement may or may not require a change in the roller weights to put the engine in the new powerband. Depends on where the new powerband is. Usually the powerband on a hi-perf muffler is at a higher rpm than stock.
My exhaust just straight fell off from the bolts lost the nuts halfway down the road. And those toolkits do suck that's why I carry my own with me everywhere I go with that thing. Tao tao thunder
7:30 That tube is too short, if inner tube not fix the resonance problem. By adjusting its length, you can find more power. That inner tube might be reason that lean mixture? It get more air than without it.
If it helps, a local welding shop charged me 25 bucks to reweld a mount on my aftermarket exhaust. A shop wouldnt weld it. Theyd replace it, as shops technically dont do anything aftermarket
Couple track welds holding it on... Guaranteed to break. Your auto shop don't have a mig gun laying around to re-track the mount to the can?! I have used several performance exhausts for the taotaos, your gonna have fun trying to fit it. Had to cut and re-tig my stainless exhaust manifold on my last taotao.
Maybe an engine swap vid at the end of the series would be cool. With these scooters you would think the engine should be the most reliable part of the scooter. You can go to Home Depot or Harbor Freight, and get a 79cc Predator or Lifan engine for for $100 to 130. And in stock condition you can't kill them, so why can't they put a 50cc engine on a scooter that's reliable
@@thomaslemay8817 you must be a good tig welder to weld aluminum cans. These mufflers are made on an assembly line with mildly skilled workers. Take a closer look at the welds as they are poor quality and probably prone to cracking and breaking with heat cycles and vibration as what happened to Garrett's scooter.
Hey Garret, I have a problem..please consider helping me.. I have an Indian Scooter named dio that is purchased after using by another person.. the scooter wont speed up..i cant go beyond 60kmph or cant climb steep hills upwards.. i feel like something is stuck..so i changed the cvt belt.. serviced the rear pulley with new grease and still the problem is same.. I did a tappet adjustment too.. still the problem is same.. i feel like there is a small compression leak from the sparkplug..the sparkplug is stuck just turns and cannot take it out with a socket please help me
don't make us wait for too long :) Any chance you would give us a video on the stuff you have to go through in traffic, when riding? Would give a greater understanding of the experience of the experience living with a tao tao :). And it would help me, who lives in a supercold Sweden, to get some 2-wheel feeling going, warming up my veins. ;)
Those little metal mesh oil screeners, Honda used them back in the 80's on their CM250c model. I agree they are not confidence inspiring but the technology does work. The welds/metal on the exhaust are paper thin. I had similar happen to me on my 2008 gy6 150 jonway. But carefully I was able to reweld it back on. The oil blowback in the air filter housing. Isn't there a drain plug with a clamp further along the filter housing? Closer to the air intake? Loving the videos, looking forward to the next one...^^
Im surprised the exhsust stayed on that long 😆. I would run 15w40 engine oil. It works great. Do not change your induction system. Those cv carbs do not like that. You might could block off one of the cups holes to fix your lean issue. And it may pick up response quite a bit. Just a lil trick us moped mechanics use.. Sounds bootleg but it works.
Hello sir, What could be causing some popping and bogging at 2/3 - 3/4 throttle on a 150cc GY6 scooter? Can you think of anything electrical that can be.causing this? I've already installed 3 new carburetors, 3 different csi boxes, different coil wires, and a couple other things and I can't seem to get rid of it. Can you help me please?
I'm pretty sure my Jiajue scooter Sprint Sport 49cc is exactly the same as the Tao Tao Pony 🐎 ... Kind of scary, but at least I have your videos as reference. Lol.
Aaron H believe it or not your jiajue is better quality if your referencing a bintelli jiajue they bring them in from China and put better carbs and fuel lines and stuff Tao Tao is unmodified straight from China your scooter still isn’t that great but better then Tao Tao
@@natevanderloon9060 I believe it, I knew about the lines and spark plug.. but didn't know about the carburettor. The fearings/look is exactly the same though. Also I noticed we get rubber hand grips, not the plastic. We also get a better break line catch thingy at the front.
@@natevanderloon9060 Just done some research on Bintelli, they apparently moved on from the Jiajue company to another company. Now I am kind of interested in starting a Scooter dealership, lol. I gotta look into it I guess.
I had a Bintelli sprint as well and once owned a taotao ATM-50 too. I pushed that Sprint pretty hard and put around 5000km and only had one or two issue with electricals like bulbs burning out from a faulty voltage regulator from what the shop told me. Other than that it ran fine. The tao tao on the other hand... If you aren't mechanically inclined(which I'm not) you are gonna have a bad time. even with the proper preventive care i.e. oil changes, valve adjustments, ECT. It really spent more time in the shop than on the road, lol
Hopefully before 5k of KMs I will have my P's and will be able to move onto a car. I'm definitely not mechanically inclined for scooters/bike.. I have more knowledge for cars.
Without a whole bunch of tuning messing with the airbox on that engine will result in VERY POOR PERFORMANCE!!! I have seen it time and time again on the Honda Spree forum. The question would so often be why does my scooter bog out. People would immediately remove the air box on their scooter the second they bought it thinking that it was going to instantly boost the performance for free... Same thing with exhaust quite often as well. The engines are tuned for noise level and a particular speed range in mind. You mess with the intake tract you kill any performance it had.
Hey man, how do you like that digisync you use in some of the videos? I just ordered one and haven't gotten it yet but I was curious if your honest opinion
Honestly I love it. I've used a ton of different balancers and I don't think any of them are as easy to use. I love the built in magnet and that it is self powered, so you don't have wires strung all over the bike (and other technicians always seem to tangle them). The next best balancer I've used is by vacuum mate and it costs $800. I plan on doing a review video of it soon
@@Scooter_911 I appreciate the time spent to comment back, and most of my bikes are single carb with the exception of three and I have always just listened to sound of it running so probably not that balanced haha but I have to completely redo someone else's job, bought a non running bike and I remember seeing you test the rpm with the digisync and it peaked my interest
Hey i have a new tao tao 50 and a big problem with the head light. I put a new light bulb in an when i turn it on and let the engine rev, it breaks and turns off
probably a voltage regulator bad or unplugged. voltage regulators keep too much power from going through the headlight and blowing it. I've never had a taotao or any scooter so I'm not sure where it'd be at, but maybe you can go off that and find it.
Yes, even though the scooter has no need for friction modifiers because it does not have an integrated transmission or clutch, motorcycle oil is better formulated to transfer heat for air-cooled engines.
@@Scooter_911 Are you sure this helps? I'm asking because I'm a questioner and being that the Tao is a CVT, the oil never passes over the belt or the clutch. Another reason I'm asking is because if there's a quantifiable reason, I want to make the change in my scooter. Thank you.
@@crabjoe yes I am sure. Of the gy6 engines that I've seen melted down none of them were serviced with motorcycle oil. Once again it has nothing to do with the friction modifiers for a wet clutch. Its just the fact that motorcycle oil is formulated for better thermal transfer than automotive oils.
Well ive been watching these and i work on these things for a living you should drain the oil with the actual drain bolt from the cvt side. I put a bead of weld on the exhaust to help keep them from falling off and i put 1 or 2 blockers on that intake tube on the air box and it runs a couple mph faster. You said it isnt good with these in well im sorry but you are wrong. Not to mention you should only run 93 or ethanol free in these bikes.
When you put on that new performance exhaust, you WILL need to upjet the carb and possibly de-restrict the airbox. if you leave everything else stock, it Will bog. Just sayin. I've done this before and I'm speaking from experience. It will run even leaner otherwise.
The right thing to do with these scooters is to open the air / fuel mixture screw before rejetting them..They are set lean to pass the emissions test...All the rest is same old same old...cheap scooters..What else can you expect..it is also advisable to change the transmissiin oil after the first 200 kms...The spark plug is a No...put an NGK 7..Cold spark plug.....
Hey Garrett I have two scooters The Tao Tao & the prestige 150 I told you the 150 lost power Say two weeks ago I can’t seem to get it going again I took the spark plug out It was ruined I have no power Is my 150 gone Any suggestions I tried another spark plug Still no power
i think your rectifier is a lemon but i've never owned a tao tao so i don't know if that is normal for the model. it appears to be charging a bit weak. i say change it and measure it again.
I thought you would stop with this experiment because of all the hate you get on the roads... However, i am glad to see this content ❤️❤️❤️
Totally agree! I decided that if I would get a scooter, it would have to be 150cc to keep the road rage at bay. In DC it is so crazy that I would have to be armed to deal with what Garret is dealing with. What a guy!! Hell, he has a Ducati and 4-wheel vehicles! He does not have to deal with all this BS... But he does for us, which i do get bc I do a YT channel for people, not me...
A mans relationship with a piece of junk scooter its the height of simplicity and purity. I think that is why i love it.
I love that stupid theme song...it sticks in your head!
The "porno-music" intro????
I like the "living with the Tao tao" bit
You should check out TC Superstar!
Nothing like it for the song to be on heavy mental rotation in the brain for the entire day. LOL
Mine too...."living with a Tao Taaaooooo..." Lol!
@@AltonChaney my thoughts exactly. That one stuck in my head for a while. Odd but catchy. XD
You can in fact derestrict this scooter. This particular scooter (type of CDI) just needs a different 'unrestricted' CDI.
What I also noticed is you didn't use the oil drain bolt on the left side of the engine case.
To add one more thing, the air filter is an oil stained medium like on a dirt bike so the oil in the air box is normal (cranck case blowby does occur when too much engine oil is added or running temp gets too hot), also adding a little bit of oil at service interval will help the life of the engine and richen the fuel mixture as your filter becomes more restrictive.
I'm just here observing and sharing as a fellow mechanic who works on these types of scooters daily.
dikke crossmotor man
As a fellow scooter mechanic. Ive had nothing but problems with those unrestricted CDI's on the GY6's. Now if i use one on a 2 stroke like a Genuine Roughhouse they run a little faster but nothing really serious
Congratulations,the BEST scooter-science- mechanical,chanel of the world,nice music!living with tao-tao!
Im running my 150cc gy6 Chinese scooter with no air filter now, only a screen. There was a SIGNIFICANT increase in power and throttle response from doing this as well as also punching out a bigger exhaust hole at the same time. I started running no air filter at 8000 miles. So far I'm at 8,500 miles. I'll keep you updated how long this experiment lasts lol. Anything for more speed!
Damn, can't wait to see how she does after the upgrades!
i’m at 3000 miles with my tao tao and it only broke down once. the belt broke but i fixed it asap
edit: i’m at 4500 miles now, got a flat tire but got it fixed and it’s still running strong. I’ve been riding since march.
Update?
I just hit 3k
Is it the same model? Overall, I heard it is a good bike...just not this model. Am I right, cause I'm new to the scooter thing. I just purchased my first one. It's a 2021 Wolf v150
@@thatdcdude7434 it’s is the same model and it is a good bike to own just don’t get this model. Mine just recently stopped running and i’ve tried to get it to run but nothing fixed it
If it was my Tao Tao, I would weld the muffler and call it good. This scooter is doing fine, interested in seeing if the regulator is failing.
Just thought about this series yesterday! Excited to see a new episode this morning! Quality content, sir.
I've been waiting for your video for weeks 😃
Update time!!! :) Both to see the health and mental status of yourself, as well as the tao tao. :)
I just watched through all of your videos in this series (up until this point) and honestly, you earned my subscribe within the first minute of part 1. I have absolutely enjoyed every minute since! The fact that you are seeing this experiment through with such attention to detail and meticulous data logging is commendable, inspiring, and SO refreshing. Thank you for your consistency and dedication.
I know I've been gushing, but your efforts thus far have been downright heroic, and although I find this series to be incredibly informative I wouldn't blame you if you ever wanted to take a hiatus from living with that tao tao! ❤️
Thanks for documenting your struggles for all to see. Keep up the good fight brother.
It's still going then! I admit I was concerned, but the exhaust mount weld snapped, ah well you knew it was coming.
Another useful video and can't wait 'till the exhaust replacement and re jet of the carb one as fitting a nice shiny stainless exhaust was the very first "customization" I did to my scoot, I was so proud of myself, a lot of swearing around the manifold bolts and the crush washer kept slipping off as I was fitting the exhaust (solved with a blob of copper grease), and that was three years ago, can confirm exhaust still going strong and still very shiny.
As a long time Chinese scooter owner I have been following these videos with interest. Initially I was pleased to see a qualified mechanic take ownership of a Tao Tao thinking the scooter would be given a fair shake. It wasn’t long before I began to see that this was not the case. While doing a proper Post Delivery Inspection Garret dwelled on totally non important issues. Testing to see if the ignition trigger had the proper resistance was beyond all needs. If it runs, it works. Continually testing those functions is simply unnecessary. He also ignored previous experience with these and took no action to prevent the exhaust from breaking.
My pet peeve. Comparing an $800 scooter to a $2100 Genuine or a $4200 Vespa. Does your Honda Accord ride and perform like a BMW, Audi or Mercedes at many times the price? No. In a scooter it’s the engine that gets you down the road. Which brings me to my last peeve. The spark plug looks too white. In this age of ethanol and no lead gasolines all plus on stock motors look too white. In a mad attempt to satisfy his fears he jetted the heck out of the scooter. As you can see on his maintenance chart his gas mileage plummeted from 110 mpg to 74mpg.
He has finally abandoned the “Living with a Tao Tao" having not taken the scooter to work since the beginning of September or riding it all since the beginning of October. So I guess he has proven after all that the problem with Chinese scooters is the owners after all.
The sad truth...
I am an licensed aircraft technician and engineer, I also drive a corvette and build race car engines but I can NOT stop watching these videos. Fascinating. I have a buddy 150cc and buddy 50cc scooters btw. I don't think I could hang with a tao tao. Love the crocs btw.....
Hahah thanks dude!
Genuine Buddy and the roughhouse scooters are my favorite scooters by far!
@@Smallenginetech56 I have a 2009 150cc. It is surprisingly fast!
Best series on youtube, the only one i follow every single episode
My tvs scooty pep is almost 15 years and run close to 200000kms has never had any electrical issues ,its still running strong
That is truly amazing! Does it have the original engine, or has it had major work?
@@caduceus33 ive had the cylinder and piston changes once and replace the drive belt several time. No other major problems
Did you open the throttle valve and choke valve if it has one while doing the compression test ?
@@thomaslemay8817 i dont remembe ,the cylinder and piston were replaced almost 6 years ago.
200k!?
very interesting experiment (as i said before) i can hardly wait the result of changing of the exhaust system, and also the re-jetting.
I love your content. You also helped me to fix my scooter on my own.
Great update, glad to hear you debunk what a lot of people do with low restriction filters without checking fuel ratio
Always fun to see how the experiment is going! I wonder what is starting to degrade that is causing the voltage drop? To me the magnet/wires spinning around seems like a pretty stable and simple thing. Maybe the magnet is losing a bit of pull/strength with the heat from running the engine?
Great prediction on the muffler call! Turned out though that u gave it more credit than it was due as it broke down way earlier...
Ill also say, if youre having carb problems, swap your carb to an 18mm slide carb for a relatively stock scooter, or a 21mm slide carb for a big bore kit. It eliminates the vacuum operated needle and the throttle response is 10 times better. You have to change your throttle cable to a slide carb cable, and may have to bypass your vacuum line system depending on your carb, but its so worth it. On 150s and 125s its negligible, but on a 50cc the CV carbs are so slow and so finicky
I think Garret deserves a medal of some kind for this.....
First thing I do with ANY new vehicle (40 years @ ASE Master) is buy or download a service manual and put together a little tool kit with some Harbor Freight disposable tools or leftovers from old sets. Even pot metal wrenches are better than turning nuts with your fingers on a road side.
I really like your editing style.
For many years, VW beetles had even less of a "filter" for oil and did quite well. Junk/sediment usually accumulates in the cap/cover. Now you see why they recommend such frequent oil changes. Think push mower engine.
The whiting on the header is making my teeth itch, can’t wait for the upjet. Seriously 😂
Ps great vid and loving the series!!!!
I’d not be surprised if the stator was wearing, at least on my Vespa when the voltage starts creeping UP - that’s a sign the regulator is done.
Once you have completed this test and if the motor is still in good working order - id love to see you fit a cam, fully derestrict and put lighter weights in. Just to see if it can commute to a reasonable level 👍
The welds are bad. The welded in nut from my trunk broke off so I had to take it off. Those "tools" they send you are junk. You really shouldn't be performing work with them because a wrench set is cheap . If you own this scooter you should be able to afford the $40.00 for tools at harbor freight or at the auto parts store. If you're looking at buying one include an extra $300 for parts and tools.
To low charging voltage. Replace the Voltage converter / rectifier. 70V @ Stator is ok.
You dont know how happy I was to see the new video notification...really enjoyed that
But Dude...stop with the air quotes ✌️✌️
Looking forward to the exhaust fit
Yay! More Tao Tao! Thanks again m8.
Were have you gone
Is it unreliable or does it have unreliable owners?
Both?
definitely both
It looks like there are tiny but important differences between importers of those things. For example placement of ignition module inside or uotside the batery box, also quality control most probably differs. It may result that more expirienced welders in factory made mufflers for those demending clients, that will send back poorly made parts and ask money back. Emploee with a welder first time in his hands made the one for his scooter, same as child labour made his electric instalation not political prisoners, threaten by death, that made mine and I never had any problems with it - electrical instalation ofc. ... damn it may be true abaut children and slave labour... I feel bad that I treated badly maybe even someones last work in life ...
Us Americans use the R+M/2 ( Raw Octane + Motor Octane / 2) method for determining octane while the Europeans use RON (Raw Octane Number).
04:56 shots fired!!
Dude. When I bought my Bashan they advised to ditch the battery for a new one asap. If your standing battery voltage is dropping it means the battery is drawing more from the charging circuit and lowering your idle voltage. How do I know. My Kawasaki just killed it's five year old battery and was dead at the start of an event I went to. I got a jump and monitored the voltage on the meter in the speedometer Kawasaki graciously provided. All the way home I monitored output and never saw more than 12 volts. A load test revealed that with the key on, lights on, voltage dropped to 11.6 volts. Trying to start it gave a voltage of 5.6. I bought a new battery and voltage at 4,000 rpm indicated 13.1 while at 5,000 rpm the onboard meter on the road showed 13.8. All you have to do is check standing voltage with the key on and lights glowing to see a drop in standing voltage each time and why your test voltages are dropping equally. A battery requiring more charging voltage is a resistor in the circuit affecting your charging volts.
I've had Kymco engines with charging problems. Both were Xciting models. One bike was 10 years old, the other was 12 years old, when the charging system failed. Replacement of battery (following the standard fill up new battery and charge fully with the battery manufacturer's own charger) resulted in a dead battery within about 3 days, on both bikes.
The funny thing was that whenever I checked the charging system on the center stand (using the procedure in the service manual), the battery was going UP to 13.8V while revving the engine. Something was happening after the bike was running for a while which caused the charging system (on both bikes) to cut out. (I would literally drive 20 miles, then stop to fill up gas and not be able to restart the bike.)
I ended up (when I bought the 2nd replacement battery on the first bike and it was still dying) replacing the stator coils and the regulator as a set and the problem went away. I still have the older bike. I never did figure out if it was a stator (insulation) or regulator (heat) problem since I was unable to reproduce it while I had my test equipment on the bike, although the electronics guy in me wants to say it was probably the regulator.
glenn doiron
I get it when a component breaks down or fails when it gets hot. That's not what's happening here. He's admitting his standing voltage is dropping but extending the lack of charging voltage to a weakening regulator. Not only that but checking the charging voltage at 5k rpm is ridiculous. His running flat out is done around 8k rpm. Plug in the voltmeter there and probably see about 14 volts charging the battery.
@@kz1000st1 The service manually usually specifies the RPM to check the voltage at. In this case, he's noting that the voltage is falling @ 5,000 rpm each time he does the health check. The voltage regulators in these bikes are usually very simple, they take the 3-phase AC from the stator, change it into DC, and have a crowbar circuit to stop it from exceeding a set voltage. The crowbar circuit stops the stator output voltage from annihilating everything electrical on the bike when the engine revs to higher RPMS and/or the load on the electrical system is low.
The output of the regulator itself tends to have a ton of voltage ripple at lower rpms or higher electrical loads. You won't normally see all of the regulator ripple because the battery is attached - the battery will smooth out the peaks & valleys by discharging/charging as the regulator voltage rises/falls, and any peaks are chopped off by the crowbar circuit if they are above the maximum allowed voltage.
(The battery charging portion, however, tends to be... a diode. No voltage monitoring, no current limiting, no cutoff, no trickle charging - there is no battery management on these bikes. This is why they usually set the regulator crowbar circuit to trip at 1 diode drop above what they want the maximum battery voltage to be.)
If the battery fails in such a way that the internal resistance gets higher (which is usually the way that they fail), it limits the amount of current it can charge and discharge on each cycle. This would normally have the effect of making the peaks and valley taller on the electrical system.... but the peaks are actually limited by the crowbar circuit on the regulator, (maybe they are / aren't at idle, but I'm 99.9% sure they are being crowbarred at 5000 rpm) meaning that only the valleys get lower. For the engine running test, on your typical DC multimeter (which basically samples the voltage several thousand times a second and displays a rolling average) this would show as a lower voltage than if the battery was in better shape (and feeding more current into the system when the regulator output falls) even if the standing (no load) battery voltage is **exactly the same** for both battery conditions.
As you rev the bike up in RPMS, the valleys would get higher, (if it weren't for the presence of the crowbar circuit, the peaks would also get higher too, but if the regulator is Ok they are still being clamped at the same maximum allowed system voltage), so yes, you could see it at around 14 volts if you keep revving it up. **But this tells you next to nothing about the battery, or its status. This just means that the output of the regulator is higher (in the valleys) than it was at a lower rpm, which is exactly what you'd expect. You don't know if the battery isn't pulling down the voltage because its fully charged and doesn't need to pull that kind of current, or because its damaged and it just can't pull that kind of current.**
It is also possible for the zener diode in the crowbar circuit to drift over time (this one is a long term effect, talking years here), or to be damaged (due to environmental stresses), and clamp at a different voltage. Or, you can have a failure (open) in one of the windings in the stator, which will also tank the voltage (although stator winding failure would result in a rather significant loss of battery charging ability especially at lower engine speeds). You just can't tell for sure with the battery connected, whether the drop is due to the battery going bad, or the regulator (or the stator, but as I said before, loss of a winding would cripple the regulator's output and you would see a huge loss at idle). It requires deeper analysis, which nobody but an electronics hobbyist with free time could be bothered to do.
The thing is, the battery is usually the thing that goes bad, and batteries for these bikes are readily available AND easily replaced by the owner, so all other things considered I would definitely replace the battery first, before replacing the other parts of the electrical system, which tend to require more labor.
Wikipedia:
United States: in the US octane rating is displayed in AKI. In most areas, the standard grades are 87, 89-90 and 91-94 AKI. In the Rocky Mountain (high elevation) states, 85 AKI (90 RON) is the minimum octane, and 91 AKI (95 RON) is the maximum octane available in fuel.
Europe: 95 RON & 98 RON are normally available at most automotive fuel stations.
Here in the UK the cheapest “super” is 99. The posh fuels (V Power etc) are all 98
in Europe, we have a 98 octane as standard and 100 as premium, and ethanol is forbidden. at least in Slovenia that is a bit more advance than other countries
Ethanol forbidden? You Lucky bastard! In Denmark you have to Cash out to just get down to the 5% Ethanol mix. No such Thing as without Ethanol.. Bunch og hippies thats what i say
Mad respect for riding it this much!
Looking forward to the upgrades. A new carb with better jetting will make the biggest difference in my opinion. Exhaust will make no difference at all. Let’s see if I’m right.
Very cool to see your series going !
loving this series of your videos man ...... i cant believe you're still riding the tau tau ..... when it blows up please do a massive big power build like jack Cecil from horsepowerlogic /HPlogic. donno if you watch his CZcams channel ...
Now i cant wait to see which exhaust you put one! A cheap knock off? Or something with the same price tag of the scoot!?
IF you go with the expensive options i can recomend a Turbokit Brand exhaust or Leovince. They do have a Nice moto sound. And they are stainless.
I think your most average Taotao owner with a busted exhaust will either tie it on as was done, knock it off and hope they don't get ticketed or buy the cheapest thing they can find that will fit. Usually that will be some junk off ebay for 30 or 40 bucks. it will be a flimsy header pipe and a straight through can with a little glass pack around the perimeter an be very nearly as noisy as running an open header. I have seen many of them brought in to a shop for low power, runs hot, poor acceleration and the shops have rejetted them making them much more rideable. Usual problem is that since it's such a cheap bike, they want it for $10 or $20 and really balk at $75 to $100 for getting the work done. We have one guy around here who tells them when they bring it in it will be a minimum of $50 to touch it. That will get them 45 min of labor and maybe a cheap part or two. He says about half of them turn right around and leave saying it aint worth it, they'll just live with it.
I am enjoying your series. You are confirming, yet again, what I have already figured out on my own. These are made very cheaply to run when they leave the sales floor and hopefully until the end of the 30 or 90 day warranty. They are made to be sold, not used.
I have an 08 chinese 50...not Taotao that runs like a scalded dog and is rock solid reliable. The day after I bought it, I had all the plastics off fixing wiring connectors, plugs, wire routing. I greased everything that should be. Chinese have a severe aversion to using grease. If it should be well greased, it gets a drop. If it should be lightly greased, good luck finding any. The frame flexes on mine but hasn't been a problem. I found many loose or barely tightened fasteners during my initial inspection and repairs. The welds look like crap but are apparantly holding up well. I rejetted the carb that day as well. Body parts are no long available for it. It wasn't designed to last anywhere near as long as it has. I have replaced the throttle cable twice and had a clutch go bad and start eating belts which I replaced with a stock type clutch. Installed sliders instead of rollers. Transmission works very well. To this day, the exhaust valve adjustment still changes after a couple hundred miles. I guess it's just not work hardened yet. The intake valve stays put very well. I run that poor thing to death. WFO pretty much all the time. I find I can get across town on it faster than I can in the car. So far, it's held up better, performed much better, and lasted much longer than that piece of junk Yamaha C3 I have that keeps eating engines. Although the Yamaha is in another class altogether with its ride quality and suspension, user comfort, I just can't deal with an engine rebuild every thousand miles.
Please keep up this experiment and let us all know what happens with the scoot as the miles tick away. I venture you'll find the engine is the best part of the bike and will probably outlast the rest of it.
Great video as always, Garret. Are you convinced that a few simple modifications to the scoter will make it more reliable? I'm curious what you would chose to modify now to a brand new scooter if you were to do it all over again. Also, I'm wondering if you'd consider doing a motorized bicycle series like this one, it's super cheap, but suffers from the same quality control problems (either real or imagined) as the Tao Tao. There are also a whole host of cheap "upgrade" parts, just like the Tao tao.
JUST A SUGGESTION... If you are going to teach viewers about the combustion process, you might start them out with a better understanding by remembering to call "fuel" gas or gasoline. The reason for this is, which will no doubt be contested here by some, is because gasoline isn't fuel. Gasoline is gasoline. Gasoline and oxygen make "fuel". Since we live in an oxygen environment, we almost always take this for granted. That's why when teaching any part of the combustion process to those who must diagnose combustion issues, it's important to give a clearer understanding. This will allow students to be better equipped to figure out what's actually going on. And for the record, I don't think using the word fuel is wrong in a casual context, but when teaching about combustion, I think it's a teachers responsibility to clarify it. I hope you do too.
DUDE its been 3 weeks cant wait for next upload 😁
Mine started making an ungodly rattle! Find out, it was the exhaust hanger welds had cracked.
thank you ----- love the videos
So.. Since you're re-jetting the carb are you going to take that opportunity to un-restrict the air intake as well? I realize that'd create an even leaner condition but since you're re-jetting you should be able to dial it in. Maybe make a little more HP for that off the line acceleration that machine struggles with. Pretty sure that in combination of the exhaust replacement/upgrade is going to turn that thing into an entirely new machine as far as feel.
Unrestricting the airbox on these does about nothing on these.
You are right on the derestricting sir flow, i did that and lose more then 5mph on the top end. I did put in a higher output coil and CDI thing but no noticable imprivment. Did go through 3 Carbs in my time 2 of them were leaking gas into the air cleaber abd onevsine how got a hole in that diafram thing. The 4th has beed good last 5 or 6 k miles (or Kilometers)
Wow! That is so early to have an exhaust failure. I can’t wait to see how the performance is with the re-jet and better exhaust.
The exhaust replacement may or may not require a change in the roller weights to put the engine in the new powerband. Depends on where the new powerband is. Usually the powerband on a hi-perf muffler is at a higher rpm than stock.
didnt he predict it was gonna drop off ?
ok just saw that in the vid. oops
My exhaust just straight fell off from the bolts lost the nuts halfway down the road. And those toolkits do suck that's why I carry my own with me everywhere I go with that thing. Tao tao thunder
Luv this! Using it for my Tao Vip 150cc little monster.
7:30 That tube is too short, if inner tube not fix the resonance problem. By adjusting its length, you can find more power. That inner tube might be reason that lean mixture? It get more air than without it.
About a upgrade to big bore kit go with 20mm carb.Will get you a 4 or 5 hp over a 3 hp.
Still love it with all the hate
If it helps, a local welding shop charged me 25 bucks to reweld a mount on my aftermarket exhaust. A shop wouldnt weld it. Theyd replace it, as shops technically dont do anything aftermarket
4.75/32nds. Dammit, America :p
Barret wedding well done you only wagged your fingers 25 times in this video.
Couple track welds holding it on... Guaranteed to break. Your auto shop don't have a mig gun laying around to re-track the mount to the can?! I have used several performance exhausts for the taotaos, your gonna have fun trying to fit it. Had to cut and re-tig my stainless exhaust manifold on my last taotao.
When are you putting fancy exhaust on bike
Waiting for your video on exhaust
Maybe an engine swap vid at the end of the series would be cool. With these scooters you would think the engine should be the most reliable part of the scooter. You can go to Home Depot or Harbor Freight, and get a 79cc Predator or Lifan engine for for $100 to 130. And in stock condition you can't kill them, so why can't they put a 50cc engine on a scooter that's reliable
I was just thinking about this yesterday. Figured we had to be due for an update. lol
I noticed that the welds on the muffler were just tacked. Appears that the metal might be too thin for good welds.
Too thin , I have welded beer cans together. If the proper technique is used and the base metal is not corroded or contained it can be welded .
@@thomaslemay8817 you must be a good tig welder to weld aluminum cans. These mufflers are made on an assembly line with mildly skilled workers. Take a closer look at the welds as they are poor quality and probably prone to cracking and breaking with heat cycles and vibration as what happened to Garrett's scooter.
Hey Garret, I have a problem..please consider helping me.. I have an Indian Scooter named dio that is purchased after using by another person.. the scooter wont speed up..i cant go beyond 60kmph or cant climb steep hills upwards.. i feel like something is stuck..so i changed the cvt belt.. serviced the rear pulley with new grease and still the problem is same.. I did a tappet adjustment too.. still the problem is same.. i feel like there is a small compression leak from the sparkplug..the sparkplug is stuck just turns and cannot take it out with a socket please help me
Honda dio is a very slow scooter nothing is broken, consider upgrading to a 70cc cylinder kit.
don't make us wait for too long :)
Any chance you would give us a video on the stuff you have to go through in traffic, when riding? Would give a greater understanding of the experience of the experience living with a tao tao :).
And it would help me, who lives in a supercold Sweden, to get some 2-wheel feeling going, warming up my veins. ;)
Those little metal mesh oil screeners, Honda used them back in the 80's on their CM250c model. I agree they are not confidence inspiring but the technology does work.
The welds/metal on the exhaust are paper thin. I had similar happen to me on my 2008 gy6 150 jonway. But carefully I was able to reweld it back on.
The oil blowback in the air filter housing. Isn't there a drain plug with a clamp further along the filter housing? Closer to the air intake?
Loving the videos, looking forward to the next one...^^
I own an Icebear trike. I only had more or less turn signal problems.
Hope you are ok from 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
They make upgraded cdi for that scooter and I would put dirt bike carb on that thing because that is emissions carb
I love this and i have no clue why
The cdi is restricted.. I put an unrestricted one and now the fuel doesnt cut out at 40mph
Im surprised the exhsust stayed on that long 😆. I would run 15w40 engine oil. It works great. Do not change your induction system. Those cv carbs do not like that. You might could block off one of the cups holes to fix your lean issue. And it may pick up response quite a bit. Just a lil trick us moped mechanics use.. Sounds bootleg but it works.
Hello sir,
What could be causing some popping and bogging at 2/3 - 3/4 throttle on a 150cc GY6 scooter? Can you think of anything electrical that can be.causing this? I've already installed 3 new carburetors, 3 different csi boxes, different coil wires, and a couple other things and I can't seem to get rid of it. Can you help me please?
I'm pretty sure my Jiajue scooter Sprint Sport 49cc is exactly the same as the Tao Tao Pony 🐎 ... Kind of scary, but at least I have your videos as reference. Lol.
Aaron H believe it or not your jiajue is better quality if your referencing a bintelli jiajue they bring them in from China and put better carbs and fuel lines and stuff Tao Tao is unmodified straight from China your scooter still isn’t that great but better then Tao Tao
@@natevanderloon9060 I believe it, I knew about the lines and spark plug.. but didn't know about the carburettor.
The fearings/look is exactly the same though.
Also I noticed we get rubber hand grips, not the plastic.
We also get a better break line catch thingy at the front.
@@natevanderloon9060 Just done some research on Bintelli, they apparently moved on from the Jiajue company to another company.
Now I am kind of interested in starting a Scooter dealership, lol.
I gotta look into it I guess.
I had a Bintelli sprint as well and once owned a taotao ATM-50 too. I pushed that Sprint pretty hard and put around 5000km and only had one or two issue with electricals like bulbs burning out from a faulty voltage regulator from what the shop told me. Other than that it ran fine.
The tao tao on the other hand... If you aren't mechanically inclined(which I'm not) you are gonna have a bad time. even with the proper preventive care i.e. oil changes, valve adjustments, ECT. It really spent more time in the shop than on the road, lol
Hopefully before 5k of KMs I will have my P's and will be able to move onto a car.
I'm definitely not mechanically inclined for scooters/bike.. I have more knowledge for cars.
Without a whole bunch of tuning messing with the airbox on that engine will result in VERY POOR PERFORMANCE!!! I have seen it time and time again on the Honda Spree forum. The question would so often be why does my scooter bog out. People would immediately remove the air box on their scooter the second they bought it thinking that it was going to instantly boost the performance for free... Same thing with exhaust quite often as well. The engines are tuned for noise level and a particular speed range in mind. You mess with the intake tract you kill any performance it had.
Hey man, how do you like that digisync you use in some of the videos? I just ordered one and haven't gotten it yet but I was curious if your honest opinion
Honestly I love it. I've used a ton of different balancers and I don't think any of them are as easy to use. I love the built in magnet and that it is self powered, so you don't have wires strung all over the bike (and other technicians always seem to tangle them). The next best balancer I've used is by vacuum mate and it costs $800. I plan on doing a review video of it soon
@@Scooter_911 I appreciate the time spent to comment back, and most of my bikes are single carb with the exception of three and I have always just listened to sound of it running so probably not that balanced haha but I have to completely redo someone else's job, bought a non running bike and I remember seeing you test the rpm with the digisync and it peaked my interest
See no new spread sheet info? What happen? Too cold?
Update please?? 🤔
🎶 Living with a tao tao 🎶
Hey i have a new tao tao 50 and a big problem with the head light. I put a new light bulb in an when i turn it on and let the engine rev, it breaks and turns off
probably a voltage regulator bad or unplugged. voltage regulators keep too much power from going through the headlight and blowing it. I've never had a taotao or any scooter so I'm not sure where it'd be at, but maybe you can go off that and find it.
@@nybergsgarage oh yea i allready replaced it and it works jusz fine still thanks for the answer
sure thing.@@ragehd2002
Is there a reason why you're using oil for a wet clutch, instead of just regular motor oil?
Yes, even though the scooter has no need for friction modifiers because it does not have an integrated transmission or clutch, motorcycle oil is better formulated to transfer heat for air-cooled engines.
@@Scooter_911 Are you sure this helps? I'm asking because I'm a questioner and being that the Tao is a CVT, the oil never passes over the belt or the clutch. Another reason I'm asking is because if there's a quantifiable reason, I want to make the change in my scooter. Thank you.
@@crabjoe yes I am sure. Of the gy6 engines that I've seen melted down none of them were serviced with motorcycle oil. Once again it has nothing to do with the friction modifiers for a wet clutch. Its just the fact that motorcycle oil is formulated for better thermal transfer than automotive oils.
@@crabjoe and as someone who's worked in motorcycle shops for years I've seen my fair share of melted down gy6 engines
I have a 2011 puma 150 falcon.. trying to figure out what after market exhaust will fit.. any suggestions!!??
Well ive been watching these and i work on these things for a living you should drain the oil with the actual drain bolt from the cvt side. I put a bead of weld on the exhaust to help keep them from falling off and i put 1 or 2 blockers on that intake tube on the air box and it runs a couple mph faster. You said it isnt good with these in well im sorry but you are wrong. Not to mention you should only run 93 or ethanol free in these bikes.
Im about to buy a taotao pony clone that was made in 2005.
If a 2stroke exhaust is put on there will the 4stroke performe better?
When you put on that new performance exhaust, you WILL need to upjet the carb and possibly de-restrict the airbox. if you leave everything else stock, it Will bog. Just sayin. I've done this before and I'm speaking from experience. It will run even leaner otherwise.
Eu fuel standard 95 . Permium 98 . Race 100+
Add 1 oz of marvel mystery oil every oil change. Stuff is amazing
To be fair could this happen with any gy6 engine setup? With the non engine type issues aside.
The right thing to do with these scooters is to open the air / fuel mixture screw before rejetting them..They are set lean to pass the emissions test...All the rest is same old same old...cheap scooters..What else can you expect..it is also advisable to change the transmissiin oil after the first 200 kms...The spark plug is a No...put an NGK 7..Cold spark plug.....
Wow! I only get my taotao every week stop starting. Now I feel lucky because it could be worse
Tao Tao scooters are insanely cheap and common here in south Florida.
Hey Garrett
I have two scooters
The Tao Tao
& the prestige 150
I told you the 150 lost power
Say two weeks ago
I can’t seem to get it going again
I took the spark plug out
It was ruined
I have no power
Is my 150 gone
Any suggestions
I tried another spark plug
Still no power
i think your rectifier is a lemon but i've never owned a tao tao so i don't know if that is normal for the model. it appears to be charging a bit weak. i say change it and measure it again.