How fast should my ZX50 be going after mods?

[zombie]

If the reeds are just slightly leaking you will have poor performance mostly in the lower rmp ranges due to less force inside the crankcase. It's the down stroke of the piston that "pushes" the fuel up through the ports. The higher will also suffer but not as much due to the amount of force vs the amount of time. Do I understand your cage is plastic? Even old style Bakeolite was phased out in the late '70's. That will NEVER work in a performance set-up. Also fiberglass reeds are not worth the trouble to install them. If that is what M.H. sent you I would certainly send them back w/ a big question mark on the package! I was trying to find the invoice from my cage to give you the part #, and will keep looking. I think it was only 49. bucks w/ two sets of reeds. They were graphite, but too stiff, and the only other offer they had was a stiffer set than those. You can also guy blank reeds that are no tougher to trim than a soda can. It's nothing to worry about. The trick to making them last is to epoxy the trimmed edges, and holes.

[Shaka]

I dropped my need back down today (clip on the top notch).  It seems to be running much better,  still no top end though!  I think I got it up to about 48mph tops down a slight hill with a tail wind!  It seems to be running pretty well, pulls nicely, but just quits pulling at about 45mph.  It is basically behaving the same as it was before the intake manifold, but topping out 5mph quicker!  As for the reed cage, I don't think it is really plastic.  But it is some type of brown plastic composite.  I'm not sure what the reeds are, they are some type of white fiberglass looking composite material, and of course no Viton reed seats!  I don't even know what to do anymore?!  I'm thinking about sending Moped Hospital an email.  Hopefully, if nothing else to get more information on what reeds are in there.  At least that will give me a starting point of where to go from.  I really don't even care about trying to return the reeds, as I wasn't expecting them in the first place.  I still haven't heard back from malossiusaonline.  Will post back with changes.

[Shaka]

Update-
I've been trading emails with Steve from Moped Hospital.  He seems fairly willing to offer ideas/suggestions!  First ideas were the CDI and the rollers being too heavy.  I'm running 9g Dr. Pulley sliders, which I know is too heavy, it's just what I had after my 6.5g rollers flat spotted.  He recommended between 7-7.5g for my setup, which is what I was thinking also.  I don't know if the rollers being less than ideal weight would cause such a drastic loss of performance?  It seemed that the heavier rollers cut my acceleration a little, but made up for it on the top end.  The only thing I can come up with is that the rpms are not reving high enough to make the top end power.  Back to the CDI, it is stock derestricted via the green wire splice.  I had questioned it a few weeks ago and removed the splice to check the difference.  It is definitely reving higher with the derestriction, so I put the splice back and figured the CDI was good.  I guess I'll wait and see what Steve has to say.  I still haven't heard anything back from Malossiusaonline about the reed block dimensions!

[Shaka]

I heard back from Steve.  He seems to think that the heavy rollers are the cause of my problems, I'm skeptical!  I'm going to put the slightly worn 6.5g rollers in tomorrow to check.  It seems that the rollers may be part of the problem, but I think the reeds are not helping either.  I have noticed a 5mph decrease in top speed after only replacing the intake manifold and reed block!  He also mentioned checking to see if the belt is climbing all the way up the variator.  I noticed yesterday when I had the cvt cover off that the face has a wear line about the thickness of the belt from the outside edge.  I figured this indicates that the belt is riding all the way up.  It seems the wear line would be from the inner (narrow) side of the belt as it is being squeezed from the bottom.  Am I wrong in this thought?  When the belt is all the way up should it come up out of the groove slightly?

[zombie]

Hey shaka, Crashed my computer by over tweaking again! So re-format, re-install, and 1 day of finding all the programs later... I have almost 2 year old 5.5gr Malossi rollers in mine, and still get 60 mph. Lighter will help but you still have to find the missing 5mph! Maybe pick up some Generic reeds in different thickness, and try a few. I do believe your trouble is in the reeds more than the cage.Yours may just be too stiff. Thinner will also help them to seat better because the flex goes both ways! You can run the scoot on a milk crate w/ the cvt cover off to see where the belt is really going. I use a socket on an extension to hold the Jack shaft for the starter in place. You don't need parts flying out at full throttle... You can manually pull the ramp up on th multivar to see if the full throw matches the running throw. That may give you a little more peace of mind. Im pretty sure the grove would be from the bottom of the belt. You wont get that w/ a good aftermarket set-up because of the stronger steel used. Keep smileing bro! It will come together!

[Shaka]

Zombie, that sucks about the computer!  I just upgraded to SUPER fast internet today, it's sweet!  I've still been trading emails with Steve.  He seems to be stuck on the fact that ideally I need 7g - 7.5g rollers which I agree with, but I'm skeptical of that being my main problem!  I put my slightly worn 6.1g - 6.3g rollers in today to test.  It wasn't even ridable with those!  I immediately went home and swapped them back out.  The engine revved super high with no results!  This leads me to believe that the CDI is ok though!  It slowed my acceleration tremendously, and I topped out at 40 - 42 mph although it sounded like I was flying!  Also the belt appears to be climbing all the way up the varaitor.  I measured and the wear line is 8mm from the outer edge.  It's not really worn, just polished a different color from the belt.  It is a Malossi multivar with less than 2000kms. 

[zombie]

Sorry bout that I get lost! I thought you still had the fact varaitor. I agree there is another issue though. I ordered my goodies from malossi today, and should get them by fri. I hope. I,m also thinking about cutting the cvt case in a sorta fancy flame type deal right behind the var. I've seen some other cut jobs , and it looks kinda cool. Those 6.? rollers may be the wrong Diameter! that makes a HUGE difference.

[Shaka]

The rollers are 16mm x 13mm.  I'm going to order some dr. pulley sliders.  I'm thinking the 7.5g would be better than 7g.  Any opinions on the weight? 

Zombie- I've seen some real cool cvt cut jobs!  Doesn't really seem like a good idea on a rain or shine daily driver though!

[zombie]

The part I can' get my head around is I have 5.5gr, and tighter clutch springs! I have super high launch rpm's, and get to 50mph quicker than most anything else on the road.I do drop off a little from 50-60 but w/ 12 wheels I'm ok w/ that. There is one thought that occurred to me from your post to the British girl; Almost every part I ordered from my "dealer" was wrong! I asked them to get Kymco USA on the phone (because they blamed it all on them) Kevin (Kymco) said "My scoot. must have been a Mexican or Canadian import" So now I am wondering if we have different gear sets? You said yours is 10.5 or so, and when I get my stuff I will check to see what mine is. I will bet you a pair of tickets to the next MASS IRIDIUM show my gears are much lower than yours! That would theoretically explain the difference in our cvt set-up. As for the rain or shine bit.I am ALWAYS messing w/ something so keeping the scoot clean is not a big deal. It keeps me from "super tuning" a 10 year old computer. Hey a PS! those FUC**NG kenda tires I bought! The rear is now splitting right down the center. started as an out of round, and has worked into a full blown piece of ... I have an old Chen shin (or whatever) for a spare but for 50 bucks I thought it would last a little minute before self destructing!!! I put them on right before my first post "Died out on the road" and you rember how long it took before I was running again. Not to make this a CHAT ROOM. It's good Info. Don't buy Kenda!

 

[Shaka]

I have been thinking about the final drive gearing since that post as well.  That's part of the reason I went to go check mine.  Zombie, if you could check yours and let me know that would be great!  I just put the scoot on the center stand and pulled off the cvt cover.  Only took 10 min total.  Mine was about 10.5 turn of the clutch to 1 turn of the wheel.  I have pretty good acceleration, it pulls really hard and is faster than most anything else till I top out!  It's weird it just quits pulling and won't even go much faster downhill!  After putting in the 6g rollers today I know that it can rev much higher too!  Speaking of tires, my oem cheng shins are totally gone at this point!  I have to really watch it in the corners!  I will stay away from Kenda's when I get some money together for some new rubber.  I'm thinking of going with some Pirelli's, everything I have heard has been good.

[zombie]

Hey shaka, I didn't get my parts from Malossi yet but I tore down the cvt to get ready. The rear gear set is I thought 8.5:1. I tried to find the manual listing for it , and had no luck. I tried to get an answer from Kymco USA on the phone w/ no luck. So I called the guy I bought the scoot from. He used to work for Solarno Cycle in St Augustine. He bought the scoot from the original owner who bought the scoot form them 2 years earlier. The original owner bought 2 of them in '04. He had them both de-restricted, and had straight cut 8.3:1 gear sets put in both. You can't get anywhere in St. Aug. w/ out getting on A1A, and traffic is 50-60 mph. Billy is going to try to find the supplier for the gear set for me, and will email the info asap. That explained a lot of different things for me. 1, why I had to tune my cvt so high to get a decent hole shot, and 2, the high top end. I've got the blue clutch springs, blue torque spring, and 5.5g rollers. Also ordered my rear tire today, Avon Viper 130/70-12. I spent 4-5 hrs reading reviews, and found the Avon will outlast the Pirelli w/ all else being equal. Dunlop also makes a great tire for about 98. bucks. the Avon is 48. to my door from Bike Bandit. They had the best price, although J.C. Wittney would match it. In the mean time I'm back to the NC/50. I basicly stick to the shoulder on this one. 28mph is about top speed. Hard to believe 2 50cc scoots can be sooo different. Even the modded nc I am still working on will most likely do no better than 40.

[Shaka]

Zombie- that explains a lot!  I have been wondering about the final drive ratio for a little while.  That's about the only thing I could figure would make such a difference.  I've had my scoot running pretty well and it just seemed like something besides the motor.  I'm sure I still have some kinks to work out, but that gives me a little more peace of mind towards the engine setup!  If you can find out exactly what final reduction setup you have please let me know.  I have been unable to find much info on it as well.  I believe Malossi makes a gear set that will fit, it is a 15/44 primary gear set.  I will have to do a ton more research into what is needed though!  I will get some 7.5g Dr. Pulley sliders per Steve's recommendation and go from there.  I'm going to have to get my Vento up and ridable before I can get into some serious work on the ZX!  Let me know how that tire works out also.  I'm curious about the fit of the 130.  I want to retain my inner fender because keeps dirt from being thrown right at my air filter.  Thanks again!

[zombie]

Yeah No Doubt Bro! The 130 kenda needed a "tab" on the engine case trimmed of (the one on the left side the fender well is attached to) I just drilled a 1/4" hole in the fender, and zip tied it to the frame behind the cylinder. Billy said he was pretty sure it is a Pollini gear set because they were a Pollini dealer at that time. He is calling Mark at the shop to see if they still have a record of the install to get me the part #'s. I tried to look it up at Pollini usa and they don't list the super fever anymore. I'll prob. now more by Mon. nite. Same here w/ the "spare" scoot. Had to do a little tuning up to get it reliable again. The soon t be ex. was tearing it up for a few months. " I didn't know where to put oil in sssooo I just didn't" I did start to look around at gear sets to get an idea, and they all seem to be around 100. bucks. I'll count the teeth tomorrow morn an post back!

[Shaka]

Zombie, you're the man!  I just checked out the Polini site, wish I saw that sooner!  They do an intake manifold similar to the one I got, but it looks better.  It already has all the problems I had to fix/modify done!  Oh well!  They don't list the ZX50, but to my knowledge the Cobra, DJY, & K12 are compatible for the most part.  Did you take apart the the tranny cover to get to the gears?  You don't have to go that far, just for me to count the teeth!  It would be helpful though!  Thanks!

[zombie]

What's shaki'n shaka. Just got off the phone w/ Billy (previous owner) He is the guy that set the scoot up for the Orig. owner. The gear set they used is a Polinni straight cut. Daywot on Ebay is the supplier for this part. There is NO polinni part # for the zx, but the Dio, Sa, and Sr 50's are all the same. They had no part #'s from the original install, so I think looking for the set you want from Polinni, and shopping Ebay for the price would be the ticket. I was typing 8.5:1 what I meant was 6.5:1 Which billy tells me is actually 6.3:1. I didn't think about pulling the cover when I said I would count the teeth! I don't have a gasket for that. Sorry! The Biggest thing to look for in gears (I am told) is straight cut is ALWAYS better. It eliminates wasted sideways energy. He also told me for someone changing from stock to straight you will notice a WHINE in the gear set. This is normal. I couldn't tell you if mine whines over the other obnoxious sounds from my scoot. He also recommends 15w40 for gear oil. I've been using 75/90 napa synth> so I guess I will change that out. Finally UPS is Here. Later!