matty
Border raider.
Discuss . Share opinions. photos. ideas .plans. Adventures. races. or ask questions . whatever, its all about 50cc.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The 50cc Thread.(MAX 100CC TO COVER BIG BORE KITS ETC)
- Thread starter matty
- Start date
Danno
Well-known member
What about bicycle engine kits? I still have 2 tomos mopeds but the engine kits really do perform...usually not 50cc. There is some weird displacement calculation the sellers use. An 80cc kit is about 66cc. This is what I run. Stepson has a 100cc kit that is really 80cc. My 66cc is faster! The 50cc kit is 50cc though. Good fun! We get the kits cheap.
The kits can be bought with different blocks. So a minarelli cylinder can be used. And some can use a one piece chainsaw cylinder/head.
We never had many real 50cc bikes imported. Just a year or so of a model. The early 2000s was the heyday of 50cc 2 stroke scooters and parts. Now just gy6 50cc or the honda scooters. Genuine still sells smoker 50....the last of the last! We only get 4 stroke 50cc scooters...nothing else. Still one of my favorite displcements. But kinda rare. Yamaha stopped selling the zuma 50 ..years ago. I should have purchased but was too late. I get a tax and inspection exemption if I run a 50cc...so it is tempting.
The kits can be bought with different blocks. So a minarelli cylinder can be used. And some can use a one piece chainsaw cylinder/head.
We never had many real 50cc bikes imported. Just a year or so of a model. The early 2000s was the heyday of 50cc 2 stroke scooters and parts. Now just gy6 50cc or the honda scooters. Genuine still sells smoker 50....the last of the last! We only get 4 stroke 50cc scooters...nothing else. Still one of my favorite displcements. But kinda rare. Yamaha stopped selling the zuma 50 ..years ago. I should have purchased but was too late. I get a tax and inspection exemption if I run a 50cc...so it is tempting.
Last edited:
Danno
Well-known member
Hey matty...we get 1 import per lifetime. The bike has to be 25yrs old..I was possibly saving it it for an XJR400 from Japan. I think an RG500 is out of my collection bubget. But a TZR50 would be slick. Are these even available? And parts? We only got the ysr which has gone to crazy pricing for a mucked down 50
matty
Border raider.
I get the bycycle edngine kit thing and it sort of fits in with the idea here, and lets face it if you just say at the start of your post "Not 50cc BUT" i dont think anyone is going to cry and ditto the likes of the 80cc yamaha YG1Fs etc more or less a Yamaha FS1E but 80cc and older clasical look. I think sub 100Cc at least added to the title has it covered well enough to ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES.
Amos Malone
Well-known member
I have a 50cc ca 2010 model of Vespa in pieces in my garage. Bought it damaged, exhaust broken off the block, including the mounting brackets. With the idea of rebuilding it to like new condition, and use as grocery getter. That plan hit a snatch when I discovered copious amounts of rust on the underside of the frame. I have bought replacement piece of engine block with exhaust mount intact, but replacing it requires splitting the block. Then I need to upgrade my welder to weld the chassis. Hopefully I can work on it during this winter.
Danno
Well-known member
How do like the tao tao. Stepson had an icebear zuma clone. Wasnt bad. 12 in wheels and completed a swamp trail loop that only the coleman can make. His current 50 is a navi clone. Not near the performance. The icebear would run 48mph. He rode from NC to Ohio...700 miles in 42hrs.QMB139
FTW!
Haha carrying plenty of ipa fuel on that little scooter. Woo!
Danno
Well-known member
This is what I think of as a 50cc motorcycle. I did get one ride on a honda ns50? It was teal in color. One of most fun rides ever. I rode with a ninja 250 and gave it some hell. Top speed was about 65mph I wish we got the tzr. Only 1 or 2 years of the derbi bikes. Rare..rare
A lot! But I’ve got less than $400 in it!
We did get the Ape RS50 also. I see them come up more frequently than YSR50’s. If you want rare, go look for a GSXR50.
Danno
Well-known member
Yup rare stuff. Even puch is rare. But I just checked treatland...way more afordable than tomos parts. Ya I forgot about aprillia smokers. I think only genuine still sells a street legal smoker?
Danno
Well-known member
Super 9 was the last of an everday 50cc 2 stroke that I can remember. I knew of a rider with 55,000km on his super 9. He toured most of the east coast
Thanx Matty! Now I am digging through sheds finding 50 parts. About to purchase a roughhouse 50. And wondering how did I draw file and fire ring...by hand an a5 tomos to run no top end gaskets! Already priced out my a55 inner rotor ignition parts. 50s are expensive...unless rocking our engine kits.
Thanx Matty! Now I am digging through sheds finding 50 parts. About to purchase a roughhouse 50. And wondering how did I draw file and fire ring...by hand an a5 tomos to run no top end gaskets! Already priced out my a55 inner rotor ignition parts. 50s are expensive...unless rocking our engine kits.
Last edited:
matty
Border raider.
At our house we are totaly 50cc less but i have a set of front forks and trees off a Suzuki TS50 if that counts. Might look into something to play with. Not a 50cc and not even a bike, But my youngest lad had a Motaroma 100CC ATV minirelli clone horizontal , he had a big old china OKO flat slide on it and port work it had much work on the variator springs weights cones and belts and every mod was about acceleration and it was rapid and i think he never even got the engine spot on he spent money and time a lot on the trans and it did give suprising results. a ford fista Diesel loomed on the horizon and that was thrown out with the bath water to fund the diesel car.
A Tao Tao or similar horizontal minarelli might be a good toy to develop on a budget .
A Tao Tao or similar horizontal minarelli might be a good toy to develop on a budget .
I bought a 50cc Ruckus for SWMBO and for the back of the RV for campground use. It was great, but.... She could hit an indicated 40 mph (5'1", 115), at a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier, I felt lucky to see an indicated 36 - downhill. It was a lot of fun in our local beach community where the max speed limit is 35 mph. I wish there had been a reliable and inexpensive way to boost it to an honest 45 mph, but that didn't happen.
We kept it for about 6 years, then sold it for a $400 profit and bought a couple of eBikes. So simple, So basic, I still kinda miss it.
We kept it for about 6 years, then sold it for a $400 profit and bought a couple of eBikes. So simple, So basic, I still kinda miss it.
Madmx
Well-known member
Dabbled in e scooters. I have not owned a ruckus but my legally blind friend had a metro and ruckus. Both bikes had crank failures before 10k. My cpi xspeed smoked his metro in 2003. But the cpi ate a ring at 6k. We were racing most of the time. Ha 50cc has to race in modern traffic. Still one of my favorite displacements ever! I should have imported a d5 tomos when these bikes were affordable. I still have an a3 running no head or base gasket and a stock a55. Been tempted to blue print a cheap 50 scooter. 50s are clean lines and momentum. We never got all the cool 50s. Just a few models. Mbk stuff for cheap was where it was at. Tomahawk Racing. I moved on to crappy yami dualsports during that time.
Madmx
Well-known member
Mbk build running with super mini is insane
Madmx
Well-known member
All this stuff was too complicated and parts became scarce so now it is gx200 clone stuff. I do have a few bicycle kit engines that are impressive but need roll starts. Either engine can pack 1hp to 1lb of engine weight...ha good luck on these builds!
matty
Border raider.
Not being privy to the Rucus specs, I will go out on a limb here a bit, and say with these smaller bikes and in some cases not so smaller bikes they are often as stock very over geared. A tooth smaller front sprocket or better still a few tooth bigger rear sprocket and a longer chain to go with it can transform the way the bike performs, lower overall gearing helps when you are dealing with low power outputs and or weight etc. sure you will have a less relaxed RPM at cruising speeds but the bike overall if you gear it down a little will be a way nicer thing to ride acceleration response and holding speed two up or on hilly terrain it will be like a different bike if you chose the gearing well.
A few bikes spring to mind as benefiting from lower gearing. My XT600E was never what i would call perfectly geared in fith gear, it lugged a little at lower speeds yet as you got going the bad aerodynamics of the dirt bike and its mass made it need a handful of throttle on long climbs and i dropped it a few teeth off the back sprocket and it transformed the bikes response it felt like a different bike riding about and yet on long runs it seemed able to cope better and ws even better on fuel too.
Similar ith My DRZ400, I liked them buzzing that bit more better acceleration and fuel and no worries with the higher RPMs because lowered gearing just a little and it worked great.
Now from way back i will share my thoughts on two similar bikes and how lower gearing from stock made sluggards acctualy quite responsive so ill share here.
Back to the late 1970s found myself on a 1974 honda G5 CB250 heavyish old thing and six decently spaced gears with imo way too higher gearing as stock. I kind of remember it being a pig numb and guttless. Then thrashing the living daylights out of this heap one day in the wind shock of shocks. It was 80 MPH screaming in 4th it barely held fith loosing speed and 6th it dropped like a stone and was down to 65mph with throttle wide open.
I geared it down so it was screaming in 6th at 87MPH. it was aceptable at 70mph our legal limit here. and it completely transformed the acceleration of this daily comute bike. It was wild in 1st gear you could not change to second fast enough and 3rd was the gear cars tended to dissapear in your mirror in that gear and hitting 4th you were clear with another two gears of all gt up and go.
It was just too heavy too underpowered for the 100MPH honda were trying to give it downhill, the 80sMPH top speed now geared it whare it needed to be IMO.
100% agreed. After a couple of shaft-driven bikes, having gears and chain are one of my favorite things about my 790cc Bonneville. Riding here in Flat Florida, a 19T countershaft sprocket turns 5th gear into an Overdrive which is perfect for lazy cruising, but when I'm in the mountains of Western NC, a 15 minute change to a 17T countershaft sprocket gives me the performance I like. Or a 16T if I were younger and healed quicker.
Unfortunately, the Ruckus's CVT transmission makes that quick change more complicated. Not impossible, but not convenient. I'm not aware of any <125cc bikes with sprocket/chain drive currently available here. Which puts things back in the "There's No Replacement for Displacement" category.
Unfortunately, the Ruckus's CVT transmission makes that quick change more complicated. Not impossible, but not convenient. I'm not aware of any <125cc bikes with sprocket/chain drive currently available here. Which puts things back in the "There's No Replacement for Displacement" category.
Last edited:
Madmx
Well-known member
Amstar and another company have ss50 and cub clones in 50cc auto and semi auto. Xpro sells ss50 clone with 125cc 4 speed.
50cc registration in NC is insurance and plate. No property tax and no inspection plus no license only state ID. There are still plenty of 50cc scooter models. But most are off brand gy6 powered.
50cc registration in NC is insurance and plate. No property tax and no inspection plus no license only state ID. There are still plenty of 50cc scooter models. But most are off brand gy6 powered.
matty
Border raider.
i DO NOT KNOW THE RUCKUS cvt LAYOUT, DOES IT chain sprockets AFTER THE BELT YOU CAN MESS WITH SPROCKETS?.100% agreed. After a couple of shaft-driven bikes, having gears and chain are one of my favorite things about my 790cc Bonneville. Riding here in Flat Florida, a 19T countershaft sprocket turns 5th gear into an Overdrive which is perfect for lazy cruising, but when I'm in the mountains of Western NC, a 15 minute change to a 17T countershaft sprocket gives me the performance I like. Or a 16T if I were younger and healed quicker.
Unfortunately, the Ruckus's CVT transmission makes that quick change more complicated. Not impossible, but not convenient. I'm not aware of any <125cc bikes with sprocket/chain drive currently available here. Which puts things back in the "There's No Replacement for Displacement" category.
Reason i say this is we had a 100cc two stroke youths ATV here kids played on it for years , my youngest lad got a spare ATV aGAIN 100cc MINARELLI clone and tunned the pants off the engine and what with a bigger carb porting boysen reeds a extended to correct volume pipe it screamed and was only air cooled any more it would have been at risk i recon. I helped him i remember swap weights etc in the CVT it ended up performing very differently to the stock layout, but get it wrong it would not rev out well at all, i can not remember the exact layout weights pulley etc but once sorted it was like on the pipe the whole time and acctualy quite impressive to experience dispite not being 100% smooth running at all RPMs they do liquid cooled horizontal inrelli set ups that might have helped running reliability but as it was it was on the raggy edge i cautioned him to go easy or it would end badly. he got into diesel cars and sold the engine and trans to a 15 year old for a scooter he was building for when he was 16 a yamaha aerox it went like stink in that little thing and survived a wild 16 year old abusing it until he got a 125 at 17, so my lad must have built it half decent i supose.My youngest now 21 He has a RM250 he is building into a Cafe racer looking sprint bike for local sprints its bored out 310CC and a different carb and reeds porting etc, its got him working stuff out with a timing disk right now and he is doing more wild porting apparently it will go ok he believes.
Last edited: