Okay, so today I’m gonna talk about this little project I messed around with: a moto scoot. It was more of a “let’s see if I can” kinda thing, you know?
First off, I snagged a beat-up, old scooter frame from my neighbor. Dude was gonna toss it anyway. It was rusty, missing parts, the whole nine yards. But the frame itself was solid, that’s all that mattered. I started by stripping everything off. Rust removal was a pain, I’m not gonna lie. Angle grinder with a wire brush attachment got me most of the way there. Then a whole lot of sanding. Like, a LOT. Used some rust converter primer after that, just to be safe.
Next up, the engine. I found a small, used 49cc two-stroke engine online. Cheap. Probably shouldn’t have trusted it so cheap, but hey, learning experience. It was kinda grimy, so I spent a good afternoon cleaning it up, replacing the spark plug, air filter, the usual stuff. Tried to start it… nothing. Turns out the carburetor was totally gunked up. Took it apart, cleaned all the jets, reassembled it. Still nothing! Finally figured out the fuel line was cracked. Replaced that and BAM! It sputtered to life. Sounded like a lawnmower on steroids.
Mounting the engine to the frame was a puzzle. Had to fabricate some custom brackets out of some scrap steel I had lying around. Welded those onto the frame. My welds aren’t pretty, but they hold. Then bolted the engine onto the brackets. Made sure everything was lined up correctly. Measure twice, weld once, right?
Then came the wheels. The original scooter wheels were toast. Found some slightly bigger ones online. Had to mess with the axles a bit to get them to fit properly. Brakes were another adventure. The original brake levers were missing, so I grabbed some generic ones from the auto parts store. Ran new brake cables. Getting the brakes adjusted properly was a total pain. Still not perfect, but good enough for puttering around the yard.
Throttle cable, wiring… ugh, the wiring. It was a rat’s nest. I ended up re-wiring the whole thing. Simple kill switch, throttle cable running to the carb. No fancy stuff. Just basic functionality.
Lastly, I threw on a seat. An old motorcycle seat I had kicking around. Again, custom brackets. Painted the whole frame a ridiculous shade of green. Why green? Because I had a can of green spray paint.
It’s ugly, loud, and probably illegal on public roads. But it runs! And that’s all that matters. Took it for a spin around the backyard. Thing’s surprisingly fast for a 49cc engine. Definitely a fun little project. Might even try to add lights someday… maybe.
