1987 Elite 50 S (SE50) freshen up

[travis789]

before cleaning


after cleaning with brake clean and a brush and an internal rinse with fuel, followed by fuel/oil mix

[MrJumps]

I have always wondered if a pressure washer coukd be used on these motor cases.... any one tried this yet?

[travis789]

Piston installation. I don't have any pictures to show me shooting first circlip across the kitchen, then sweeping the kitchen and not finding it. And finally, picking through the trash can and finding it in the very bottom, hiding in some coffee grounds.



Cylinder installation

Preparing to put the head on

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Those piston pin clips have a tiny micro-chip inside them that's programmed for "Escape". There's some sort of gyroscopic directional module that makes them head straight for the nearest storm drain, or in my case, under a water-heater. Glad you found it. Perhaps the caffeine residues will give the scooter some extra zip!

[travis789]

Greetings:

Those piston pin clips have a tiny micro-chip inside them that's programmed for "Escape". There's some sort of gyroscopic directional module that makes them head straight for the nearest storm drain, or in my case, under a water-heater. Glad you found it. Perhaps the caffeine residues will give the scooter some extra zip!

Lol!

[travis789]

I have always wondered if a pressure washer coukd be used on these motor cases.... any one tried this yet?

I wish I had power washed the whole scooter before I started this process, but I bought it during a snow storm (can't turn outside faucet on) and I didn't realize how muddy it was underneath until I had the panels off. It always goes easier when you're working on a clean machine.

[travis789]

Here is an earlier photo where I am preparing to clean outside. Its amazing working with an engine I can pick up with one hand!

[travis789]

I neglected my picture taking last night when I was reinstalling the engine. Here you can see I've installed the intake manifold, shroud and plug, as well as the oil pump.



cleaning the old gaskets off of the reed cage was challenging because they were hardened and they were put on with rtv



A gasket remover such as this, a chisel blade hobby knife, and patience eventually got the job done.




Here is the reed cage and intake manifold installed with new gaskets. Even though the shop manual tells you not to take it apart, I took the reeds off and flipped them over and adjusted them until there was no light visible through them

[travis789]

Fan cover installed as well as the exhaust, with new donut and mounting hardware. Everything is dusty from sitting for years, I figure I'll power wash it when it warms up outside.



These are the used turn signals I purchase on fleabay, the originals were missing all together and the rear tail light/ inner fender/ fender were a frankenstein mess



The end of the wiring harness had been cut and poorly spliced into a mess so:


I purchased a used one to replace it with. Its dusty but in good shape

[travis789]

[MrJumps]

Sounds good, pretty motor

[travis789]

Thanks! I was outside scratching my head for a while today trying to get the idle and mixture right, and then I realized I was confusing the two. On my other bikes, the screw with a spring on it is the mixture, while on this one that is the idle speed. Once i got that straightened out, it idled nicely. No surging so I guess the crank seals are acceptable.

When I bought this scooter, it had a bad kill switch, or rather, the kill switch was missing with 2 wires hanging out the top. I ordered a used right hand switch and it came with a GOOD kill switch and a BAD starter button. I took my good starter button and soldered it on to the other harness and finally have everything working (until I find out the brake switch is bad, lol)

[travis789]

powerwash

[travis789]

After power washing, it looks much better. I should have done the skins while i had it out. A tough week at work has put this project on hold for a little while.

[travis789]

Started installing the used harness last night, here the front 1/3rd has been installed.



Including all the harnesses inside the instrument cluster, and the speedometer cable. It took quite a few tries to get that nest of snakes to fit in there properly.


Here I am cleaning up the front panel. Quite a few of the tabs are broken off, so I'll be using zip ties through the holes the previous owner drilled. I've got the rest of my life to try find a nice set of skins, right?