My first scooter: restoring an '87 SE50P

[keeif]

Hey yall

I just bought my first scooter and wanted to make a post to share the work I've done on it, future plans, and maybe get some ideas from you guys.

It all started a few weeks ago when I rode my brothers metro. I had a blast cruising around town and taking in all the scenery and knew I had to get one. So I started looking on facebook market and one day an '87 elite popped up on there for $350. I met with the owner within an hour, gave it a good once over and took it for a ride down the street. It was missing an ignition and it was in pretty rough shape but it only had 1300 miles on the odometer, and I thought it had potential. So I gave him the money, and we loaded it into the back of my Mazda CX-5 . This is the day I got her:







Loved that leftover sticker residue





So my brother and I got to work and started tearing her down to go through everything and clean it up. With some detailing brushes, simple green (lavender ofc), and a couple hours, it ended up looking like a new scooter:







At this point, I was becoming really happy with this thing. It's super clean and it hasn't been tampered with besides the body panels and missing ignition switch.

Then I started looking around at getting parts. I got an ebay ignition switch for $20, oem grips, turn signal lens, and I ended up finding a metro rear wheel with a new tire for $80 on ebay



Huge difference, and all I had to do was trim the upper mud flap with scissors and grind about a 1/4" off the bracket for the stand bushing.

Then I had to address the plastics, so I started trying out the heat gun method and it worked great:





No meguiars here

Then I got the sticker residue off the panels with goo-gone, wet sanded them, and buffed them out:





Really happy with how she cleaned up. There's a few marks, scratches, and cracked/damaged panels but I'm okay with that (it adds character ). So I think I'll rock it like this for awhile. It runs and rides great except for the headlight and dash light don't work, so I'll have to see what's going on with that. Being a restricted model, it's a turtle. With just the metro rear wheel, it was doing 32mph, but I was able to snag an aero variator and ramp plate (US2) which allows it to consistently do 37mph which I think is decent. Now I ordered an SA50 S23 exhaust from scooterswapshop, some jets (85,88,90), a ruckus variator, and some 6g rollers which I'll run with the aero ramp plate. The exhaust will require some cutting and welding but I'm excited to see what she'll do with this setup.

So I think that's it for now. I've had a ton of fun bringing this lil thing back to life, learning more about them from this community, and of course riding it.

[Meatball]

Nice ride at a sweet price. Always had a soft spot for the 87’s. Just know that if you ever lay it down and the poorly placed front blinker (thx Honda) causes the brittle storage tray to shatter....you’ll NEVER find another one. I bought four 87’s before I finally scored one with a pristine storage tray. Then my buddy dumped it and broke that one. FML.

[Ben L.]

That cleaned up great! Love builds like this.

[keeif]

Thanks guys! I had a lot of fun bringing it back to life.

Good to know on the storage tray. Hopefully I don't find myself in a situation! There is a small crack on my storage tray, the left front blinker lens was missing, and the housing was slightly scuffed up so someone did lay it down at some point, but luckily wasn't enough to shatter the tray.

On the headlight and gauge cluster, I figured out it was just the bulbs that were dead, so I replaced the cluster bulb and did the h11 swap on the headlight. Worked out great.



I got my exhaust this weekend, so I hope I'll be able to fab that up tomorrow.

[Meatball]

I messed with the 87’s quite a bit. Tried bore kits, exhausts, carbs, intakes...kitchen sink. Nothing really provided substantial performance gains until the Af16 swap. The rest is history.

[keeif]

I messed with the 87’s quite a bit. Tried bore kits, exhausts, carbs, intakes...kitchen sink. Nothing really provided substantial performance gains until the Af16 swap. The rest is history.

I've considered that. Where'd you find your AF16?

Although if I can get it 40-45, I think I'll be happy with it. I don't know if I wanna be going much faster than that on this little thing.

[Meatball]

Where'd you find your AF16?

I dont recall where I acquired that particular af16. It may have been out of a wrecked 97’ I picked up for cheap. I think I have 5 or 6 motor cases laying around but none for sale. Finding them isnt too tough but getting them for a good price is a another story.

[keeif]

Update: got my exhaust cut and welded up and a 90 main jet in. It rips now! I'm shocked by how torquey it is and how quick it accelerates. And it does 40mph now. Think I'll be good with this AF05

I did do some plug chops, and I was curious what you guys think. The one side looks like a nice light brown with some darker spots but the other side is a lot lighter. Is this normal? Also at partial throttle it is breaking up a bit and "four stroking," so I'm thinking it's running too rich but I'm worried about the lighter side. I did put in a new air filter, and may have put too much oil on it.

Darkside:


Lightside:


Also, the plug is a few weeks old, and I rode it a bit with the stock exhaust and jet. Is this okay or should I get a new one?

Pic of the exhaust:


I didn't do the best job welding it, so I still need to grind and smooth them down. And then Scooterswapshop said this clear coating burns off, so once that happens, I'm gonna paint it all black too.

[Meatball]

Breaking up a bit at partial throttle..try moving the needle circlip up a notch. Meaning, the needle would sit lower during half throttle. This would deliver less fuel at mid twist. Kinda flyin blind without a CHT. Hopefully you dont lean out and seize her up. If you had a needle kit you could play with different tapers to dial in the mid-range but good luck finding one for the stocker carb.

The more non-stock modifications that are made, the further open the can-o-worms gets. Modern rigs adjust automatically via computer to add or remove fuel/air/timing using data from various sensors. In this case, YOU are the sensors and adjuster.

IMO, the plug actually looks decent. Not greasy, not too hot. Id like to see results of a chop on a NEW plug tho. Get a 4-pack or something off Ebay. Its good to have spares anyways.

[keeif]

First off, really appreciate the replies and info, Meatball.

I didn't know about the needle circlip adjustment. I tried it out and it seemed to have helped a little bit. But then I tried adjusting the air screw because I haven't adjusted that yet. I turned it back two turns instead of the 1 1/4 for SE50P and it runs waaaay better now. I thought this was just for idle but doing a bit more reading around on here, it also controls fuel for under 1/4 throttle? which I think is where I was having this issue. So I'm happy about this!

CHT sensors/monitoring also seems like a good idea. I'll have to look more into those. Any suggestions on them?

Just ordered some more plugs, as well.

[keeif]

So anyone know if a 90/90-10 will fit on the front stock wheel? Specifically the Pirelli SL26 because that's what I have on the rear. I've read a few threads where some people suggest it will (viewtopic.php?t=18683), but nothing too convincing.

Or who has a '94-'01 SA50 Elite SR brake panel?

I've read a couple threads of people doing front end swaps from the live dio zx and maybe a ruckus one too which interests me.

[Meatball]

Couple yrs ago I swapped in a met tree and it fits great. If I remember right you need to swap the lower bearing race on the tree, modify the stop tab to get the proper turning radius and carve out some plastic on the undercowl. Then you can use whatever legs you want...met/ruck, NCY, etc. I used met legs, wheels and brake assembly since I had a complete donor bike to rob from.

Heres my bumbling process with discoveries along the way: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=33939&hilit=Met+tree+swap&start=30

[keeif]

Ahh that's so cool! Only issue seems to be the brake cable then? The one you posted is no longer in stock

[Meatball]

You could use a wheel/hub assembly that doesnt take the snap-in type cable end like the Met has or switch to a disc brake system. I think I had to source a speedo cable too that mates the SE50 gauge to the Met hub. However, the stock speedo is useless at 65mph so I dont even look at it anymore.

[keeif]

Hey Meatball, thanks. I'll have to look more into that. Sounds like a good project for the winter.

I got new plugs and here is the result of a 1 mile full throttle chop:





I did about 2 more miles of mostly full throttle and it still looked the same. Bigger jet?