ZA50 Puck repair

Here is the two speed I got for my wife's maxi. Fitted it into the vice and lets open up that transmission and replace those pucks! Just assuming that they are bad, having most likely been sitting out of the oil bath for 20 years. The clutch cover comes off pretty easily, then the first nut comes off reverse thread, and you have to jam a socket between the case and the drive gear on the other side so it sits still while you twist on it. It's stuck on pretty good. Then clutch bell comes off, and using a piston stop, the clutch retaining nut comes off. Don't forget to remove the locking washer like someone I know did, because you might wonder why the nut refuses to budge and then feel like an idiot later.

Then pull out this main drive thingy, and remove these screws. Don't forget to loc-tite them when you put them back. I put the nut on the threaded side so I could pinch it in the vice without damaging anything. Pull the plates off, and viola , the shift pucks.
It just so happened that these look so good and supple, like they would absorb shift quite nicely, so I decided to leave 'em be. It was good practice to bust it open and take a peek. More ZA50 shenanigans later.

Metra 80 Prep

The other day I picked up the Metra80 large port that had been chilling in the display case at Seattle Mopeds. It was a bit dusty, and it had been sitting there for quite a while. I decided to go Metra80 for the magnum for a few reasons.

• Magnums need big cylinders, no little maxi cylinders
  
• Metra80 has a beautiful matching head
• Metra80 works well with my existing intake for the Parma kit
• Metra80 will make good power, but not so much power I destroy my 2 speed every few months

So as I look at the dykes ring that rides right atop the edge of the piston, it looks rather large to me. Decided I should measure the ring end gap. To do that, place your ring in the cylinder, and then press it down half way between the top of the cylinder and the exhaust port, using the base of your piston so that it is level. Unfortunately, the metra80 skirt is already trimmed and not level, so I had to get out my caliper and measure down to ensure it was level. With the ring level, insert a feeler gauge into the gap until it fits just inside without binding. My gap was .002 in (.051mm) which I am quite certain is waaaaaaay to small. So perhaps I got a wild ring or something, but I feel if I put it together as is I'm going to snag a ring quite quickly. Once the heat builds up, that ring expands and the ends will push into each other causing all kinds of binding and calamity. So I'm going to do a little research and widen my gap, and I will of course, keep you posted.

Homoet 8p

A list of stuff

First of all, go check out this sweet 1977 custom. Wow! That's all I can say.

• puch homoet 8p performance pipe
• puch & tomos moped exhaust gasket
• puch moped front sprockets - 17 tooth
• leleu rear moped sprockets for puch, peugeot, motobecane - 36T
• puch ZA50 2 speed shift dampers by motion left mopeds
• puch moped points with wire

So I've made a swap-a-roo with a guy from Chicago. I sold him the old E50 off the Maxi Taxi, carb and all, and he gave me some monies and has shipped me a ZA50. This engine will be getting some new pucks and an electrical rebuild, in combination with a Puch HT cylinder that I'm going to attempt to port, and once it's all together, it will replace the E50 on my wife's green Maxi. As we've established, my BFW has a hard time getting up hills here in Seattle, so I think the two speed is a good choice. A ported stock cylinder will be plenty of zip for her, if she cooks along at 35mph she will be happy as a clam.

Things to look forward too on the soon to be re-named Apocalypse Ponies Mopeds! blog:

• ZA50 puck install
• ZA50 Metra 80 install
• Maxi Taxi stock rebuild
• Swinger1 Seat modification and Fender mounting

Enjoy waiting while these things come into play over the next months!

Swinger1

I decided it's too sad to see my Swinger1 sit on the balcony with no wheels on it, so I brought it in today and Ian was kind enough to give me a set of brakes. Why would my bike be sitting from no brakes? Because I stole them for one of my other bikes. It's always downhill when you start to cannibalize your bikes, but I wouldn't have been riding the Swinger1 in the rain anyway. So here is a shot of the brake shoes to explain why it's a good idea to knock the glaze off, one is before, the other is after, and I'll bet one stops alot better than the other. Take a medium grit sand paper (I used 180) and just give it a nice light push to pull that glaze right off. Do the same for the brake drum. Don't forget to lube your cam on the brake plate, a little bit of sillicone lube is what I use, because it comes in a tube and works well to not make a mess.
I want to put the seat down a little further and get a more solid mount on it. As it sits, it's a wee bit back too far and if you scoot all the way back I'm just afraid of it snapping off with some of these pot holes around Seattle. So that means chop the post a little bit and go bother Mike Mike to use his welder to adjust my seat pan some.

I'm also having trouble with my internal ignition coil, it makes a decent looking spark, but it's a little too white for my taste, which as I understand it, usually means poor grounding, and it also does something peculiar which you can notice in this video. I'll be diving back into solving this mystery as soon as I'm done posting this. Enjoy!

Welcome, March

My moped shenanigans have been limited recently due to being a big cheap-o and not having any money to stimulate our moped economy. Well, I've got my Bravo on the sales block and it looks like tomorrow it will be happily adopted into its new home, and I've struck a deal that will ensure both money for parts, and projects to handle that would be of mild interest to people who follow the HQ. At this point, I would like to commend those who try and blog about mopeds and never get past 3 or 4 posts. It seems like fun, but then you realize, I never feel like updating or don't have anything to show. If I can offer advice, show when you make big mistakes, cause everyone makes those and then we would have unbelievable content daily!

I replaced the fork shims on my wife's maxi because the old lower had broken and caused it to vibrate out the bottom end and then rattle when the brakes were applied. Should have taken a picture, and it would have been much more interesting to hear about. The green maxi could use a cleaning, she is a far dirty cry from the show winning ped she used to be. I think the plan for that bike is to get a transplant from those hokey old E50's to what she deserves, a ZA50. The frame was originally a 2 speed, and my big fat wife needs help getting up these Seattle hills! Stay tuned! (Or come back about two weeks from now when I update again!)