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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 6:43:31 GMT -5
Motomech from SD pointed out a Vento Triton to me on eBay. It was listed with a damaged engine and in kinda rough shape. I bid and won it for $62.09 and picked it up in a truck to avoid shipping charges. Here's what it looked like when I got it home. I started working on it almost immediately. It needed a lot of parts and work. I removed the oil injection junk and went to check the motor out. I discovered that not only is the engine mostly in working order, but I had found a 90cc Mexican version of the Triton. The exhaust studs were ripped out of the cylinder though. I replaced the stock cylinder with another 52mm cylinder. Once the fuel system was installed it ran. I modded the stock exhaust, modded the cooling fan housing, repaired/replaced all the broken parts, ditched the alarm, removed the fender and relocated the turn signals, installed Michelin Pilot Sport tires, and some other things and it was ready to ride. Of course I couldn't just leave it at that. I made a reed spacer, ported the stock intake, milled the cylinder, added an MRP tuned pipe, aftermarket coil, 4g rollers, lightened clutch with 2000RPM springs, 1000RPM torque spring, and vented the CVT cover a little. Here's a quick vid of it at that point. Sorry, the vid's not too great. I added an Arreche 19mm carb and high compression squish band head not long after that video. The mods kept flowing. I later moved up to a 54mm cylinder, DellOrto 25mm carburetor, Malossi reeds, and Polini intake. Here's a quick video just after installing the carburetor with it still out of tune. I added a Leo Vince ZX 100cc pipe. Next I decided to take on some minor frame mods. I made a frame brace and modified the stock engine mount to be solid, then welded the solid mount into the frame for overkill. I used the stock handlebars to do a cheap MX style conversion while adding an aluminum throttle assembly. I replaced the stock tail/brake light with an LED assembly and added LED front turn signals and and aftermarket rear view mirror, and then tinted the turn signals. Auto Meter fuel level gauge. Combustion chamber enlarged to 11.2cc to relieve detonation. Performance variator. Added a bicycle speedometer.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 7:04:33 GMT -5
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Post by Rebel on May 14, 2009 11:06:21 GMT -5
Impressive, I can't wait to see the finished product.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 11:55:44 GMT -5
I think the finished product will take longer than intended. I planned to have this whole thing finished by early next week, but a lack of parts will push that back. As much as I love scooters, the problems I've had with parts lately makes me wanna give up on them and just get a sportbike like everybody else. 3 orders, 3 different companies, 3 headaches. Other than a select few dealers, nothing is easy anymore unless you order form overseas and pay $100 for shipping.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 13:28:18 GMT -5
I figured out how I want my tail/brake/turn lights. After not being able to get through to anyone at Vento over the course of 2 hrs (they have no hold system so I have just called back over, and over, and over, and over, ... you get the idea... I took the motor mount off of my other scooter. I was trying to avoid that, because if you take parts from one bike to fix another, you'll just have a headache later trying to get parts for the one you took it from. Oh well, I guess I'll get through to someone at Vento someday? I installed the mount and did a decent mock up, minus turn signals, wiring, and the electrical equipment. These first pics are with no battery tray or leg shield. I'd need to find a spot for the battery and build a small legshield to keep dirt and water out of my face if I decided to try it this way. The next pics are with the cut down floorbard so I can use the stock battery tray, and the cut down leg shield. I originally thought I would like it better with no floor or shield. Looking at it mocked up, I think I like it better with the shield and floor. I think they'll help conceal the cables and wires that will be running in that area a lot better and they definitely serve a purpose. It's kinda ugly, but in a cool way IMO. Kinda the same way I think a Ducati Monster is ugly, but I like it anyway.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 18:27:57 GMT -5
I used 1/2" I.D. black steel gas line to make the footpegs because it has around 7/8" O.D.. I've got 7/8" handlebar grips on the way that should make good footpeg covers. I went with 4 pegs so I can change positions to keep comfortable. The front pegs should be nice for kickin' back. The rear pegs are 2-3" lower than the original floorboard, which should give me some extra room. I'm 6ft3in tall and my knees came up to the top of the front fairing with the stock floorboard. The footpegs look kinda long, but I wanted to make them bigfoot friendly.
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Post by Rebel on May 14, 2009 18:47:05 GMT -5
Highway bars on a scooter, nice touch
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Post by 90GTVert on May 14, 2009 20:44:42 GMT -5
;D Thanks. Gotta be comfy. I didn't get much else done. I need 6mm steel nuts and the hardware store was all out. I was going to use them for the battery box and front shield mounting points. I did at least get rid of the "ABS" box.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 18, 2009 10:05:42 GMT -5
I didn't get anything done over the weekend, thanks to a stomach virus that lasted from Friday morning to Sunday night. Isn't that perfect timing? There was a huge cruise and car show all weekend in Ocean City, MD that I had planned to go to as well. Anyway, I'm feeling mostly better now and I did get a little bit done this morning. I welded on the battery box mounts and made a mount for the coil under the seat frame. The coil used to be beside the battery box, under the floorboard. It looks like the terminal on the coil is nearly touching the frame at the angle I took the pics, but it's not. I welded nuts to the seat latch mount/support to allow the rectifier and CDI to be mounted on each side. The rectifier used to mount above the headlight and the CDI used to mount on the outside of the frame by the gas tank. I think I'm going to mount the turn signal flasher under the battery box in some open space I have. It used to mount above the headlight near the rectifier. That will cover the mounting locations of all the electronics I'll be using. The starter relay/solenoid is the only thing I haven't made a mount for, but it will stay by the gas tank near the CDI and rectifier as it was mounted stock. I'll have to modify the wiring harness to make the new mounting locations work. I also need to get some silicone to be sure some of the electronics connections are sealed now that there is a lack of shelter for them. I think they'll be alright anyway though. I've driven through many inches of water on flooded roads and splashed it all over everything before, not to mention I spray everything down when I wash the scoot and I haven't had any trouble so far. I haven't been using anything to seal the concectors before either. Now I'm trying to decide if I wanna stick to my original plan of a flat black frame and keep the wheels red. Flat black is so easy to spray and maintain and the wheels would need nothing more than cleaning. If you get a scratch or anything you can touch it up and never know anything ever happened. I think that may be useful since I can't or won't afford powder coating for the frame right now or maybe never. My problem with flat black and red is that it will look like a rat rod. Yeah, that's kinda perfect for what I'm doing... but so many people are doing that now that I don't wanna seem like I'm just doing what everybody else is. I'd really like to do another halloween style bike like my old cateye that I ran with no fairings. Orange frame, black wheels. I really liked that. As soon as I spill some gas on it and need to repaint the whole thing to make it right, I'd hate it though. I can't really say I feel like having to paint the wheels either. It sounds so cool to me, but wow I bet it would be a struggle to keep it looking decent. The rat rod way would give me an excuse for things being dirty too.
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Post by Rebel on May 18, 2009 11:35:40 GMT -5
I think you should get it registered as a Verto, instead of a Vento, man you have totally re-engineered this scooter, it is a one of a kind for sure.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 18, 2009 19:15:31 GMT -5
LOL I may have to get some "VERTO" decals made one day.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 18, 2009 19:22:45 GMT -5
I did a little bit more tonight... I started to make some sort of mount for the turn signal flasher, and then decided against it. I was using a Trick Flasher that makes my turn signal blink in my choice of 5 different patterns. It's a cool unit, but it is different than a standard cylindrical flasher unit and it costs $55. If it went up, I wouldn't want to replace it with another $55 unit so I'm not building a mount for it. I'm gonna pick up a normal flasher that's good for LED signals and mount that instead. I'll stick the Trick Flasher in the other scoot. Made a mount and welded it up so the leg shield will have 2 bolts instead of one. Made a mount for the horn. I started to mess with the wiring a little, but I'm too tired to think too much at the moment. I got very little done.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2009 17:49:14 GMT -5
I picked up a variable load flasher and made a simple mount to attach it using a clamp or wire ties. Mocked up the scoot again to make it easier to get wires closer to the lengths they need to be. Hopefully I'll get most of the wiring taken care of tonight.
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Post by Rebel on May 19, 2009 18:09:25 GMT -5
Suggestion,
for a cleaner look you can use larger pipe or smaller nuts so the nut can slip into the pipe and be welded down, or brazed into place, the other thing you could do is add more metal to the outside of the nut and grind it down to be round like the pipe.
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Post by 90GTVert on May 19, 2009 21:00:04 GMT -5
I was told never to weld a nut all the way around because it would warp the nut. I can't see how, assuming you do it in a few passes rather than a steady bead, but I'm no expert. I wouldn't mind it being cleaner, but I don't really mind the way it is. It's so far from looking good it's not even funny.
I did get the wiring pretty much covered. I'll have to do a few things at final assembly.
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