Step Two: Engine Rebuild

You may or may not know this, but mopeds only go around 25 mph. And since I want to make this my primary mode of transportation, I need it to go a little faster. There are things you can do to increase the speed, such as buy and install a new engine, which is what I did.

They are called bore kits and look like this.

You may remember this is what the engine used to look like:

That black part on the far left is what I replaced. This old engine is 49cc and the new one is 70cc. Basically what this means is that more air is able to get into the engine, making the explosion larger, making it go faster. Yeah, science! 

I'm guessing the moped can now go around 35-40 mph now, but since the speedometer is broken, I won't actually know. Maybe later I'll do some tests to try and figure out the exact speed...

It took a whole evening to put the new engine on. There are these tiny little pieces - see those G shaped wires? - on that thing that have to be stretched and pulled in the just the right way to attach. I kept thinking, how in the hell do mechanics do this?? I clearly didn't have the right took for the job (a pair of pliers) but after many frustrating hours, I got them attached and was able to put everything together!

The only problem was that because new engine is larger than the old one, it didn't quite fit. There was a piece of metal on the side of the bike that needed to be removed. So, what does one do at 11 o'clock at night when you're so close to finishing a project and there's just one thing in your way? Grind it off on your front stoop, of course!

Yes, Paxton is shirtless. But never mind that. I actually did the grinding to get it to fit, Paxton just came in as clean up crew to get rid of the sharp edges and make it pretty (I totally could've done that, just sayin'). 

So what I ended up with was this transformation:

 Ok, so I forgot to take a before photo.. but that's what it used to look like, the photo shown is just the piece on the other side.

Alright, now its time to put it on!

My engine selfie, and what it looked like post installation. By the way, headlights were a must for this project.

PARTS
Moped	$200.00
PAINT
Primer x3	$15.00
Yellow Pint x2	$20.00
Yellow Spray Paint x2	$10.00
Paint Thinner x2	$14.00
Sand Paper	$8.00
ENGINE	$200.00
TOTAL	$467.00

Here's the up to date cost. I didn't actually need to add on a new engine, I just wanted it for safety and travel reasons. I could have gotten around just fine on the old engine.

That's that! Next I'll post about electrical, and after that I'll get into life on the moped. It's still not working, but I think I know the problem now, and will get to work on it soon, just as soon as I have the time...