We got a 2nd 2T Stella, yay! General tuning/wiring Qs:

The original 2-stroke Genuine scooter and its 4-stroke manual and automatic offspring

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Allgrownsup
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Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2017 10:41 pm
Location: Eastside LA

We got a 2nd 2T Stella, yay! General tuning/wiring Qs:

Post by Allgrownsup »

So excited to add another Stella to our family! Our newest is a 2009 avocado green 2T w/ around 2k miles. I have a couple of questions for you guys, maybe someone has encountered these issues before?

* Pilot light & tail light not working (headlight & brake light are working fine). Checked fuses in horn case & battery area, both are good. Checked the tail bulb & it's fine. I'm taking apart the headlight housing today to check. I know they both run on the same violet wire so it's got to be something with that (or grounding)? Wires all look great so far, nothing worn, loose, or frayed. I ordered a multimeter & will dig in further when that comes this week but I'm pretty clueless on wiring issues. Anyone encountered this?

* Any suggestions for great places on LA's Eastside (towards Highland Park/Glendale/Pasadena) to buy 2T oil & get reliable scooter service? I don't often make it over to the Westside. Until then I can overpay for Motul 710 on Amazon prime.

* My '08 has a velvety smooth deep pop-pop/chug that sounds more like a vintage scoot than a typical Stella. Our new '09 sounds more like I remember my old '05 sounding, which is higher-pitched and faster pops. I want to get the deep smooth pops for the '09. My '08 has a stock exhaust, what else could the previous owners have done to it to get it to run like that? Assuming it's something to do with carb tuning?

* Very silly question: Some Stellas have exposed shocks with a black or red coil (our '09) and some have the ugly grey plastic cover on the front shock (our 2008). Is the grey plastic cover just a cover & if so could I remove it to expose the shock coil or would I need to get a whole new shock? It's just an aesthetics thing, I hate that grey plastic.
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Allgrownsup
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Posts: 9
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2017 10:41 pm
Location: Eastside LA

Post by Allgrownsup »

Updating this for posterity in case anyone else has these issues in the future. 90% of the forums that once had good answers now have dead links on the photos & diagrams thanks to Photobucket pulling their hosting.

Replaced the battery then tested the line for the tail light with a multimeter & it was getting a steady stream of 12v juice. Replaced the bulb but it still didn't work. Took apart the existing wiring and cleaned up the connections - someone had installed new tail light housing at some point and the wires were a bit of a mess back there. I also changed the ground routing within the light housing. After the re-wire the bulb worked but we discovered it was too long to fit into the housing so I ordered a short LED instead (hasn't arrived yet, we'll see if it fits/works).

Replaced the pilot bulb - again I had one that was the correct base but wrong size. Turned everything on just to test the light & it worked fine. Revved the engine and pop goes the headlight. It's not even on the same damn wire so I wasn't expecting that.

Cleaned up all grounds I could find around the battery, engine, and horncast and checked fuses again - everything was solid. Did some multimeter tests on the new battery and found voltage wasn't really increasing with high RPMs. Took apart the regulator, tested each line w/ the multimeter and found the one with the purple wire connection to be dead. Picked up a new regulator from Scooter Speed in Azusa this AM & installed it this afternoon.

Everything seems normal-ish now and all lights work. The only headlight the auto parts store had was the 12v 55/60w so I may still order the correct 35w and change it out to be safe. The dash indicator light flickers a little when the scoot starts and the headlight gets noticeably brighter with high RPMs. For comparison the dash light on our '08 Stella flickers as well but the headlight beam doesn't change intensity like that.

I tested the battery again after the regulator installation and it's still staying around the same mid-12v regardless of idle or high RPMs. Clearly the regulator needed to be replaced regardless, but could this mean there is also something wrong with the stator?
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