Seized my Blur's engine!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Jun 19, 2015 5:18 am

Found the perfect material for my front fork preload spacers at my local Lowes homecenter. They sell steel spacer tubes, 1" diameter, with heavy wall thickness in a couple of different lengths. Perfect.

Passed a mini-milestone on my engine today. Installed oil filter, filled engine with oil, removed sparkplug, then cranked engine over for about 30 seconds to (hopefully) prime the oil pump and get oil circulating through the engine. During the engine assembly phase, and before I installed the new oil pump, I filled the pump with very thin grease (white lithium) to help it prime and start moving oil. After the first cranking, I pulled the valve cover and cranked again to watch for oil getting pumped to the valve rockers and cam - yes! we have oil flow!

Now I just have to wait for my new exhaust system to arrive. Getting closer and closer...

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Jun 20, 2015 5:18 am

Finished the front fork/shocks today. I cut the 1" long spacer down to 3/4" long because the full length put too much pre-load on the spring. Nothing scientific about my assessment, just gut feeling. Pushing down on the fork cap with the spacer in place to screw it down took a bit of effort, but it wasn't too bad. My only fear was everything slipping out of place thereby shooting the fork spring up my left nostril. I can feel a noticeable difference in firmness and dampening by just pushing down on the forks. Can't wait to try it out on the road. The stock forks would occasionally bottom out on really rough roads and felt mushy during aggressive cornering. Total cost for this mod - $5 for two spacers and $10 for a bottle of shock oil.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Jun 23, 2015 3:46 am

Received my new Simota air filter element today. Very well made and came pre-oiled. Can be cleaned and reused, just like a K&N. Installed just like the OEM filter. Remember, this is the exact same filter that the Hooligan uses.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Jun 27, 2015 9:02 am

Installed my Dr Pulley variator today. Polished the ramps that the sliders slide on, but I doubt if it will make any difference in performance. Using 12g sliders for now, but I have a set of 11g and 13g for experimentation if needed. The main thing I wanted to show was how it is possible to have a functional kickstarter using a short spline crankshaft. As I posted earlier, since the crankshaft spines are too short to engage the kickstarter coupler, the coupler is now dowel pined to the variator pulley and everything clamped in place by the nut. Of course, the drawback to this arrangement is that if I ever change my variator, I'll have to modify the new pulley to accept the coupler. I don't know why I even went through all the trouble to save the kickstarter since I've never been able to start the darn thing using the kickstarter anyway...

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 8:11 am

Repainted my front forks because of stone chip damage. Re-assembled entire front end and noticed something interesting. Prior to my Blur being out of commission, the front end would rattle a lot when going over rough ground. It would even rattle when stationary by grabbing the front brake and compressing the front suspension up and down. It's now solid with no more rattling, at least during the stationary test. Seems the steering headset was not tightened correctly from the factory.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 12:43 am

Received my new exhaust system, but it wasn't the one I thought I was buying. Seems the online shop had mixed-up the description and picture and was showing a more expensive system, but describing as well as pricing a cheaper system. I've emailed them of the mistake so we'll see what happens from here.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 12:52 am

In the meantime, for no particular reason other than I wanted to, I installed aluminum bar ends. These slide into the handlebar and are wedged in place my a rubber tube which gets squeezed tight by the allen screw on the end.
The original pieces that were there are just rubber which is part of the grip molding and can be simply cut away with a sharp hobby knife. The throttle side grip did need to have the opening enlarged to clear the aluminum bar end, otherwise they would rub together and prevent the throttle from returning.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 3:07 am

I found my long lost stock header pipe! So while I try to get my aftermarket exhaust system sorted out, decided to reinstall the stock system so that I can at least start the engine and sort out any mechanical issues.

She started right up, then sat there idling away!
I be a happy camper!

No major oil leaks so far, though the valve cover is weeping a wee amount. I can hear an exhaust leak between the head and the header pipe. May have to use a different type of gasket there.

Rode it a little bit around the neighborhood just to feel her out. I immediately felt the difference that the firmer contra spring and clutch springs made. Engine revs higher before take-off and the acceleration from a stand still is better. It's been a long time since I rode my Blur, but still, I can tell the big bore, longer stroke, and cam has made a difference in performance. Even though not broken in yet, she pulls strong. I'm all giggly faced right now. Sorry, TMI...

Now I have to get insurance so that I can register it. Can't wait to start breaking her in. I'll take some pictures of her rebirth soon and post them. I did a bit of painting to get rid of most of the orange.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 1:20 am

Fixed exhaust leak, sounds much better now.

The 2000 rpm "Racing" springs in my clutch might be a bit much for everyday riding. Going to try the 1500 rpm springs instead.

There's an engine surge, mainly under load. Feels and sounds more like the engine cuts out for a second or two then comes back. Doesn't really feel like a carburetion problem though. Maybe a bad coil/ignition wire? Now where did I put the stock coil....

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:25 am

Forgot to mention: the modified front shocks and tightened headset bearings work great. I went over several pot holes and some really bumpy road surfaces and the front end feels planted. No rattling and no bottoming out. Excellent improvement for very little money.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Jul 11, 2015 5:13 am

Tried a different ignition coil, spark plug wire, and spark plug, but the engine is still stumbling on hard acceleration. Went out for an extended ride and as long as I don't jump on the throttle, it runs fine. Accelerates much better than stock, but engine sounds frantic because of the 2000 rpm clutch springs. She'll get to 35 mph in a heartbeat, but I have to watch how fast I go because the engine isn't broken in yet.

Noticed that after riding then parking with the scoot on it's sidestand, letting it sit for an hour or two, then restarting, it will not idle. If I stand it upright, it starts fine and idles fine. Thinking float level might be too high and letting it sit leaned over causes an over rich condition. Will adjust float level to test theory. Can't let it sit on the center stand since it doesn't have one anymore.

Some pictures:

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:54 am

Just a bit of heads up concerning clutch springs...they're not all the same size. Apparently the 1500 rpm springs I bought (Koso brand) are a bit longer than the ones that were used in my hi-po clutch. This allows the clutch shoes to swing out a little before encountering spring tension which is just enough for the clutch to start engaging the clutch bell at idle speed. Not really enough to really move the scooter, but I can feel a tug from the engine when stopped. The clutch engages immediately when I give it gas, as where before the engine had to rev up to around 4500 rpm before the clutch would start to engage. I'll have to compare the size of the stock springs to my hi-po springs to the Koso springs to see where the differences are.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Jul 20, 2015 3:15 am

Just a few notes and observations since my engine upgrade.

Still futzing with an engine hesitation, but it's getting better. Leaned out the needle jet a bit and lowered the float level. Still hickcups on steep hills, but I can usually accellerate out of it. Will try dropping float level a little more.

San Francisco has some really steep hills and on one of these in particular, the top speed I could manage before the engine upgrade was maybe 30 mph with the throttle wide open. After the engine upgrade, and even with the engine stutter, I can easily hit 40 with about 80% throttle. I don't know what the top speed on level ground is yet because engine is still breaking in so I don't want to crank the throttle up all the way yet. Considering that the engine is trying to fart through a cork because I'm still using the stock exhaust system, the performance isn't too bad.

Pre engine upgrade the engine ran very hot. It made a lot ticking noises, the kind of noises a hot engine makes when it's left to cool after a ride. Because of this, I feared that after the upgrade, the engine would run even hotter. That is why I wanted to add a fan and maybe an additional oil cooler. In the end, I decided to forgo these additions until later. Turns out I didn't need to worry about it as the engine temperature seems to be well under control. Even on a hot day, the engine doesn't make any noises after parking and I don't feel a lot of heat radiating from beneath the scooter. The only reason I can think of is because of the increased oil flow from the high flow oil pump that I installed and possibly the "massaging" that I did on some of the oil galleys. Either way, it's a good thing.

The larger front tire (130/60-13 vs 120/60-13) didn't make much difference in correcting the optimistic speedometer reading. It still reads about 5 mph fast.

The LED headlight has made night riding better as I no longer feel as if I were riding by candlelight.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Aug 01, 2015 3:54 am

Still fighting with an engine stumble. Seems to happen randomly at no particular rpm or speed. Feels like someone hitting the kill switch on and off because the engine dies then kicks back on. Tachometer drops to zero. Even with the stumble, i can accelerate strongly to whatever speed i want to. The engine just rapidly turns off and on while accelerating.
Starts and idles fine. Accelerates from a standstill fine. Runs smoothly on level ground cruzing at 30 mph or so.
Almost certain it's not a carburetion problem though I've been playing around with it to no avail. Changed ignition coil, sparkplug lead, sparkplug, and CDI module...no improvement. Only things left is the stator or electrical connection. If anyone has any ideas, I'm open.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Aug 19, 2015 4:23 am

Update: looks like the hesitation problem might be carburation after all. I swapped the 30mm carb for the stock 24mm and so far the engine runs smoothly though down on power. No hesitation so far. I had to richen up the needle jet a bit because of a lean condition and I'm pretty sure I'll have to richen up the main jet too, that is if I can find jets for this carb.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 5:38 am

The service manual says the stock main jet for a 24mm carb in a 150cc Blur should be a #102, but mine had a #92 in it. As a starting point, I drilled out the MJ with a #60 drill bit giving a #101.5 jet size. I also changed the pilot jet (also known as a slow jet) from a #35 to a #40. I raised the needle for the needle jet by about 1.5mm using flat washers (stock needle is not adjustable). Engine is running smooth with good acceleration and doesn't die after a long downhill coast as with the 30mm carb. I mentioned earlier about a hill on which my stock engine could only manage 30 mph and 40 mph with the 180cc engine using the 30mm carb; well, with the rejetted stock 24mm carb it will still easily hit over 40 mph on this hill. I suspect within city riding, the 24mm carb will work perfectly fine. Where I may take a hit is in top speed. I suspect the smaller carb will limit the maximum speed capabilities, of which I can't test yet because I only have 500 miles on the engine. I haven't given up on the 30mm carb though. I'll try raising the float height and making a spacer for the intake manifold to raise the carb height to allow it to sit upright rather than tilted. That tilted position may have caused some of the problems.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:44 am

She's running better and better. The 101.5 mj was too small so I enlarged it to 106.5 (#58 drill). Haven't checked the sparkplug yet to see if it's still too lean, but engine runs strong. The gas mileage has increased dramatically over that with the 30mm carb. I'm beginning to think the 24mm carb might be a keeper.

Changed the variator sliders from 11 gm (package they came in said 12 gm) to 13 gm in order to get to a higher drive ratio sooner. Figured the engine makes enough torque now to handle it...and it does.☺ No bog under hard accelleration.

Still need to finish modifying the performance exhaust system I bought to fit the Blur. I wonder what if any difference it will make.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:59 am

Here is the performance exhaust system I ended up buying for my Blur. It is made entirely of stainless steel including the muffler itself and mounting brackets. The body of the muffler is a aluminum and glass fiber weave patterned like carbon fiber. It is very well made (in Taiwan) with beautiful welds and a very nice polish. The muffler is a slip-on fit to the pipe and is held in place by two springs.

There are no baffles inside the muffler so the exhaust gases run straight through a perforated tube which is surrounded by what I assume to be glass fibre, more or less like a glass pack car muffler.

The system is not a direct fit and will have to be modified. For one, the header pipe hangs down too low at the engine mounting point and runs into the rear suspension linkage. Two, the exhaust flange is too big and interferes with one of the head's cooling fins. And three, one of the bends may be wrong and has to be adjusted.

The stock header pipe is about 25.5mm OD while the performance pipe is 28.5mm OD.

I cut off the mounting flange of the pipe to shorten the distance between the flange and the bend to more closely match the stock pipe. It's still a very tight fit, but doable. I haven't decided whether or not to bend the pipe or if cutting and welding might be a better option. Anyway, I'm still fine tuning the fit before committing to final TIG welding. If worst comes to worst, I may reuse the stock header pipe and make an adapter to fit over where the stock muffler slips on and mount the new muffler to that. The new muffler is less than half the weight of the stock one.

Kind of wish the NCY system was still available for the Blur. While almost double the price of this one, it is at least a bolt-on proposition.

chickdr · Post by **chickdr** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 4:38 pm

How much $$$ are into the Blur at this point?

Meeners · Post by **Meeners** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 7:55 pm

Babblefish,

How much larger is the new exhaust port than the existing header opening? Why I ask, is - if it isn't significant, you can match the header inlet to the same size and taper. There's usually enough meat on the flange. I'm not sure what the header gasket looks like, but that can be opened up too. I'm still on the notion that having a 22mm exhaust wouldn't hinder the performance on your 180cc. Exhaust velocity is important, and i'm not sold that even if it were a little smaller that it would cause reversion. I think if it were a race scooter the largest exhaust possible for most power at peak hp rpm would be ideal, but for a scooter that spends most of it's time at mid range I'd think torque would be most important. Unfortunately, I'm not a fluid mechanics expert!

On the other hand, is going with a slightly large pipe really going to make you lose much low end, probably not! Plus that new pipe looks nice

If you decide to go the new pipe route, you could bolt it up and trailer the bike to a good exhaust shop. They can super heat that area where it passes by the linkage and bend it slightly as needed to clear the arms. From there you could cut where you needed and weld.

The issues with the cheap stainless pipes are they are usually very thin walled and not really 304. Usually they incorporate more alloy. It's been a long time but I've had this discussion with a few car forum guys that know more than me. Hopefully it's not much of an issue when you decide on how to connect when welding your new pipe.

I'm excited to see how you come along!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Sep 03, 2015 8:03 pm

chickdr wrote:How much $$$ are into the Blur at this point?

I'm not entirely sure, but I guesstimate around $2100 or so which includes the purchase price of the Blur itself. I don't usually (want) to keep track of things like this, lol. I figure I've saved myself a lot of aggravation when parking and getting around traffic. Saved a lot in gas money. Learned a lot about scooters and their mechanical nature. Gained reasons to buy more tools along the way. And best of all, experienced all the fun and enjoyment of riding around on a scooter. Oh, and last but not least, a reason for joining MB

Edit: Ok, maybe it's closer to $2400, but who's counting? Lol

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 2:51 am

The exhaust port opening is about 25mm. I spent quite a lot of time massaging the ports to smooth them out and contour them to flow evenly between the valve opening and inlet/outlet ports. I agree with you about port velocity and low end torque, and if I stay with the 24mm carb I'd probably be better off with the smaller pipe, but if I reinstall the 30mm carb, the engine may be happier with the larger performance pipe.

Concerning the quality of the exhaust system, it is very good. The pipe has a wall thickness of 1.25mm and 2mm where the muffler slips on. The muffler itself is solidly made using heavy gauge SST and perfect welds with no weld "globs". Even the hardware that it comes with is SST. Most places sell it for around $290, but I found it at a bargain price of $225. Made by a company called "V8", supposedly very popular in Taiwan.

Meeners · Post by **Meeners** » Fri Sep 04, 2015 4:47 pm

babblefish wrote:The exhaust port opening is about 25mm. I spent quite a lot of time massaging the ports to smooth them out and contour them to flow evenly between the valve opening and inlet/outlet ports. I agree with you about port velocity and low end torque, and if I stay with the 24mm carb I'd probably be better off with the smaller pipe, but if I reinstall the 30mm carb, the engine may be happier with the larger performance pipe.

Concerning the quality of the exhaust system, it is very good. The pipe has a wall thickness of 1.25mm and 2mm where the muffler slips on. The muffler itself is solidly made using heavy gauge SST and perfect welds with no weld "globs". Even the hardware that it comes with is SST. Most places sell it for around $290, but I found it at a bargain price of $225. Made by a company called "V8", supposedly very popular in Taiwan.

The exhaust looks and sounds like it was well worth the money so you may as well throw it on - it seems like you appreciate custom application even more than I do! You can always go back to the smaller header to compare. Nothing is more valid than "gettin' ya hand's dirty" first hand experience. Ultimately, you'll figure out which on you like better.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:19 am

More tinkering. Opened up more air flow in the air box by removing the plastic bulkhead that the noise suppression tube passed through. Sparkplug was a little light in color so I drilled the MJ again, this time with a #57 (.043") drill bit giving a 111 main jet size.
I can hear more intake air noise from the air filter box now. Without putting this thing on a dyno, I can't say for certain that it's faster, but my butt-o-meter tells me it is. Acceleration to 45 is crazy. I feel an off-idle hesitation at take-off now, probably due to opening up the airbox air flow. Need to richen up the idle needle jet I think.

Found a couple of water cooled 62mm cylinder kits on ebay. Plenty of room in the fairing for a radiator. Thinking about it. And a 4-valve head...hmm, why not. May as well increase the stroke a little more while I'm at it. Water cooled, 200cc, with a 4-valve head. Might be kinda fun, lol. Since the chances of Genuine bringing the current version of the G-Max into the US is nil to none, I may have to make my own, minus the F.I., of course.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 3:30 am

Great riding weather today, but I spent most of it trying to figure out a weird issue with the engine. Everything was working fine until yesterday when I went out for a ride. Throttle reponse felt flat and I could barely make it up steeper hills. Never had any issues before. Then I realized that the engine wouldn't rev any higher than 6k rpm regardless of throttle position. On level ground or declines, I can get going pretty fast since the transmission was in a range that didn't require the engine to rev over 6k. At first I thought the CDI had failed and was limiting the engines rpm. Nope, replacing the CDI didn't fix it. Ok, I had recently fuzted with the needle jet, maybe I installed the slide valve cover wrong causing a vacuum leak thereby preventing full slide travel. Nope, all looks well. I've been hearing a ticking sound from the engine, maybe a valve lash adjustment is needed. Even so, I've never heard of valve lash limiting an engines rpm. Oh well, checked it anyway. A little on the loose side, maybe .009mm instead of .008mm, not enough to worry about. But, since I always remove the cooling fan cover when checking valve lash in order to see the timing mark, I found what i think to be the root cause of the problem. The fan was rubbing the cover as evidenced by melted black plastic on the white fan. Strange how that would so precisely limit the engine rpm to 6k. Anyway, I removed the flywheel rotor and reseated it on the crankshaft, though it looked like it went back on exactly like before. Cleaned the melted plastic off the fan. When I reinstalled the fan cover, I double checked the clearance between it and the fan and could see about 2mm of space.
So did that fix it? Yep, engine revs fine. Power is back. I can do 100 mph again. Ok, maybe not the last one...lol. Strange beasts, these scooters.

BuddyRaton · Post by **BuddyRaton** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:39 am

Just want to let you know That I'm still following! Great documentation!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 6:23 pm

BuddyRaton wrote:Just want to let you know That I'm still following! Great documentation!

Thanks for staying with me. I'm kinda treating this like a personal blog about my scooter. I was hoping i wasn't boring everyone. Actually, it's probably more like a chronicled log of what I've already done so that I don't do the same thing again. My memory being as it is and all...lol. And if any of the information becomes useful to anyone, all the better.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 7:39 pm

Well fiddlesticks, the 6k rpm rev limit is back again. Engine ran fine most of the day, then when I parked it to go for a walk and came back, there it was. Had to ride 18 miles home without going over 6k rpm. Triple checked fan clearance and it was fine. Can't imagine it to be a heat related issue since it ran fine in the morning after sitting all night. This is puzzling...

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:48 am

And my odyssey continues...
6k rpm rev limit still there this morning, even with a different ignition coil.
Knowing that a sticking throttle slide (or vacuum slide, whatever) can cause this kind of problem, and even though I've futzed with it before, I decided to try again. Inspected the rubber diaphram for the slide for pin holes (again!) and found none. This time though, before reassembly, I greased the sealing surface of the diaphram with some rubber safe grease to (hopefully) help it seat and seal better. At the same time I lowered the needle jet by about .7mm by removing one the two washers that I previously installed. I figured that with the last increase in MJ size, the carb would be passing more fuel for any given throttle opening.
Results? Got my full rpm range back...for now.

I'll hold my optimism that the problem is solved for a few days...
Throttle response feels a bit crisper, due I guess, to the adjustment to the needle valve.
I'll report back if indeed the problem is gone.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Sep 14, 2015 8:11 am

It's been about 3 days now and the Blur is still running good. So far, no more 6k rev limit.

After previous lowering of the needle jet and some high rpm runs, the sparkplug is mostly white with a touch of light tan...seems we're running lean. Time to drill out the MJ again - to a 115 this time, I'm thinking. Increasing the airflow in the airfilter box probably contributed to the lean condition, too. A good thing I think because it means the engine wants and is moving the increased airflow.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Sep 15, 2015 1:52 am

Drilled out MJ to a 115. My engine is getting closer to nirvana. Pulls well and feels less "strained" in the upper rpm range. Will check sparkplug in a day or two to see how she's running. If I run into a performance wall with the 24mm carb, I may try a 26mm CVK carb. I'm thinking that would make more sense for a scooter driven on the street rather than the 30mm carb.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Sep 16, 2015 11:08 pm

Still running lean, but getting very close. Drilled MJ to a 118. We shall see how that goes. Also had to raise the float level because the engine dies from fuel starvation on long, steep hills...of which we have a lot around these parts. It was probably right on the border of starvation previously when the MJ size was smaller thereby limiting the amount of fuel used.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Sep 17, 2015 2:23 am

Raising the float level fixed the fuel starvation issue. On top of that, the increased MJ size allowed me to go up that steep hill at least 10 mph faster. This is getting fun!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:22 am

Just an update. Engine still running well. Maybe a touch on the lean side, but I don't have the correct drill size to take the mj to 120. Guess I'll have to actually buy a mj.

Front brake lever is feeling a bit rubbery so I'll have to bleed the brakes soon. AFAIK, it's still the same brake fluid from the factory so its due for a change. I'll be sure to take pictures and post the procedure.

The headlight reflector is held in place by two mounting screws which allow it to pivot for aiming and one of those pulled out of the plastic reflector allowing the reflector to vibrate and bounce around in the headlight housing. Created a cool pulsating headlight beam, but probably not too good for bulb longevity though I'm using a LED now. Used some JB Weld to glue the screw back in the reflector, while the reflector was still in the headlight housing, which cannot be disassembled because it's sealed. Fun. Of course, in order to get to the headlight assy in the first place required removal of the entire front fairing assy from the bike. Not a difficult job, but there must be three hundred screws holding it in place.

While the fairing was off, decided to apply some Dynamat in some stratigic places to help reduce vibrations and noise. That large plastic fairing and some of the other plastic panels act like sounding boards for engine vibrations. At times the sympathetic vibrations from the panels drowned out the exhaust noise. The vibrations could also be felt through the floor board and grips. I also applied some thin foam weather stripping in places where two panels meet. What a difference! Scoot is much quieter and most of the vibrations that could be felt are gone. Now I don't sound like an oversized kettle drum rolling down the street, lol.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Oct 30, 2015 2:31 pm

I've got about 1300 miles on the engine now and other than an occasional clutch snatch (due to the wrong length springs), it's still running good. San Francisco is a fairly small city so it's hard to put a lot of miles on it even though I ride almost every day. Now that the engine is more or less fully broken-in and proving to be reliable, I'll be taking some longer trips out of the city.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Nov 16, 2015 4:10 am

Installed the correct sized 1500 rpm clutch springs. Clutch action is now very smooth and the take-off rpms (around 4k) are perfect for my kind of riding.

Also installed a performance CDI unit. It is suppose to offer an advanced ignition timing and eliminates any engine rpm limit. I've posted a separate how-to thread on the installation. After installation, the idle went up about 400 rpm so I had to lower it back down. The idle is a bit unsteady now and sounds almost like a high performance cam in a car. Acceleration feels crisper and a bit faster. Not sure if my top speed has increased yet, haven't had a chance to test it.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Mar 19, 2016 5:57 am

For those who have been following along with my Blur's journey, thanks and here's another update.

I decided to remove the aftermarket CDI unit because the unsteady idle makes me nervous. It didn't fail or anything, that's just the way it works. Since I don't race (well, hardly), a smoother engine would be better.

If you remember in previous postings, I had installed a 30mm CVK carb and found that it didn't work very well because it had to be installed tilted/rotated at a severe angle due to it being larger than the original 24mm carb and interfered with one of the engine mounting ears. The mount got in the way of the bottom of the carb preventing it from being mounted upright. This caused problems with the float level and just general fueling due to gas being where it shouldn't and not being where it should. Anyway, I made a 1/4" thick spacer to go between the intake manifold and head to raise the carb up enough to clear the engine mounting ear. It just clears now and can be rotated where it should be. A 3/8" spacer would have been better, but this will do for now.

So, I reinstalled the 30mm carb and it's working great, though my gas mileage has suffered a bit, but not as bad as it was the first time I installed it. The sparkplug was indicating a slightly rich mixture so I dropped the main jet size down to a #118 and lowered the needle jet a notch.
Engine is running great, getting a little more top speed and with the reduced main jet size, the gas mileage should still be reasonable.

Still need to modify and install the performance exhaust system. This should help release a few more hamster power.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Thu Jan 19, 2017 9:50 am

The Blur is still running great. Still harassing motorcycles at stop lights. Still getting rather poor gas mileage. The 5-element LED headlight is still working well with a pretty decent light pattern being thrown out.

Finally replaced the front brake pads as after ten years, the originals were getting a little thin with a "wooden" feeling about them and not a lot of braking power. I just bought stock PGO pads because they worked great when new. I can come to a stop using only one finger on the lever again.

Replaced the rear shock with one made by DNM out of Taiwan. It is nitrogen gas pressurized with adjustable spring preload and rebound dampening. Spring rating is 350 lb with an eye-to-eye length of 276mm (sold as 280mm). The stock shock is shorter at 254mm eye-to-eye. Both have 10mm mounting holes and the DNM eye mounts are 1mm thinner than the stock shock.
The rear of the scooter now sits a little higher than stock and there isn't a lot of sag when I sit on it - this is with almost no preload dialed in. I figure the spring will soften up a little after a few miles, I hope. If not, DNM offers identical shocks that are 10mm or 20mm shorter that might be a little more friendly for my inseam challenged legs. There are a couple of China made shocks that are about the same length as the stock shocks (260mm) and are about 1/4th the price of the DNM's, but I don't trust them. It's been reported that some of these have dampening adjustment knobs that don't do anything, in other words, they're fake and are nothing more than eye candy. Anyway, the rebound dampening is set around the middle setting as a starting point and feels so much better than the stock pogo-stick feeling that the Blur had before. The dampening adjustment wheel is accessible from the bottom of the scoot. Just wish I could firm up the front suspension a bit more and improve it's dampening response. Maybe one day I'll get around to completely disassembling the front shocks to see if I can modify the internals for better dampening. Maybe find some firmer springs from a pit bike that might work. I haven't had a chance to ride the Blur yet as it's been storming outside. Have to wait for things to calm down a bit.

Haven't fitted my aftermarket exhaust system because it will require some modifications/welding in order to make it fit. Soon, I hope...

Future plans include replacing the 30mm carb with a 26mm in order to improve gas mileage and throttle response. I'm also looking at a 4-valve head made by Taida, Taiwan. Hoca also has a 4-valve head kit that is significantly cheaper, but it looks like it uses smaller valves. I may replace the lead AGM type battery with Lithium in order to reduce weight and improve the starters cranking power. Have to do some modifications to the charging system first.

Stay tuned and happy scootering!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Jan 20, 2017 11:07 pm

Some may wonder why I'm throwing so much money and time into my Blur, the answer is pretty simple. Being a sports scooter type guy, I haven't much choice seeing how the US has only two sports scoots available to enthusiasts; the Blur and the Kymco Super 8. The rest of the world has a much wider selection to choose from, even India, of all places. There are several YouTube videos showing what new scoots they're getting which makes me want to go there, for the scoots and for the food. Love Indian food.
So, for the time being, unless I buy another motorcycle, I'll keep fussing with the Blur.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Jan 23, 2017 9:27 am

Dialed out all of the spring pre-load and kept the rebound dampening in the middle of it's range. Went out for a short ride in-between rain storms. Because of the conditions, I couldn't really lean the scoot down very far in the turns, but I did purposely go over bumps and pot holes just to see how the rear end would respond. Have to say, not too bad. Slightly firmer than stock, but more importantly, the rear end felt more planted rather than feeling like a pogostick. Can't wait for the ground to dry out so that I can throw it into some turns to see if the rear still wiggles around like it did before.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:32 am

Good riding day today. I can definitely say there is an improvement in the Blur's handling. Rear spring has softened up a little bit as I hoped it would, but still firmer than stock. The increased rebound dampening has improved the transition handling (weaving back and forth) and stability around corners, especially if there are bumps in said corners. There is one particular corner that I ride which has multiple railroad tracks going through it and is very bumpy. With the stock rear shock, I have to be very careful going around as the rear end of the scoot just bounces all over the place and feels like it wants to slide out. With the new rear shock, everything is under control, even though I took that turn faster than normal.
So, for you Blur owners, especially if your weight is north of 160lbs (you know who you are, heh, heh), this upgrade is definitely worth it.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Feb 24, 2017 12:35 pm

Been riding my Blur more often these days due mainly to the fact that my van got stolen. Storms, rain, wind, it doesn't matter - I have to get to work. Some of the areas I have to ride through does not have good street lighting so I'm running into some limitations of the LED headlight. The most prominent is poor high beam range and coverage. There is also a little too much scatter on the low beam, but it still lights up the road OK. So, just as an experiment, I decided to order a Hi/Lo beam HID headlight conversion just to see what difference it might make. Price from eBay was reasonable at $30 (had to pay sales tax) and it's being shipped from within the U.S. It's rated at 35W with a color temperature of 6000K. Includes the correct 3-terminal connector to plug into the existing harness. Unlike some HID conversions that uses an HID bulb for low beam and a regular Halogen for the high, this one uses just one HID bulb and electrically/mechanically tilts it for high or low beam. I'll post results once I get it in my hot little hands. Check it out before then, if you want to:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322141229477

chickdr · Post by **chickdr** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 6:54 pm

It will be interesting to see how that headlight does. The issue I see is the Blurs housing design which has the solid bar down the center of the bulb. I don't understand why they did that. They should have put two bulbs in there.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Wed Mar 01, 2017 10:04 pm

I don't feel that bar down the middle is really an issue because it is so slim and so close to the light source, but who knows.

Anyway, I received the HID headlight kit pretty quickly due to it being shipped out of SoCal. Here are some pictures of what is in the box...WHAT'S IN THE BOX!

The harness is pretty long because a direct connection to the battery is required. There's an in-line 15A fuse included in this battery connection. There's also a relay which is for activating the Hi/Lo beam function and providing power to the HID bulb, thereby relieving the bikes electrical system of carrying the HID bulbs load. No mounting adapters are included, so the bulb is strictly H4-2 only. As in typical Chinese products, no installation instructions are included, but it doesn't look too complicated. All of the electrical connectors are keyed so what goes where is pretty much self evident.

I'll post some installation and light pattern pictures and my observations, good or bad once I get it installed.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Fri Mar 03, 2017 9:02 am

OK, so I started installing the HID headlight. Ran the wires from the headlight bucket area to the battery...wires all neatly routed and tie-wrapped. Plugged everything together before installing the bulb into the reflector assembly to make sure it works. All good, bulb lights up fine, Hi/Lo beam functions as it should. Went to install bulb into the reflector assembly and...donkey sausages! The metal light shield that surrounds the HID bulb is too big to fit into the hole in the reflector! It just misses by about 2mm. Sigh...nothings ever easy.
Will post again after I disassemble the entire front body work in order to remove the reflector. I'll try enlarging the bulb hole with a small sanding drum, hopefully without filling the reflector with too much sanding dust.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sat Mar 04, 2017 11:13 am

Installed! Enlarged the hole for the bulb/shield with a drum sander. Tried to remove as much of the sanding dust as possible with a vacuum and compressed air, but there's still a little stuck to the plastic lens. Oh well, gotta live with it.

Brightness is OK, but I almost feel as if the LED was brighter. I'll know better when I ride through some dark, unlit streets. This is the 35W version though so it may be dimmer than I'm used to. There are 55W kits available too, but I wanted to try this lower powered version.

Speaking of brightness, I rode to work today with my old Sylvania Silver-something-or-other halogen bulb installed because I didn't have time to complete the HID install last night. I get off work at 11PM, and WOW, what an adventure riding home in the dark...literally! I rode home the entire way with the high beam on, and even that was too dim. Maybe I'm so used to using LED and HID in all of my vehicles for the past several years. Or maybe my halogen bulb is just old, I don't know.

Anyway, back to the HID. The light pattern is a little strange, almost looks faceted and spread out. It's not really concentrated strongly in one particular spot. The high beam is also spread out and not well defined. It may be due to the metal shield around the bulb and the way the Blur headlight reflector is designed. I'm debating on whether or not to modify the metal shield to allow more light from the bulb to hit the reflector.

The metal shield works by allowing the majority of the light from the bulb to shine only on the upper portion of the reflector when on low beam. The shield blocks most of the light from getting to the lower portion of the reflector. When high beam is selected, the bulb tilts downward which then allows light to shine through an opening on the bottom of the shield. This light is reflected off the lower portion of the reflector which is suppose to throw the light upwards and out. Sounds confusing until one sees it working.

I'll take some pictures of the beam pattern first chance I get.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Mon Apr 10, 2017 6:19 am

Aw fiddlesticks, looks like my cheapo Mighty Max battery finally bit the dust and left me stranded away from home. It's about 2 years old and still holds a charge, but doesn't have the cranking power anymore. I'm wondering if trying to start a high compression engine for 2 years stressed it out too much. Oh well, ordered a new battery from Amazon for $47 (vs $30 for the Mighty Max), but this one has a 4 year warranty compared to 1 year on the Mighty Max. Lets see how this one goes.

https://www.amazon.com/YTX9-BS-battery- ... _i=desktop

Also changed the carburetor from the 30mm back to the stock 24mm for better mileage and throttle response on city streets.

Edit: Hmm, after putting the battery on a charger overnight, it's starting the engine without problem. Guess I'll check the charging system. The other variable is the new HID headlight which is powered directly off the battery rather than the alternator as most others are. I'll try installing a regular halogen bulb and see what happens.

HanShan · Post by **HanShan** » Sat Apr 15, 2017 3:07 pm

Wow, totally PDFing this thread. Thanks Babblefish!

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Sun Apr 16, 2017 7:27 am

You're welcome.

My CV belt is looking a bit worn out, so that's on my to-do list for the very near future. I've put some hard miles on it and I prefer to replace it before it breaks and/or shreds.

babblefish · Post by **babblefish** » Tue Jul 25, 2017 6:32 am

Welp, my Blur's engine has quite a few hard miles on it now and I think it's about time for a transmission overhaul. The drive belt is original from when I bought the Blur in 2007...or was it 2008? Eh, can't remember. The sliders have been in there for several thousand miles and the clutch has been acting weird lately. Snatch and jerk, not very smooth. I haven't been very easy on the engine. I ride it hard and put it away wet. I've been known to occasionally get into accidental races with other scooters, motorcycles, cars, dogs, small children, stuff like that.

Bought some new 12g Dr. Pulley sliders, a new PGO belt, and a Ban Jing (Taiwan) performance clutch set with 1200 RPM springs. The new clutch bell's friction surface is ribbed for my scooters pleasure, lol. Clutch set was a very reasonable $80.

I'll be posting pictures of the install in the near future.