scootercincinnati.com

My parents (who are motorcycle folk) recently bought a used scooter. It's one of the lesser quality Chinese things, a "PowerMax 50" (whatever the heck that is) and it's a bit rough around the edges. They were told that it would do 55mph. I told them (after they bought it, but before I rode it), that I found that to be highly unlikely. The speedo cable is broke, so they don't know exactly how fast it goes, but they followed it in a car and believe that it tops out at about 27mph. I rode it, and that seems about right. While I see no way that this thing will ever reach 55, I would expect it to hit at least 35 or maybe even 40 with the wind behind you. It just doesn't have the power though. I believe it is a CVT tranny and thinking maybe it needs a new belt. It's a 4-stroke, so maybe this is all that it's got. What is normal for a 4-stroke 50cc scooter?

I would direct your question and investigation of this bike to Scootdawg

It is a very active scooter forum. And while it is not specific to china scoots. They clearly have a leaning toward the south asian scooters.

And I agree, 55 is highly unlikely. Since the speedo doesn't work, it's kind of a mute point, but many of those china scoots speedo's are in KPH. It seems the fed mandates that the odometer be in Miles, but the speedo doesn't have to be. Odd. But what would 55 kph be in miles, 35??? Just a thought.

Bear

wittom
as i have worked on these types of bikes 35 is about tops for a 50cc auto.
they are pretty much done for city scooting where you would never see a 40 mph road

My 50cc Yamaha maxxed out just over 30mph on flat ground and it was a 2 stroke. 27 real MPH sounds good to me for a 4 stroke. The rollers in a CVT tend to wear out faster than the belt and worn rollers will reduce your final gearing, making it (s)lower. (I wanted to say worn rollers will reduce your top speed but with low power bikes that's not always the case )

CVT maintenance is a piece of cake. Rollers and belts are easy to check/replace/tune.

Is the PowerMax 50 the one with the hockey mask over the headlight?

Cheap 50's can be a lot of fun!

I think "PowerMax" is the model. I'm not sure who the manufacturer is. As mentioned before, it's a cheap scooter. My dad bought it cheap. I'm just not sure if he bought it cheap enough. Hehe... It's not TERRIBLE. I've definitely seen worse with the Chinese bikes. The advice I often give others when it comes to the Chinese makes, is that they're not all created equal (far from it). I've seen some that are just total crap and you're lucky to make it a mile down the road before something breaks. Others, I truly and honestly believe are better than the Japanese models that they copy. This one... well, it falls somewhere in the middle. I learned with my Honda FA50 that 27mph just ain't enough, and there is a big different between 27 and 35. Sounds minor, but that extra 8mph makes a big difference on the roads that you can travel.

As far as the speedo goes, I believe it is in both KPH/mph (KPH being displayed larger). I believe for street legal motorcycles (or any other street going vehicle) in the US, its the SPEEDO that must display in MPH. The ODO is just a number as far as titles and registrations go and obviously doesn't effort the operation of the vehicle. Americans are just to dumb to convert KPH-to-MPH in their heads, so we need to speed to be display in MPH for us or we'll likely crash, burn, and die. I've owned some MZ motorcycles. They all have KPH/mph speedometers, and KM odometers. Some newer titles don't even say "Miles" anymore, but simply "Odometer Reading".

witttom wrote:

It looks like it wants to be a Gilera Runner!

Gilera Runners are bad asses (eses? )

I think I found it...


[web]http://www.lessliepowersports.com/PowerMax50.htm[/web]

a 50cc two stroke should go about 47mph de-restricted. Usually it's as simple as cutting a speed limiting wire to the CDI. The Benelli 50cc two-stroke scoots that we sell with do 47 and come with the wire cut from the factory.

50cc 4-strokes should be able to get up to about 35-40mph. If your scoot is only going as fast as you say then the valves probably need to be adjusted. That or the CVT might need to be cleaned out. Over time as the belt wears it deposits its dust on the pulleys and can 'gum' them up. Also dirt can get in there with the same result.

Remove the CVT cover and thoroughly clean it out paying special care to clean the pulley faces. Replace the belt at the same time. If that doesn't solve the problem look towards adjusting the valves. It's a fairly simple operation to check/adjust them.

That scooter is LONG gone. Like a year or so ago.

Oops! Sorry, should have looked at the date. My bad!!!! Hope it went to a happy home!