Keep it stock!! It can't be a Tao Tao review, which is why this started, if you start putting aftermarket parts on it. I'm all for you adjusting the scooter (brakes, carb etc) but I feel that if you start adding mods it's no longer a Tao Tao review. If you keep driving it stock it can become a long term review. Than you can see what issues arise and when. Just a thought. Great vid, keep it up!

one doesn't "live with" a taotao ... one buys it because of the almost irresistible price, then starts fixing ... and fixing ... and fixing .... eventually one sells the taotao cheap to someone who also can't resist the low price. thus, the cycle of sorrow goes on.

My opinion is you should keep it stock until the experiment is over. They start messing with it.

Rejetting would be ok because is an adjustment and that scooter needs it because seems super-lean. Changing the entire carburetor is a mod and would affect the results of the experiment. Nice video. Keep up the good work!!

I'd probably leave it stock, but might consider changing jets since it's a budget mod vs. replacing the carb.

Leave the carb as is until the 1000km service and make a decision then.

I'd start by moving the needle up one position, It's not a mod, but an adjustment of factory parts. I'm sure they ship them super lean to be emissions compliant. As far as the low compression, it might sort itself, but you cant baby these thing or they'll glaze the cylinder. I'd love to see some mods, but I also want to see the experience of running it as it ships. Maybe start mods at the first major failure? I'd like to see some testing of stock vs modified, maybe stages, like big bore/cam. Then carb/exhaust/big valve head. All the mod stuff is dirt cheap from goofit on amazon. Using the cheapest stuff is right in line with the spirit of a frugal TaoTao buyer.

No mods or upgrades. Re-jetting the carb is part of tuning/maintenence. Good series, keep it pushing...

The whole point of this experiment was to see how this scooter performs stock. I'm sure that an alternative carb would improve matters considerably but if you're going to do that you might just as well fit a big bore kit and a sports exhaust and forget the experiment entirely. By all means move the needle a couple of notches and maybe even rejet to stop it running so lean; I would consider these to be adjustments rather than alterations but beyond that I think you are defeating the whole purpose.

I'm a mechanic and serviced a lot of gy6 engine's with 20000+ kilometers often. And they ran without problems if serviced regularly. A lot of the time the rest of the scooter will disintegrate before the engine wil stop running

No mods! Drive it till it breaks, maintenance by manual recommendations, keep it fair and with stock parts, maybe carb adj as any engine should have this checked anyway.

Yess ive been waiting for this

Cranking rpm is a good record to keep, helps keep track of starter motor strength &/or pinon year binding. As far as running lean, they all run lean from the factory for emissions reasons. I've always replaced my whole carb as it's easier than trying to get in and re-jet a sealed unit. Very technical breakdown, love it.

I bought the exact same bike last year. Something for a 70 year old retired guy to mess with. No prior experience with a GY6. Out of the box top speed was 30 and slow getting there. Within 2 days I had knocked the baffles out of the exhaust with a Harbor Freight screwdriver and BFH and had the speed up to 35-40 with no other mods. I watched some You-tube videos, which one would do if they shopped Amazon, and ordered a jet kit for $12. Sealed carb, yes, and it took me all of 10 minutes to unseal it with a hacksaw to slot the screws, and screwdriver. If you have the savvy to set the valves the carb is not even a challenge. I had a 76 main and 30 idle jets. Went to an 88 main and 32 idle, opened the air box and retuned the air/fuel mix. Cruising at 40-45 and I weigh 200. Got that for $12 jets and no other expense. I say go for the realistic low dollar mods.

Definitely re-jet the carb. As it continues to break in the lean condition will continue to get worse. I consider jetting to be part of normal maintenance until the motor is completely broken in. Elevation above sea level often makes the jetting a necessity.

I love this series, its nicely edit and a fun little intro sound that makes me smile. You are helping me and many others understanding the physics of a moped in a nice way. Keep it tecnical for sure, but im in a conflict about the jetting.. could be nice for some to know how to do it, but probably no regular Tao Tao owners would take it that far. And i dont think you want to drive this thing forever. But, if you do wanna live with this thing forever go for it. You have already expandet the possible life age of your fine motorcycle alot i believe. Im gonna bring my little tao tao back from the graveyard with the good energy you share here on KZfaq. Thx for living with a Tao Tao. Best regards - Totte

I would definitely rejet. To pass modern emission all carbureted vehicles are tuned nearly dangerously lean. Rejetting the carb is pretty much mandatory a d you're already doing far more than most ppl would.

White dry thin smooth coating on spark plugs today, is due to modern additives in the fuel, put in from the refinery. Yes sparkplugs would normally look brown, but the pictures used for evaluating spark plugs are outdated by 20-30 years.

I really appreciate the effort you are putting into this series! Watched the entire thing. It's great learning from your experience, and you are doing a great job documenting it. I feel this would have been of great use a few years back, when I had a 150cc chinese scooter that insisted on falling appart on it's own. At least it teached me how to service my own stuff, as I had to tear it appart about 15 times in 2 years, not counting the dealer services. About the tire wear outlasting the engine: The one I had came with some garbage, absolutely terrible tires with a white band (the scooter had a classic look to it). I sold the thing with about 9000 km on the clock, and the rear tire was starting to show some real wear signs. It was all teared up in every groove, it even deformed itself because of a gas station air pump that decided to lay 45 PSI on it, massively overshooting the 30 I had asked for. I think the tires had about 2 or 3mm left before it sold. But you know what? I had seen before that the frame was kinda crooked (yes, the freaking frame was bent). So, the bike had to be a bit sideways to go straight. Maybe that precipitated the tire's wear! By the way, the bike had absolutely 0 crashes or drops. I'll never know for sure how the frame got to bend that bad. I sometimes carried a passenger, and of course I went over some awful bumps on the street, but nothing too out of the ordinary! Anyways, I'm glad you are doing this for people in the same situation I was to use! Thanks for taking the time to do so :D

YES! MOD the heck outta it! I would like to see what "performance" parts you consider good. These parts are all super cheap, and it made it difficult for me to determine which ones were any good, not being a mechanic myself.

The goal should be keeping it as stock as is practical. That being said, being practical often dictates making necessary upgrades. If running lean is an issue then it needs to be addressed, starting with the cheapest option and scaling up until the problem is resolved. I’m the person you are making this video for, someone willing to work on their scooter but not a master mechanic. I can figure out a lot of things but I’ve never rejetted a carb. As for the biggest problem with scooter owners being they don’t replace the shipping oil right away, the problem is much worse than that. They only change the oil every 3,000 miles because that’s what they’ve been told to do by their car owning parents, then blaming TaoTao when the engine blows! 3,000 miles, that’s almost 5,000 km! And it’s often 5,000 km on the shipping oil! THAT is the #1 reason these things fail prematurely in my opinion. Failure to keep bolts tight is another big issue. I’ve learned to use lock-tite and recheck bolts often. Nothing like a brake caliper falling off to get the riders attention, lol. Some issues you WILL have with this series of videos are bolts loosening up surprisingly fast, petcock failure, worn out sliders, rubber hose failures (both vacuum & fuel lines) and a slew of electrical problems. All in the first 6 months. The engine itself will likely be the least of your worries.

I think rejetting is cheap enough, but I would not do much else. Try and leave it as stock as possible, and let it live or die on its own merits! Great series!

Very good info. Thanks for offering up to share the spreadsheet. I do most of my own work and would welcome this option!

This series is great! Been waiting! I dont own a tao tao. But we have many chinese scooters here in Europe too, with diffrent names but they are the same. But it would be fun to put up a test just like yours with an used one. PLEASE share the docs! Would love it for a potentiel project!

What kind of human being downvotes a video like this?

Your videos are so amazing. I'm about to be receiving a clone of this scooter from my uncle and my main worry was the lack of information on parts and how to perform services given many mechanics where I live only work on bigger brands. I'm going in with a lot more confidence that I can make this little machine shine now!

I just got a yamaha jog r 50cc and don't know anything about mechanics but love this series hope you continue with it the full 6 months 💜

Why is it the most hated Scooter on the internet? We had it 3 years, almost no maintenance, 15000 km, it worked perfectly. Was sold for 70% of the new price after 3 years. Best Scooter ever.

Very in depth. Good job. I'm thinking the compression will increase with a few more 100km on it. That is of course if the cylinder and piston were machined right in the first place.

Bigger carb would really free it up, but staying stock is the best test for engine longevity, just a correct re-jet to get it fuelling right👌🏼

I was waiting for a new video, I thought the bell notification wasn't working 😂

I belive you should keep it stock until the point at which it starts getting worse and worse. P.S. Love the vids. Keep it up. :)

to answer your question on lean mix: Yes, DO adjust the carb mixture, but do not re-jet it! since carb adjustment is just ADJUSTMENT, it's OK, but re-jeting it is already modding and this means it's not stock. so, adjustment is welcome. plus, you're expected to to it at different times of the year anyways to keep it optimally running. try turning it 3.5 turns out. does wonders for my scooter (which is essentially the same scooter as you have). respect for you driving with stock adjusted carb, i couldnt handle the slowness... believe me, with 3.25 or 3.5 turns out its not the same scooter!

I've had the TaoTao pony 50 for 3 months now and I've done an 80cc big bore kit and a 20mm carburetor and I'm completely in love with it. Now I ordered a icebear maddog gen 4 49cc ruckus clone just for fun

Leave it stock. Interested in the compression as motor breaks in. I love all the recorded data. That way we have known good. The needle position rather than the main jet would determine the color of the spark plug. If it’s like a motorcycle carb. I’m pretty sure that u r not wide open throttle all the way home. I know u have to pace yourself on video output. I really enjoy them. My Buddy 125 runs great. I’m going to do the oil changes. And I need to replace one way starter clutch. I will order off Amazon unless u have other suggestion. Also, a valve adjust. Raise needle one slot. Maybe? What is your day job wrenching. Thank u!!!!!!

Can't say anything about recovering brake pads with that trick (have never needed to), but I have used that trick on a clutch. This was a temporary/junkyard type repair on a 62 IH Scout, but the clutch is still working good after ~15K miles, and this clutch was horribly oil soaked. I soaked the clutch in gasoline overnight to allow it to fully penetrate the friction media, then lit it on fire. NOTE: Don't just let it burn off all at once, that will definitely overheat things. I let it burn for around 30 seconds, then smothered with a cement board. Allow the clutch to cool, then repeat until it won't burn anymore. It was worth it on this vehicle, since installing a new clutch would require turning the flywheel, and I wanted to preserve the flywheel as long as possible (Plus, clutches for that are very expensive). On something like this, I doubt it's worth it, unless you really don't want to wait for parts. Although the way you did it likely wasn't enough to do much, they will need to soak for at least a couple hours (they will actually burn if they are soaked).

Keep up the good work

Im glad you're following a progression with your data points, keep up the good work

Loving this series, I have often asked if chinese bike reliability is 'Nature or nuture'. I think you should keep it stock for the experiment, so adjust or rejet the carb but no mods.

I have a second hand Roketa 150cc with GY6. I just put 1000 km on it in 2 months. All I have done to the motor is a valve adjustment and it runs excellent. I think the real downside is the plastics and electronics. I need to adjust the steering as well as it has got a little play in it now. Front brakes grab well but squeek arent very smooth in the handle, probably need to check the oil. For $650 I'm really happy lol. Great series!

I say, "Give it it's best chance!" Re-jet it due too that is the lowest cost(time is money) but it will make sure the engine is running correctly! If you get a new carb, you'll might run into other troubles that might cause the engine to fail more easily if not tuned correctly, or if it falls out of tune!

Loving these videos,can't think of anyone else doing this kind of review Looking forward to the next video

Put big bore kit at 1000km you will fall in love in the scooter. I drove 5000km on 50cc original kit and 15.000km with the big bore kit .crankshaft is strong dont worry about it. My scooter is on the third top end kit(piston cylinder ) botom end is holding strong after 20.000km

I'm reallying enjoying the project. I'd keep it stock and just adjust. Doing the spread sheet is a good idea. Looking forward to the next episode! You have the only notification on KZfaq I get and watch ASAP. Keep up the great work!

We love you Garrett, thanks for grinding after the grind for us

I've been waiting for this!!

This is a interesting test of this small cc scooter ,and will show how good it is with proper servicing and maintenance and how long it goes before some think breaks etc ....keep at it await next update clip ..........................

just rejet so we get a full out of the box what to expect, thanks! I love the series keep up the good work!

Definitely thinking with the leaving it stock crowd. The experiment was for keeping it up to spec as best as the original equipment allows because the Tao Tao itself is being tested versus the owners. But mods after a major failure was a good idea.

i lived with that POS for 8 years and 32000 kilometers. it lived mostly in the garage scattered around the place in tiny pieces because it was broken all the time. sold it at the price of scrap plastic like it is and bought a suzuki lol

1 year ago I bought a BMS 150cc. It was my daily rider. It has 11,000 miles and runs strong. Belt & variator must be changed every 4,000 miles, clutch at 12,000. I get 60mpg. Tires replaced every 6,000 miles( $50 per tire). Upgraded now: bigger bike. All this is FYI. Anything will last if taken care of. Valves do need a lot of adjusting.

That google doc spreadsheet would be very valuable information for diy'ers thank you!

hm agree with the others, rejetting is not cheating :) adjusting the accelerator needle is also acceptable. watch for the o-ring between the muffler and the exhaust pipe . they are a well known failure point. is fair to replace with a proper aftermarket gasket. will not change reults of test ..

I wish my Tao Tao was a "project." This Tao is my only form of transportation. I bought it with stimulus check. I never got an owner's manuel. With only 1500 kilometers the starter went out. I had to pay 70 dollars for new starter, so I am 770 dollars into scooter now. My friend has a 2015 model with 16,000 kilometers and no problems. I hope I at least get two years out of it. Thanks for info.....

3 best upgrades on Amazon 1.glixal cdi 2. carburetor w/jet upgrades 3. Any air filter that's not stock went with Amazon recommend

I'd say jetting should be fine. Since you are "testing" it as any normal person would use it, it's not unreasonable to think the shop they take it to might not suggest the same jet change (if they are a good and thorough shop that is). But I'd leave everything else as stock as possible for the duration of your test.

Reminds me of my experiment with the world's most hated scooter: the VietBodge Vespa. I received so much hate from the Vespa community for even attempting it! Long story short: It took a lot of money and effort to make it roadworthy and I don't recommend it *BUT* It's still my favorite and most reliable bike after all these years.

Please test as delivered. Best regards!

THE ONLY WAY TO KEEP THE INTEGRITY OF THIS TEST IS TO SHORTEN THE NEEDLE VALVE FOR A RICHER MIXTURE,!!!!!!!! ANY THING ELSE WOULD BE CONSIDERED NOT COMPLETELY STOCK, THATS WHAT I DID AND THE RESULTS ARE WORTH IT !!!!!!!!!!!!

A jetting-kit is really cheap and realistic to upjet it a little, starting to replace working parts like the whole carb perhaps not so much (coz in many countries also illegal unless it is a stock size).

People are accustomed to doing almost no maintenance on vehicles. Modern cars have spoiled us. Motorcycles aren't like that. Bikes require a lot more attention. I mean required, not recommended. Tire pressure is often overlooked. Oil changes, chain cleaning, lubrication, and adjustment, and lighting checks are not optional.

Very nice video series. Recommendation for further data you might consider saving: fuel consumption oil consumption top speed acceleration 0-30 (it does make 30, right?) Best regards

Jetting, for sure. Other reviews say the Chinese bikes come lean from the factory. Its an absolute necessity to put larger ones in.

It's not a real-world experiment if your modify it. Also. Like to see you ride it. Helmet cam?

Keeping the experiment valid, I think the "best scooter owner I can be" person would have the carburetor rejetted if recommend by their mechanic.

You did say stock. However you do what makes you happy!

Just bought a scooter. That Google doc would be great for reference. I my 150 in the crate. I didn't know I had to other parts that will already put together when I had received it. So my exhaust ended up rattling loose at 50 MI. Now I know I need to go over the whole scooter.

I have to fully agree with you. When you order these bikes, they come in a crate. You are expected to install some parts and assure everything is working and the bike is safe. Which means you should have at least some basic mechanical knowledge. Otherwise, you’re not able to find things that might have been missed at the factory. For example, on mine the vacuum hose to the petcock was disconnected which means if I didn’t catch that, the bike would have NEVER started because vacuum would not allow the petcock to open and allow fuel to flow. I owned a Yamaha CA50 in 1986. The design and set up is exact the same. Only difference is the Yamaha was a 2 stroke. If you have some basic mechanical knowledge and don’t beat on the bike, it’s worth the money.

i have a taotao powermax vip 150cc. $650 NIB . i changed the engine oil after 25,000 Miles. still has factory transmission gear oil, belt, brakes et cetera. replaced rear tire for offroading to a Maxxis 6024 120/70-12 . this bike has two major but simple to fix problems, exhaust and plastics . I was impressed so i bought another. however the old one i stripped one of the exhaust stud bolts and the seat bucket is torn the side plastics are broken so the backup will get the knobby tire and become my daily and i am trying to get a new one for a backup . i'll probably fix the plastic side panels and put them on the second one so i can put on saddle bags and not scratch the new plastics .

I had well over 28 000 km on the 2 years i had my 50cc scoot, tho after 12 000 km, the rest of the milage the bike had a 72cc big bore kit installed etc, never gave up the ghost :) i did have to change the crankshaft due to bearing noise, but nothing major :D i wish scoots werent so expensive to insure over here ( same insurence rate regardless if you're 15 ( scoot riding age ) or 60+ haha. Did go through the original tires after about a year, but they were so useless in the rain, lasted a long time but not worth the danger they were.

There is a way of adjusting you or air fuel ratio sort of and if you are going to try to mimic with people who are buying a cheap scooter like this are doing most of them would only do the air Fuel ratio adjustments they would not bother rejecting the carburetor there is videos on how to do that that you can watch on the internets yours is probably sets from factory to be in one of these slightly leaner positions in the 1st place and depending on what parts they had available for the diaphragm needles you'll either have a needle that has 2 points of adjustment on it or 3 points of adjustment and you just want to adjust the diaphragm needle to the point of adjustment where the diaphragm opens up and it opens up a little bit better fuel flow to the carburetor that is how you adjust the air fuel ratio on these machines and if you are still running too lean then go up 1 jet size on your main jet and adjust it that lay but try to do it in a way where it would be more like what somebody who is not very mechanically inclined would do and to just adjust the diaphragm needle and open it up more to give you more fuel and if you are running lean you will probably in this instance noticed a difference and power or maybe you won't notice a difference at all and it will just run a little bit richer Also keep in mind sense this is a carburetor did air cooled vehicle it is going to run hotter than a water cooled or fuel injected engine which means that you should probably be running premium fuel and at which most people who buy these things who do any experiment in around with that find that they get slightly better performance on premium and they generally prefer to run premium that has been my personal experience because they prefer the slightly better pick up and acceleration and the slightly improved top speed from running premium unleaded fuel versus regular unleaded fuel and that does make a difference as well so if you're running regular unleaded you might end up running premium from now on and you can probably feel a difference and how it runs within 15 minutes and you will probably notice that the ween condition noticed on the spark plug will not be as noticeable or might even disappear altogether But do keep in mind you did by this to be a budget scooter and you are going way above and beyond for what 80% of the people who buy this thing are going to be able or even willing to do as far as all of the other little maintenance things that your checking and adjusting so try to keep everything you do as cheap and as simple as possible taking the carburetor off and rejecting it is not one of those things that most people who buy this thing are going to do and in most States in the US there isn't even shops that will touch these Chinese scooters so it's completely up to the owners so try to keep it to simple basic maintenance things and stay out of the slightly more complicated things sense you are actually doing this series to show people how to maintain the scooter as well as how good the long Gemini of these scooters are That being said I did know one person who had 1 Of these Chinese scooters from this same manufacture he was a little bit more of a tinkerer and he had 20000 km on his and was on his 3rd set of tires and he said it still ran great But that was a 2000 and 8 in 2009 new rules were passed forcing new admissions requirements that these scooters met and it also ended up hindering the build quality of these scooters and people who had 2000 and eights and then but brand new ones in 2011 say they noticed a huge difference in performance both acceleration and top speed wise between the older generation of these scooters and the newer generation of these scooters and they said it was quite a noticeable difference.

Please continue to test as it comes.

Information is important.Knowing stuff takes alot of experience. To learn all the crap the manufacturers leave out of the service manual is a career. I think you are right to prove or disprove whether or not this type scooter is a total turd, or lack of maintenance and improper prep is actually the cause of the bad rep. I always check tire pressure first. It is a Good indicator of how much attention a customer spends on the simplest required maintenance. After over 30 years very few people bother,and unless its a rigid frame and even then 16 pounds or less is not good,lol. Expect low oil, dry chain etc etc.

Performance *FOAM* filter with the elbow on the side and upjet to 95 and C-clip to highest position.

Great video...😁 leave it stock... its the only way to help us... many non ASE guys wantin to sell us useless parts... at the end of the day.... we jus wanna ride.. & thx for the information u put in the effort to have. Jus help us keep it running..😊😎 ive saved for future reference.... very informative.... yes, ur appreciated...😃

I have put brake pads in the dishwasher to degrease them. Works great!

Yes please share the spreadsheet I started testing my own taotao thanks to you

Im getting a Tao 150 powermax in a couple weeks. Very helpful series so far here. Even tho u have a 50cc im sure its essentially the same lists and troubleshooting

Even Japanese carbureted bikes come lean from the factory, and run cooler and better after carb adjustments. It’s an adjustment and not really a mod if u leave the stock jets in, and just raise the needle a hair.

Awesome video and informative

Great series for those of us with these cheap Chinese scooters. Please share the Google Doc.

I say re-jet it! ;)

I don't know about fire but I do know that we used apply some sandpaper on a piece of glass and sand away a couple of thousands of brake pad material seem to work pretty well!

If you’re afraid of it running just a little bit lien. I Would suggest only adjusting the carburetor needle one notch if it has a adjustable one, if not you can buy or find small shims to go under the stock needle head. That way it should keep you good fuel mileage but better performance

Keep it true...Keep it stock! Interesting Experiment.

High Five from a fellow left hander!

You still have the protective film on the side reflector. Mint! 😛

In the "Spirit" of your experiment I'd say that you should run the scooter with it's stock carburetor for now and try using a different main jet. It would cure the lean running of the engine, boost the performance slightly, and, in my opinion, keep your experiment intact, assuming the failures of the Tao Tao style scooters are from stock machines. The carb on your machine was probably tuned for a different elevation than you reside at, so tuning it to run well for your area wouldn't be out of the question.

Im waiting for this!! 👏🏼👏🏼

something I thought of keeping track of: suspension droop. you aren't really a small guy; so measuring how much the suspension drops over time would also give an indication of how long the stock suspension parts last. as far as Mods go: I think it would compromise the experiment.

Leave it original, otherwise, what's the point of doing the testing. But adjusting the carburetor is what someone would expect to be done. Your doing a great job.

I think leave the machine stock (as someone without knowledge of options available would do) but consider adjusting the carburettor (idle mixture and can the jet needle be raised on the needle grooves).

Keep it stock as much as possible. Re-jet the carb if it is cheep and easy enough to do.

Would be funny to see it properly modified but with budget parts, aftermarket cheap pipe, bigger carb, etc. The sorta stuff that someone may buy for ‘performance’ if they actually buy a scooter at this price..

Please don't mod it. I'm most curious about how the scooter holds up as it was shipped... I'm not curious about rejetting, or modding because I wouldn't do that myself anyways. Your video interests me because it's like a scientific test of how long this POS can last if giving the best possible care. Once you start upgrading and re-jetting, then it becomes just like all the other scooter upgrade videos on youtube.

Yes you "should" re jet the carb, but NO don't, the person who purchased this cheap online isn't going to do that, see what happens by 1000kms. This is great content by the way, also I love cheap Chinese scoots so really interesting for me, but I do look after mine 125cc Lexmoto Milano (UK), it's four years old and still going strong.

First off I Love your videos. Second yes please share the spread sheet , Third I think rejetting the carb would be best. Keep it stock.

Pull the brass plug out of the idle mixture screw port. Be careful about the method though; the idle mixture screw is behind the plug. With the *impeccable quality* of the rest of the bike; it's deffinately part of the lean issue; it should also help make the transition from the idle jet to the main jet a bit more smooth.

Keep them vids coming I just bought a 150 powermax with 100 miles for 700 bucks

Keep it stock until the end. Would like to see how it disintegrates on itself.