Dean Hoffman wrote:
On Mon, 07 Dec 2015 02:32:35 -0600, Micky
wrote:
A neighbor kid found a scooter, a mini-bike, in the woods. He called
the police to report it, but and a patrol car came out soon after,
but the cop said that since it didn't have a VIN, they weren't really
interested, implied he could have it, and left without it. I
offered to help him fix it up.

Does anyone here have experience with a 50cc or so scooter?

1) Is the VIN under a panel somewhere? The bike is street-legal but
without a VIN it will be harder to get plates.

You might want to investigate your state's law about street legal.
He might be able to ride around town but not on a highway. Minimum
for interstate riding is 10 horsepower in Nebraska, for example.

2) Will it start without a battery?

Does it have a kick starter? It would have to go back to the
days of magneto ignition to run without a battery.

3) How hard is it to remove the gas cap without a drill. (It's a
locking gas cap, can you believe it?)

4) Where is the Engine Stop switch.

5) Do I want a lead acid battery or sealed lead acid? The latter is
a gel, that doesn't have the output, right?

Lead acid is fine. Walmart might have one.

6) In what way does it have neutral gear? The owner's manual** or
something refers to neutral gear, but there is no gear shift. Perhaps
there is something internal that puts it in neutral when the engine
is at idle. Get this: it has an automatic transmission.

I bet it has a centrifugal clutch. Neutral is just the engine
idling
down. Speed is just controlled by engine rpm.

So, the instructions say to keep one's hand on the brake when
starting it. Is that only because something not standard might make
the engine race, which would put it in gear?

There might be a switch to keep it from starting if the brake
isn't engaged. A motorcycle needs to be in neutral for it to start.
I think I have to hold the clutch lever in also. I can't remember here
sitting in my lazy chair since it's such an ingrained habit. Mine
has a switch to kill the motor if the it's in gear and I put the kick
stand down.

**(The reapir manual is very good, but it's sort of a composite of
past, present and future models. For example, the manual also
refers in the schematic to an Emergency Stop Switch but in the
sketch of where the parts are, there's no reference to such a
switch, and all the switches are accounted for.)

There's a group called rec.motorcycles. You might have better luck
checking there. It's about dead but who knows.

The guys over at Reeky probably don't know much about scooters ... most of
us ride much bigger machines . Mine's an 800 pound Harley touring bike .
Micky might try looking for a yahoo group about them .

--
Snag