The Chinese Quad Puzzle

Because I am an impulsive idiot who can't save money, I bought myself and my daughter a new toy today. I've been watching craigslist for a while, and decided this route was cheaper and more fun than a power wheels. So I hopped in the truck, headed a few miles down the road, and bought what will probably be the most annoying jigsaw puzzle ever. 

It's a 50cc Kazuma Meerkat quad. Rear wheel drive, rear brakes only, supposedly an automatic. I'm still missing a couple of pieces, but holy crap are parts cheap. 

What I do have: 

A roller frame with good rear end and soso wheels/tires

2 wiring harnesses

Carb

50CC wildfire motor

Spare handlebars with throttle

A chain that may or may not fit

muffler

fuel tank

What I know it needs: 

Master cylinder

All bolts torqued to spec

Carb spacer

battery

Beads set on the tires

Remote kill switch

fuel line

starter

So I don't really know anything about quads, and definitely not anything about these chinese ones. I have a good idea of how it's supposed to go together, I've been told between both wiring harnesses I should be able to make one good one. I'm hoping to have this put together by her birthday, but I've also got a lot of other things that need done ASAP, so who knows. 

I'll get some pictures up later on, just on a short breakfast break now and wanted to get this part posted. 

All told, from the list of things I need, I should only have about $70 more to spend to get it going well, which will put my total investment to under $200. But because this is me we're dealing with, I should expect to double that due to my own stupidity. At least most everything is interchangeable between the 50-125cc quads. 

Welp, someone came over earlier than anticipated today, so she's already in love with it and yelling at me to fix it. Except she won't let me work on it...

Odd, the picture of the motor didn't transfer. oh well, we all know what mini motors look like. 

Tech Manuals/wiring diagrams

I'm going to print them out, but having a link here will make last minute or late night research easier for me. 

So. I did see the motor run before purchase on a test bench. According to the guy who rebuilt it(piston seals and rings), he rebuilt the starter but it spins backwards and while I can work around that, a new starter is cheap enough. It also doesn't look like I can clear the exhaust around the starter that is on it anyway, so it's in my interest to swap it out. He also had a fancy plastic spacer for the carb. Turns out, that's a rather important 1/4" piece of black plastic as it actually lets the carb fit on the motor. Hey, I've got a set of digital calipers, a 3d printer, and a spool of ABS, maybe I can make my own. 

Also according to the guy I got it from, I should be able to make one good wiring harness from the 2 he gave me. Looks like there's only one piece I need to take off of one to put onto the other for everything to work. Some sort of solenoid. I really should have wrote down what he was telling me because my memory is pretty nonexistant. Luckily, he's a pretty nice guy, and we have some friends in common, so double/triple checking shouldn't be too much trouble if I can't figure it out myself. Also, the fact that parts and diagrams are the same across the model lines should make figuring it out easier. 

The current plan is just to get it together and running. I might paint/plastidip the body to match the wagon, I might not. Eventually though, I'd like to be able to tow the wagon or a garden cart with it, so I'll be fabbing up some sort of mount for that. The wiring harnesses also have spots for light, and the push button start is on a light switch, so might have to add some lights, maybe some RGB LEDS.

The chain appears to be a bit short, so a chain buster and a master link set are in my future. Easier to buy a longer chain? Sure, but come on, I don't own these tools yet, perfect reason to buy them. 

Once I get a total on all the parts and shipping I'll have a better idea on how soon this will be completed. I just don't think a 3 year old will understand "You're birthday present isn't ready yet because slow boat from China". 

Anyone else have one? Anything I'm over looking or over thinking?

EDIT: Also, I need to get tubes for the tires. Would I be better off with tubes or just new tires? I've got 2 beads set and holding air, one bead set with a constant leak, and one that won't seat. I'm thinking the leaky one and one that won't seat can just get tubes, but if there are reasons that's a bad idea, please let me know. 

Late edit for my referencing. 

Your Cart

Chinese ATV Tire Tube 145/70x6

$ 4.95 x 4

$ 19.80

Chinese Starter - 50cc to 125cc Engine - 2 Bolt - Version 8

$ 15.60 x 1

$ 15.60

Chinese ATV Remote Control Alarm Box System Set Version 6 for all Taotao ATVs

$ 29.95 x 1

$ 29.95

Chinese ATV 12 Volt 4Ah Battery

$ 13.29 x 1

$ 13.29

Chinese ATV Handlebar Brake Master Cylinder with Lever Left Side Without E-brake - Version 7

$ 9.95 x 1

$ 9.95

Subtotal$ 88.59 USD

That also qualifies for free 5-6 business day shipping. Berkin' A. 

I have most of one of those in parts, I'll check it out next time I get down to my mom's old place. 

Parts are ordered. Well, most of them. 

I swapped the remote control kill switch for the tether style, which will require me to follow her around instead of half assedly watching her. Safety and all that. 

I also didn't order a chain because I haven't found any marking on any of my sprockets yet. I'm going to take a shot in the dark one day and take it to a motorcycle or bicycle shop, let them measure it and set it up if they have it in stock. 

I added on a throttle cable, but looking at my thumb throttle switch, I may need to make some interesting modifications if not convert to a twist throttle. I don't like twist throttles, I don't think they're very safe, so I'm going to try to get this thumb throttle working. 

I did manage to track down an original owners manual for this thing. I have a different than stock rearend, as mine has disc brakes, but it has all the important wiring harness connections I didn't write down when I bought it clearly photographed and labled as to what they are and where they go. Yay manualslib. 

While she's offering to let me work on the quad this week, I need to spend some time on the wagon subframes instead. I might pull the body plastic, clean it and paint it though while I wait for the parts to come in. Maybe get a can of blue and touchup the frame as well. 

You can measure your own chain. I bet it's a 420.

Your kiddo's grin is super adorable. I hope she loves it. As a fellow parent (of a 3 year old) I'm simultaneously terrified and excited for her to ride something like this.

That's a really cool project. Hope it goes together well!

Wow. Huge thank you to VMC. 5-6 business days nothing, this box full of clearly labeled and well packaged parts I ordered Monday just got delivered. Not the project I planned on working on today, but in glad I have the option now

Ordered the wrong starter.

Don't have screws to attach the carb

No idea how I'm going to attach the throttle cable

Can't get the tires off the rim to install the tubes.

I'm done for today. Getting a call in to the guy I bought it from about misc hardware and see about MacGyvering together what I can. 

Carb is attached to intake manifold. I'm unsure how to attach the throttle cable now though. 

new chain and air filter, and a full gasket set are due in this week. Some digging and some measuring, it's a 428, so I went 428H which is the same size but a heavy duty version.

I got tubes in all 4 tires now, so that's a happy plus. 

Since i moved the motor onto my makeshift table, I've been noticing oil puddling under it. Not sure exactly where, but the full gasket set was a whopping $6.85, so I'm just going to change them all. 

Everything on the frame has now been torqued, missing nuts replaced, and all cotter pins installed. It's really a roller now. 

I have 3 weekends left till her birthday party when it needs to be together. All that's left is mounting the motor, attaching the throttle, and the wiring. 

I started working from the CDI. I picked the nicer looking of the two wiring harnesses to start with, but I'm scavenging pieces from both of them. 

Anyway, I have motor to CDI, CDI to ignition switch. The wires left at the motor are a ground and go to the charging system. I need to figure that part out, and since I can't find the proper starter, I need to figure out how to make it work with the ones I do have. I've got a Nissan Tech and  a fire alarm tech/small engine guru on  speed dial, and between all 3 of us should be enough tools and knowhow to get that sorted. 

Looking around online is great for finding diagrams, and Ive even found some shortcut hotwire videos, but I I haven't found an actual step by step for the wiring. There is some goofy E36 M3 tap wise that looks factory in the wiring that I need to sort out. Like the key switch that I don't have and don't want and need to bypass, but I think we can get it sorted. 

I even found some never used wire loom to wrap everything in. I'm making all my connections with butt connectors and heatshrink because the plugs are different between the harnesses and I don't have a pin tool. At least doing it myself, I should be able to keep track of them and know what did what when it eventually catches fire like all my electrical projects eventually do. 

That's a long way of saying progress. I'll edit in a picture or two later, they're on my phone and I'm on my laptop. 

 So I cheated and got another quad. The wiring on the other one just aggravates me, might finally farm it out to someone else to make run. 

In the mean time that still left me needing a bday present, and while I was working on the morning Craigslist browsing, this showed up 5 minutes from home for a super low price. Ramps in the truck, and got there while 2 people were trying to argue the price down. I pulled out asking price and they watched me load it up. Seriously, if 10% the cost of a good runner is too much for you, maybe you should be looking for another hobby. 

It's another 50cc but this one is a Polaris scrambler and is a 2 stroke. 

Dude said it didn't run, has been sitting since last summer, and needed a "few little things". Well, I already have the battery it needed, and there was some bad wiring I was able to patch up in all of about 2 minutes. The front drivers side tire is dryrotted to hell, so I am going to need to replace it, and it's got one busted brake cable. The rubber breather tubes are pretty done for as well, otherwise, bam ready. 

So far I've fixed the frayed wires, pulled off the footwells and did some cleaning. I suspect the oil pump was leaking, although there is still some oil in it. I'm going to eliminate the oil injection system all together and just run premix. As soon as I can find a good writeup and place to order parts, none of the forums that are still alive seem to have that information even though it seems most people make the modifications. 

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get the front plastic off to get to the gas and oil tanks. There are dead things in the gas tank, so it needs to come out and be cleaned, and if breather tubes are any indication, I should probably just put on new fuel line instead of flushing the stuff that's on it. 

Once I figured out which brake handle needed held in, I got it running on starting fluid, so that's a great sign. Unfortunately, the local Polaris dealer is closed till tuesday because of the holiday Monday, which I completely forgot about. And, this is a weird one, I can't find any information on any forums about how to pull the front plastics off to get the tank out. Even in the official polaris user manual. Oh well. 

So the new plan of attack is to have this ready to go for Saturdays party, and I do have a backup present just in case. Then make the chinese one move under its own power. Which ever one she fits on better/likes more I'll keep, and sell the other one. Although for what I see these 50cc Scramblers selling for, it's really tempting to just flip it. 

Well that was easy. Just for shots and giggles I put a half gallon of gas in, once I turned the petcock the right way, it fired right up and ran.

It falls on its face at about 1/3 throttle though when I open the governor up, so looks like I'm cleaning a carb and checking jets.

Little research says holly carbs use the same size jets as Polaris, so the opportunity for hot rodding is very alive and well. 

Harbor Freight ultra sonic cleaner for the win. 

3 cycles in the cleaner, a rinse with hot water, and this little puppy flies. Definitely needs to be slowed down for the little tyke, but it has a good walking pace setting. 

I'm surprised for a little 50cc 2 stroke it will almost stand up with my fat ass sitting on it. Awesome. 

Hmmm. I end up working on various 4 wheelers and side by sides every summer at my grandparents. It’s almost always gummed carbs. May have to pick up that sonic cleaner. 

My buddy bought one a while ago because he rebuilds and repairs lots of free tractors, which among other issues always have nasty carbs. I was skeptical when he said 2 or 3 6 minute cycles with simple green in the cleaner would do it, but holy crap the difference it made. It had been sitting since at least last summer, and everything was covered in grease, oil, and gasoline gel, I should have snapped some before and after shots. There is still a little scale in the bottom of the bowl, but the needle, jets, float, etc looks shiny and new now. 

$80 is a bit steep, but the 25% holiday coupons make it worthwhile. He has said you can't dump it because there's an open gap between the cleaning portion and the electrical guts, but some RTV should fix that. 

I just had the opportunity to open the transmission. Thanks kid. Guess that transmission breather tube was important after all, if just to keep you from dropping screwdriver bits into the trans. 

The belt looks almost new. Little fluid spilled out, that looks very old. 

Tomorrow the local Polaris dealer is open again, so I'm going to see if they have the brake cable, a tube, and fluids in stock. It runs fine, but I'd like to get all that stuff done sooner than later.