Mike’s 501

NZeta History › Forums › Scooter Stories › Mike’s 501

Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
Author Posts
Author Posts
May 10, 2012 at 3:25 pm #301

nzeta_mike
Member

My scooter was rescued from a woodpile in the Pohongana Valley (out behind Ashurst in the Manawatu region) about 10 years ago by Matt Brookes. He took it to Triple R Engineering to have them do a number of repairs to the frame and was never collected.
Matt now works as Mr Scoot in Wellington and i’ve known him for many years. I approached Matt to see if he knew of an Nzeta in disrepair to be the base for a project. He told me of the one he left behind and i called the company, 10 years since drop off, to see if it was still around. The company had since changed hands and they told me they would pass on my information to the previous owner.
About a week later i get a call from the previous owner. He still had it and had been approached a few days before my call to see if it could be used as one half of a seesaw for a playground! After chatting to him for a while it turns out he knew my Grandfather very well and so the frame was purchased for the total cost of a bottle of good scotch.
So in my shed now lives a frame and a tank in a poor state. The plan i have is to repair the body and tank and then fit a late model engine. I feel that seeing as it’s been rescued from near certain doom it’s not too sacreligious to modify it, and the work involved to bring it back to original would definately put most people off.
I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but there you have it. I’ll keep you posted as time and money allows progress.
Cheers!
May 10, 2012 at 3:35 pm #303

Jim
Keymaster

Well thats probably going to be a long term project Mike. Good luck with it. What motor do you think you will go for ?
May 10, 2012 at 5:02 pm #304

nzeta_mike
Member

I have a 2004 KTM 300exc that’s going to be the donor. A nice physically small motor, designed for enduro use so will be ok for the road. It’s supposed to put out around 55hp. The Nzeta frame will be up to it, but the brakes and suspension will need upgrading. I’ve already contacted the local certifier and he’s keen to see it happen too. It should be a lot of fun to build, and to ride!
May 10, 2012 at 7:52 pm #310

Jim
Keymaster

Crikey your keen! 55 ponies, yes you will need some serious brakes not the standard ones. Looking forward to some photos.
May 12, 2012 at 10:31 pm #311

Blair
Member

That’ll be quite a weapon with 55 horses. I guess you will be using heftier engine mounts than they use from standard, as they twist when reving even a standard motor. Would be good to fit disc brakes and normal forks instead of the leading link set up. Have seen this done to an old Rabbit, apparently turned out great! Good luck with it.
May 14, 2012 at 5:07 pm #334

nzeta_mike
Member

The plan is to fit a fork, front suspension and front wheel from a Keeway F-act (chinese 150 auto scooter). The brakes will be the brembo’s from the ktm, master and slave cylinders. Swing arm looks like it’s going to be a shortened triumph bonneville.
Frame needs to be strengthened with a minimum of 1 inch tube with a wall thickness of 3.2mm. I’ve gone for 27mm to be on the safe side. The engine mounts will all need to be custom. I’m really enjoying the process as most everything i’ve done to date has been stock standard restoration. Hopefully it will make an entertaining scooter to ride!
I’m going to bid on a few of the bit on trade me, lets see who wants them most!
May 14, 2012 at 9:52 pm #336

Jim
Keymaster

Are you using the drum brake rear 12″wheel of the chinese one or going for another disc ? Sounds like you have thought about it a lot. Why the triumph swingarm ?
May 14, 2012 at 11:27 pm #356

nzeta_mike
Member

I would like another disc on the rear, but as yet unsure what wheel to use. I have seen alloy motard pitbike wheels, but I’m still looking at other options. Have a search on http://www.dhz.com.au under the wheels section for an idea of what you can get, they may even be good for upgrading a standard nzeta to disc brakes?
The triumph swingarm is beening used as i needed a fairly substantial twin shock swingarm made from round tube. This should make it easier to shorten to the certifiers specs. It didn’t need to be a triumph, it’s just what i came across first that fit my criteria.
Yeah, this project has been brewing for a few years. I did a Lambretta with all the expensive engine bits on it which was supposed to be my fast scooter, but i’m a little spoiled working with modern motorcycles, and it’s not properly fast. The Nzeta is going to fast. Proper fast.
June 5, 2012 at 9:33 am #366

Jim
Keymaster

Thanks for that link. There’s definitely some suspension options there as well as wheels and brakes. I found a trader on trade me selling similar pit bike type bits and pieces that had some shocks that might fit on the front of the NZeta without too much trouble. In your post you mention “certifiers specs” do you have any more information?
June 6, 2012 at 1:14 pm #367

nzeta_mike
Member

Certifiers specs are a bit vague at best. I had a long discussion with the guy and he told me the legalise is really outdated, so a lot of it is common sense and good engineering practises.
The specs say a minimum of 3.2mm thickness if using 1 inch tube, unless you use chrome-oly (a guess at the spelling sorry), then it can be 1.6mm. When i shorten the swing arm i need to machine up slugs that can be inserted into the tube before rewelding. Welding needed to be done by someone certified i believe.
That’s all we covered, it would pay to check in with things like modifying suspension and steering.
Hope that helps.
October 18, 2012 at 12:36 pm #568

GregP
Member

I think I’d use the Nzeta rear brake. It’s not that powerful but the Nzeta has a relatively short
wheelbase so under heavy braking it’s not going to have much weight on it (if any 🙂
Have thought about making the front brake twin leading shoe but I would need another
brake plate etc to do that. As the rear is the same as the front you could make it TLS.
BTW I’ve never seen engine mount tubes as big as the Nzetas on anything smaller than a V8.
They are of course a stuctural part of the body/frame.
Front end: steering head is a quite hefty tube – it could be strengthened by fotting a steel rod
up the centre. Leading link suspension is superior to telescopic forks, that’s why it keeps reappearing
from time to time – it’s only buyers who demand teles.
Greg.P.
October 18, 2012 at 1:35 pm #573

Jim
Keymaster

Finally my donor 250 yamaha turned up from bike tranz last night 😛 Hopefully its intact and will fit into one of my frames. Just as well they are pretty beefy as there will be cutting / welding brackets involved somewhere. I may have to invest in a welding plant 😕

October 21, 2012 at 10:41 am #617

GregP
Member

Hi Jim,
let us know how the Yamaha motor fits! If it does then I will want to know _everything_!
I would be able to transfer the 502 motor being rebuilt to the 501 if it works.
Greg.P.
Viewing 13 posts - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.