50cc scooter supercharger?

[pannu11]

I have this little 50cc scooter. It’s slow. I want to make it faster.

Guess what, it is slow for a couple of reasons. Most local laws require that a 50cc scooter go less than 30 MPH (48 KM/h) on a level surface. They are also usually limited to 3 horsepower by law. Most modifications that would make this moped any faster than it is would also make it illegal.

First off, your idea would not create enough boost to make even the slightest increase on power. You would need to boost the intake air to at least 5 psi to make any noticeable difference. The lack of cooling air would make the engine run hot. This fan is not there for decoration, it it there to cool the engine. A hot engine will make less power. So besides not getting enough boost to gain any power you would lose power from the hot engine and also risk catastrophic engine failure due to overheating. I think you should ask for your money back from whoever gave you your engineering degree.

Even if you soup the crap out of this motor there is very limited potential in this tiny motor. Even if you were to increase the power an unrealistic 100%, that’s only a measly 6 HP.

You have 3 choices here.

Choice 1:
Keep it as it is and be satisfied with what you have.

Choice 2:
Throw lots of money at it in parts and labor only to realize minor improvements in performance. Then discover that you have now made your scooter unreliable because you are putting too much power to the rest of the drive line components and things are starting to break. So now, you need to throw even more money at it in repairs. You will also discover that you will very quickly run out of gearing. You can only rev this tiny motor so fast, no matter what you do to it. In addition, the transmission design of most scooters makes them difficult to change the final gearing. Therefore, what you end up with is a scooter that will accelerate better and slows less going up hill. However when pushed too hard on level ground your risk catastrophic engine failure. Spinning a little engine that is designed to max out at 7000 RPM to over 9000 RPM and you are asking for trouble. Your little souped up scooter quickly ends up a worthless pile of junk.

The small tires found on most scooters and mopeds are not safe above 35 to 40 MPH. Have you ever heard of “Death Wobble”? It’s not pretty.

Choice 3:
Sell this tiny 50cc scooter. Take the money from the sale. Add the large amount of money that you would have spent on upgrades and repairs. Put it towards something with a larger engine. Maybe a 125 or better yet a 250.

You will have something much faster than your tiny 50cc scooter could ever hope to be. And since the drive line components of this larger bike will be matched to the power of the larger engine from the factory it will be a much more reliable ride.

[Author]

Posts