How to Make My Gas Scooter Faster

Increase the speed of your gas-powered scooter with various mechanical maintenance procedures and upgrades.

Zippy and fun-to-ride, gas-powered scooters are an excellent, efficient and enjoyable way to get around town. Unfortunately, because of their relatively small engines, most scooters travel very slowly in comparison to most other vehicles on the road. Operating a scooter while other cars, trucks and motorcycles whip around you is a nerve-wracking experience. Fortunately, you can make your gas-powered scooter faster with some simple maintenance and upgrade procedures.

Things You'll Need

• Tire gauge
• Fuel system cleaner
• Impact wrench
• Socket wrench
• Aftermarket windshield

Instructions

1. Check your rear tire's pressure. If your rear tire is underinflated, your initial acceleration and overall speed will be limited significantly. Depending on the size of your scooter's rear tire, its pressure should be between nineteen and twenty-one PSI.

2. Clean your scooter's fuel system and ensure that your fuel tank is filled with the proper fuel or fuel-to-oil mixture. Even if you have never filled your tank with the wrong octane fuel, your scooter's fuel lines will become dirtied overtime, resulting in restricted fuel flow to the engine. This affects your scooter's engine's performance, which limits your speed. Your fuel lines can be cleaned with a special additive you pour into your gas tank that are available at your local auto parts store.

3. Replace the exhaust lining of your muffler. The muffler's components are held together by two clamps and four bolts. The clamps encircle the muffler, and there are two bolts on the top of the muffler and two on the bottom. Once opened, the packing material in the muffler can be removed and replaced with material purchased at your local scooter dealership or auto parts store. Replacing the exhaust lining will allow your scooter's engine to expel fumes faster, increasing the amount of air that aids in fuel burning.

4. Install a windshield on your scooter. Windshields attach to the same six bolt holes in which the bolts holding the molded paneling onto the front of your scooter's handlebars screw into. You will need to remove the front molded paneling in order to gain access to these bolt holes. A windshield will disperse air around your body while you're driving, reducing drag and increasing your overall top speed.

5. Remove the restricting washer from your scooter's variator system. Remove the kickstart, intake case and variator case lid to access the pulleys of your variator system. The restricting washer is located around the front pulley rod. Removing it will require you to either remove the front pulley wheel with an impact wrench, or cut the washer free with wire snips. This will enable your scooter to travel faster.

Tips & Warnings

• Check your state's laws pertaining to scooter and motorcycle classes. Completing any of these procedures may enable your scooter to travel over the speed limit assigned to scooters of a specific CC. For example, for 50CC scooters, most states limit the max speed at 30mph. If your scooter can travel over its legal speed limit, you may need to reregister it with the DMV.

References

• Scooters, Automatic Transmission 50 to 250cc (Hayne's Automotive Repair Manual); John Haynes; 2006