(PT.9) The exhaust falls off the most HATED scooter on the internet: Living with a Tao Tao

In my experience working as a technician in independent motorcycle shops I worked on everything from CVO Harley Davidsons to Honda CT90s. But there was one bike that always stood out with exceptionally poor quality. The Tao Tao 50cc GY6 (139QMB) scooter. And now I'm going to put this scooter to the test and find out if they really are little money pits, or if the issues with the bike are a result of the people who buy these kinds of scooters.

So I purchased a Tao Tao "Pony" ATM 50 and my plan is to make it my main means of transportation for 6 months. Yes from June 1st to January 1st this little scooter is going to be my daily driver. I'll be logging all of the miles, issues and expenses of keeping this scooter running in a log. Doing this will allow me to present a true cost of ownership at the end of this experiment.

The Tao Tao Pony 50 is based on the generic GY6 139QMB platform. They were sold under many different "Brand" names like Wolf, Bintelli, Fly, Rocketa, MotoBravo, Italica, and Dongfang just to name a few. You may be riding one and not even know it!

This exhaust failure happened on my commute to work one morning. There was no indication at all that a break down was imminent. As I accelerated away from a stop light I heard the tao tao get instantly louder and i knew what had just happened. Luckily, when the brace broke it did not snap the exhaust studs like I've seen happen so often on customer's bikes.

There are a few reasons I did not just re-weld the bracket when I got to work or when I got home. The biggest one is I'm not sure what I would have to "charge" for that repair on my service sheet. In addition to that, most shops wouldn't repair something so cheaply made with such a high likelihood that it will fail again. But the main reason I didn't weld the bracket back on was my ethos of repair. If something fails, it's an opportunity to replace it with something that will better serve the machine. Rather than spending $70-100 getting the same unreliable part back on the tao tao I'd rather spend $40 on a lighter exhaust with better brackets that will be less likely to break in the future.

The parts I've used in this experiment are so far are:
Bel-Ray 10w40: https://amzn.to/3d623vR
Bel-Ray 80/90 Hypoid gear oil: https://amzn.to/2N3yFft
NGK CR7HSA spark plug: https://scooter911.com/shop/ngk-cr7hs...
Brake line: https://www.scooterworks.com/Blue-Lin...
Performance Exhaust: https://amzn.to/2GfzQs4
Carburetor Jet Kit: https://amzn.to/32UtBTu
Drive Belt: https://amzn.to/3hC3rt2

I set the idle using this Digi Synch Manometer/Synchronizer: https://amzn.to/37B81nl

Follow my experiment in real time! Here is a link to my Tao Tao log/Health Report!
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

If you want to keep up with this project between videos be sure to follow me on social media!

Instagram:   / garretseesi.  .
Twitter: @SeesingGarret
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#TaoTao #Gy6 #Scooter