Planet Minis

Dj Hunny

Hey guys,

thanks so much for all the help. Here she is, picked her up sunday for $650...and rode her all day!!! so awesome...has some rust in the tank and a little dent on there, fenders are not there or broken. When I shift to first gear she kind of clicks in twice for some reason??? Don't know why or how to fix that..but other then that she runs strong and looks good! Can't wait ... any advice on first mods would be greatly appreciated! Thanks once again to everyone who helped me with advice!!

supernes550

make sure you tighten down all the bolts on the wheels and hubs. i've had mine come loose which isn't fun. that's why i now keep a couple of tools with me when i'm out riding.

then get rid of that motor and get something bigger to keep up with traffic

reynolds_brad

Congrats.

a bigger motor will help a lot.

__________________
pecore nere ufficiose

Motoshop Z - Honda50.com

shw911

What he said Just wait until you throw a bigger motor into it. You won't believe how fast it is. I have a Zongshen 125cc in mine and I never hold up traffic on the street.

So what are the greatest things about it so far?

EddieNewYork

Looks good doode! Motor first... just need to decide whether to go with a honda or chinese.

Dj Hunny

Yeah, i will be doing performance mods first. Never really worked on bike/mini bikes, just mostly worked on my car. but mostly bolt on performance. so hopefully i wont run into too much of a problem.

Was looking at the Takegawa 88cc bore kit w/perf cam. I'd keep my stock head...it's for $275.00 at hondaminitrail.com. It's for the z50 itself, would it fit the Panda? Yay or nay? it says for years 68-80, but mine is a 1998 panda, so not sure how that will affect the mod.

And also is there a major diff in performance/dependability between Honda and Chinese?

And the greatest thing is that I always get a double-take on the streets by people walking or driving by...freaken love it!

shw911

If you mod your current engine, you'll still only have 3 speeds and still a semi automatic. Going with a manual clutch is the way to go. If you grab too much throttle, you still have the clutch to cut off power to the rear wheel to save you from looping the bike. Ask me how I know.

I'd do a complete 125cc 4 speed engine swap for the same price or less and get a lot more horsepower and open for more mods in the future. Definitely best bang for the buck. Plus your top speed will be much higher than with the 3 speed.

I agree the double takes are one of the best things about these tiny bikes. We get more looks and questions than $20k Harleys.

supernes550

the jincheng panda motors are 6 volt cdi motors. the thing you'll have to look out for is that you get the right size piston (height ) to fit the rod. i'm not sure if it's a long rod or short rod motor.

i have an 88 on mine and it's still slow as dirt compared to a 88 crf50 motor.

Dj Hunny

where did you get your swap from? ant what would my bike be equivalent too? did a search to find out, but still not sure. i wanted to print out the shop manual..but not sure which z50 i fall under?

nielspbr

Get a set of decent street tires instead of the chinese pencil erasers.

There is a thread where they recommend heidenau K75.

(I am running heidenau K61 on 10" rims, I do not know if they are available in 8")

shw911

Yes, get new tires as your first few mods. I'm running on 8 year old tires and really shouldn't because they aren't sticky. Luckily, I'm slow on the corners so it's okay for now.

My bike fortunately came with the 125c engine already swapped by the original owner. We can point you in the right direction on possible motors to get but you'll also need to change the bulbs, CDI and regulator to 12 volt.

Dj Hunny

so tires should be my first mod? well if i'm going to get better tires i might as well get new bigger wheels? correct? i was thinking of getting the Kitaco 10'' Aluminum Wheels from hondaminitrail.com for $235..good deal? or should i be looking elsewhere for stuff?

I can't do the engine swap right away...so i'd like to start off with smaller but good performance mods in the mean time till i save up for my swap. any good advice on good easy performance mods to help it move just a tab quicker? thanks.

mikev

Frankly it's going to be a waste of money to mod the stock Panda motor.

EddieNewYork

Imho, the stock motor dosen't have enough torque and is too slow to ride safely with cars on the streets. Unless you just want to cruise on smaller streets that is... and going to a 10" wheel is probably gonna hurt performance even more due to the increased rotational mass.

Depending on how far you want to take this project, I'd start with the motor, then the seat (hahaha), tires and or wheels if you want to go 10". From there the skies the limit.

Dj Hunny

gotcha, thanks eddie. i'll just save up and work on the motor then. gotta figure out where i want to order that from...still seeing if i should go for 88cc or doing the 125cc swap.

for now it just needs some fenders, water splashed all on my face yesterday when i went through a dip..LOL.

big pete

I'm going to agree with everyone else and say go with the motor swap for your first upgrade. I have a Lifan 125cc motor in my Panda and its a million times better than the stocker. I'm running 16/34 gear on my stock 125cc + OVER Racing exhaust and I top out at about 55mph. I'm going to regear it a bit (17t front sprocket) and I should get close to 60mph. I picked up the motor (came with a carb) off fleabay for $300

Dj Hunny

so anything that will fit the honda z50 should be a direct match for my bike, correct? I'm not sure of the diff between all the diff models of z50s...which one am I? I've seen some for k1 models and other stuff for like k2 models? so confused

big pete

I believe all the K2 stuff should fit. Also, when you're looking into Japanese aftermarket parts, a Honda Monkey is the bike the Panda is equivilent to.

supernes550

the z50 prior to 1988 (correct me if i'm wrong) are the 6 volts and you really don't want them. you're better off with a 12 volt motor out of the newer machines. keep in mind you also want one that has a lighting stator to run your lights.

EddieNewYork

I got a gpx 124 that's going into mine.

Here's a couple links to steer you in the right direction...

eBay Motors: GPX USA Jialing 124cc pit bike motor New the Best 1 ! (item 140247783015 end time Jul-18-08 07:59:35 PDT)

eBay Motors: JIALING 125CC ENGINE HONDA MOTOR XR50 CRF50 XR CRF70 70 (item 160260277136 end time Jul-17-08 17:51:26 PDT)

If you're on budget which many of us are, these chinese motors are really the only way to go, because you do get a lot for the money.

If you want a honda motor, I'd just watch the classifieds on here for crf50 motors. Rember though, a stock crf50 motor dosen't come with a light coil (stator) nor a manul clutch. Price might go something like...

stock motor $250
88cc w/racehead $350 or without $250
prewound stator $90
tb manual clutch $150
tb 4 speed $150

Grand total $890-$990. And, if you go Takegawa, you're looking at probably 3 to 4 times that. Maybe even more, lol.

Sometimes you can find a stock motor with an 88cc for $400, add a manual clutch for $150 and $90 for the stator which is still $640. That's without the 4 speed. So something to think about.