Gas Scooters

So you are thinking about how to build a gas powered scooter?  Building a fast gas scooter can be a lot of fun, it will take some time but the reward will be a great accomplishment.  To start off you need to get a few things.  A good gas powered scooter starts with a scooter.  You know, the children scooters that have no engines.  Find a scooter that has inflated tires and has a hand brake.  Don't get a scooter made by razor.  These scooters don't have inflatable tires, they are build with hard rubber wheels with pressed bearings.  Make sure the scooter has hand brakes, this is very important.  These types of scooters have greater stopping power.

The next part that you will need for this transformation is a chainsaw engine.  Chainsaw engines are very accessible and in some cases very cheap. Don't remove the engine from the casing.  Just remove the bar and chain and leave everything else the same.  Leaving the chainsaw engine in the casing makes it easier to attact to the scooter.  If you want a fast gas scooter you may want to consider buying a chainsaw that has a high horse power rating.

After you have the chainsaw motor you need a way to connect that to the wheels.  A bicycle chain will do this trick.  You can purchase bicycle chains at Walmart or any bicycle shop. You will also need to find a sprocket.  Sprockets are profiled wheels with teeth that meshes with a bicycle chain, track or other perforated or indented material. It is distinguished from a gear in that sprockets are never meshed together directly, and from a pulley by not usually having a flange at each side.

Once you have the these you are almost there in terms of parts needed.  Next, get you hands on wire and a hand accelerator.  The hand accelerator may be the hardest part to get.  But, if you go to a junk yard they may have it pretty cheap.  The wire can be brought from home depot or Lowe's.

Now that you have gotten all the parts lets get into the building a gas scooter. Now, lets prepare the engine.  Unscrew the centrifugal clutch from the crank shaft.  A centrifugal clutch is a clutch that uses centrifugal force to connect two concentric shafts, with the driving shaft nested inside the driven shaft.

If you go this route the power will be transferred to the wheels by the sprocket and the bicycle chain.  The only problem is that you will not be able to sit "idle" with this configuration.  You will have to prop up the back wheel when standing still.  Another approach is to keep the centrifugal clutch on and buying a sprocket that can fit with the clutch attached.

The engine is ready, now mount another sprocket to the rear axle of the scooter.  If you don't have the right type of scooter this will be a task.  So, be sure to pick a scooter knowing that you will have to modify the rear axle.  Once the rear sprocket is connect place the chainsaw engine on the scooter foot platform and make sure that the sprocket on the engine is inline with the sprocket on the rear axle.  Once they are lined up it is time to bolt the engine onto the scooter.  Drill holes in the scooter platform and bolt the engine to the scooter.  Wrap the bike chain around both sprockets.

Connect the hand accelerator to the handle bars and run the wire from the handle bars to the engine. You may want to run the wire below the scooter platform.  Having access wires on the platform may be dangerous and may cause you to trip over them.  Wire the hand accelerator to the on/off switch on the chainsaw engine.  This will control when power will be applied to the rear wheel.

That is it, you have now build a scooter.

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