Risk Man
Well-Known Member
Long day to start the refurbishing of the 2015 Motoped Cruzer. Like the Survival bike, I started with cleaning the main drive chain and taking the battery out to see if it was salvageable.No expectation and no surprise the 12 volt 3 amp battery was dead. I decided to order a LiPo this time for the keeper which was $55 vs. $20 for another AGM. Two day delivery along with a few other electrical goodies I ordered yesterday for delivery today. The good news is, there is a battery on these bikes as they are electric start (only) The bad news is the battery is tucked up under the tank and nearly impossible to unscrew the bolts that hold the girth strap under the battery.The robust stainless steel tank (Must weigh close to 10 lbs!) only has two bolts in front and two in back to slip it off getting access to the frame, wiring and batter.y No surprise the bolts were not tight as likely the previous owner had it off for the same reason. There is no way to get a charger on this battery so I added a dongle for charging and heavy enough to use for jump-starting if necessary.
After struggling with putting three wires (two 12 gauge and one 16) on the the eye connector for the battery I tried the front headlight and it was dead. Was not sure if it was the cheap plastic connectors they use on these wiring harnesses or what. I know I am also going to have to add a tail light to get this Florida Moped legal and the cheap harness does have a connector for the tail light identical to the headlight. (Note that I saw these two empty connectors on the Survival bike which does NOT have any lights and realized those two connectors were for front and rear lights on that bike)
3 hours later, I was able to repair the stock multi LED headlight (could have easily replaced it for $25 but made the effort to keep it stock and it paid off) After getting the lens off (very old school LED array from 8 years ago) I found that everything inside was all sealed with a layer of epoxy over the circuit board and no way to get past the board. As it turned out, the + and - power leads were soldered on this surface board and I trouble shot that the red wire was broken from under the circuit board to the cord coming out the back. I cut the old cord out and surface soldered a new set of wires I chased up from the outside and sealed it all up with silicone and heat shrink tubing and my favorite woven wire loom cover. Hooked it up and the cheap connector was failing so I rewired both ends of that with bullet connectors like we have on the Whizzer. Got if fired up and mocked up the wires back under the tank. 8 hour day in the shop and much more to come.
After struggling with putting three wires (two 12 gauge and one 16) on the the eye connector for the battery I tried the front headlight and it was dead. Was not sure if it was the cheap plastic connectors they use on these wiring harnesses or what. I know I am also going to have to add a tail light to get this Florida Moped legal and the cheap harness does have a connector for the tail light identical to the headlight. (Note that I saw these two empty connectors on the Survival bike which does NOT have any lights and realized those two connectors were for front and rear lights on that bike)
3 hours later, I was able to repair the stock multi LED headlight (could have easily replaced it for $25 but made the effort to keep it stock and it paid off) After getting the lens off (very old school LED array from 8 years ago) I found that everything inside was all sealed with a layer of epoxy over the circuit board and no way to get past the board. As it turned out, the + and - power leads were soldered on this surface board and I trouble shot that the red wire was broken from under the circuit board to the cord coming out the back. I cut the old cord out and surface soldered a new set of wires I chased up from the outside and sealed it all up with silicone and heat shrink tubing and my favorite woven wire loom cover. Hooked it up and the cheap connector was failing so I rewired both ends of that with bullet connectors like we have on the Whizzer. Got if fired up and mocked up the wires back under the tank. 8 hour day in the shop and much more to come.
