Lucky me!

[smitty]

On a whim I checked Craige's List for Whizzer bikes, and found a 1999 in my city listed for $700. When I checked it out it had 44 miles on it, and I managed to buy it for $650! I got the original sales package, and it's never been registered, so I guess that makes me officially the first owner.

It did require some fussing with, the front belt was slipping, and I changed the oil. It didn't want to idle, so I messed with the idle screw, but even with the screw all the way in it didn't seem to make any difference. I tightened the cable at the twist grip to speed up the idle, but that doesn't seem right.
Also I noticed an intermittent noise that sounds like valves tapping.
It runs so quiet, that now I hear the wind going through my helmet. Something I never noticed with my two stroke.

I expect / want to upgrade the the engine to "hot rod" it, but it will do 30mph as is, though it doesn't seem as peppy as my HT.

 

[mickey]

Lucky indeed. Congratulations.

 

[kerf]

Smitty,

Sorry but you've been ripped off. Since I'm a good guy, I'll take it off your hands for what you paid for it.

 

[MotorbikeMike]

Lucky Find!

Hi good buy on theat WC-1 Whizzer! A word of caution, torque the head correctly, and do not hop up that engine till you are ready to do the NE-5 upgrade, as the top end tradionally will not take the extra stress, even tho the bottom end will/

Even tho you find the Whizzer not as peppy as the HT, we anr not considered "broken in" till somewhat over 500 miles, during which time the engine will continue to gain in power. At 44 miles, the bike is mechanically brand new. I'm in Sacramento, so if there is any help you might need, let me know.

Mike

 

[smitty]

Today I stopped by a friends auto shop, and he stuck an exhaust analyzer in the tail pipe, (wheeee). He told me that it was running way lean, so I moved the clip on the carb needle to the bottom slot, now it idles OK, but I guess I wont know if it is right till it's analyzed again, then again, maybe it just needs time running before it's right.

The belt seems to slip, and I've tried to tighten it as per instructions posted here, but I don't really understand how moving the engine can tighten the front belt, considering the clutch pulley mechanism pivots on the engine block, and moves with the engine. I did get the front belt to tighten up some, by loosening the rear belt,( moving the engine) thereby allowing the clutch pulley to lift higher, tightening the front. Today I bought a half link for the chain, to move the rear wheel back to tighten the rear belt. It's all trial and error for me at this point,(and read, read, read).This stuff is all new to me.

Does any body have experience with the valve seats coming loose? What were the symptoms? The valve noise still comes and goes. Now it has 100 miles on it. Tomorrow I'll change the oil again.

 

[Quenton Guenther]

Hi Smitty, I guess you won't have to worry much longer about the valve seats because of your planned upgrade. But I just can't help myself in passing along useful information if it helps others. The warning signs of loose valve seats varies, but usually there is no warning at all. Your motor will just suddently lose power and sometimes you think you might be out of gas. Other times the symtoms are identical to a blown head gasket. A few times I let the motor cool down [at least a hour], re started the motor and limped home, and a few times it never started again. In a few cases the motor did become noisy as the seats, valves, & valve guides lost the alignment , but often the motor would stop making noises and work Ok for a while. I have read many times about the exhaust seat being the problem, let me assure everyone the intake seat was just as likely to work loose. On several cylinders I removed the head to find the seat raised about 1/4" above the top of the cylinder. I personally trashed at least a dozen WC-1 cylinders, and spent thousands to find the solution. I spent $1800.00 on cast iron cylinders, paid $1200.00 [set-up fee] to a guy in Ohio to use a special process to make and keep the seats in place [worked great, but @ $180.00 per cylinder it wasn't worth it], and at least $1500.00 at dealer cost to purchase the original WC-1 cylinders. I learned a lot from my desire to "hop up" the WC-1 motor, first DON'T DO IT, secondly it costs a lot of money to go fast for a short period of time, and third DON'T DO IT. If the WC-1 motor is left stock [with restrictor] and never abused I don't have a clue how long it will work correctly, because I have never missed a chance to abuse my Whizzer motors. When I raced [motorcycles], many motors didn't last long because of my abuse, and only a few made it an entire season [Ducati & HD] so it was known if I couldn't break it, it must be good. Just for the record I haven't been able to stop a single Whizzer NE motor [some with over 6000 miles each], and believe me I have really treated them very badly.
Also a few comments about belt adjustment, loosen the rear wheel and move foward slightly, loosen the clutch cable adjustment to allow play in the cable, with both belts installed, loosen the bottom and top rear motor mounts, move the motor to cause the front belt to become tight. Tighten the top & bottom mounts, then move rear wheel until the belt is so tight it just starts to move the clutch pulley, tighten the wheel, adjust the clutch cable, and ride that Whizzzer. If it necessary to do a little fine tuning use the top motor mount to move only the top of the motor.
Quenton

 

[smitty]

Yesterday I sprayed some belt dressing (available at most any auto parts store) on both belts and belt problems seem to be a thing of the past. It made the Whizzer harder to pedal, but it starts easier now.

 

[bill green]

smitty great buy there are updates from whizzer when your ready.there are many other things you can also do with out rising co,s.so have fun and whizzzzzzzzz-on BILL

 

[smitty]

Upgrade

Well, the valve noise has gotten worse, and now the Whizzer has trouble pulling me up hills. I'm suspecting that perhaps it was allowed to idle until it over heated, and now suffers from loose valve seats. (Before I bought it.) But thats really OK with me, because I've purchased an NE upgrade kit that I am anxiously awaiting. The kit, as reported, consists of an early NE cylinder, modified to make a more powerful engine. We have many hills here in Santa Cruz County, CA. We call them hills, but they're known as the Santa Cruz mountains. (There is one hill called Alba Road, that climbs 2600 ft. in four miles.) I can't wait to take a "putt" up into those hills.

Soon I will be tearing this engine apart for the upgrade. If you folks are interested, I can try to document the change over with photos.

 

[bill green]

Hi Smitty . What clutch are you running . (90mm manual),(50mm auto),(70mmauto) or(90mm auto) .For hills you need A 50mm or 70mm ,it will slow you down some in the flats but great on the long hills. have fun . Bill green Vancouver whizzer