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Brakes and Acceleration and other help please

I have just bought a second hand W reg Secma Fun Tech 350, and think the brakes and acceleration might be dodgy on it. The handbrake is also sometimes not unlocking when released.

With the acceleration problem, it seems to be constantly accelerating a little bit, which is making is impossible to flick the gear into neutral and very difficult to get it into reverse.

The brakes seem iffy. Is it possible to get handlebar brakes fitted on these like a normal motorbike, rather than the pedal brake (which is a bit awkward for my long legs).

There are also no mirrors fitted, but there are two which are mounted onto the doors, but the doors are not fitted (and not sure if I will use it with the doors which also look like they need replacing). Is it possible to get mirrors fitted anywhere?

Does anyone know anywhere near Chelmsford in Essex that would be able to service/check it?

I also wondered if anyone knows what kind of tax disc I need to buy for it, and the best place to get insurance?

Sorry for all the questions, but I would like to get it sorted so I can start enjoying it.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Perry on February 22, 2010 at 5:13pm

Thank you very much for the information and help.

I guess I might wait a month and tax it for 6 Months.

I think I did read somewhere there was a garage in Dartfort that might be able to service these, but cannot find it now.

Norfolk is only about 90 miles away, but I don't fancy driving the Funtech all the way there from here. I had to rent a transit to get it home, and while it does have a towbar attachment, neither my Car or Van have a towbar fitted :-(

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Permalink Reply by Alan on February 26, 2010 at 1:28pm

Hi Steve,

Insurance - I use Footmans james. Road tax is a rip off at normal small car rate £130 because Q-pod haven't put it through its rating test. Mirrors -just pop into any motorcycle accessories dealer and they will have a selection of sizes and shapes. Converting the cable brakes to a handle bar lever, I would suggest is a non starter. Hydraulic brakes you might have stood a chance but i don,t think you would get enough leverage to apply 4 brakes at the same time. remember each wheel is in effect a single motorcycle brake which would normally be operated by its own lever.

I have had similar problems with my Funtech 350 gear selection - and brakes.

Both have been well covered in previous forum discussions especially a very comprehensive explanation as to how to free up and adjust the brakes. Have a look back through the forum and you'll see it. Can't remember exactly where it is but I did only read through it the other evening.

With regards the gear selection, mine was as a result of excessive clutch drag which can be caused by a couple of potential problems.

It got to the stage where I had to start the engine in gear and switch it off to select reverse! Obviously thats a bit risky so it needed to be sorted.

I first looked at the engine tickover speed. Check this with the engine hot and off choke to ensure that the engine is at its normal operating conditions. If the engine is ticking over too quickly then the clutch is starting to bite so gear selection will become extremely difficult if not impossible, as it is starting to do its job, by engaging drive. My tickover seemed about right and the plug was burning cleanly so that wasn,t my particular problem on this occasion.

What was happening though is that the gearbox pully was incorrectly adjusted. (I had replaced the drive belt some time in the recent past). On the outside of the pully, you will see a grub screw that you can use to adjust the range through which the pulleys move towards each other. The new belt must have been (obviously being un worn) slightly larger than the previous worn belt and was dragging on the pully creating a limited amount of load on the gearbox and therebye making gear selection difficult. By adjusting the grub screw you stop the pulleys closing in quite so tightly, and therefore remove or reduce the drag on the belt, at tickover which in turn allows easier gear selection. (its always a bit clunky). I have to say though that I found the grub screw to be seized, so I ended up removing the pully, drilling out the grub screw, and replacing that with a hexagon headed bolt. (It won't catch on any thing in that area of the car.

Good luck Steve.

Alan

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Permalink Reply by Alex on March 5, 2010 at 9:23pm

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Another pod in Chelmsford ? I ride mine to work every day at the moment.....Gt Baddow to the University.

Do you have an older Pod with the Cast Hubs and Drum Brakes or a newer pod with Disk brakes ?

I know how to get the Drums right. - there is a post elsewhere on how to do this.
Tha hand Brake is simply a case of Adjusting it.

Ray Harvey landrovers in wickford can service and MOT your Pod. ( You won't get an MOT in Chelmsford )

Newcombes Motorcycles in Chelmsford will sell you a pair of Moto Guzzi Mirrors - they fit and work Perfic.
I really don't think a brake on the hands will work - not with cable drums. It's bad enough with the foot brake !
Making a cable is not hard, I wrote another post on Cables..... i think the issue will be getting enough bite to actually get the thing to stop.

Alex