88 Elite 50 ES motor swap

In 1988 the Elite 50 got a new look for the US market. The scooter actually got a bit smaller that the previous years model, and unfortunately Honda went with a single speed motor instead of the variated model which powered the 1987 Elite.

I got this one in pretty good condition, the engine ran but it would struggle to top 30MPH and she was kind of noisy, generally a symptom of internal issues

Just a beautiful color combination on this one, factory paint still shining. 

Poor little motor was tired though, and I prefer my scooters a little faster! Luckily I happened to have a clean variated 87 Elite 50 motor. Lets get this scooter to haul ass!!

I got out the grinder and channeled the new motor mount to fit in the narrower chassis. Here it is as a mockup before I welded the side plate back up.

The upper shock mount was relocated 2 inches aft to accommodate the longer  motor and preserve the original geometry engineered by Honda-san!

Got an awesome new hand-stitched seat on there, in this condition I was able to put some miles on it and make sure everything worked as it should. I had a few interference issues with the inner fender, but a few strategic cuts sorted that out...

Front wheel and engine case repainted. I also painted the inner body panels charcoal grey.  More miles to get everything run-in. Man this little beast flies now!  What a fun ride, easily topping 40MPH!!

There was alot more plastic to be cut away so the body panels would fit nice. The larger airbox was a real tight fit, but I took my time and trimmed things very cleanly. 

Oh, Boy! Its all back together now and looking good, This color was just popping when contrasted against the black motor and graphite wheels. Got some fresh tires and tubes, too!!!

What a sweet little Honda. I sold this to a very nice lady who had never ridden a scooter before, man I was scared when she took her maiden voyage up my driveway. But she was great, took to it like a duck to water! In fact she liked this scooter so much she packed it up and took it with her when she moved back to New York. Sayonara!!