I just bought my first scooter and wanted to make a post to share the work I've done on it, future plans, and maybe get some ideas from you guys.
It all started a few weeks ago when I rode my brothers metro. I had a blast cruising around town and taking in all the scenery and knew I had to get one. So I started looking on facebook market and one day an '87 elite popped up on there for $350. I met with the owner within an hour, gave it a good once over and took it for a ride down the street. It was missing an ignition and it was in pretty rough shape but it only had 1300 miles on the odometer, and I thought it had potential. So I gave him the money, and we loaded it into the back of my Mazda CX-5
![rock :rock:](./images/smilies/rock.gif)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/LjHSz1d.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/iEAfA0m.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/XA62pEw.jpg)
Loved that leftover sticker residue
![lol :lol:](./images/smilies/lol.gif)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/JAx6xY7.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/7RZzual.jpg)
So my brother and I got to work and started tearing her down to go through everything and clean it up. With some detailing brushes, simple green (lavender ofc), and a couple hours, it ended up looking like a new scooter:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/x8Sv2fd.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/LPL05zc.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/wf4AnjU.jpg)
At this point, I was becoming really happy with this thing. It's super clean and it hasn't been tampered with besides the body panels and missing ignition switch.
Then I started looking around at getting parts. I got an ebay ignition switch for $20, oem grips, turn signal lens, and I ended up finding a metro rear wheel with a new tire for $80 on ebay
![naughtydance :ndance:](./images/smilies/naughtydance.gif)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/OPZRhez.jpg)
Huge difference, and all I had to do was trim the upper mud flap with scissors and grind about a 1/4" off the bracket for the stand bushing.
Then I had to address the plastics, so I started trying out the heat gun method and it worked great:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/XCcM2Ey.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/UXubeYG.jpg)
No meguiars here
![Cool 8)](./images/smilies/icon_cool.gif)
Then I got the sticker residue off the panels with goo-gone, wet sanded them, and buffed them out:
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/9vdl65p.jpg)
![Image](https://i.imgur.com/Q4UceCM.jpg)
Really happy with how she cleaned up. There's a few marks, scratches, and cracked/damaged panels but I'm okay with that (it adds character
![smile :smile:](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
So I think that's it for now. I've had a ton of fun bringing this lil thing back to life, learning more about them from this community, and of course riding it.
![coolcruise :coolcruise:](./images/smilies/11173.gif)
![coolcruise :coolcruise:](./images/smilies/11173.gif)
![coolcruise :coolcruise:](./images/smilies/11173.gif)