
Winter time may not be the greatest time to ride a scooter, but it is prime time to get that baby in the shop for various performance upgrades and services. There is no better time to get your bike tweaked for the next season, especially if you are seeking a little extra power but not considering a whole new bike purchase.
The most requested bike upgrade, and the one that truly gets you the most bang for your buck at this altitude, is a cylinder kit. This basic procedure expands the cylinder capacity of an engine, making it more powerful. Typically, a 50cc engine can be upgraded into a 70cc, but there are other displacements available. Four stroke engines respond less well to a cylinder kit (or top-end kit, as they're sometimes called) but can be modified as well. A cylinder kit for a two-stroke 50cc will cost around $600, installed with a variator kit that will help the rest of the engine keep up with the stronger cylinder.
Exhausts and expansion chambers are a relatively inexpensive way to add a little bit of boost to a bike, but at a mile high, it will not do much without the initial investment of a cylinder kit. However, exhausts run about $200 installed and can be done fairly quickly. This enhancement is most beneficial with lightweight, two-stroke bikes that have already been modified.
There are literally thousands of other mods you can do on any scooter: the market in Europe and Asia for performance parts makes for any number of tweaks and enhancements. Belts, shocks, even NOS kits can be added to a bike to turn it from a grocery getter to a hotrod. But a few things are important to keep in mind: the cylinder kit will change your scooter's displacement, thereby changing its legal classification in some jurisdictions. Also, some performance parts are explicitly labeled for off-road and racing use only, so it is important to consider that before throwing an NOS kit on something you plan to use as a daily driver.