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Messages - heypete

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1
Technical | How To / Re: Bet & Win 150 shudders when accelerating. Clutch issue?
« on: May 04, 2011, 07:55:56 AM »
Hi folks,

Quick followup: I attempted to get the clutch (and later the variator) off today, and failed miserably. They're really on there.

Not to be deterred, I did what I thought was the next best thing and hosed the entire transmission compartment down with large amounts of brake cleaner (it cuts through just about any grime with frightening ease), making sure to get the clutch and variator surfaces.

Next, I applied automotive belt dressing to the drive belt to make sure that it wouldn't slip.

Sure enough, the problem has disappeared entirely. There's no longer any slipping or shuddering. Total cost: about $4.

I purchased an extra belt from the local Kymco shop, but replacing the belt would involve removing the variator, which seems to be an enormous hassle. The current belt seems to be in good shape and seems to be within its usable width -- and the manual states that one needn't even inspect the belt until 7000km (I'm at 5000km) -- so I think things should be good for the time being. I'll probably return the extra belt.

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Technical | How To / Re: Bet & Win 150 shudders when accelerating. Clutch issue?
« on: May 03, 2011, 04:23:26 PM »
Steve: I haven't yet, but I'll give it a shot in the next week or so. I have a reasonably complete tool kit (at least in regards to hand tools; no power tools yet) but can probably acquire an impact wrench without too much trouble. We'll see. Minor problem: I live in the Phoenix area and work in Tucson (I sublet a room from a friend, so I only drive down in my car once a week, then commute to work using the scooter) so the scooter is in Tucson and the tools are in Phoenix. Doh. I'll see if my friend has the appropriate stuff so I can look at the clutch and belt tonight.

I figured the stock clutch isn't all that great, but the performance one is about 1/4th the total resale value of my scooter. Not really worth the money at this point in time. Various Kymco shops have Kymco clutches (at least the parts that wear) for about $60. Since much of the rest of the drivetrain seems to be more or less a GY6, I figured a cheap GY6 clutch might be worth having on hand if needed.

Thanks again for your help. This forum has truly been a wealth of information over the years for a cheap DIYer like myself. :)

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Technical | How To / Re: Bet & Win 150 shudders when accelerating. Clutch issue?
« on: May 03, 2011, 07:24:15 AM »
Hi folks,

One quick question: is the B&W 150 clutch the same as generic GY6 clutches like this one? Visually it looks identical to the B&W 150 one, but getting independent confirmation would be ideal.

I ask because it's likely to be cheaper and easier to simply replace the whole clutch assembly than bother taking the clutch apart to de-glaze the pads and bell.

Thanks!

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Technical | How To / Bet & Win 150 shudders when accelerating. Clutch issue?
« on: April 21, 2011, 04:51:53 PM »
Hi folks,

My 2006 B&W 150 has recently been shuddering when accelerating. It presently has 4996km on the odometer.

When the speed is between 10-15 miles per hour, the scooter shudders for a second or two and the engine sound drops in pitch as if it were suddenly under heavy load. If the speed is below 10mph or above 15mph, there's no shuddering and the scooter accelerates normally. Cruising at speeds outside this range are also fine, with no problems.

There does not appear to be any RPM dependence -- the shuddering occurs when I'm gently accelerating past 10-15mph and when I "floor it".

I'm thinking this might be a clutch issue, but I'm not 100% sure. Any suggestions for how to more conclusively diagnose the issue?

Many thanks!

5
General Discussion / Re: Batteries and how long they should last
« on: October 08, 2010, 05:05:11 PM »
Quote from: winginman on August 19, 2010, 01:14:25 PM
If this is not possible put a charging plug on it and buy a cheap battery tender from Harbor Freight ($15 on sale) and plug it in when not in use to keep it topped off.

While keeping the battery on a tender is a wise idea, the tenders at Harbor Freight specifically warn against using on AGM (most batteries on scooters, motorcycles, etc.) batteries. They're fine for flooded batteries, but for AGM batteries I'd stick to something like the Battery Tender Jr.

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Technical | How To / Re: Kymco Super 8 150 gas problems?
« on: October 08, 2010, 05:58:56 AM »
Three weeks doesn't really seem like long enough for gas to go bad, though maybe the ethanol stuff is different.

Some STA-BIL might help prevent the fuel from going bad if you don't ride it all that much. The stabilized fuel in my Honda generator works just fine, even a year after I put the stabilizer in.

If it's a fuel issue, you might consider getting some Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner -- it's available at pretty much any auto parts store. The bottles are normally sized for 15-20 gallon car gas tanks, so be sure to put in proportionally less additive for the smaller scooter fuel tank. That should help clean out a bunch of gunk.

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Technical | How To / Re: Bet & Win 150 Idle Problems + Axxess Key Size
« on: October 08, 2010, 05:53:35 AM »
Thanks. I hope it's useful for people trying to diagnose weird idle issues -- it sure beats fiddling around with adjusting the idle speed screws, discovering they're not at fault, and trying to get them back to the right setting. That, or forking over the ~$70 the local mechanic wants for repair work. :)

For what it's worth, the vacuum hoses Kymco put on this scooter are a bit thin and seem a bit prone to cracking. The replacement line I put in was thicker, and will hopefully hold up better.

It's kinda fun working on these little engines.

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Technical | How To / Bet & Win 150 Idle Problems + Axxess Key Size
« on: October 08, 2010, 01:41:49 AM »
Hi folks,

Over the last month or two, my B&W 150 was idling really poorly: idle speed was erratic and low, and the engine frequently stalled at idle, even when warm. As most of my trips are pretty short, the engine doesn't warm up all the way, so I thought it might have been a bystarter problem, out-of-adjustment valves, or maybe the idle speed screw needing adjustment.

Turns out it was considerably easier: there was a vacuum hose on the carb that was cracked. After some trial and error, I confirmed that this was the cause of the problem, and replaced it. It turns out the second-smallest vacuum hose at PepBoys ($1.39 + tax) fits perfectly (though the outside diameter is a bit larger) and the problem is now solved. Woot.

Things run considerably better, and the idle never drops below about 1,500 rpm at the lowest but quickly returns to (and stays at) 1,800-2,000 rpm.

Also, while I was at PepBoys, I decided to get a new key cut for the scooter. Unfortunately, I didn't know what size to get, so I bought three different blanks and had them cut all three. Turns out the Axxess+ size 30 fits well (the other two, a 24 and 32 I believe) were too thick. The 30 seems just a hair thicker than the Kymco key, so it fits a bit more snugly, but it works. Hopefully this information helps someone in the future.

9
Bet & Win 150 / Re: Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 28, 2010, 07:27:08 PM »
Follow-up: after removing the light bulb, the battery remained fully charged (only dropped about 0.1 volts over the weekend, which was probably not due to any load on the battery draining it, but just the surface charge wearing off) over an entire weekend and the following week.

Very odd. I'll conduct further tests to see if it's the bulb itself, or something in the wires leading to the bulb.

10
General Discussion / Re: Another silly oil question...
« on: August 17, 2010, 07:48:20 PM »
According to ExxonMobil, you can use synthetic oil at any time. Indeed, many cars (they have a list on their site) come with synthetic oil from the factory.

Synthetic oil has various advantages over conventional oil, but it's not some magical elixir with incredibly esoteric properties -- it meets the same specs as conventional.

Feel free to use either with confidence. I suspect that there'd be no issues whatsoever with using synthetic oil from the beginning.

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Bet & Win 150 / Re: Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 17, 2010, 06:52:49 PM »
Quote from: axy on August 17, 2010, 06:19:50 PM
Not exactly. If nothing else, your scoot probably has a watch/clock that might have its own battery or not, so this method of determining current draining will not be exactly infallible...unless you are sure the current should be zero with ignition key off.

True, it does have a clock, but I'm think it has its own battery -- it's remained on and accurate even after several days without the main battery installed.

Good point about the current maybe not normally being zero. I suppose I should should be checking for non-negligible current drain, rather than non-zero.

Quote
I do not know why is this space called "met in box". I might as well call it "under seat storage space". However, that is how the manual refers to it, so does the light bulb in the instrument cluster that shows if the seat is not properly closed down.

To be honest, English is my third language (out of four I speak), so I do not waste a lot of time pondering about language syntax and semantics, except in case of the last language I am trying to learn. :)

Btw, read the first post here: http://scooterbbs.net/board/DCForumID11/4183.html

Languages are not my strongpoint, so I'm quite impressed that you're able to speak four.

I'm tempted to write to Kymco and ask them what the heck MET-IN means. :)

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Bet & Win 150 / Re: Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 17, 2010, 05:19:31 PM »
Quote from: art on August 17, 2010, 05:14:37 PM
Sounds like your on the right track. You have more electrical skills than I do  :D

Maybe, but I'm merely an amateur. I just like experimenting, so it's fun to test various possibilities to narrow things down.

If it wasn't inconvenient and expensive, I'd almost want things to go wrong so I could diagnose and fix them. :)

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Bet & Win 150 / Re: Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 17, 2010, 05:01:11 PM »
Quote from: art on August 17, 2010, 04:55:02 PM
Sometimes just an electrical contact cleaner and working  the key will be enouph. As far as the short go's it depends on the guage of the wire and how much contact it's makeing,but a concearn non the less because if the key is off there should be no drain. This light you speak of is a good possibility for this. It may be wired direct bypassing the key and have a bad contact drawing power at all times.

As mentioned previously, I confirmed that the light does turn off when the seat is closed. However, I only tested this during the day; it's possible that there would still be current flowing through the bulb below the limit where it'd be visible during the day.

For what it's worth, I removed the bulb and put a freshly charged battery in the scooter last night. After a brief (10 minute) drive to work, I removed the battery, let it sit for an hour or so, and measured the voltage. It's right at 12.80V (after another hour, it dropped slightly to 12.79V, which is probably within the meter's margin of error), so it doesn't seem like it'd be terribly drained.

At lunch today, I'll hook the battery back up and measure how much current is flowing with the key turned off. If it's a non-zero value, then there's definitely something going on. I'll also put the bulb back in to see how much it'd be drawing, and if it'd be plausible for the bulb to drain the battery over a few days.

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Bet & Win 150 / Re: Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 17, 2010, 04:23:43 PM »
Quote from: axy on August 17, 2010, 09:01:25 AM
If you are sure that the battery drain is connected with the met in box light bulb, then you have pinpointed the culprit.

I'm not certain that the light bulb is the cause, as it does seem to turn off when the box is closed. (As an aside, what the heck does "met in" mean? Sure, it refers to the storage box, but what do the words themselves mean? I've never heard of any sort of storage box referred to as "met in".)

The problem manifested itself after the bulb was installed, but that could just be coincidence.

Quote from: art on August 17, 2010, 03:51:27 PM
I would check your ignition switch(clean and inspect) Than trace your hot lead out from the battery.     The  ignition is not doing it's job or you have a dead short somewhere. If it's not the simple light switch.

Wouldn't a short drain the battery extremely quickly, not to mention presenting a fire risk?

I'll check out the ignition switch. Is there something in particular I'll be looking for?

I'll continue to update the thread as I got more information (my work has a multimeter, so I can get actual data) so others who suffer from similar problems might benefit. If anyone has more information or suggestions in the interim, I'd be much obliged if they'd comment as well.

15
Bet & Win 150 / Battery drained in a few days?
« on: August 17, 2010, 06:41:57 AM »
Hi folks,

My 2006 B&W 150 is draining its battery to totally dead[0] when left without being driven over the weekend.

This happens both with the original, three year old battery, and three month old freshly-charged battery that I put in the scooter prior to the last weekend.

My first thought was that the storage compartment's dome light was somehow not turning off, and so was draining the battery, but I tested it this afternoon and the lamp turns off with the seat closed securely. To be on the safe side, I removed the bulb. The battery draining behavior only started after I put the light bulb in -- when I bought it, there was only the lamp housing but no bulb.

I've taken to keeping one battery on the Battery Tender Jr. at all times, then swapping it out with the one in the scooter after each weekend. Needless to say, it's a bit frustrating, and I fear it may be taking a toll on the battery lifespan.

Any ideas as to what could be causing this rather serious battery drain in such a short time? The scooter resides in Tucson, AZ, but even the heat shouldn't be enough to discharge a battery so deeply in only a few days. I have a multimeter, but it's at home and I won't be able to access it for about a week.

  • To the point where my Battery Tender Jr. wouldn't start charging it until I got a bit of a "base charge" from a dumb charger. After that, the Battery Tender Jr. worked fine.

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