KymcoForum.com

I have 7800km on the OEM tires. Still plenty of thread but want new ones for better riding in the rain. Several of the local shops wont touch a scooter and the ones that do want $60 labor per tire.

The back looks easy but what about the front. I tried looking for some good how to videos. Can anybody point me in the right direction or offer advice.

Also I am looking at Michilin City Grips. Traction isthe only thing I care about.

+1 on the City Grips.  I'm running them and am very happy with them.

As far as changing the tires, you'll need a few tools to break the bead and remove the tire.  I'll assume you won't have a problem getting the wheels/tires off the scoot (unfortunately, you do have to remove the exhaust to get the back tire off).

1) Remove the valve stem core to release all the air.  I think the back of the valve stem cap does this, but its just plastic and the core may be too tight.  You can get a little tool for this.

2) Next, you need to break the bead of the tire.  This can be a pain in the ass, unless you work smart.  The easiest way I found was to create a lever like this:

What I did was dig out the gravel underneath my truck tire, then stuck the board under my truck tire for the hinge.  Use whatever you have to work with.

Once you break the bead, slather the tire and rim in soapy water...this will help in slipping the tire off the rim.

3) Removing the wheel is tough if you don't have the right tools.  You need a flat bar that is thin, yet stiff.  Might be worth buying a tire tool they sell at motorcycle stores.  I had a couple of small leaf springs off a trailer that were small enough.  The spring steel was stiff enough to work.  You'll need two tools to get the tire off.  Check out this video on how to do it:

I used plastic protectors like he did in the video to protect the rim.

4) Installing the tire back on the rim is just the reverse.  You'll have to use the tools again to get it back on.

The challenge with the scooter tires is that they are small, so there is not a lot of give and flex in them like bigger tires.  It took me a while to get the hang of it, but I could do it again no problem.  Having actual tire tools would be nice (instead of my makeshift leaf spring things).

I finally got another replacement from eBay.  I was going to get one at the local dealer but they wanted over $80 for it!

Now another problem.  The replacement regulator I got also shows infinite (open) for all resistances in the test.  So, not sure what to do now.  My meter is good (verified by measuring various resistors), and it is highly unlikely that I got two bad regulators from the guy on eBay.

I've read online about testing the regulators for the GY6 and it should be pretty straightforward...I'm just not getting the results that are expected.

I got the regulator yesterday and swapped it out today.  Unfortunately, that did not solve my problem...the scoot acted the same for both regulators.  I took both regulators and did a resistance check according to the FSM.



All the resistances showed infinite (open), on both regulators.  So either the replacement regulator is bad, or something else is wrong with the scoot and the test isn't accurate.  Can someone verify that I should be getting resistances shown in the table?

What else can I do before I order another regulator?  In the FSM I see I can measure the resistance of the stator's charging and lighting coil...so I can start there.  Anything else?

There are loads (no pun) of shops that specialize in re winding stators for more out put. Perhaps that is an option.
That is a google for how to's but I'm sure you can find a local shop.

My thinking on the reg being the weak link should be correct. I can't see building a stator that would fail before the "fuse" so to speak.

Yeah I've read about rewinding, and also about upgrading to the 11 pole stator, though that involves replacing quite a few parts.  I also saw a writeup that talks about modifying the current stator to use a full-wave rectifier (instead of the stock half-wave), which will give you more DC power: http://scooterrebels.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1581

I didn't know that part of the electrical system ran on AC!  Interesting.  Now the wiring diagram makes a little more sense.

I completely agree that regulator should be the weak link ("fuse"), but I am curious where you got the 35A rating...source?  The regulator mentioned in the article is rated for 150W, which is only 12.5A (@12V), which is why I think the 35A rating that you gave is high.

PIAAs cost an arm and a leg here. Equivalent to a week's salary. Anyway, can you tell me the model of this PIAA bulb? Is it a motorcycle specific bulb or a car bulb that comes in pairs? I might just ask my brother in the U.S. to buy for me. Lol! Thanks!  BTW, I'm referring just to the headlight bulbs of my Super 8.

The auxiliary light I got was the PIAA 004 series: http://www.piaa.com/powersports-lamps/ps-halogen-004.html
This lamp uses an H3 bulb so I used the 35W Xtreme White Plus bulb (70W equivalent).  Yeah, the PIAAs are spendy, but I was patient and found a killer deal on eBay for a new set of lamps.

Not sure what type of bulb is in your Super 8 (H4?), but it looks like the only 35W bulb that PIAA has is H3.  If it is H4, there are A LOT of options...just switching to a different temperature bulb (white vs. halogen) will help you see better, even if it puts out the same amount of light.  I noticed this with the Xtreme White bulb I have.

Now that I think about it, your headlight must be H4, since H3 is not a dual beam bulb.  Either that or the weird type of bulb that is in my Agility.

I'm no expert in electronics, but I know more than most.  I see you used 12V for your math.  Factor in that the regulator regulates the stator output to 14.4V max, that may bust your 144W max....Just saying!

Yes, I agree with this.  The reason I was using 12V was to get to the original point, which was that the regulator is rated for 35A and with the load on the electrical system you don't even come close to that (even if you use 14.4V).  Just looking for a better explanation on how the regulator can fail when the load is well under what the diodes are rated for...  To me, in this situation, it is the charging system (stator/generator) that is overloaded, not the regulator, and that failure should occur there first before anything happens to the regulator.  Granted, all of this is based on the original claim of a 35A rating for the regulator...I didn't see a spec in the FSM to verify this.

That's how I came up w/ 22.7 gigawatts.

That is way more than is needed to power the flux capacitor...

You could switch to LED's, and use load resistors for the blinkers. That would allow for another driving lamp.

Switching your blinkers to LEDs and using load resistors completely defeats the purpose.

Good score on the Reg.
Yes you did fry it with the lamp. The diodes are rated at 35amps@ Theoretically that is 140 amps they can handle but that is PEAK not continuous.
At least it was just the reg/batt.

The running light is a PIAA 35W, combined with the stock 35W headlamp only pulls around 6 amps, plus the 5/20W brake light.  Doesn't come close to 35 amps, which is why I am curious.  I've heard people running 55/60W bulbs without issues...maybe the extra 10-15W for my setup just put it over the charging system's capabilities?  Still doesn't seem like I should have blown the regulator that way (for what it is rated for).

Before all of this happened (before I installed the aux lamp), I noticed my starter not acting a little weak.  It would turn over fine, but if the motor was on the compression stroke, there would be a slight hesitation for the starter to overcome the extra force.  On a fully charged battery (bench charging), the starter had some extra umph!

I never did check the charging system since I bought it last year (PO put in a new battery right when I bought it).  I'm wondering if something else is up with my charging system.  I'll get the new regulator in and check it out.  Hopefully the generator is okay.