Modified Intake Airbox for more POWWWWAAA!

[Vivo]

    just something to think about,.  scooter is designed to go 35 to 45 miles per hour and you fix it to go 60 mph. but have you fixed it to stop it at 60 mph, the brakes are very important too,.

Haha! Right you are!  Come to think of it.... I haven't come across any thread on brake mods.... Hmmm.... 

[91cavgt]

Well, seeing how this scoot was designed to run 60 mph, the brakes are up to the task of stopping. 

With that being said though, upgrading brakes is ALWAYS a good thing to do.  Even if you just upgrade the brake fluid to better fluid, it will help during high speed panic stops. 

[Vivo]

Off topic for a while....   We MUST change our brake fluids with fresh ones every 2-3 years... brake fluids are hygroscopic, meaning, they have the ability to absorb and retain moisture over time... the higher the moisture... the lower the boiling point of the fluid will become ... the result would be a hotter fluid and poorer brake performance not to mention possible brake failure...

[kriden]

I was bored today so I took my Like apart and took some pics of the restrictor, and how to remove it. 

After taking the air box lid off and remove the inlet accordian, here is what you see;




So take the wrench in the tool kit and stick it into the air inlet like this;




After inserting the wrench, then turn it sideways like this;



Then grab ahold of both the air box lid with one hand and the wrench with the other hand and pull the wrench out like this;



As you can see, the insert will come out, but it won't be easy.  Once the insert is out, now you can compare the 2 openings and determine for yourself if doing this is worth it or not.  Here is the side by side picture for comparison;




If there has been a loss in low end power, it is not noticeable to me.

GREAT POST by the way.  Thx a ton for posting. Great pix, very helpful.  Nice!  Thanks again!

[Croak]

Just a little thread resurrection (great way to make my first post here, eh!), there's probably a good reason Kymco decided to put an insert into the airbox inlet.  And I bet it wasn't noise or speed restriction, it was likely to get better low RPM response, cleaner burning and increased economy, especially when you consider the use-case of the Like 200i (and the Agility City "R16" 200i, which I own) in most of the world, where getting a fast start or accelerating a bit faster at low road speeds and RPM is more important than top end speed.

Quick cut and paste from the intertubes:

There are a lot of intricacies and tricks to intake systems. For instance, it is beneficial to have the intake air moving as fast as possible into the cylinders. This increases the turbulence and mixes the fuel with the air better.

One way to increase the air velocity is to use a smaller diameter intake runner. Since roughly the same volume of air enters the cylinder each cycle, if you pump that air through a smaller diameter pipe it will have to go faster.

The downside to using smaller diameter intake runners is that at high engine speeds when lots of air is going through the pipes, the restriction from the smaller diameter may inhibit airflow.

So for the large airflows at higher speeds it is better to have large diameter pipes.

Me, I tried it, I did get a bit longer legs, but where I currently live (Malta), most of my time is spent below 60KPH, filtering through traffic on tight streets and  bouncing out ahead of cars at stoplights.  So the wee bit of extra top speed wasn't worth the loss of lower RPM performance, especially when you consider that the max legal speed limit on the island is 80KPH and my Agility City 200i can exceed that well enough already.   It's probably a little more dramatic on my Agility, since it has 16" wheels which already reduce acceleration compared to the Like 200i.

Get me back in the good old USA, and my needs would likely change, higher speed limits, less congestion, no filtering outside of California, and a LOT more highway travel. 

Then again, I'd probably be back on a full-size motorcycle there.  This is my first 2-wheeled street vehicle under 750cc since I started riding in the late 70's, my last bike was a well-sorted Aprilia Tuono 1000 with over 10x the power at less than twice the weight.  But a 130HP bike makes no sense at all here, there's just no place to use even a fraction of that, not to mention $9.00/gallon fuel prices.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Just a little thread resurrection (great way to make my first post here, eh!), there's probably a good reason Kymco decided to put an insert into the airbox inlet.  And I bet it wasn't noise or speed restriction, it was likely to get better low RPM response, cleaner burning and increased economy, especially when you consider the use-case of the Like 200i (and the Agility City "R16" 200i, which I own) in most of the world, where getting a fast start or accelerating a bit faster at low road speeds and RPM is more important than top end speed.

Quick cut and paste from the intertubes:

Me, I tried it, I did get a bit longer legs, but where I currently live (Malta), most of my time is spent below 60KPH, filtering through traffic on tight streets and  bouncing out ahead of cars at stoplights.  So the wee bit of extra top speed wasn't worth the loss of lower RPM performance, especially when you consider that the max legal speed limit on the island is 80KPH and my Agility City 200i can exceed that well enough already.   It's probably a little more dramatic on my Agility, since it has 16" wheels which already reduce acceleration compared to the Like 200i.

Get me back in the good old USA, and my needs would likely change, higher speed limits, less congestion, no filtering outside of California, and a LOT more highway travel. 

Then again, I'd probably be back on a full-size motorcycle there.  This is my first 2-wheeled street vehicle under 750cc since I started riding in the late 70's, my last bike was a well-sorted Aprilia Tuono 1000 with over 10x the power at less than twice the weight.  But a 130HP bike makes no sense at all here, there's just no place to use even a fraction of that, not to mention $9.00/gallon fuel prices.

Man, Love this forum. Folks from all over talking scoots here!
Malta? That's in the Mediterranean isn't it? Thought you were riding scoots in Canada?! Always liked the Maltese flag ....though never understood why it has the George Cross for Gallentry from the UK - on their flag.

I am of the mind that the old boys at Kymco know what they are doing when engineering the respiration of their engines.....as well as being capable engineers of most other areas.
As a Kymco rider : Good oil, good gas, good tires, OEM factory replacement parts, adherence to the service schedule ....and maybe an iridium plug, should keep the Kymco owner and scooter happy for a long time.
I also understand that fans of baseball, soccer and scooters love to debate how well things might be improved if only they'd confer with us!

[Croak]

I'm a traveller. 

Born 'merican, Marine veteran, but I lived and worked in BC for the last ten years as a permanent resident, recently relocated here to Malta for work last April.

As for the St. George Cross, the ENTIRE population of Malta was awarded it for gallantry during WWII, when it was a British territory and the Axis was bombing the hell out of the place whilst also starving the population.  Malta left the Commonwealth in 1974, but they kept the Cross. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_of_the_George_Cross_to_Malta

This place is just full of history...and Kymco scooters. 

[Stig / Major Tom]

I'm a traveller. 

Born 'merican, Marine veteran, but I lived and worked in BC for the last ten years as a permanent resident, recently relocated here to Malta for work last April.

As for the St. George Cross, the ENTIRE population of Malta was awarded it for gallantry during WWII, when it was a British territory and the Axis was bombing the hell out of the place whilst also starving the population.  Malta left the Commonwealth in 1974, but they kept the Cross. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_of_the_George_Cross_to_Malta

This place is just full of history...and Kymco scooters. 

Sounds exciting and interesting.
Shoot some pictures please - of the country and the scoots!! (goodness knows I've posted enough pix of  small town Ohio!And I think I've posted pictures of both scooters here in town.)

[Croak]

Where in Ohio?  I mostly grew up in SE Ohio (Ross, Vinton, and Jackson Counties). 

[big blue]

Hi Croak, I spent a couple of weeks in Malta in the US Navy about 1969ish. Very rugged and beautiful landscape and full of history. While we were docked there the city water system was having some mechanical problems and the aircraft carrier in our task group was making and supplying fresh water for the city of Valleta.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Where in Ohio?  I mostly grew up in SE Ohio (Ross, Vinton, and Jackson Counties). 

Clark county, Springfield
Just opened our 3rd Tim Horton's !
I've lived in Boston, San Francisco, Palm Beach, Paris and San Antonio.
Now I'm just happy to be anywhere with a great wife and a couple of great kids and a scooter with EFI & Michelins!

[Croak]

Wow, Timmy is creeping south!  Last I heard, the buyback from Wendy's had stopped the invasion of America.

I'd kill for a double-double and honey cruller right now (it's 4AM here).  They don't understand brewed coffee OR donuts in Malta.  Can get a mean cappuccino and cannoli though, which almost makes up for it.