The Kymco Xciting project

[scorch]

Hi everyone, just bought a kymco xciting 500r abs. Don't know much about it, but i bought it as a non running bike. It was abear to move. Brake seized? It has  been sitting for 2 years. What should i do?

I got her up, hooked up my car to it and it roared to  life. I was suprised. But something is off about it, first the tire isoff the rim so i can't really test ride it. But it idles really high,and seems abnormal.

The hand brake i have no idea how to use it, i pushed it down and realized i was moving it with the brakes on.

I didn't realize it was so difficult to remove the rear tire, still working on it. I have to remove the entire right side of the bike. But the exhaust is a full header it seems and i might have to reamove the headers as well?

It also has a aligator seat... That has to be a first?


I made a video of the beginning of theproject. I was happy to see it come alive.

[scorch]

Looks like im over heating. Over heating within 1 min of starting thebike. Enough that the ehxuast pipe gets super hot. Kind of abnormal. Can't run it long. It does climb up in the heat. Coolant system seems fine, thermostat tested and works. Burped the radiator,t hat is fine. Any ideas?

[scorch]

Im starting to think i have a blown head gasket! Hope that is not the case.

[Kansas kymco]

Im starting to think i have a blown head gasket! Hope that is not the case.

I beleive their is a powder that you can use a sample of antifreeze after running that will change colors if it detects combustion gas.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Idle on a EFI  throttle body shouldn't be messed with generally. Idle sounded fine to me.
A service manual would answer a lot of your questions. Try cyclepedia.com for a manual.

Stig

[CROSSBOLT]

Idle speed sounded perfect to me, too! Surprised you when it started, didn't it! Har, har! You got half the battle won!
That looks like an aftermarket exhaust with no heat shields. Hint: exhaust pipes get REAL HOT!

[scorch]

Little update on the bike.

It's been riding. And ridign perfectly. Except now i believe it's the gauges or something electric and not over heating like i thought. I was thinking the gauge cluster is messed up. Been measuring the engine heat, but ive done now 2 hour rides and seems at the same temp as in 1 min. And i installed a aux fan switch to turn on the fan as i ride. But now i realize it's not needed.

With the idle, it is idling high. And i wonder why. I  put a different sparkplug that was in there. The sparkplug is in the manual i put in, forgot the name.

Today i wrapped the exhaust in a header wrap hoping to stop the heat from going up too much. But need to make a heat shield

[scorch]

One of the first test rides

[Lord Faversham]

Just picked up on this thread and I've got a couple of thoughts.

Idle speed - It should be around 1400rpm which I think is maybe a little high. With the non-standard kit on my scoot it sits at around an indicated 1100rpm which "sounds" right to my ear. Easy check is to make sure there is some free play on the throttle on tickover.  If not, the idle speed may have been messed with by adjusting up the throttle free play too tightly on the cable. You can access the adjusters by lifting the little carb flap found inside the seat bucket and a couple of 12mm spanners (from memory) should do the trick.  The ECU sets the idle speed and is best left alone.

Whacky temperature reading - could be a number of issues such as:
Blown head gasket - possible but you'd be unlucky to have this and the vid I saw on YT of you filling the pipe looked inconclusive to me.  There were some bubbles but these could have been as a result of an airlock after you filled it.  Was the level down on the expansion tank?
Temp sender on the fritz - entirely possible. Could be the sender but could also be the earthing terminal that attaches to it.
Instrument binnacle on the fritz - again possible but less likely than the temp sender.
The extra hot exhaust could be that your valve timing is off. Simple enough to adjust up the valve timing.

Working on AvE's Principles Of Troubleshooting:
(1. Do the easiest thing first. 2. Don't rely on the people that tried and failed prior. 3. 90% of problems are between the driver's seat and the steering wheel).
I would be looking to swap out the temperature sensor first as its the cheapest thing to have to replace and may fix your dodgy temp reading.  I'd also replace the sensor earthing terminal.  For the sake of a couple of bucks, its not worth mucking about.  I'd also check/adjust valves.  Even if they end up not needing it, you'll then know when next they need looking at according to the service interval.  If they did need adjusting, you'll have done it.

Parts:
Temperature Sensor 37750-PAC1-005
Cover gasket 12206-LBA2-E00
Earth Terminal 19300-LBA2-E00
I use these guys: https://www.bike-parts-kymco.uk/kymco-motorcycle/500-SCOOTER/XCITING

As Stig suggests, subscribe to Cyclepedia for a full manual.  I did and it was money very well spent.  Saved me a fortune.

Bon Chance