1st the ergos - then the valves - when buying a new scooter

[Stig / Major Tom]

First - does it fit me?
Second - how hard is it to DIY - especially the valves? (if it's a serious contender then I first buy a service manual to study DIY'ing)
Got Dumb Lucky with the LIKE200i!





For the Liberty I did my research by buying a service manual first.




I'm too cheap to pay for a valve check - and too 'something' to ignore them


Stig

[rjs987]

I totally agree with you. That's why I downloaded the service manual for the AK 550 some months ago.
You do know there is a word for that "something" you mention. Is that word in the language filter?

There is one thing you forgot to mention in your list... Parts availability.

Personally I don't really need ready access down the street for any parts for any bike I buy. Just if I can get what I need from... someplace.
My very first bike was Harley Davidson 125 dual sport (actually produced by some Italian company and distributed by AMF). I bought that bike about 10+ years after production had stopped for it. The throttle controls casing broke and I had to push for HD to cast me a new one. Actually surprised they did that but that's what I was told. It was cast aluminum, very brittle. This was also the bike I learned what it meant to own a Harley. The piston had seized and badly scored the cylinder. Spent the Winter months in my one car garage in pieces all over the floor. Re-bored the cylinder double over-sized, replaced the piston with a slightly larger one and replaced the rings. I think that ended up being closer to a 130 cc when I was done with it.

So valve checks are easy as long as I can get to them without totally removing the engine. Any other maintenance I can do as indicated above. Yet I'm a computer tech, but mainly computer hardware tech much more than the OS or other software. Though I can do both and did while in the Navy and ANG as well as my civilian career. It does help to be mechanically inclined also. I sometimes take things apart, repair, and reassemble without the help of manuals. Did that with the Harley. I find it's really not that hard but it is a matter of deciding that you can do it.

[Tromper]

Thanks Stig, I now see some of the allure of your Like.
To do the valves on it's cousin the S200 you have to remove most of the body work.
Not as bad as you'd think, really about 20 minutes extra on the job once you know what you're doing, but still a bit of extra fiddling an access panel could fix.

[Kansas kymco]

Question Stig, have you ever found the valves to be very much out of tolerance?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Thanks Stig, I now see some of the allure of your Like.
To do the valves on it's cousin the S200 you have to remove most of the body work.
Not as bad as you'd think, really about 20 minutes extra on the job once you know what you're doing, but still a bit of extra fiddling an access panel could fix.

The LIKE - yeah, you can actually do it with the seat in place - but I like the extra daylight down there so I take it off.
Just need to undo the 3 screws on the battery cover and 2 screws on the center panel and pop it off carefully. Put a heavy cloth on the battery and go to work!
Stig

[Stig / Major Tom]

Question Stig, have you ever found the valves to be very much out of tolerance?

Sometimes one is a little tight. Well, too tight for my liking.......
"Problems?" : once I tried to set fire to my LIKE by forgetting a paper towel placed to catch oil drips when removing valve cover. A few miles later I smelled something trying to catch fire.
And, on the Liberty - the valve cover gasket slipped out of place when I put the cover back on - and started a small oil leak.
I keep spares of the gasket for both scoots.

One of my hobbies is reading all the excuses that Honda PCx owners give for not ever checking their valves.....a job which requires starting back at the tail light and working forward!

Stig

[Neil955i]

One of my hobbies is reading all the excuses that Honda PCx owners give for not ever checking their valves.....a job which requires starting back at the tail light and working forward!

Stig

... and yet worldwide such a good seller...

[rjs987]

Wait a minute! You have to check the valves on a PCX?!? But it's a HONDA. Those valves are supposed to last forever without ever needing adjusting... right? Like checking the engine coolant in a '68 VW Bug.