My 2008 Kymco Grand Vista 250cc

[Hueffenhardt]

I want to introduce myself and my used (new to me) scooter. I also have a few questions. I am new to riding scooters and motorcycles. I attended motorcycle training on March 15 & 16 and got the motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license on March 17. (In Colorado, scooters of at least 250cc are treated like street legal motorcycles and drivers need an endorsement). I bought my GV from a private seller I found on Craigslist on March 22 for $1700. He was selling it because it belonged to his wife and she had passed away.

He was claiming the scooter had 4600 miles on it, and the odometer said 4600. When I first started driving it around I thought the speedometer was way off. I knew Kymco's tend to overstate the speed by 10%, but this was much worse than that. After I got home I realized that the display was showing km/h, so I switched it over to mph, and it is now much closer, just the 10% off. Just today I relooked at the odometer and sure enough it had been in kilometers when the seller showed it to me. It turns out the scooter only has 2969 miles on it. The GV is in great shape and runs well. I use it to commute to work everyday (10.5 miles round trip).

Anyway, I washed the GV today and decided to take some pictures. I checked the tire pressure and I noticed a number of cracks in the tires close to the rim that I had not seen before. They concern me, so I am going to put some new tires on. Take a look and tell me what you think. The tires are 6 years old so may be drying out due to old age, the tread is great. Also, above the muffler behind the flaring I saw maybe a drain tube as it isn't connected to anything, but the end is ripped up. Should that be any cause for concern? I'd be interested in any other observations you have from looking at the pictures.

Here is a close up of the front tire & drain tube:

[Hueffenhardt]

More pics:

[Hueffenhardt]

More pics:

[Hueffenhardt]

One more:

[MaryK]

Yes, I would be concerned if I  had cracks in the 6 yr old tires.  Did you check the DOT date ?  The tires may be older than the scooter.
The same situation with my 2009 GV 250, so I had Avon tires installed last month. 
Had a hard time finding garage with a balance machine with a spindle small enough for the front tire  (about 0.5")
Avons look ok but not my favorite, but not a lot of choice for the front size.  I think Michlins were my 1st choice.

The tube.  Not sure about yours, but the Air box has a drain tube near the front bottom.  It has a plug that you remove to drain the condensation out of the air box.  The air box is connected to the rear gear box and the engine by small tubes so that any oil vapors from them are sucked into the air box and into the engine for combustion.  So, 3 small tube and the large one to connect to the carb inlet.

Scoot safely,

[Hueffenhardt]

Thanks, MaryK.

[mrbios]

... I noticed a number of cracks in the tires close to the rim that I had not seen before. They concern me, so I am going to put some new tires on. ...

When I got my 2005 GV in 2011 my tires had the same cracks in the same place, and same age.  I road it like that and put the avon Viper Strikes on at 8K miles.  Ideally they should be changed but because tires are constructed with plies it is not likely that they will suddenly fail.  I like to make sure everything else is good and put off what I can before changing the tires.  In my case the scoot only had 2,600 miles on it.

[Hueffenhardt]

When I got my 2005 GV in 2011 my tires had the same cracks in the same place, and same age.  I road it like that and put the avon Viper Strikes on at 8K miles.  Ideally they should be changed but because tires are constructed with plies it is not likely that they will suddenly fail.  I like to make sure everything else is good and put off what I can before changing the tires.  In my case the scoot only had 2,600 miles on it.

I decided to not ride it like that, so it is at the shop getting new tires. I am willing to do a lot of repairs and maintenance myself, but I am not daring enough to replace the tires myself.

[Vivo]

Cracked tires mean they have dried out... dry tires have lost it's flexibility and may perform bad on wet surfaces...  It can still give you many miles but it's not that safe insofar as traction is concerned...

[Vivo]

[Hueffenhardt]

For those of you who have replaced the rear tire. I can see from the service manual that the exhaust has to be removed. I am curious whether the gear oil or brake fluid has to be replaced, too. Or, can it be done without messing with those fluids?

[Hueffenhardt]

Thank you, mrbios. I had my GV in the shop replacing the tires when I wrote that post. The reason I was asking whether the gear oil or brake fluid had to be changed when one changed the rear tire was because I am planning on changing out the gear oil, but if the shop already had to do it as part of the tire change, then I wouldn't do it now and I'd just make a note of it.

Thank you again for typing in your experience with changing the rear tire as I am sure that it will come in handy down the road.

[windwheeler]

first:  Mr. Huffenhardt, welcome!  (PS: I didn't get any notification when you started the thread, sorry).

second: mrbios: questions: 

-- what bothers you on the rear caliper?  It hasn't given me any troubles, may be unusual, and so be it if it works...  right?
-- I have had so far 5 rear tire changes on two G/V's that I own(ed), and only ONE gave me a rusty fight to get the rear wheel off.  After that I treated the spline with that silver anti-seize, and never had a problem afterwards.  I don't think "grease" is the right solution, you need to put "anti seize"  on it (on all what tries to seize) as it also has rust inhibitors.
-- the exhaust and frame plate are a bit a headache to line up, but with a sturdy screw driver or anything similar (e.g I use  a punch in the right diameter) I put it into one of the threaded bolt holes and pull it where the most misaligned hole takes a bolt.  After that it is easy...  never takes me more than max. 5-10 minutes  to line all holes up and have all bolts back in it.  DO NOT TIGHTEN ANY OF THE BOLTS until all are in..!  THAT is important!

 

[mrbios]

"anti seize"  on it (on all what tries to seize) as it also has rust inhibitors.

I use anti seize too but I think grease would stay in place given how tight the wheel is installed and I figured it was more likely that other owners would have it.  How many people are willing to drive to the store to buy anit-seize?

My first tire change in 2012 the tire was original and the spine rusted - it was so difficult to remove I almost thought it was pressed on.