2016 K-Pipe 125 Owner

[woodsrat]

It's a really fun motorcycle.  The best part is if a person wants to modify it parts are dirt cheap.  The pit bike boom has brought in a lot of hot rod parts for the horizontal motors that are giveaway priced (relative to everything else on the market) and anyone who can read can work on them.  Hell, I'm not even sure that's a prerequisite.  These little motors put the third world on wheels and anyone can keep them going.

If a person wanted a genuine fire breather without a lot of work there are lots of bolt-in motors available including a four valve, 190cc Daytona that would certainly make the K-Pipe into a Grom eater.

[Buckybuck]

Glad I ran across this forum! I was at a dealer today and looked at the K-Pipe. A couple of questions:

The dealership had three 2016 models on the floor. I asked about the 2017s, and the guy I spoke with said they were available, but the dealership wouldn't be ordering any until all the 2016s were sold. He offered $200 off, bringing it to around $2,000 out the door. Of course I'd like to pay less, but what's a reasonable offer on last year's model?

He said the two clear lights in the tank plastic are running lights. I get the impression from reading the posts here that that's not correct, that they're actually where the turn signals are for the rest of the world. Right or wrong?

Finally, he said the shift pattern is four-down. I questioned that, and judging from what I've read here, that has something to do with a recall? What's the deal, is this bike supposed to have that shift pattern, or does that mean it's an older, pre-recall model?

Would you take it, or instead wait for a 2017 model to become available?

Thanks.

[lilzip24]

Glad I ran across this forum! I was at a dealer today and looked at the K-Pipe. A couple of questions:

The dealership had three 2016 models on the floor. I asked about the 2017s, and the guy I spoke with said they were available, but the dealership wouldn't be ordering any until all the 2016s were sold. He offered $200 off, bringing it to around $2,000 out the door. Of course I'd like to pay less, but what's a reasonable offer on last year's model?

He said the two clear lights in the tank plastic are running lights. I get the impression from reading the posts here that that's not correct, that they're actually where the turn signals are for the rest of the world. Right or wrong?

Finally, he said the shift pattern is four-down. I questioned that, and judging from what I've read here, that has something to do with a recall? What's the deal, is this bike supposed to have that shift pattern, or does that mean it's an older, pre-recall model?

Would you take it, or instead wait for a 2017 model to become available?

Thanks.

Got my 2016 for $1700 out the door, my clear lights have no bulbs and must be converted to Euro Spec (see earlier posts), and my shift pattern in 4 up

[lilzip24]

Man, I don't get on here for a month and this thread blows up haha. Well, I added the Delkevic exhaust as well and it sounds great, although very loud at WOT even with the baffle. Oh well 

I apologize in advance, as I play catch up on some of yall's posts, like the gent with the shop manual PDF and how to take apart the emissions bs

[lilzip24]

The first thing I did when I got it home was remove all the EPA mandated crapola.  While this didn't lighten the bike up all that much or improve it's performance it definitely greatly simplified it and improved it's appearance.  The engine and fuel tank now breath to the atmosphere.

During the break-in process I studied the bike and it's carburetor.  Unfortunately it's another EPA mandated goodie that doesn't allow you to adjust the mixture screw or the carb needle.  After discovering this I installed a Mikuni ($40 from eBay) that I've run on my other horizontal motor bikes removing the extremely restrictive air box in the process.  It now breaths through a K & N although I may end up running a foam element on it.  I also matched the intake manifold to the new carb which required a tiny bit of aluminum to be removed, maybe ten minutes' work.  The jetting is still a work in progress but it's close.  Going with this carb eliminated the cable operated choke.

The stock handlebars were terrible to me with way, way too much sweep back.  I ended up swapping them to a set of generic Honda TRX-450 ATV bars that are a lot more comfortable.

I know it's a tall order, but would you mind doing a write up for the stuff you have done with the emissions, carb modification, ect?

[woodsrat]

...Finally, he said the shift pattern is four-down. I questioned that, and judging from what I've read here, that has something to do with a recall? What's the deal, is this bike supposed to have that shift pattern, or does that mean it's an older, pre-recall model?

It's obviously one of the early K-Pipes that hasn't had the linkage added.  If you can remember to shift it in the proper direction buy it.  The linkage installed for the recall makes it shift very poorly.  The proper fix would be a different shift drum but KYMCO USA went the easy route.

I removed the recall linkage, installed a heel/toe shifter I had in my inventory and found it shifts very well.  Folks that road race or ride old bikes will already be familiar with an all-down pattern.

I myself would still like to know if the bike was properly fixed for 2017 with a different shift drum or if it still uses linkage.


As mentioned if anyone wants the shop manual send me a PM with your email address.


Removing the emission stuff is pretty easy.  The hardest part is making a plate to fit on the head where that chromed pipe was bolted in place.  Basically you just want the engine to vent to the atmosphere and you can do that by running the crankcase vent hose down toward the ground behind the motor.

There's a vacuum line that goes off the intake manifold you'll need to cap off, too.  A short length of hose with a bolt in it over the nipple on the manifold is the easiest way to fix this and could be reversed if you wanted to do so.  Safety wiring this is a good idea.  Alternatively you could remove the intake manifold and seal the hole with JB Weld.

I should have written down the jetting I'm running but I didn't.  I'll get that for you ASAP along with an eBay item number for the Mikuni carb.  At most they're around $40 although I just bought one for $27.  I had to add an adjuster to the carb top which required me to tap the hole in the top (6mm x 1?).  Again I'll measure the adjuster, etc. and get this info to you.

As mentioned I don't trust the vacuum operated petcock under the tank so I bought one on eBay, made an aluminum plate to mount it and swapped it in place.  When you swap carbs you'll lose the carb-mounted petcock.

I'm making all this sound a lot more difficult than it really is.  It's a wonderfully simple bike that invites tinkering.

[woodsrat]

Parts...

22mm Mikuni carb--eBay #332140711759        $29.00 w/free shipping

3/16" in-line petcock--eBay#282313044765    $5.99  Cheaper ones are available but this one is held together with screws instead of rivets.  There are other 3/16" in-line petcocks but not all have a mounting tab.  This one is of decent quality and works well.

Metric 6mm throttle adjuster from Comet Kart Sales (http://www.cometkartsales.com)--$3.00

I'll have the jetting specs in a day or two.

The 22mm Mikunis have a 38mm carb mouth and one of the angled dual layer foam filters from eBay would probably work well and maintain fender clearance.  Currently I have a straight K & N on it and it hasn't hit the fender--YET.   Here's a typical angled foam air cleaner:  #1724409950348  I've seen these on wish.com (a direct-from-China sales site) for $4 a piece in black.  At that price they're hardly worth cleaning!!!

They make a little doober that bolts between the head and intake manifold that allows you to rotate the carb for clearance.  I have one and may give it a try to eliminate the potential for the air filter to hit the fender.

Hopefully I'll have enough throttle cable to try this doober and move the carb to the right a bit.*

[woodsrat]

Something else I noticed when comparing the specs of the K-Pipe motor to the semi-auto Lifan 125's I usually run is that the KYMCO is down a full point on it's compression.  This might explain why it doesn't run quite as well as my Lifan-powered step throughs.

I'll be doing a top end job on my Passport soon and while it's down I'll study the top end and make note of what I find.  Later on when I get bored (NOT!) I may pull the K-Pipe down for comparison.  Is it just the piston that's different?  Or maybe the head?  Won't know until I pop it apart.

[lilzip24]

Awesome! Thank you for sharing your findings

[woodsrat]

*In a post above I mentioned a "doober" (actually called a carb manifold adapter) that would allow you to rotate the intake manifold a bit and eliminate the potential of the fender hitting the aftemarket clamp-on air cleaner.  Mine's not done it (yet) so it may be a redundant worry.

Anyway while I had the carb off to adjust the valves I measured the intake hole on the head.  It's 27mm with bolt spacing of about 45.5mm so if you decide to go with one of these be sure to get one that'll be the right size.  I ordered one up on eBay for $6.98 and it's available in red, gold, blue or black.  It's item #292005196488.  I won't know until it arrives if turning the intake manifold a few degrees will cause the carb to make contact with the body panels or not.  Right now my body panels (with the phony blinkers) are still off the bike.

[woodsrat]

The current jetting I'm running with the aforementioned 22mm Mikuni is:

102.5 main (supposedly the same round main jet as used in the 70's/80's KZ-650)

17.5 pilot

The mixture screw is not quite 1 1/2 turns out from a lightly seated position.

The clip on the slide needle is set on the bottom groove (richest position) and I've added a .022"/.58mm washer to raise it even more.  This is still a work in progress.  It works pretty good but there's an occasional very slight stumble as I first give it throttle to take off.

By the way I'm at around 750' elevation here in the swamps of Indy.

While opening up the carb to get the jetting specs for you the carb float bowl gasket jumped out of it's groove, swollen from the effects of ethanol in our gasoline.  All I can do now is let it dry out so it'll fit again.  Replacements are available for $5.99 plus $2.67 shipping from eBay, item #252424029726.  I just ordered up a couple so whenever I drop the bowl for cleaning or whatever I can install another and let the original dry out.

(Without getting political here ethanol is the worst thing to ever happen to us.  It sucks water out of the atmosphere and takes it to the bottom of your gas tank where it turns into a spooge that rots out metal tanks.  It also swells up and rots anything made of rubber.  The only people benefiting from it are corn farmers and ethanol producers.

End of my anti-ethanol rant and my apologies in advance to anyone who makes a buck off this horrible stuff.  This opinion is based on my personal experience.  Now I'll go find something else to do while my gasket dries out.)

[AMAC1680]

Your ethanol comment worries me.
Agree with you about ethanol, government support to big corn.

But I worry about the quality of the materials in that carb. A motor built today should handle ethanol.
It doesn't eat "all rubber" just cheap rubber.

Something's wrong with the quality in the carb.

AMAC

[woodsrat]

As I sit here about eighteen hours later the float bowl gasket has returned to normal size and I'm getting ready to reassemble it.

A quality problem?  Dunno about that.  I can say that I've ridden with these carbs on my two Lifan powered step throughs thousands of miles over the last six years (over eight thousand on the Passport alone) and they're stone reliable.  There's a distinct possibility that these Mikunis are made in China, not Japan as they came as original equipment on Pitster Pro pit bikes as far back as 2005.  The only time this problem makes itself known is when you pop the bowl off.  Otherwise it doesn't leak and the carb does an excellent job.

Would I prefer the rubber this gasket is made of be of something that can handle ethanol?  You bet.  On the other hand for as inexpensive as they are, the ease of tuning and performance they deliver as mentioned I'll buy an extra gasket and live with the problem.

[souzamoto]

OK, I will settle this whole shifter confusion.
According to my local dealer, the first late 2016's kpipe's came with the 4 down shift pattern. Kymco USA was required to change this to 4 up and did it as a recall. Dealers were sent kits to change it and the balance of the 16's in Kymco warehouse were changed before shipping to the dealers. The Kit was simply a new set of footpegs, shifter and linkage. (The 4 down had the shifter bolted directly to the shift shaft)
There is no difference internally with the shift drum.
CJS

[woodsrat]

And the 2017's???