NO POWER UPHILL - 2015 Super 8R Road Scooter

[Mr. Paul]

I think the shop is the best option for you, particularly because you do not know the history of the scooter. It is probably better to have them diagnose and repair the problem rather than throwing parts at it. (I have LOTS of experience doing that!) I am sorry I could not be of more help. The internet has its limits. Please let us know if you find out what the problem was so we can all learn from you. 

[dwbaily]

Agree. Will post fix as soon as I get it back. Thanks again. 

[Chris0381]

dwbailey what speed are you presently getting on flat surface? can you mount a GPS and get a speed reading I see your speedometer is not working.

Smooth boss if yours is presently shouldered is essential.

I'd recommend the Malossi Purple contra spring to increase hill climbing speed.

7 gm Dr Pully Sliders would be a good start.

Make sure air in tires is to specs. I put mine a little bit over.

Don't want to sound judgmental but are you a big person (weight on these 49cc matters a lot)? My tool kit alone loses me 1-2 MPH.

[dwbaily]

Thanks for reply Chris! Didn't try gps. Fairly primitive on how to do that. Will Google it. Dropped it off at the shop yesterday so will have to wait til I get it back later in the week.

I weigh 190 so am sure that has a lot to do with it. My son who will be riding it is probably 170ish.

So the 1500 rpm yellow spring would not be the one? The guy at the shop said his mechanic would install what I suggested and see what that did but to not expect much increase in speed. Told him not looking so much for speed but pull up hills. 5mph in a 35/45 speed limit on a hill would get him run over I'm guessing. 

Will call shop this morning and bounce your suggestions off the mechanic and see how he reacts. Thanks again for some more direction. 

[Mr. Paul]

Don't throw parts at it DW. Once the mechanic diagnoses the problem, replace what is needed to fix the issue. I know others may disagree, but I highly recommend replacing with only genuine Kymco OEM parts. The published load limit for that scooter is 330 lbs. per the owners manual, so it should have no problem pulling 200 lbs.  I have included a link below in case you dont have one;

http://www.kymcousa.com/owners/onroad/Super8.pdf

[dwbaily]

Thank you sir for the link and recommendation to not just throw parts at it. Can totally appreciate that. I actually had found that manual but it must be for a 2014 model and mine is a 15. I have the little electronic speedo. Can't find one for a 2015 model. Thanks again for the feedback! 

[Chris0381]

Don't throw parts at it DW. Once the mechanic diagnoses the problem, replace what is needed to fix the issue. I know others may disagree, but I highly recommend replacing with only genuine Kymco OEM parts. The published load limit for that scooter is 330 lbs. per the owners manual, so it should have no problem pulling 200 lbs.  I have included a link below in case you dont have one;

http://www.kymcousa.com/owners/onroad/Super8.pdf

If we dont know what speed you are getting on the flats, we dont know if you bike is de-restricted so we dont know where to start with suggestions.

Are you getting good de-restricted speed on the flats and just real lousy hill performance ?

[dwbaily]

Didn't think about using a GPS to determine speed. It seems to run fine on flat ground. Just bogs down on uphill and creeps. As soon as it crests hill it accelerates and runs fine.

[eamartin]

If it was my scooter I'd want a compression test.

[dwbaily]

So got it back from the shop.  Good news and not sure news.

So he replaced the big spring with a 1500rpm one and said that didn't do anything positive and felt all along it should have been a 1000 rpm one so he changed it to that.  Changed rollers to 3.5g rollers.  Changed the variator boss to a smooth one.  Adjusted the valves.  Removed the restriction washer from the intake tube.  Said compression is fine.  That's all he did.

Results:  A fair amount faster on flat ground.  Took it out on open road with my GPS and it got up to 40 best I could tell so that'll help when traveling in a 45 mph zone as long as a cop doesn't catch it in a radar.  32 mph is NC limit without a license.  I can tell it maintains its speed better uphill but still seems to slow to 15-20 mph which obviously beats 5-10 mph before I took it in.  Maybe that's to be expected being that I weigh 190 lbs.  Son weighs 165-170 so that ought to help some.  It for sure is better though climbing a hill than before.

The not so sure news is that the throttle is not smoothly responsive.  If I open it fully it doesn't bog down but doesn't max out like I expected it would.  Sorta gotta close the throttle a bit to get it to keep accelerating and then not see much difference in wide open throttle if that makes sense.  Was expecting the throttle to gradually increase the speed as I gradually open it on flat ground but that doesn't seem to be the case.  Mechanic advised to not mess with the jets or that I'd be back in there.  I recall reading somewhere where the main jet doesn't actually kick in until the last 1/4 or so of the throttle and that's where I feel like its limited.  Not sure what to do about that unless that's just a characteristic of a 49cc unrestricted scooter.  I assume I've unrestricted it to the extent it can be.  He said a big bore kit would be next if what he did didn't provide the result I was expecting.

Like I say, it does way better on flat ground and a fair amount better on a hill.  Just wondering about the lack of smooth throttle response as I slowly open it up.  Comments/suggestion?  Thanks guys for your advice/direction so far as I try and figure this out.    Will post on general discussion side too and see if any ideas from over there.

[dwbaily]

Well I updated my profile and you can see what I did trying to derestrict it.  Still runs like crap up hill.  Better but chugs bigtime until it gets back to flat ground then takes off. Any suggestions? 

[mclark999]

So got it back from the shop.  Good news and not sure news.

So he replaced the big spring with a 1500rpm one and said that didn't do anything positive and felt all along it should have been a 1000 rpm one so he changed it to that.  Changed rollers to 3.5g rollers.  Changed the variator boss to a smooth one.  Adjusted the valves.  Removed the restriction washer from the intake tube.  Said compression is fine.  That's all he did.

Results:  A fair amount faster on flat ground.  Took it out on open road with my GPS and it got up to 40 best I could tell so that'll help when traveling in a 45 mph zone as long as a cop doesn't catch it in a radar.  32 mph is NC limit without a license.  I can tell it maintains its speed better uphill but still seems to slow to 15-20 mph which obviously beats 5-10 mph before I took it in.  Maybe that's to be expected being that I weigh 190 lbs.  Son weighs 165-170 so that ought to help some.  It for sure is better though climbing a hill than before.

The not so sure news is that the throttle is not smoothly responsive.  If I open it fully it doesn't bog down but doesn't max out like I expected it would.  Sorta gotta close the throttle a bit to get it to keep accelerating and then not see much difference in wide open throttle if that makes sense.  Was expecting the throttle to gradually increase the speed as I gradually open it on flat ground but that doesn't seem to be the case.  Mechanic advised to not mess with the jets or that I'd be back in there.  I recall reading somewhere where the main jet doesn't actually kick in until the last 1/4 or so of the throttle and that's where I feel like its limited.  Not sure what to do about that unless that's just a characteristic of a 49cc unrestricted scooter.  I assume I've unrestricted it to the extent it can be.  He said a big bore kit would be next if what he did didn't provide the result I was expecting.

Like I say, it does way better on flat ground and a fair amount better on a hill.  Just wondering about the lack of smooth throttle response as I slowly open it up.  Comments/suggestion?  Thanks guys for your advice/direction so far as I try and figure this out.    Will post on general discussion side too and see if any ideas from over there.

Because he removed the restriction on the intake, you must increase the jet size at least a little. More air needs more fuel. That's probably why it's not acting up on full throttle.

Regarding the hills, that's probably all the better it's going to go uphill with 190 pounds on it. It will be a little better with a lighter rider on it. My wife has a 50cc Honda and it moves right up the hills with her 135 pounds but slows down quite a bit with my 180.

Even my People 50 with a race pipe slows down quite a bit on hills and it has a lot more power. These little engines just don't make much torque.

[dwbaily]

Thanks for the insight. I messed up on my original comments when I said I had 3.5g rollers installed. Actually had 6.5g ones installed.j

I mentioned the going a bit larger on the jet after removing that restrictor washer and his immediate response was no need. Will bring it up again tomorrow when I take it back. He also said no need to change clutch springs. Have read some threads that some have suggested changing those, too. Hoping he can get it figured out. Son is really struggling on hills with it but will tell him there is only so much you can get out of it. Think he would gladly sacrifice some top end speed for more climbing speed. It'll hit around 40 now on flat ground. Thanks again.

[dwbaily]

Got it back from shop. Pilot jet was clogged and air/fuel mixture needed tweaking. Runs a lot better. Guess am gonna have to accept its just not gonna climb a hill very good unless I tweak the rollers from 6.5g to maybe 6.0?

[AylmerFreerider]

dwbailey did you replace the CDI or remove the Purple wire to remove the rev limiter?