Kymco ak 550 battery tender /Oil change question.

[Kahuna_550]

Hello all!

Brand new here, almost at 600 miles and was going to get the first service done at the dealer but the closest one is an hour away, I'll save that for more substantial work. I purchased a KN-164 filter from O'Reilly and purchased 3 quarts of Castrol 10w40 full synthetic 4T oil. Does anyone have a guide or video how to take off that bottom panel enough to reach filter? I know there is floor board screws you need to remove.

Also! Has anyone installed their own battery tender? I purchesd a Noco Genius 1 and pigtail, seen a video in France where the guy has it routed through right glvoe box, how hard would that be? Sorry for the wall of text. Thanks!!

[rjs987]

Welcome here.
I've done both.

I installed, or more correctly replaced the Battery Tender cable my dealer installed for me. It was routed to the right glove box. They drilled a small hole in the very back of the glove box just barely big enough for the SAE connector of the cable to fit through. I replaced the standard Battery Tender cable, which is only 18 ga wire and has a 7.5 amp fuse, with a slightly longer cable that is 16 ga wire and has a 15 amp fuse. It's not hard to do since the battery is just in front of the meter cluster and the glove box is just to one side of that and can be reached from up alongside the right fork (of course you must drill the hole going in through the glove box door with a long drill bit). The bigger wire is needed for 15 amps. My Slime mini compressor must have a 15 amp circuit to work. I have a few adapter extensions that plug into the SAE connector for plugging in a variety of gadgets. I have one that is SAE to standard 12 vdc socket. I have another adapter that is a Battery Tender brand USB connector (to have an extra one since the AK comes standard with one). I also have a 3 ft extension cord that is SAE to SAE and can be used with a SAE gender changer plug. I also carry a SAE to battery terminal clips adapter so I can connect to another battery for a slow charge (definitely not for jump starting since the wire size won't handle that).

I also have changed the oil and filter. The 600 mile oil/filter change did involve dropping just one side of that bottom panel. No need to remove it entirely. Have you seen the video of the gal who did a filter change without moving that panel at all? The 3000 mile oil change is just that... an oil change but not a filter change. This weekend I'll be doing the 6000 mile oil/filter change and I intend to do it this time without removing or dropping any part of that bottom panel. It can be done.

I bought the oil filter wrench that is specifically made for these oil filters to make it easier to do. It's actually a BMW filter wrench since BMW uses the same filters on some of their bikes/scooters.
Here is the link for that tool: https://a.co/d/4tScRPq

I wrote a few posts on doing the first oil/filter change in this forum (and another forum as well). Here is the link to my post and also the next 2 posts for more detail: https://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?topic=31882.msg223614#msg223614

The 2nd post I showed the bottom panel dropped as much as I needed to. But with the new filter wrench I don't think I'll need to do that.

But if you really want to drop that panel I do describe how I did just that in the post I linked to here. I do recommend getting that filter wrench however. It will make taking off and putting on the filter way better. I've used one like that on other bikes but it didn't fit the HF164 filters that are OEM for the AK 550. BTW- I was just reading somewhere recently that HiFlowFiltro makes the K&N oil filters. I'm just sticking with the OEM since those are no different than the KN164 and are good filters besides. I bought a 4 pack of the HR164 filters from Amazon for less per filter than I could find anywhere else.

I'm not familiar with that Castrol oil but I am familiar with the needs for this bike, and other bikes I've owned, that has a wet clutch. That means the clutch uses the same oil reservoir as the engine. Is that Castrol oil JASO MA/MA2 certified? I usually don't give any recommendations about what oil to use other than that if your bike has a wet clutch, like the AK, use ONLY oil that is JASO MA/MA2 certified or rated and says so on the bottle. I've read about too many riders who didn't and eventually, as in before the next oil change, ended up with clutch slipping and other clutch problems. Sometimes requiring some major clutch repairs. I used to use Rotella T6 5W-40 but that has become very hard to find. Now I use Super Tech 4-stroke full synthetic motorcycle oil (the bottle with the sport bike silhouette on it).

Be sure to check out the threads on the AK 550 in the Technical sub forum here. Lots of info on doing stuff on the AK hiding there.

[CROSSBOLT]

Great write-up, RJS!

[Kahuna_550]

Welcome here.
I've done both.

I installed, or more correctly replaced the Battery Tender cable my dealer installed for me. It was routed to the right glove box. They drilled a small hole in the very back of the glove box just barely big enough for the SAE connector of the cable to fit through. I replaced the standard Battery Tender cable, which is only 18 ga wire and has a 7.5 amp fuse, with a slightly longer cable that is 16 ga wire and has a 15 amp fuse. It's not hard to do since the battery is just in front of the meter cluster and the glove box is just to one side of that and can be reached from up alongside the right fork (of course you must drill the hole going in through the glove box door with a long drill bit). The bigger wire is needed for 15 amps. My Slime mini compressor must have a 15 amp circuit to work. I have a few adapter extensions that plug into the SAE connector for plugging in a variety of gadgets. I have one that is SAE to standard 12 vdc socket. I have another adapter that is a Battery Tender brand USB connector (to have an extra one since the AK comes standard with one). I also have a 3 ft extension cord that is SAE to SAE and can be used with a SAE gender changer plug. I also carry a SAE to battery terminal clips adapter so I can connect to another battery for a slow charge (definitely not for jump starting since the wire size won't handle that).

I also have changed the oil and filter. The 600 mile oil/filter change did involve dropping just one side of that bottom panel. No need to remove it entirely. Have you seen the video of the gal who did a filter change without moving that panel at all? The 3000 mile oil change is just that... an oil change but not a filter change. This weekend I'll be doing the 6000 mile oil/filter change and I intend to do it this time without removing or dropping any part of that bottom panel. It can be done.

I bought the oil filter wrench that is specifically made for these oil filters to make it easier to do. It's actually a BMW filter wrench since BMW uses the same filters on some of their bikes/scooters.
Here is the link for that tool: https://a.co/d/4tScRPq

I wrote a few posts on doing the first oil/filter change in this forum (and another forum as well). Here is the link to my post and also the next 2 posts for more detail: https://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?topic=31882.msg223614#msg223614

The 2nd post I showed the bottom panel dropped as much as I needed to. But with the new filter wrench I don't think I'll need to do that.

But if you really want to drop that panel I do describe how I did just that in the post I linked to here. I do recommend getting that filter wrench however. It will make taking off and putting on the filter way better. I've used one like that on other bikes but it didn't fit the HF164 filters that are OEM for the AK 550. BTW- I was just reading somewhere recently that HiFlowFiltro makes the K&N oil filters. I'm just sticking with the OEM since those are no different than the KN164 and are good filters besides. I bought a 4 pack of the HR164 filters from Amazon for less per filter than I could find anywhere else.

I'm not familiar with that Castrol oil but I am familiar with the needs for this bike, and other bikes I've owned, that has a wet clutch. That means the clutch uses the same oil reservoir as the engine. Is that Castrol oil JASO MA/MA2 certified? I usually don't give any recommendations about what oil to use other than that if your bike has a wet clutch, like the AK, use ONLY oil that is JASO MA/MA2 certified or rated and says so on the bottle. I've read about too many riders who didn't and eventually, as in before the next oil change, ended up with clutch slipping and other clutch problems. Sometimes requiring some major clutch repairs. I used to use Rotella T6 5W-40 but that has become very hard to find. Now I use Super Tech 4-stroke full synthetic motorcycle oil (the bottle with the sport bike silhouette on it).

Be sure to check out the threads on the AK 550 in the Technical sub forum here. Lots of info on doing stuff on the AK hiding there.

Wow!! Thanks for the reply and some tips, still new to forum stuff but with the limited knowledge of the AK550 here in the states (and in English) is limited. Checked your post I'll try that route, just enough to drop panel a little. The oil I have does say JASO MA2. It's from O'Reilly, it's Castrol Power 1 full synthetic API SL, JASO MA2 10W40 (Mouthful lol). So should be good? And I'm going with the KN-164 for the socket adapter to make life easier.

Thanks again! I'll tackle both these items this weekend, I'll makes video to throw on YouTube. Adding battery tender becuaee no matter where I leave my key I can still turn on AK in garage, have to hide key upstairs or something. Super range. Is the battery Lithium? Why I went with Norco Genius instead of the normal battery tender Jr.

[rjs987]

Wow!! Thanks for the reply and some tips, still new to forum stuff but with the limited knowledge of the AK550 here in the states (and in English) is limited. Checked your post I'll try that route, just enough to drop panel a little. The oil I have does say JASO MA2. It's from O'Reilly, it's Castrol Power 1 full synthetic API SL, JASO MA2 10W40 (Mouthful lol). So should be good? And I'm going with the KN-164 for the socket adapter to make life easier.

Thanks again! I'll tackle both these items this weekend, I'll makes video to throw on YouTube. Adding battery tender becuaee no matter where I leave my key I can still turn on AK in garage, have to hide key upstairs or something. Super range. Is the battery Lithium? Why I went with Norco Genius instead of the normal battery tender Jr.

That oil should be good then... JASO MA2 is just what you want to see. But per what I have read about K&N filters don't use that nut on the end to put the filter ON. Only to take the filter OFF. K&N has a warning on that and has put out a recall in the past due to the weld at the nut on the filter breaking causing a significant failure of the filter... most often due to using it to install the filter.
This is one reason I just go with the HF164 filters and the wrench since I can use the wrench to put the filter on or off.

The OEM battery is not Lithium but is an AGM lead-acid no maintenance (as in no need to add water) and no leak battery.
When I was still looking and thinking about the AK 550 I visited one dealer in Lafayette where I saw my first AK. I had heard about the long range of the fob to bike reception so I had that dealer assist me with a test. We determined that the range directly to the front of the AK with the fob was just under 50 ft line of sight. I later determined that the range to either side was significantly less. More like almost 10 ft (3 meters), maybe. And behind the bike it was less. That has nothing to do with what the main battery is but just the wireless radio that is in there.

Oh, did you know that like with any automotive keyless start system there is a way to turn on the AK even when the fob battery is dead or missing? Just to test this I took apart one of my fobs and totally removed the circuit board and battery and only used the half of the plastic case that had the foil antenna on it. You can place the embossed AK logo that is on the rubber over cover of the fob (or if that rubber fob cover is removed the part of the fob that has the FCC sticker on it) over the circle emblem etched into the panel just above the right glove box door and the bike will light up and start for you. Even with a dead battery in the fob. I tried this with the fob intact with a good battery in it and the AK remote system knows when the fob is good and won't do anything in that case. I learned this trick with my Rav4 last year that has a remote keyless start. It all has to do with the round antenna sticker that is stuck inside one part of the fob shell.

Another tip. I bought a pair of RFID pouches that the AK 550 fob fits into. When I camp my AK is sometimes only 20 ft from my tent so to prevent someone coming along and taking it out for a ride I put the fob in the pouch. I keep my spare in the storage box under the seat in a RFID pouch.
https://a.co/d/gLi73MV

I also have an emergency seat latch release cable hidden on the AK that allows me to open the seat without turning it on. A post for that is somewhere on the forum in either General or Technical sections. I've done the same with my Burgman 650 previously as has many other Burgman owners.

[Iahawk]

do you guys have a wet clutch on the AK that requires motorcycle specific oil? My Ninja needs motorcycle oil but luckily my scooters have motors that more closely resemble lawn mower engines...

[rjs987]

do you guys have a wet clutch on the AK that requires motorcycle specific oil? My Ninja needs motorcycle oil but luckily my scooters have motors that more closely resemble lawn mower engines...

YES.
It is a wet clutch on the AK 550. Smaller scooters that have the engine on the swing arm usually all have dry clutches that are located at the far end of the drive train. But the AK clutch is right at the output of the CVT (like almost all scooters) but before the final drive train along the swing arm. Engine crank to CVT to Clutch to reduction gear set to swing arm front final drive sprocket. Then belt final drive to rear wheel sprocket. From the output of the reduction gear set back to the rear wheel the AK is like any other big motorcycle that has a belt final drive.

So yes, JASO MA or JASO MA2 oil is needed. The AK motor more closely resembles a motorcycle engine. Wait, it IS an inline twin motorcycle engine (other than the CVT instead of DCT).

[randyo]

from my thread, you know my battery died and the dealer came to pick it up, also doing first service while they have it.  they called again, and asked if I wanted dino or synth, I went with synthetic, but don't know what flavor. Also having them install a pigtail on my battery to come out at one of the glove boxes

[rjs987]

from my thread, you know my battery died and the dealer came to pick it up, also doing first service while they have it.  they called again, and asked if I wanted dino or synth, I went with synthetic, but don't know what flavor. Also having them install a pigtail on my battery to come out at one of the glove boxes

I did see that. Only attempting to provide helpful info for the future.