New Member - North of Boston - 2009 People 50 2-stroke

[Alan F.]

Thanks man, this thing's gonna need a bit of work and some troubleshooting to determine what the previous, previous owner did to it. It's front cover is missing and there are some cut wires, not sure how much is missing until I've got a manual in hand. I found the cover on eBay but it's not cheap. Depending on how the project goes I might pony up for it.


But first I'll continue on the People 50 which just needs maintenance. My drive belt and tire spoons arrived today, no more excuses.

[Stig / Major Tom]

The on-line download manual benefits from nice clear color photos. The b&w photos in the book are not as clear.
Years ago I purchased the life-time download, at a pretty fair price in those days.
One perk is being able to email a tech question & start a service ticket with a tech there at cyclepedia. These guys made the manuals for KymcoUSA. Took apart the scoots, and reassembled them.

Stig

[Alan F.]

I took the drive cover off this afternoon, the mess I felt with my finger turned out to be an abandoned mouse nest. There was quite a bit of junk to clean out of there, but the belt appears to be in solid shape (although age unknown) and the gasket seems more than ok to reuse.
I fought a bit getting the kickstarter spring back into place as the kicker pawl shaft slipped about 1/4" when I popped the cover off, but it's all in place and seems good now. I wish I knew not to remove the kick lever and circlip, too much motorcycle work under my belt I guess, and I could have read the manual too...


Working at floor level is for the birds, my bike table is just a table, not a lift and I'm leery of pushing any bike up a ramp onto a work table with casters.
I think I'll look for a low capacity chainfall, there's a steel beam above my workspace and none of my bikes are above 500lbs fully assembled.

[Stig / Major Tom]

One warm day laying on my comfy foam exercise mat with a roll of paper towels for a pillow....I drifted off with a socket wrench on my chest while doing a belt change.....

Yeah, mice love scooters

Stig

[Alan F.]

I can totally see hat happening to me. I guess i'll push one end of the table against the wall and use the ramp as safely as I can.

[Alan F.]

I've been finding some shop time when possible this weekend, here's my story so far.

Spark plug replaced and oiled air filter replaced. Drive belt cover removed, vacant mouse nest removed. Lubed Kickstart, cleaned and reused gasket. I wanted to change out the drive belt but clutch nut was already stripped & looked like someone tried a crescent wrench, I'll get to it one day who knows when. The existing belt looks OK, and during my test ride I didn't notice any slippage so it'll last until I replace it another day. I swapped out the 2008 front tire, removed the forks and dumped out their oil, I measured 140ml combined. I'll fill each with 100ml of ATF, deglaze the brake disc with brake cleaner and 150 wet/dry and reassemble the front end with new brake pads before bleeding the front brake. Rear tire will be another day, I'll buy an appropriate socket for that big nut, is it 22, 23 or 24mm? I had a hard time trying to get a caliper in there to measure it.
I had a left turn signal indicator bulb out on the dash, turned out the contact wire of the bulb was just bent away from the socket contacts. I love fixing stuff without parts.

[Alan F.]

I bled the old brown brake fluid out as well, I probably had 4 ounces of brown brake fluid in my catch bottle after filling the master cylinder back up 6 or 7 times.
I didn't replace the brake pads yet, not sure where input them actually. But I put all of the plastics back together before calling it a night. The headlight bezel was held in by only one clip and 3 pieces of packing tape. I'll have a look on ebay but I need to expense a few rolls of packing tape for my day job, so it might just get more tape.

[JJJoseph]

Some Kymco parts are better than others: mirrors are a good example.  Kymco mirrors are EXCELLENT because they don't vibrate like the after-market mirrors.  But engine parts like belts and variator weights are generic and easy to find. Carburetors come in many types, Keihin and Kymco carburetors are better than generic brands (which are usually horrible).  Carburetor jets are available all over the place but have to be measured with a micrometer before ordering.  The little 50cc Kymcos are made in China so many parts are generic like brakes, pistons, levers, clutches, etc.  Welcome to the clubhouse!

[Alan F.]

Thanks man.


I actually had a pretty productive day working on this scooter today.
Removed the exhaust and rear wheel, spooned the rear tire off, cleaned up the rim and spooned the new rear tire on. Then off to visit a friend with a compressor. Seating the bead was a chore. The front popped right on throwing soapy water all over both of us, but even with a ratchet strap around it this rear didn't want to seat. Eventually I rotated the tie down so the buckle was centered on the non-seating bead area (both sides same area) and after 4 or 5 more attempts it popped on then aired down to 45psi, I'll leave it at 45 until tomorrow. I'll clean up the rear brakes and reassemble. After that it's a matter of finding the front brake pads I bought and get those installed, then wipe off all of the handprints I left everywhere. Then it'll be time to throw a moped sticker/plate on it. I was hoping to get it done before Spring but I'll settle for done and my daughter can start riding it to work.


Next up I've got a non-running Piaggio LT50 2T very similar to this scoot.

[Alan F.]

Another good day's progress. Rear wheel on and brake adjusted. Exhaust back on. Front brake pads swapped for sintered metallic. And a good wash to get rid of all of the hand prints I'd left everywhere. I've got a few spots where I'm just planning to replace the PO's packing tape to hold stuff where he'd busted all the tabs, mainly the left rear directional and headlight bezel. Then it'll be ready for a test ride, and I need to order some mirrors that won't breath the bank, there are some OK chrome ones in 8mm that seem a bit like 70's stock Honda style. I've found a few references to these online and they seem like a good compromise.

[Alan F.]

Mirrors just arrived, I'll head over to storage to finish this project up, test ride report and photos to come.

[Alan F.]

Well these mirrors may or may not be useful, I mounted them with the stalks pointing left and right, they're just too close to the rider. I'll turn them 45° forward and see if that helps.


Other than that, and a soft front brake lever and a squeak at the caliper... I'd apparently let the pad spring slip and the inner pad was binding on the mounting frame instead of retracting, which was allowing extra piston movement and also binding the wheel. I fixed the caliper and bled out a few more tiny bubbles, then refilled the master cylinder reservoir.


OK time to roll it outside and go for a ride. Nope, not starting. Break out the meter, coil is good, plug cap is good, plug is good... OK it ran for my test ride in January it'll run now right? No spark. While fiddling with it I noticed intermittent spark when fiddling with the kill switch. So a few times off/run while cranking and it starts as if there are no other issues, OK I'll get a can of contact cleaner for next time.
Otherwise it starts and runs, turn signals and hi/lo headlight work, horn I I forgot to try with the engine running, battery was a little low for a beep but cranks the engine quite well....
Other than that I put 2-1/2 miles on it riding around the storage place, it accelerates well, stops well on front or rear brake alone, forks feel plush and rear shock is OK too. Handling is quick with the new tires, I will check pressure with a better quality gauge next time, tire pressure feels high to me.
Dashboard backlights, clock, and gas gauge don't work. I'll check the wiring diagram, maybe they're all on one ground or fuse or some other easy answer. Fingers crossed.


If anyone has that answer please share.


I thought I saw 40mph on the longest straightaway, do I have an unrestricted or modded scoot or is it the tire sizes I'm running? I've got Shinko SR714 80/80-16 front and 90/80-16 rear, I suppose that could be changing the gearing or throwing off the speedometer, or both. I'll have to bring a GPS to verify speedometer[size=78%] [/size]when I take it for a long shakedown ride once it's all legal. All in all another good day.

[Alan F.]

Confirmed 40 on the speedometer was KPH, I passed 40 today buzzing around storage.
Today's progress was cleaning the kill switch, I'll bet the PO stored it with the switch in the off position and the run position contacts oxidized. Spraying contact cleaner in the gaps at the surface between switch and housing then moving the switch a dozen times before spraying again certainly did the trick, it starts 6 times in a row shutting off with the kill switch and back on, I was lucky to get 2 starts in a, row before cleaning. Kick starting is now much easier too.


I planned to readjust those mirrors but didn't. I rode it around storage until fuel ran out, of course at the bottom of a hill. So I pushed it back up the hill, let it cool, and put it away. Grabbed my manual and headed home to have a look at the wiring diagram before delving into the speedometer back light, clock and gas gauge lack of power. Oh and the horn is nonfunctional even with the engine running.

[Alan F.]

Had a few free hours today. I eventually figured out how to remove the rear bodywork without destroying anything, then started tracing wiring. Key on I found +12v at 2 pins of the fuel level sensor. Removed the sensor from the tank and plugged it back in, and now it works???
I reassembled the sensor to the tank then reached into the empty tank with an old motorcycle spoke and was able to move the fuel sensor float while watching the gas gauge move from empty to full, I win.
OK, just a dirty connection probably, there was a lot of road debris all over everything and it was pretty obvious the bodywork had never been off and these connections cleaned. I'll bring dielectric grease with me next time, I only sprayed contact cleaner today.


And it looks from the manual that this dashboard clock might be battery operated, I'll delve into that next time along with the inoperative speedometer back lights and horn.


Also with the rear bodywork off I'm in a very good position to address the left side rear turn signal. Two of its mounting bosses were broken off by the previous owner, it was held on poorly with clear tape and one of its original mounting points. Next time I'll bring Krazy Glue and baking soda and try to repair it from behind.


All in all another good day.

[Alan F.]

Today I used Krazy glue and baking soda to reattach the left rear turn signal to the bodywork, it was holding poorly by one screw but now fits just like it's counterpart. If only the PO hadn't used duct tape and what looks like 5-minute epoxy for the original repair. I was able to remove all of the duct tape adhesive but only some of the 5-minute epoxy. I think it looks presentable.
And again I disassembled the instrument cluster/headlight surrounding bodywork (there must be a name for it) I disconnected/cleaned/reconnected all of the electrical connections there.
I pronounced the dashboard back lights functional after removing the rubber bulb holders from the cluster and cranking the engine, all filaments glowed orange so good enough, they'll be brighter with the engine running.
And I removed the clock battery, I'll pick up another next shop day.
Also I repaired a few cracks here and there before running out of Krazy glue, I'll get more of that for my next shop day too.


That just leaves an inoperable horn to contend with.