How to

[rperry]

Good morning just found the "Forum" it is a valuable tool for Kymco owners. I am somewhat an odd man out. I am a 72 year old new scooter owner. I was a trained mechanic in early life, but found better paying jobs ?. Surely there is an "A B C" method for altering a scooter.
If you do this the clutch will cut in at lower speed. If you do that you get so and so result ?.
I have a Kymco super 8 / 150 and love to tinker. What approach should i take, yet still retain the reliability of the scooter. Thanks Bob

[sparko]

''What approach should i take, yet still retain the reliability of the scooter? ''

A lot of people here recommend different tires than the Cheng Shin that come stock. That will be my next upgrade. I have very little experience with tires.  But you will find plenty of free advice here. Good luck and welcome to the forum! Pictures are appreciated. And what kind of previous mechanical work did you do? We all like a good story.

[streido]

Welcome aboard Bob, im sure you will soon find there are folk of all ages on here and from all continents too. In the time i've been a member I have learned so much from reading old posts and getting help and advice from others here, its a pretty good forum with loads of people ready to help out if you need it.

Unfortunately I dont own a Super8 so cant help you on this one but im sure someone will come along soon and advise you.

In the meantime you could read up by typing "de-restrict super 8" search tab and you should find some info there. Seeing as your mechanical minded you should have no bother doing work on your scooter, they are pretty basic once you get your head round how they work.

Good luck.

[juice]

I was not aware that a super 8 150 was in any way restricted . I think Bob is looking for performance modifications . Maybe some variator tuning would help but I think the super 8 150 is a 4 stroke so any other performance modifications would probably affect the reliability . Good luck .

[Hoolander2]

Yep, welcome!  And yes, CVT tuning -- that would include variator, clutch, and, if necessary, belt would probably be the route to go.  There are a thousand nuances in all of that but some basics are:

Lighter weights in the variator give pepier low end acceleration, but perhaps cut into your top end.  Heavier weights do the opposite.

Stiffer clutch springs (on the shoes) make the clutch grab at a higher rpm, therefore give a more thrilling take off from a dead stop.  One must be willing to twist the throttle aggressively to take advantage of that.

A stiffer torque spring (that's the big one behind the clutch) will hold the motor in a higher rpm band in relation to the rear wheel longer.  That's usually a help to "peaky" two stroke engines. 

Belt length may need to be taken into consideration when doing some of these if either pulley is held in a significantly more narrow state.  You can get away with stock length belt if your mods are relatively mild.

Whole aftermarket variators and clutches are available for some models, some are nice and some not so nice.  You may still wind up tuning them even so. Ask around here and elsewhere about the potential quality of anything you might be shopping for.


My first mod was variator weights.  I went a gram heavier to try and get more top end and mileage out of my Xciting 500.  Since then, I've bought a Dr. Pulley clutch which is nice and tuneable. 

Remember there will be a learning experience as you go and of course, there are exceptions to every rule.    Welcome rperry!

 

[rperry]

Thanks i think Hoolander2 has answered many of my basic questions. My clutch seems to engage at too high rpm's. I was looking for a more gentle hook up.
Someone had asked what kind of a wrench twister i was. I worked for a quarry on all running and fixed equipment. Face shovels, haul eqip etc. Bob

[Hoolander2]

I use a simple old T-handle brake spring tool to put clutch springs on and off.  Shopped around a while before finally finding one at a NAPA store.  A little pocket screwdriver is helpful too.  There's hundreds of posts all over this board about working on clutches, variators and all.  I learned a lot by reading here before trying anything myself.  Especially the ZX 50 and other small scoot sections.  You'll need a clutch compressor or some good clamps to disassemble a clutch.  Also a few good sized wrenches. 

A service manual will help you get started so try to find one -- online perhaps. 

Here's some pictures I took while messing with my CVT one day.  http://www.kymcoforum.com/index.php?topic=3814.0

[teknik1200]

check out the super 8 thread in the video section.  the owner goes through some basic mods he adds to a stock super 8.   It's a great thread.

[streido]

You can easily take your clutch apart with a metal band type oil filter removal tool and a big shifting spanner if you need to tune it. Thats what I use and its very quick and easy to do. Theres a vid from youtube somewhere on the forum, or on youtube, showing how to do it. The guy in the vid uses a vice to hold it but I found I can do it without any trouble on mine without the vice. You dont even need a compression tool, just stand your 2 feet either side of the big nut on the clutch once you get it started, your weight is enough to hold it down, then let it up gently. Just do the reverse to re-install the nut when your finished, pretty easy. I also maked my nut before I removed it with a marker so I knew when I had it retightened up it was at the same torque.