Just bought People 250 S

[fshfindr]

My back aches, my shoulders, lower back, everything hurts...

I seem to be talking to myself in this thread.
[/quote]
Keep going Axy, I'm following along.

[axy]

Keep going Axy, I'm following along.

In Germany your yeary car insurance depends on the number of covered kilometers. For example, a package includes 20,000 kms, and if you exceed it, you have to pay for additional 5,000 km increments.

A friend of mine lives there and after reading my last message here, he said he would be LUCKY if his BMW had this kind of malfunction...

[wordslinger]

In Germany your yeary car insurance depends on the number of covered kilometers. For example, a package includes 20,000 kms, and if you exceed it, you have to pay for additional 5,000 km increments.


..it must suck to be there...

[axy]

Another spring, another day-and-a-half of me serving the scooters after one year of (ab)use. No problems for the past 12 months except tacho line that snapped on Agility and was replaced two months ago along with brake fluid.

People 250S: 20.000 kms, 3 years 3 months old
Agility 125: 31.000 kms,  4 years 3 months old

Yesterday evening I have changed engine oil in both scoots and transmission oil in both scoots. Everything went smoothly.

Today I was working on scoots from 11am-5pm. I work in the office so I am quite not accustomed to physical work so now I am dead tired with sore-everything.

People:change of air filter (I used the same filter for the past 20.000 kms, just washed it with gasoline every 6.000 kms), change of spark plug (I change it every 10.000 kms), disassembled shields, cleaned rust and painted exhaust can, greased all joints, applied plastic "renewer" on black plastic parts

Agility: change of spark plug, disassembled shields, cleaned rust and painted exhaust can, greased all joints, applied plastic "renewer" on black plastic parts, change of front brake pads (OEM pads were half way through after 31.000 kms (!) but I changed them nevertheless).

I will post some pics now.

[axy]

Here is what People's air filter looks like after 20.000 kms and 3 times being washed in gasoline.
Also, a picture of 10.000 kms worth of driving on spark plugs (Agility&People). They are both in good shape.
It takes a circus rubber-man to change spark plug, especially on Agility.

[axy]

Of course, one of the bolts holding on small metallic shield on the exhaust pipe snapped.
Almost all bolts and screws on Kymcos that are around exhaust are made of cheapest metal possible. After just a few months they are all rusty and almost unrecognizable.
I could not remove the remaining thread so I have resorted to use of two-component glue to hold the shield in place. Obviously I will not remove it so easy next time.

[axy]

Here is what the exhaust cans look like after a year. They are cleaned and repainted every year in the spring. In fact, they are in good shape, there is some rust at the very top of both cans, but bodies are in great shape.

[axy]

Here they are after being cleaned and resprayed a few times. I have just barely put back on the shields because bolts are completely distorted. Next year I will have to buy new bolts/screws and hex nuts.

[axy]

Finally, I have changed pads on Kymco's front brake the first time in 31.000 kms. They were still with some meat on!

The new pads are EBC with some kevlar in them...

You will see in the picture a useful tool used to make the gap between pistons and calipers bigger when installing new pads. I paid it a few EUR 10 years ago on louis.de webshop and they saved my life a few times. You will often hear forum stories about using two screwdrivers to make the gap bigger (also to block pulley when changing the CVT belt - tried it and snapped the pulley). I would like to see those people offering advices to do that in real life with two screwdrivers. It would maybe work if one had completely fixed calipers and 1 m long screwdrivers.

[gregspeople250]

Thank you for the detailed write up with photos, Axy.  I've been following the Service Manual for maintenance frequency and it seems a little often on some things like spark plug and air filter.  Your information supports the questioning of frequency since you're getting good service over longer periods.  I have a 2006 People 250 in California where it hasn't been wet yet.  I just had to replace the original battery and there appears to be a problem with the rear brake light switch.  Twice the engine wouldn't turn over when I held the rear brake handle, but did when I held the front brake handle.  The brake light works...  I'm unable to find the brake handle switch symbol in the manual to see if it's a double pole single throw switch.  This would allow it to turn on the brake light but not start the engine when it fails.
If you replace the badly rusted bolts with stainless steel and use a good anti-seeze compound you could save yourself some heartburn on those exhaust fasteners.  These can help on brake fasteners as well.  Brake parts get quite hot too.

[axy]

Thank you for the detailed write up with photos, Axy.  I've been following the Service Manual for maintenance frequency and it seems a little often on some things like spark plug and air filter.  Your information supports the questioning of frequency since you're getting good service over longer periods.  I have a 2006 People 250 in California where it hasn't been wet yet.  I just had to replace the original battery and there appears to be a problem with the rear brake light switch.  Twice the engine wouldn't turn over when I held the rear brake handle, but did when I held the front brake handle.  The brake light works...  I'm unable to find the brake handle switch symbol in the manual to see if it's a double pole single throw switch.  This would allow it to turn on the brake light but not start the engine when it fails.

I've had a similar problem years ago with my Beverly 200. It was a faulty micro-switch behind the brake lever and it was replaced by Piaggio under warranty.

Also, both Kymcos still have original battery.

[ispud]

wonder why my front brake pads went so fast (at 7500 miles) on one side and not the other??  Ones on the right went first, ones on the left still look good as do the back ones.  Love my PS250 - good mileage - great power - handles well - looks awesome (red of course) -and not much goes wrong (knocking wood)

>>

[axy]

I have never brought up this issue, but I think there is something wrong with construction of P250S's front brakes.
Front end of my scoot from day one tends to slide violently to one side when breaking hard.
I got used to it but it is downright dangerous, especially when it's wet.
As I said, it has nothing to do with aging brake fluid, dirt or stuck calipers. All checked.

I really dislike poor built quality, uneven front brakes and bottoming out suspension.

[zombie]

WOW! What a thread. The pulling to one side is an alignment issue with the Rear wheel. You most likely have a worn bushing in the engine mount. Since it has done this from day one I suspect something more. Maybe a miss aligned frame. To verify use one of those Laser pens mounted to a board. You can site it across the rear tire facing forward. You will see the dot on the edge of the tire. Line it up like a string so you see it on the rear of the tire, and the forward part of the tire. If the scoot is straight it will also show on the front tire in the same two places.
Thoses broken finns... Did you but a new fan? Epoxy will fail, and those bits will jam something up!
The brake screws... They had to strip going in at the plant (new guy?) I'd use a proper tap, and re do the threads inside the fork. New bolts, and Lok Tite. (blue)
The muffler... Use a Left hand twist drill bit to remove the broken stud. A propane torch will give it enough heat to spin out. You will have to run a tap in that as well.
The speedo... It is a magnet spinning on the end of the cable. The magnet spins inside a steel cup that drives the needle, and clock. The cup may be surface rusted, or any strong electrical current will draw down the magnet if it is placed close enough to the magnet. (hand warmers maybe)?
Pluss you keep your scoot outside near the shore all year. Salt air is a bitch on Chineese re cycled metals...

[axy]

WOW! What a thread. The pulling to one side is an alignment issue with the Rear wheel. You most likely have a worn bushing in the engine mount. Since it has done this from day one I suspect something more. Maybe a miss aligned frame. To verify use one of those Laser pens mounted to a board. You can site it across the rear tire facing forward. You will see the dot on the edge of the tire. Line it up like a string so you see it on the rear of the tire, and the forward part of the tire. If the scoot is straight it will also show on the front tire in the same two places.
Thoses broken finns... Did you but a new fan? Epoxy will fail, and those bits will jam something up!
The brake screws... They had to strip going in at the plant (new guy?) I'd use a proper tap, and re do the threads inside the fork. New bolts, and Lok Tite. (blue)
The muffler... Use a Left hand twist drill bit to remove the broken stud. A propane torch will give it enough heat to spin out. You will have to run a tap in that as well.
The speedo... It is a magnet spinning on the end of the cable. The magnet spins inside a steel cup that drives the needle, and clock. The cup may be surface rusted, or any strong electrical current will draw down the magnet if it is placed close enough to the magnet. (hand warmers maybe)?
Pluss you keep your scoot outside near the shore all year. Salt air is a bitch on Chineese re cycled metals...

As you probably saw, this is a "diary" of the past 3.5 years, so most issues were fixed.
Frame is OK, it still pulls ONLY WHEN BRAKING HEAVILY using front brake. Does not pull, but the wheel tends to slide a bit to one side.
No salt. I live close to the sea but not near the shore. I live 13 kms fromt he sea and work 500 m from the sea, but no salt anywhere in the story.
Thanks for the advice anyway.