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Well, for the third time since I bought my Like, I have to take it back to the shop to get warranty work done.  This time my muffler is cracked.  I rode today for the first time in about a week and I noticed some sounds I had not heard before, and the exhaust sounded slightly different.  So, upon closer inspection this is what I found;





So, tomorrow I'll be going to the shop to see if they can order a new exhaust under warranty for my Like.  Hopefully they will allow me to continue to ride it until the exhaust comes in.  The next 5 days are supposed to be clear and in the 70s.  It's crazy because school was delayed today due to ice on the roads!!  Texas weather is crazy like that. 



So, to recap: 

1st trip to the shop was to replace a defective throttle cable at about 1500 miles. 

2nd trip to the shop was to diagnose bad hesitation and a check engine light.

3rd trip to the shop was to actually fix the hesitation and check engine light instead of just clear the code. 

4th trip will be to get the exhaust replaced. 




For any new people reading this thread, my experience with the Like 200i is NOT the typical experience.  I have had more problems with mine than anyone else.  I also ride my Like harder than anyone on here, so having more problems is expected. 

Amazingly, the over-rev light did not come on! 

There's a small (maybe 1/8th of a mile long) but steep hill near where I live that has been my "top speed test" area and this is the first day that I have actually been able to keep it held wide open till the bottom.  Usually traffic stops me but not today.  So at the bottom of the hill the speedometer registered 70 mph!  This is with the air box mods, plus 1 size rear tire, and 12.5 gram roller weights.  I was in a full tuck too.

"Buy a bigger scooter"

"A scooter with 12" wheels wasn't designed to do that"

"It can't be done so why try?"



Those of us that are looking for a few more mph on the top end have heard it all.  Some maybe deterred from trying to reach a new goal because of the insurmountable odds.  But don't be discouraged!!  I'm creating this thread so that we as a community can share info with each other in an attempt to gain a few more mph of top speed. 

Personally, I don't ride my scooter at top speed all the time but there are times when I have to ride on major highways so having that little extra would be nice.  For the most part though, I would like to get a little extra MPG out of my Like, and if I can gain a few more MPH in the process then that's even better. 


So, here is what we know.  100% bone stock, a Like 200i has a top speed of right at 60 mph (level ground, no tailwind). 


The modifications that most of us have heard about is removing the intake restriction at the inlet of the air box.  I did that modification and gained just shy of 1 extra mph of top speed.  So I took the air box lid off and removed the cover over the air inlet.  Both of those combined was enough to put the top speed right at 61 mph. 

Just today I ventured into the realm of replacing the rear tire with a larger one.  I replaced the stock 130/70/12 with a 140/70/12.  This new tire is 10mm wider and about 14mm taller overall than the stock tire.  It is a Michelin Pilot Sport.  I found it on Ebay for $50 shipped to my house and the local Kymco dealer installed it for $37.  So after the tire install, I went out on a test loop and found to have a new top speed of 62 mph on level ground with no tailwind.  Just to make sure the road was level, I road the other way on it and still came out to have a top speed of 62 mph. 





I believe the exhaust to be a pretty big restriction at this point.  This tire should have given a full extra 2 mph, but with wind resistance being so great at this speed, the tiny exhaust outlet is really restricting this motor.  However, before I move on to try an exhaust system out, I am going to be experimenting with new rollers to see if I can get another mph out of it first. 


Ohh, I almost forgot.  Weather plays a role in your top speed.  The hotter it is, the lower the power output of the motor.  The higher the altitude is the lower your top speed will be as well.  So, during today's testing, the outside air temperature was at 93 degrees with 55% relative humidity, 74 degree dew point making it feel like 103 degrees.  It's hot!!  The city where I live is also at 470 feet elevation so that shouldn't effect the top speed any.   

I went riding into town yesterday morning to get a new tire installed.  Halfway there I realized I had left one of my saddle bags opened, so I pulled off at a gas station to close it.  When I got back on and went to leave, I hit the gas and the scooter barely moved whereas normally it would leave at a normal pace.  Since this was during rush hour traffic, I had to get on the gas though and I quickly noticed that the clutch was slipping much more than usual.  Typically, the clutch is fully engaged by the time the scooter hits around 7 mph, but this time the clutch finally fully grabbed at 15 mph, and it seemed as though the engine was revving up slightly higher than normal.  When I had left my house just 5 miles earlier, the scooter behaved as normal.  Could this be caused by a clutch spring breaking?  Beyond that, it ran fine accept for a slight reduction in top speed from 61 mph on level ground down to about 59 mph. 

I have also recently noticed that my rear brake is bleeding down over a long period of time.  It must have an internal leak because over a period of the scooter sitting for a couple of days, I can grab the rear brake and the handle will almost touch the hand grip before there is resistance.  The next time you hit the rear brake the feel is normal.  There are no outside fluid leaks either. 

So I called up the closest dealer to me (30 miles away) and they told me to bring it in.  So hopefully by this next week I'll have an idea of what is going on with it. 

Alright y'all (sorry as I am a Texan), what is a realistic way to improve the top end speed on our Like 200i scoots? 

Personally, I'd like for it to have a top speed of about 70 mph, so that I can cruise at 60 without being at full throttle.  I understand that in theory we can tune the CVT, but realistically, how much will that improve the top speed? 

What about the exhaust?  The exhaust outlet is the same size on our 163cc engine as it is on my brother's 80cc Honda Elite!!  That has to be restricting the flow.  So, what Kymco scoot has a VERY similar engine layout as our Like?  I'd like to get a pipe from a different scoot, then add an oxygen sensor bung to it so I could then use it on our scoot.  Find someone that has the handheld computer to plug into the scoot and add a little fuel to the mix.  That should be good for a few miles per hour but then I might be dealing with hitting the rev limiter. 

So how do we go about getting useable and big improvements in top end speed?

Good day all!  Having been in the military several years ago, I have always wanted to build some kind of tribute to the military.  After stumbling across this picture, I decided on what I was going to do. 




After doing some research, I found how I am going to do this.  I am going to be taking all the body panels off, then painting each one with white Plastidip spray paint.  This is the same paint that people use to put on handles on their tools so that their hands don't slip off.  The great thing about this paint is that you do not need to sand down the original body panels.  If at any time you want to return back to the original color, you can just peel it off.  The Plastidip actually protects the original paint. 

So after I paint everything white, I'll be taping off the white star along with a few other things (I'm not going to be putting the MP on it).  I'm then going to be painting over the white Plastidip with normal Olive Drab spray paint.  Then I'll go back and take off the tape and the white star will show. 

Later on I will be adding a CB radio to the scoot with a large antenna mounted to the back rack.  This should finish the military theme.  I'll be updating this thread in the weeks to come to show the progress. 

A couple of days ago I installed an air horn on my Like since the stock horn is VERY anemic! 

Here is what the stock horn sounds like;

http://s8.photobucket.com/user/91CavGT/media/KymcoLike200i007_zps622468a7.mp4.html



Here is what the air horn sounds like;

http://s8.photobucket.com/user/91CavGT/media/KymcoLike200i019_zpsea2ae992.mp4.html


All told I have about $20 tops invested in this and I think it is a VERY good upgrade.  I passed a couple of dogs on the side of the road today, so I honked the air horns at them and they immediately jumped and looked in my direction.  There's no way that would have happened with the stock horn!

I've looked around but have not found an exhaust for my Like.  Does anyone know if there is one made?

My goal is to lessen the backpressure in the exhaust, possibly giving a bit more power if I can find a shop to plug in to the computer and add some fuel, but also to make the scooter louder so it's easier for people to "see" me.  I took my motorcycle riding test today and saw that the Honda Rebel 250 has dual exhaust (125cc per pipe) and the pipes on it are bigger than what is on the Like even though the Like has a bigger engine.  I'm sure the smaller exhaust is to provide better mid range power, but I'd be willing to sacrifice a bit of mid range power for more top end since that's where the motor will be running at most times. 

If one is not made, does anyone know where I can find a stock exhaust so I could modify it?