KymcoForum.com
General => Technical | How To => Topic started by: lars55555 on December 07, 2020, 04:00:20 PM
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Hi guys,
I bought this year (2020) the new Kymco People 125 modell, called "Kymco New People S 125i ABS" and it's this model:
https://www.kymco.de/roller/125-150ccm/new-people-s-125i-abs/ (https://www.kymco.de/roller/125-150ccm/new-people-s-125i-abs/)
Now I am trying to remove the battery (due to Winter time) but I got completely stuck because Kymco has changed the location of the battery with this new model.
Where it was in the previous model below the foot rest and easy accessible by just removing some srews...
In the new 2020 model the battery is behind the front cover (or a part of it) and the manual doesn't tell much about how to access it - it has some low resolution B/W images and only explaining exactly this:
* Remove the screws (1) on the front cover.
* Remove the plastic clip (2).
* Remove the front cover.
Where as the first step seems quite reasonable and the srews could be found quite easily (they are placed on the side facing to the driver on the right side above the ignition and on the left side on the same location opposite) I just failed to do the second step.
I have no idea what this "plastic clip" is, nor where it is located exactly (the (2) is just pointing to somewhere below the right headlight - or not...? the photo has just very poor quality), nor how this "plastic clip" should be removed.
And for the third step there was even no photo to explain how to "remove the front cover"... I assume that with some reasonable force and pulling on the correct places you could remove it.
But because I could only do step 1 I was only trying if the cover would already move a little bit when pulling here and there - but nothing moved and I did not want to use too much force to not break any of these plastic parts...
So, can anybody please explain me what this "plastic clip" (2) in step 2 might be and where it is located exactly and how it can be rmoved?
And maybe also what step 3 actually means (where to pull / push ...)
Thanks for your help - appreciate it,
Lars
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Can you share with us:
your poor resolution manual photos
and a couple photos of this area of your scooter...
Sometimes the Kymco panel clips are opened by sliding the panel, up, down, left or right.
Honda uses clips that pull straight out towards you......but if wrong, this could break a Kymco clip.
Stig
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Ask your dealer!
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Can you share with us:
your poor resolution manual photos
and a couple photos of this area of your scooter...
Hi Stig, thanks for your fast reply... :)
I will upload the photos (especially of my scooter) most likely tomorrow (currently it's in the middle of the night, where I live - Vienna, Austria ;D )
Again, thanks a lot for your help, bye, Lars
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Ask your dealer!
Hi John, yes - I also considered that: if I don't succeed (even with the help of this forum) I will contact my dealer - but first I want to give it a try and check if I can do it myself... :D
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Hi John, yes - I also considered that: if I don't succeed (even with the help of this forum) I will contact my dealer - but first I want to give it a try and check if I can do it myself... :D
I don't blame you....if it was my new scooter I'd want to be able to find my battery, too!
Also, will trade info for Austrian pastry 😊
Stig
Some photos of your city would be great!
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Hi John, yes - I also considered that: if I don't succeed (even with the help of this forum) I will contact my dealer - but first I want to give it a try and check if I can do it myself... :D
You might be able to talk to the dealer for information on access to the battery not necessarily to take it to a dealer to have it done.
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Can you share with us:
your poor resolution manual photos
and a couple photos of this area of your scooter...
[...]
Stig
Hi Stig, again...
I've now taken some photos of my scooter as well of the part of the owner's manual that describes how to open the cover where the battery is beneath it.
When I took the photo of the manual I saw that the "arrow" of step (2) most likely points to the "nose" of this front cover - so the clip is most likely located there.
I also reckognized that when I grab under the front cover in the area of this "nose" that there is also something like a screw (but it seems to made of plastic, not metal) but it has no slits to apply a tool to it and also it would be hard to access because the front wheel blocks it somehow (even when turned fully aside).
So I wonder if this strange plastic part is actually the "plastic clip" the owner's manual is talking about or not...
Maybe the plastic clip is rather something on the outside of the front cover but I have tried to pull here and there and nothing moved...
Still I may have pulled on the wrong thing or in the wrong direction...
Maybe you (or someone else) knows the answer :)
Thanks, Lars
PS: more photos in an extra post...
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more photos...
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Some photos of your city would be great!
Bonus photo for you - Vienna from an office building (Summer 2019 ;D )
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cool! man that would make a great jigsaw puzzle :)
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cool! man that would make a great jigsaw puzzle :)
Sadist! ;)
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@Lars
This plastic might be s clip which is appr. 15 mm in diameter and has an about 5 mm middle bolt. Try to push this bolt about 4 mm into this clip. Then pry this whole clip out and the fairing should come off. At least st LIKEs works in this way.
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This plastic might be s clip which is appr. 15 mm in diameter and has an about 5 mm middle bolt. Try to push this bolt about 4 mm into this clip. Then pry this whole clip out and the fairing should come off. At least st LIKEs works in this way.
Hi Ruffus - THX alot, I'll check it the next time I go to my scooter...
Bye, Lars
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(https://i.postimg.cc/7hHpqgkh/panelrivets.jpg)
Panel nuts/rivets/fasteners come in various forms and are common panel fasteners for motorcycles and scooters.
Of course you pry up, or push in (or unscrew) - the center to unlock the fastener. Locking is the reverse.
Stig
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Hi guys,
I finally got the battery out of my scooter!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D
So: THANKS ALOT to everybody here that helped me with a special thanks @ Stig (his last post helped most)!
I have other things to do right now - but in a soon coming follup post I will explain in all the details what I did and where I struggled and how I finally could open the front cover where the battery sits behind it - so others may have it a little bit easier than me :)
So: see you soon, and thanks again :)
Lars
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OK guys,
that's how I could remove the front cover of my Kymco New People S 125i and then the battery.
- Step 1.a and 1.b - Remove the 2 cross-head / Phillips screws on the left and the right upper side above the ignition and on the opposite side that hold the front cover from the back.
- Step 2 should be to remove the plastic rivet that sits below/under the nose of the front cover. In my case this was not possible, because as soon as I was applying some still reasonable force with a a screw driver to pry it up some plastic parts flew off.
First I thought I broke the front cover or some other valuable part like that - so I immediately stopped. Later I found out it was part of the rivet - and because the rivet broke completely anyways later I could've continued here until this damn thing got off in one piece or not... ;-)
Maybe you have more luck here and get it off without breaking it.
Because I did not know at that moment that I will only break a cheap plastic rivet and was even not sure if this thing is actually the part that holds the nose of front cover to the other structures, I knew I can only continue when I could also see it from the other side - which is the inside of the front cover. So I continued with step 3.
- Step 3.a - Lift the front cover where I have marked it in the corresponding photo on the one hand very carefully but still with enough force that it goes off. You have to balance the force to lift it reasonable - too less and nothing will move, too much and you will break the front cover (where it's visible then) or you will break some grooves or the counterparts that also holds the front cover to the frame where it sits on. Don't forget: these are all quite cheap plastic parts that don't withstand much forces.
Before I could lift the front cover up I had to grab with my finger tips between the groove and the frame where the cover is fixed on. It's a process of getting your finger (tips) between these grooves and lifting/pulling until the front cover springs off.
- Step 3.b - After you have lifted the upper part of the front cover you continue with this grabbing/lifting/pulling process from top to bottom until you reach the nose of the cover. Also here you have to be careful not to break any grooves/rabbets that hold the front cover to the frame. I had to be special careful because the nose was still fixed with the rivet to the frame.
When you reach the nose you have to grab into the groove there and pull down and towards you until the nose gets off. Also here in my case the nose was still fixed with the rivet.
- Step 4 - If you could not remove the plastic rivet in step 2 like me then you might be able to push it out after you can reach inside the now half way removed front cover.
I tried to this with a srew but the inner part of this rivet - the core of it - was somehow bend and when I tried to upright it to get it finally out the whole rivet broke.
No matter - these things are cheap and I will replace it when I install my battery again.
- Step 5 - After the rivet got lost - and maybe in your case unmounted in one piece :D continue again carefully pulling the front cover nose towards you it should finally go off.
- Step 6 - Removing the battery is now easy: Just remove the srews on the battery terminals and then the screws of the plate holding the fuses. Move the fuse plate aside then you can pull the battery towards you.
- Step 7 - When you fix the front cover again on the frame you have to be careful again that
a) All the rabbets/grooves of the cover/frame slide into each other well and nothing breaks here.
b) You don't miss any rabbet/groove to fix - otherwise you will end up with a gap between the cover and the frame where for instance water can get into the front cover. Not good, as there are all these electric parts then.
c) that the holes for the screws (of step 1) in the cover match with the holes in the frame.
I hope my explainations help someone in the same situation :)
See you, bye, Lars
PS: more photos in the follow-up post...
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photos continued...
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photos continued...
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photos continued...
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glad you got it figured out! Like many things on these scoots, the first time takes a looong time to figure it out..but each subsequent time goes much faster.
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glad you got it figured out! Like many things on these scoots, the first time takes a looong time to figure it out..but each subsequent time goes much faster.
Yeah, you're right :)
But one thing I have reckognized as well...
Also Kymco is going the same way as many other manufacturers (and this is not limited to scooters or other vehicles, rather than nearly in all industries) which is: making it for the customer (and still owner of their stuff) less and less possible to maintain, repair, or manipulate by other means their products. Because in my case the revet that fixed the nose was more like a one-time plug-in bolt that should not be removed. And also the front cover itself was made of plastic that would easily break if a little bit too much force is applied to it. Also when I got the thing finally opened I was a little bit concerned if I can close it again with all these fragile rabbets that must fit well.
When I compare this to my previous Kymco model - where I could open such things much more easy (cause standard srews, more flexible plastic or even metal that withstand common force and tool usage)
I think this policy is not only due to limit production costs but also to force the customer to their workshops or authorized contractors.
I had similar issues with my cars - for my first car I could either repair the things myself (as a non mechanic) or -if I was not able to- just hand it over to cheap (non-contractor) car workshops.
With later and more modern cars it got more complicated - even with obvious simple things like changing the light bulb. When I found out how many parts I have to remove to get finally to the headlight and how many strange screw drivers I would need I decided not to do it...
Bye, Lars
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So, in case i got lost..
to sum up....
It is 2 screws, a panel rivet, slip panel up/down and then off.
Then 2 screws holding battery in place?
Seems an unusual place .....with added weight over front tire...but designers may have chosen the best of poor choices?
I don't think manufacturers purposely make it hard for DIY maintenance. But it sure seem that way sometimes!
After some yrs of scooter DIYing...I now research how difficult routine maintenance steps will be...before buying.
It is hard for me to love a "difficult" thing - no matter how lovely it is😊
Stig
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Hi Stig,
to sum up....
It is 2 screws, a panel rivet, slip panel up/down and then off.
Exactly! But the "slipping" part was more like "breaking" the cover out of the frame, 'cause the plastic notches and counterparts that are found on all the edges of the cover resp. frame where sticking together so tight. It was making cracking sounds again and again and I really had to be careful to not actually break some plastic parts or the cover itself.
I think this will get better over time when the cover was mounted / unmounted multiple times - but for the first time it was really a bit difficult to remove the cover without damaging it.
Then 2 screws holding battery in place?
Yes - 2 screws hold the plate with the fuses in place and this plate holds the battery in place.
So in a matter of a crash the whole battery may fly off - still maybe quite a less important thing to concern about after a crash ;D ;D ;D
The other 2 screws just fix the cables to the battery terminals but have no battery holding functionality.
I don't think manufacturers purposely make it hard for DIY maintenance. But it sure seem that way sometimes!
You're right - design and implementation decissions can be judged easily from the "outside" as wrong/bad/cheap/whatever but may look differently when you were involved in the manufacturing processes. :) :)
See you, Lars
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I am glad my battery is under the seat as this would be a painful process every fall to remove battery for storage.
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my motorcycle uses plastic pins (?) to push into rubber grommets for attaching the major side fairings. I've found that lubing the rubber grommets with silicone grease makes removal and re installation much easier. I know our scoots don't have these same attachments but I agree that the more you do it the easier removal will become.
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I am glad my battery is under the seat as this would be a painful process every fall to remove battery for storage.
Hi, mine88...
Yeah - If I had know that beforehand I may have taken this strange battery location into all the considerations of what next scooter I will buy after the previous one died ;-) .
Funny thing is, that this Kymco model has some kind of compartment (that can be removed with screws) under the seat and I thought "ah, that's where the battery is found now" (in my previous model - also a Kymco People 125 - it was under the foot rest). So after I already bought the new scooter from my dealer I asked him if this is the battery location but he said with some smile: "no, it's under the front cover"...
"OK, sh**!", I thought, but nevertheless 'cause I was able to remove the front cover of my previous Kymco (to repair some electrical issue) I thought it shouldn't be that complicated again... :D :D
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lubing the rubber grommets with silicone grease [...]
Good hint - I will also try that in spring and put some silicone grease on the edges of the front cover :)
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Good hint - I will also try that in spring and put some silicone grease on the edges of the front cover :)
There is a popular saga published by Stig a few yrs ago - detailing the fuel pump recall on the (my) Honda Forza NS300.
This affected very few Forzas, but I thought, "What the heck, there is a Honda Power Dealer not far. I'll ride over and have them do the recall."
I rode over in a driving rain. Waited for them to open (first come 1st serv. in the service dept.), turned over my pretty red scooter....and started hitting their coffee machine and magazine rack, after bouncing on every Honda in this big dealership.
As lunch was approaching - I noticed them wheeling an identical Forza off of the floor. A few hours later they called me back to inform me that they had broken the tabs on the rear panel of my scooter, and on the rear tabs of their floor model in trying to put my scooter back together. They were most apologetic. The new fuel pump was installed, and the panel with 2 broken clips was still secure enough for me to ride home.
A couple weeks later they sent their mechanic 40 miles with a new rear panel to install the part on a very, very frigid day in my garage. He had the Honda Serv. Manual and did the panel swap by the book. As he was doing the work he used dabs of silicone grease on each tab!
The Forza is gone - but I still have that prized red beauty of a panel hanging in my bedroom!
(saga copies avail. Amanose. )
Stig
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Thanks a lot for such detailed explanation Lars, I am facing the same issue, I will follow your steps.
I guess one question that naturally follows from all this is that, once you mount back the plastic cover, it is ok to leave fixed only with the screws on the top, and without the bottom rivet.
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I guess one question that naturally follows from all this is that, once you mount back the plastic cover, it is ok to leave fixed only with the screws on the top, and without the bottom rivet.
I can't speak to this particular model but it seems with many of the panels on my scoots I could leave off most, if not all, of the actual fasteners and the panels wouldn't go anywhere. Once they are snapped together the actual fasteners are just there for backup duty.
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You and Ruffus do seem to share an unreasonable joy in disassembling your scooter's plastics :)
It seems ol' kansaskymco might be a member of your strange, but harmless group as well?
:)
Stig
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taking things apart is fun...it's the reassembly that's not so fun! (current view of garage, note Kymco pulled apart, Helix seat off, etc.)
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51824750581_e4e3b31102_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2mXzoNr)Screenshot 2022-01-16 145645 (https://flic.kr/p/2mXzoNr)
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and Stig, I'm honored to be included in the same sentence with Ruffus and Kansas Kymco! I'm just a hack, they're the real deal!
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@Stig, thank you, I think it's in our genes.
You'll see, KK will change his chair into a dragster...and beat all speed records😄
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Nothing but admiration for you guys prepared to tear into your mounts, I'm more inclined to tear around on mine!
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Ha ha, maybe I'm lacking other abilities 😊
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Ha ha, maybe I'm lacking other abilities 😊
I very much doubt that my friend ;)
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Did you work it out ? I have the same problem :-)
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Did you work it out ? I have the same problem :-)
Welcome to the forum Jacky!
Yes he did.
Please read through his posts here.
Stig