KymcoForum.com
General => Kymco News => Topic started by: BettinANDlosing on August 07, 2014, 07:41:13 PM
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I eMailed my rep at Kymco USA today about the 2015 lineup, got this response:
The only models for 2015 that we can confirm are the Super 8 R's, X's and
the K-Pipe Motorcycle which is a 125cc. Other 2 wheel models are being
evaluated with what will fit the American Market. No other juicy details are
available at this time.
More details to come later in the year I guess, it is however awesome to see them giving the small 125cc Honda Grom some competition with the K-Pipe, I think it will be a cool little bike. I'll keep everyone posted once I get more info.
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Now i heard from kymcousa that they're discontinuing the Super 8...I hope your information is correct
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I think they will still have the super 8, one of the better selling 150's. But I don't have high hopes about their decision making seeing how they discontinued the best 50 and 150 they every made the People.....
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Now i heard from kymcousa that they're discontinuing the Super 8...I hope your information is correct
I would think it would be difficult for them to do so , since they are used as pit vehicles at NRSA (?) .
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I eMailed my rep at Kymco USA today about the 2015 lineup, got this response:
Thanks for sharing and keeping us in the loop. Appreciated.
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Our Kymco West coast rep stopped by today, talked about what's happening next year. I still think it's cool we're getting the K-Pipe 125 but it's a little behind the curve seeing that the Grom came out early this year and pretty much everyone that wants a bike like that already has a Grom..... Anyway for 2015 they WILL have Super 8 50cc with at 4t engine and a 150cc version. The 50cc will be offered in two trims, on road and a ruckus/zuma style "off road" scooter with knobly tires and even a cammo paint job hahahah. Anyway, thats about all the news for now. This may just be our local market, but new scooters are NOT SELLING WORTH A sh**. So I'm sure Kymco USA is feeling this pressure and responding by thinning down their lineup and trying to narrow down the market to what people want. They are always late to the draw, IMHO they need to hire someone that is seriously deep in the scooter scene to figure out what will sell rather than winging it seemingly. Cheers and happy scootin' from the beautiful Pacific NW.
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Our Kymco West coast rep stopped by today, talked about what's happening next year. I still think it's cool we're getting the K-Pipe 125 but it's a little behind the curve seeing that the Grom came out early this year and pretty much everyone that wants a bike like that already has a Grom..... Anyway for 2015 they WILL have Super 8 50cc with at 4t engine and a 150cc version. The 50cc will be offered in two trims, on road and a ruckus/zuma style "off road" scooter with knobly tires and even a cammo paint job hahahah. Anyway, thats about all the news for now. This may just be our local market, but new scooters are NOT SELLING WORTH A sh**. So I'm sure Kymco USA is feeling this pressure and responding by thinning down their lineup and trying to narrow down the market to what people want. They are always late to the draw, IMHO they need to hire someone that is seriously deep in the scooter scene to figure out what will sell rather than winging it seemingly. Cheers and happy scootin' from the beautiful Pacific NW.
Narrow the line down , BUT- BRING IN THE Xciting 400i !!
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Narrow the line down , BUT- BRING IN THE Xciting 400i !!
I'll second that. I want that scooter!
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I would love to see a People GTi 400....
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Oooooh i had to chime in on this one!!!! Its shocking theyre bringing the K-Pipe here!! Thats a very cool looking bike. And someone was talking about the grom, and i just wanted to say that the other day, i seen either a prototype grom or the newly designed grom, looked so freakin badash!!!! But anyway, i'll tell ya, i really wish theyd bring over either the agility rs 125 naked 4t or the agility 16+ 200i. Both look amazing to me!! Especially the naked rs 125!
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Definite "NO" on the X-Citing 400i ... :'( :'( :'( :'(
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I would think it would be difficult for them to do so , since they are used as pit vehicles at NRSA (?) .
Your right about this. I have been to a couple of drag racing events myself and I know the racers love riding the scooters around the track. Just ask legendary race car driver John Force how he feels about his personalized Kymco Super8 150.
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Hey guys. I've got the K-pipe 125 here in Denmark and i have some news for you. I haven't written about it here, since there are no subforum for it yet.
First of all, it has only 6 kW and a top speed of 90 km/h @ 10.000 rpm and i'll tell you a bit about why.
The power of the engine is restricted by the diamensions of the carb and intake and by the camshaft.
The carb is only 17,5mm which gives a restricting effect from only 6500 rpm (500rpm above max torque), because the air speed in the intake passes 0,3 times the speed of sound. A 20 or 24mm would be more fit for a 125cc and specially when is has to go up to 10.000 rpm, where it has to suck in the air in a very short time. I am very curious if the diameter in the intake tract of the cylinder head continues to be this small, but Kymco has put a security bolt to fasten the manifold so i can't remove it and check at the moment.
The intake valve is only open for 150 degrees because it closes before the end of the intake stroke and the exhaust valve way too long time before the exhaust stroke is done. Also there is no valve overlap but a couple of degrees between the closing of the exhaust and the opening of the intake. This suggests that they have not been able to comply with the emission control with a carburated engine while still keeping the power high and the cost low.
I do not know much about the exhaust, other than that the pipe from the engine to the silencer has an outer diameter of 25mm and that the outlet from the silencer has an inner diameter of 17mm. Visually, the exhaust on the 125cc looks identical to the 50cc model sold in Germany and other European countries, but since it is not sold here in Denmark i cannot find any data or anywhere to measure to compare.
The top speed is limited both by the low power output and because the highest gear (4th) has an output 0,96 while the chain sprockets are 14-36. I am about to mount a 34-tooth rear sprocket which should give a 6% speed increase, which is what the dealer said i should go for to not loose to much power. Because the wheel is already in the position closest to the engine, removing two teeth behind can be done without having to shorten the chain. :)
The top speed at the moment in the original state is a stable 90 km/h @ 10.000 rpm if the wind is in the back or it is downhill, 93-96 km/h if lying behind a truck on the highway. If the wind is in the face the top speed will fall to 70-80 km/h when i'm trying to keep an aerodynamic body position. My weight is 56 kg and then i'm equipped with a leather suit, a flip-up helmet with sun visor, leather boots, leather gloves and a 1,3m steel chain, putting the total weight added to the weight of the motorcycle at around 80 kg. This makes me conclude that this is a kind of ideal scenario.
Also, don't try to go above 90 km/h. The engine vibrates noticebly above 9.500 rpm and a lot above 10.000 rpm. Below that, there are no problems with the vibrations though.
When looking away from the engine and speed, there are both good and bad things.
The speedometer is off by 15%, which is kind of a lot because it is a digital speedometer.
The headlight has a design flaw which means that you partially blind yourself when using the long light.
The gearbox is with a centrifugal starting clutch and a pedal-activated main clutch, which gives some opportunities for very fast gear shifts, but requires the rider to learn to drive this way, since you have to engage every gear and have to keep the gear pedal pressed if you want to unclutch. More of that if we get a subforum to this. It was wierd at first, but now i'm comfortable with the gear box and can use it properly to my advantage.
The ride is very comfortable with soft front shock absorbers and a kinda hard rear spring, but i haven't had a passenger with me yet. I can see that the passenger has to have kind of short legs though because the footrests are kind of close to the seat.
I've got both the workshop manual, the parts list for the 125cc and the parts list for the 50cc as pdf files if anybody want them. I can see from the workshop manual that it may have been planned to be with a rear disc brake but is now with a drum, so i guess it can be possible to get a disk conversion kit when it's been fully introduced to all markets.
Anyway, the bike feels good, comfortable, safe and of good quality, but it can be felt that this bike is made in a way to minimise costs. And it is really cheap.
I won't fill this thread with too much of this bike, but if you want to see pictures and videoes, you can see my thread here (http://www.billig-scooter.dk/showthread.php?tid=19970), but it is in danish, so you might be forced to use a lot of google translate. :D
I'm looking very much forward to seeing it launched in the US, because there will be more parts on the market, which will eventually leak to Europe.
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The K-Pipe is a pretty cool bike, but it's such a shame they didn't put a real clutch on it :*** I was thinking about getting one until I heard that.
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The K-Pipe is a pretty cool bike, but it's such a shame they didn't put a real clutch on it :*** I was thinking about getting one until I heard that.
It's not that big of a deal as soon as you have learnt to use the pedal-activated clutch. :)
I thought the clutch was the worst thing too, until i tried it. It was wierd and took me a couple of hours of driving in the span of a week to fully get used to it, but now i know how to use them. If you want to go down in gear smothly, just let the rpm fall low in whatever gear you're in before down-shifting. If you need to push the clutch imidiately because you need to break, just push down into the gear which is lower than you are in now and hold the pedal with your foot. You can also use the clutch as normal by only pressing the gear-shift lever halfway down, but there is a real chance that you burn the clutch by driving too much like this. :)
If you really feel it's that big of a deal, the engine was made in the 50's or 60's, so there are many parts for it and a conversion kit to normal lever-controlled clutch should be easy to find and mount.
To me, the biggest problem is the speed abilities from 80 km/h and above (or the lack of it) and that you get blinded by your own light.
But that can be solved by some change of carb, cam and sprockets. Without being sure, i guess you should be able to hit true 100 km/h with this bike, possibly 110 km/h, but i've yet to see a 125cc go much higher. Only the most expensive from Yamaha and Honda, which costs 4-6 times the price of this can go 120 km/h. I don't know about the Kymco Quannon 125, which on the paper looks great, because the importer here in Denmark is the same guy who imports Honda and he would rather sell CBR than Quannon.
When it finally get too cold for me to drive the motorcycle, i will paint "eye shadow" on the headlight to make sure i don't blind myself and i will show you the result of it. :D
By the way, someone mentioned Honda Grom, which i think is what is sold as MSX here. I've looked at that one at the dealer also and the K-pipe is slightly bigger.
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I know how the auto clutch works, same setup in most of the old school Honda 50-110cc "trail" bikes. I don't like it as much as a regular clutch (Which is why I like the Honda Grom better). It does however seem to be bigger, but that isn't always better!!! Still a slick little bike, don't mean to diss at all!!
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I know how the auto clutch works, same setup in most of the old school Honda 50-110cc "trail" bikes. I don't like it as much as a regular clutch (Which is why I like the Honda Grom better). It does however seem to be bigger, but that isn't always better!!! Still a slick little bike, don't mean to diss at all!!
Ah, okay, didn't know you have had experience with it beforehand. :)
I just want to give my review of the bike to those who know nothing about it and consider buying it. I've had mine for about a month now and have driven a little bit over 1000 km on it.
I guess the clutch thing is kinda individual. The first owner of my K-pipe sold it back to the dealer after only driving 1345 km on it and then i could buy it for 2/3 of the original price, so i guess the first owner didn't like it either. :D
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The KPipe coming to the US will be 4 speed, Manual Clutch and Carbureted.
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Are you %100 on that?
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My 1st real bike besides mini's was a 72 Honda CT70 auto 3 speed. I abused that bike and it never failed to start or move ya down the road. Unbelievable quality build on that bike. Tranny took a lickin and kept on kickin.
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My 1st real bike besides mini's was a 72 Honda CT70 auto 3 speed. I abused that bike and it never failed to start or move ya down the road. Unbelievable quality build on that bike. Tranny took a lickin and kept on kickin.
Yeah, it's a very old and sturdy engine construction.
As long as Kymco has chosen good materials, it should be very good used on the K-pipe aswell.
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could i please ask for a copy of your k-pipe workshop manual in pdf form ..many thanks mark
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My 1st real bike besides mini's was a 72 Honda CT70 auto 3 speed. I abused that bike and it never failed to start or move ya down the road. Unbelievable quality build on that bike. Tranny took a lickin and kept on kickin.
CT70's are KICKASS!!!!! I'm restoring one right now at work, super fun little things!
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I own a 2012 Downtown 200i. Great scooter and all, but wish they would bring back the Venox to the U.S. I'd buy one in a heartbeat. Can't find any used ones here in Texas.
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They line-up seem to be getting smaller
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So did the K-Pipe get shelved for the US or is it still coming over?
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According to our rep it's still coming, no idea when tho
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any gears
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any gears
4 speed manual from what I hear.
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Ok, a motocycle set-up