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Post by scootdude on Jan 18, 2015 19:16:19 GMT -5
Hi there. I just picked up a Kymco Grandvista, and I've put about 50 miles on it so far, and I've noticed that when leaning into a sharp corner, or when pulling up over the bump to get into my driveway, the scooter scrapes bottom. I looked underneath and I can see that it's scraping the center stand. Do you think putting bigger tires on it would help with that problem? Is it even possible to get away with bigger tires on a scooter?
Thanks!
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Post by dmartin95 on Jan 18, 2015 22:07:40 GMT -5
I personally can not offer you advice on this, but I just read a thread by abefroman and he's currently in the process of upgrading to bigger wheels/tires... You may want to send him a personal message to get a heads up on what he's gone through and what to expect... Here's a LINK to the thread. Good luck!  |
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Post by jerseyboy on Jan 18, 2015 22:34:18 GMT -5
I think Geh put some bigger tires on his also,,he had to modify the front fender so it would fit,,my center stand hits all the time when cornering,,its a little nerve racking to say the least,,was thinking to just remove the darn thing and just put it back on if I was working on or taking the motor out of it.
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Post by SylvreKat on Jan 18, 2015 23:34:44 GMT -5
You might also PM Leo/oldchopperguy. He's done a lot of work on his GVista.
>'Kat
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Post by dmartin95 on Jan 18, 2015 23:39:38 GMT -5
,my center stand hits all the time when cornering,,its a little nerve racking to say the least,, Yeah, nerve racking would summarize that nicely... If that snags on something, that's gonna suck...... That's scary... Fingers are crossed ya stay safe...  |
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Sophomore Rider
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Post by scootdude on Jan 19, 2015 3:45:13 GMT -5
I think Geh put some bigger tires on his also,,he had to modify the front fender so it would fit,,my center stand hits all the time when cornering,,its a little nerve racking to say the least,,was thinking to just remove the darn thing and just put it back on if I was working on or taking the motor out of it. Yeah I thought about taking the thing off as well. Don't really need it except when it's time to work on it. I might just do that. How hard could it be? Probably just 4 bolts or so holding it on. That'd be a lot faster and cheaper than the brain damage caused by trying to modify the bike to accommodate larger wheels and tires. Good call dude. I'm going to do that I think. |
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Post by rockynv on Jan 19, 2015 6:45:33 GMT -5
Start by verifying that the previous owner actually put the right size tires on it and that you have the collars on the rear shocks set for the load you are putting on the bike along with the tires inflated to carry that load.
In 2012 the Grand Vista had 120/70-12 up front and 140/70-12 in the back. If you have any thing smaller especially on the profile then you will more than likely have problems. Tire diameter is basically rim size plus (tire width multiplied by the profile percentage then doubled and finally converted to inches).
For example a 120/70-12 should be about 18.6 inches in diameter however if a 110 was substituted then the diameter drops to around 18 inches. Change that to a 130/60-12 and you are at 18.14 inches.
The rear 140/70-12 should be about 19.7 inches in diameter and if a 130/70-12 was substituted then it drops to 19.16 inches while changing to a 140/60-12 brings it to 18.6 inches.
The Grand Vista is not a sport bike and was not really designed to be ridden as one. Riders get themselves into a lot of trouble from leaning bikes beyond their design limits. Note though the even in sport bike racing you need to slide over on the seat towards the inside of the corner to keep the bike more vertical for a good tire contact patch on the road. Too many trying to ride like a racer get into trouble because they do not know proper technique and lean bikes over too far.
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Post by jerseyboy on Jan 19, 2015 9:07:33 GMT -5
My tires are all correct size and I'm not really leaning into a corner that hard and it still scrapes,,my shocks are set pretty firm as well..it scrapes really easy if I lean left but it will scrape if I lean right hard...people get a kick out of the sparks at night.Not me  |
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Post by bandito2 on Jan 19, 2015 12:25:59 GMT -5
My solution, as controversial as it may be would work. It is something that I have done to all my scoots. And that is by putting a car tire on the rear. Really it is not as crazy as it may sound initially, but you may want to research it for yourself first before just discounting the idea off hand. But, if you insist on standard scooter tires for the rear, then you should compare what you have mounted on there now to what comes on the bike from the manufacturer and maybe go with a slightly taller scooter tire...on both front and rear. You should probably Inspect your shocks to see if they are sagging some. New/taller shocks (if you can find an appropriately sized set) may be a solution instead.
jerseyboy: the scraping on the left is because of the stub that sticks out where you to put your foot on when putting the bike onto the center stand. There is likely not a stub like that on the right side and so would mean that you would have to lean the bike further to the right to make the center stand contact the ground on that side.
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Sophomore Rider
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Post by scootdude on Jan 19, 2015 12:39:32 GMT -5
It worked out that there are only 2 bolts holding the back of the center stand on. I simply removed the 2 bolts and pulled the offending piece off. I haven't taken it for a spin yet, but the very back of that piece was the scraped part. It now has another inch at least of clearance or maybe more. After I run it around the block and up over the driveway a couple times I'll report back to let you guys know what happened. Yeah it's a little inconvenient to have to put the center stand back on when I want to work on it, but oh well.
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Post by jerseyboy on Jan 19, 2015 13:20:15 GMT -5
Yeah the stub for your foot is on the left side yup,,
After removing your center stand scootdude,,just be careful when starting it up while cold,,sometimes the rear wheel will spin some because of the higher RPM from the enricher,,so just be careful not to walk away until the idle stabilizes.
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Post by onewheeldrive on Jan 19, 2015 13:38:12 GMT -5
My center stand has been hanging a bit lower the last year or so. I assume it's just the spring wearing out allowing it to hang lower.
It'll scrape every now and then.
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Sophomore Rider
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Post by scootdude on Jan 19, 2015 13:48:11 GMT -5
Well I took it out for a spin. Took some steep corners and then rode up into the driveway at a good clip. NO SCRAPE! Ha! Take that! I call that KUNG FU fixin! LOL! Now I just gotta make sure I don't lose the center stand piece for when I need it.
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Post by bandito2 on Jan 19, 2015 17:58:22 GMT -5
On my Reflex, the bike will not start or run with the side stand down as a safety feature to prevent the bike from moving away on its own. With the bike upright and running, it has to either be up on the center stand or have hands on it in some way to keep it from falling over or moving away unintentionally. That seems to be the way it is for European and Japanese bikes. Do the bikes from China, Korea, Taiwan or India have that feature as well or is it that some do & some don't? Or do any of you that do have that feature on your bike have it disabled so the bike can start/run while on the side(kick) stand?
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Sophomore Rider
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Post by scootdude on Jan 19, 2015 18:25:18 GMT -5
On my Reflex, the bike will not start or run with the side stand down as a safety feature to prevent the bike from moving away on its own. With the bike upright and running, it has to either be up on the center stand or have hands on it in some way to keep it from falling over or moving away unintentionally. That seems to be the way it is for European and Japanese bikes. Do the bikes from China, Korea, Taiwan or India have that feature as well or is it that some do & some don't? Or do any of you that do have that feature on your bike have it disabled so the bike can start/run while on the side(kick) stand? I don't know about Chinese scooters, but I know my Sym 125 wont start unless you have your hand on the brake. My Kymco 250 requires that the side kick stand be up and there must be a hand on the brake or it won't start. |
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