My United Motors Xpeed 250i/Hyosung MS3 Experience

[harrywr2]

Nov 3, 2008, 5:44am

I purchased this scooter used with 1,100 miles on it.

Well, managed to get the scooter trailered home. It's been raining all weekend .

I noticed the left headlamp only comes on at highbeam, so relying on my infinite ignorance, my first order of business was replacing the headlights. So a ride down to the autoparts store was the first order of business. So happens that the most expensive 55 Watt H7 halogen headlights were on sale for $40 a pair.

After having replaced them and gone for a short ride after dark, the left headlight is the high beam and the right light is the low beam.

Unlike a Bali where the front is split into two assemblies. On the Xpeed the front is a single fixed assembly . The only thing that turns with the handlebars is the wheel and fender.

The floor mat is rubber and held on with rubber plugs that are on the back of the mat, so at least pulling that up doesn't involve screws. In any case it's 20 or so screws to remove to get at the headlights. Everything has to come off including the windscreen, which could be a bit bigger. I'll have to invest in a full face helmet.

The radiator is mounted high in the front. The forks are comparatively short as the fork tree is only long enough to clear the tires and allow for some travel in order to make room for the radiator. In any case the shocks seem to be more than adequate, didn't experience the normal bone jarring I would have experienced going over the local 30MPH speed bumps.

Front brakes are dual disk. Worked fine after I went thru a minor flooding(4 or 5 inches of water across the road) on the way to the autoparts store.

The instrument cluster is nice, digital temperature and fuel gauge, clock, trip meter. Analog speedo though. It appears to have about the same error as my Bali. With the dual disk brakes on the front finding a place to mount the bicycle speedo magnet and pickup is going to be a challenge.

Temperature gauge goes fairly quickly to 2 of 5 bars. With some extended idling it did pop up to 3 of 5 bars.

The tires seem like they are more like motorcycle tires then scooter tires. 120/70-13 on the from and 140/60-13 on the rear. The bike doesn't want to track the ruts in the road caused by people riding around with studded snowtires anywhere near as much as the Bali with the 12x4. (It only snows here a couple of times a year and generally melts by noon, why people get studded tires is beyond me)

At idle the performance exhaust is loud. The exhaust manifold pipe is 1 1/2" in diameter if I measured correctly. In the garage the bike sounds like a Harley.

The bike has a real oil filter. The previous owners said the last time the oil was changed was 500 miles...it looked to me like it had just been changed.

The mirrors have the turn signals in them. However the arm is fully articulated...so adjusting them is a breeze and they hold their position. They have the standard 'objects may be closer then they appear" warning on them. Being able to see back a couple of hundred yards without a big blind spot is quite nice.

An 18 pack of ones beverage of choice will fit under the seat. And without a hump in the center a full back of groceries will fit between ones feet.

There is a 12 volt plug in the glove box...convenient for running a portable air pump.

Fit, finish and quality of plastics is better then a China Bike...but probably not up to the standards of a Sym.

I wish the rain would stop so I could take it out and put it thru its paces.

[harrywr2]

Nov 3, 2008, 12:50pm

Had a bit of trouble at the DMV...questioning value etc etc etc. Had to go back with a NADA valuation and pay tax on the NADA valuation.

Bicycle speedometer didn't work out, just couldn't get the sensor close enough to the magnet. So I got a cheap($159) Garmin. Hopefully this one will stay on, or better yet, I'll have to fashion some sort of clamp to keep it on.

Sunshine came out..a bit blustery. Decided to take a run at my favorite 10% grade hill. Managed 55 MPH GPS verified and climbing before the matter of a turn presented itself and I had to hit the brakes..coolant temp held at 2 bars out of 5. To be honest it probably wouldn't have went past 60 even if I had more straight away.

Took my first trip out on the Interstate..just one exit. Mr State Trooper was out with his radar gun...so 62 MPH was all I could do...somewhere between quarter and half throttle. I really need to get a full face helmet. Air hurts at 60 MPH, never mind bugs and rain.

[harrywr2]

Nov 4, 2008, 12:53pm

Got a full face helmet...and had my second ever foray onto Interstate Highway Scootering.
Got on I-90 East bound at milepost 15, got off at milepost 17. GPS says I topped out at 75.9 MPH.

The 75.9 MPH was a driver and conditions limit not a bike limit. Was pretty close to full throttle...was just not interested in hitting the off ramp at 80 MPH.

[harrywr2]

Nov 4, 2008, 5:05pm

Yes, very nice to have enough power to confidently move into the passing lane!!

I went to NAPA to try to get an oil filter, they didn't have a parts cross reference for a Polaris Pure# 0452462. So I went to the Polaris Dealer...filter had been superceded by Polaris Pure #2520724. Polaris dude was a bit puzzled that he had oil filters for my scooter...but was happy to take my $10.

[harrywr2]

Nov 5, 2008, 7:28pm

Managed to get my hands on a Hyosung MS3 shop manual. Checking the valve gap is no big deal. Adjusting the valve gap involves shims and removing the cam shafts.

The I went for a ride...did I-90 out to Preston...up hill...speed limit 70 MPH...curvy. Managed 73...rider limit. Chicken strips on the tires are gone. 70 MPH in a straight-away is one thing..in a curve it is a whole new world.

Gotta go do some laundry now.

[harrywr2]

Nov 6, 2008, 4:34pm

Iridium Plug arrived..so did a bit of PDI.

4 bolts to take off the entire rear body, seat box and all was nice. Didn't find any hoses that looked like they needed replacing. Throttle body and intake manifold are all metal.

Valve cover takes allen wrenches. Real large head bolts with a real rubber gaskets.
Mileage is 1,200. and I didn't see in the service records that valve gap had been inspected.

One problem with EFI is that is will mask a myriad of sins that would should up promptly in a bike with a carb.

Finding TDC in a dual overhead cam is a bit different.
The variator has an access cover..so one uses a socket wrench to turn the motor.

I never did find see the marking on the magneto for TDC thru the 'inspection port'. So i ended up using some marks on the cam gears. The exhaust cam has a mark that should be parallel with the cylinder then there should be marks on both cams at the highest point of the gears.

Valves were .003 and .004 on intake. .007 and .008 on exhaust.
Shop manual says .004 intake and .008 exhaust. To adjust takes shims and apparently there are 41 different sizes of shims. So I think I will leave well enough alone for the time being.

Changed the gear oil and it came out black as night. From the service records $37 the previous owner paid for a 600 mile service sounded a bit cheap. I guess it didn't include changing the gear oil.

Took the radiator cap off and radiator was full of nice bright green stuff. Same color as in the coolant reserve bottle. Coolant reserve hasn't moved and temperature guage stays where it belongs so I'll assume all is well there.

[harrywr2]

Nov 7, 2008, 9:03am

I've done some poking around on parts issues. Definitely not a bike to be built from parts. Hyosung has an online parts list with MSRP. It would appear that the Koreans have learned something from the Japanese on how to price spare parts. It's definitely right up there with what a Honda dealer would charge for an equivalent spare part.

As it's not been in production that long there isn't much of an 'aftermarket' parts business. Cbxman has the parts...or can order them as well as any dealer.

I've got to work out the size of my shims at some point, there are different diameters. In a given diameter one can get a "Shop Set" of shims for somewhere between $50 and $100. This would include 3 of every possible thickness (100+ shims) or I can pay $5 plus shipping for 1 shim.

Some of the parts cost is justified, the valve cover as far as I can tell is cast aluminum. The rubber gasket is at least 1/8" thick. The one plastic part in the drive train outside of the airbox is a little cover over the variator, so one can access the crankshaft to turn the engine to adjust the valves. It has brass sleeves in the screw holes.

[harrywr2]

Nov 8, 2008, 5:02pm

Rained stopped long enough to take the beast out for a 100 mile test drive. Quite nice to concentrate on driving rather then "Come on baby...gimme just 2 more MPH"....no problems in traffic..either interstate or state roads with speeds limits of 60+ MPH. Got 76 MPG on the trip.

Coolant temp never went over 2 bars out of 5. RPM's seem to stick around 5K at 50 MPH.

Only hiccups where i was impeding traffic a bit were on a section of Highway locally known as the "Highway of Death" and the twistys at snoqualmie falls...wet leaves on twistys was not a lot of fun..and I really didn't care what Mr Horn Blower thought other then his horn really needed to be relocated.

[harrywr2]

Nov 9, 2008, 4:04pm

Went out riding on an old fire road today trying to see if I could get someplace,map said I could. 8 miles down the gravel one lane fire road it started to rain. While these tires definitely work better on pavement, they are not at all too hot in mud.

I'm still trying to find mention of integrated brakes in the owners manual. I know I got them cause I managed to lock up both the front and rear wheels by pressing the rear brake level. That was exciting. What was it I the MSF said I was supposed to do if I lock up the rear? oh yeah..leave it locked...what am I supposed to do if I lock up the front? oh yeah..release and reapply.

I did verify when I got home that the rear brake lever does in fact operate the front and rear brakes.

[harrywr2]

Nov 11, 2008, 6:24am

First problem with the scoot occurred
Starter wouldn't turn over.
Checked for a stuck brake light first...every there was okay.
So 4 bolts and off came the body. The previous owner had a new battery 'professionally' installed at Les Schwab. A type 9BS with a rated output of 8 amps. So I'm checked the connections...all seems good...then notice the sealing strip on the battery wasn't sealed.

Take the battery out and drop it in the trickle charger..thing won't charge beyond 12.4 volts and 7 amps.

The lighting circuit on the bike is DC and comes on when you turn on the key, rather then when the bike is running. Did some math, 55 watts for the headlight, another 10 watts for the position lights, 21 watts for the tail light. 86 watts total. 86/12.4 seems to come out to 6.9 amps. That's before even counting the EFI and fuel pump drain. Don't think the starter is going to turn with .1 amps.

So measure up the battery box as accurately as I can..and low and behold..it appears to be a perfect fit for a 10 AMP 12BS battery. So off to NAPA on my trusty CCS to get a 12BS battery.

As I had the body off I thought it would be a good time to replace the standard tail light with an LED light. Bulb was an 1157.

[harrywr2]

Nov 11, 2008, 7:58pm

Tested the new battery today...only 8 amps...figured it was my $19 trickle charger. Bought a proper battery tender +. 4 hours it took for the 'green light'...lights were bright...took 5 or 6 presses on the starter button to get the engine to turn.

Noticed an excessive amount of 'green' on the battery terminal wires.

I'm in the middle of paying for the lack of consultations with the Mrs., Spent all day in IKEA. We be getting $800 worth of furniture in the morning.

Gotta manage to sneak out and get some contact cleaner and electro conductive gel.

[harrywr2]

Nov 12, 2008, 6:18pm

Got the battery charged up...cleaned up the wires from where some corrosion had occurred do acid leaking out of the 'non sealed' battery that the 'professionals' at Les Scwab had installed. Still no joy.

Being old school...I took out my worst screwdriver with an insulated handle and shorted the solenoid. Vroom...Vroom. The solenoid on Stan's site looks a lot like the solenoid in the bike. So I figure I'll take a chance on ordering a wrong part for $14 .

[harrywr2]

Nov 15, 2008, 8:50am

As I wait for the mailman to deliver the new solenoid I took some pictures.

Engine compartment


Body completely removed



Performance Exhaust

[harrywr2]

Nov 15, 2008, 4:20pm

The Generic GY6 Scooter Starter Soldenoid/Relay that I ordered from Stan arrived. Looked identical except for the plug was the opposite gender and the rubber holder fit on in a different direction. Swapped connectors with the old solenoid,reused the old rubber holder, plugged it all in, connected the battery and vroom, vroom on the first press of the starter button. Killed it and restarted it 10 times just to make sure.

Weather was absolutely gorgeous...so I tooled out onto I-90 East and managed to keep up with the flow of traffic till I got off at mile post 31....North Bend...which most folks who watch TV would recognize as Twin Peaks. Some trucks were in the slow lane so I did some passing too. I would have went further except I forgot which was the last exit before Snoqualmie pass.

[harrywr2]

Nov 16, 2008, 5:15pm

Another great day...decided to take a run at Snoqualmie Pass...perfect sunny day...got out to mile post 38. past the 'severe wind area' and the road was wet and slick...managed to lock up the back wheel gently slowing on the off ramp. The air might be 45 or 50...but the road doesn't see any sunshine this time of year with 4000 ft of mountain on either side. The pass wiell have to wait till spring.

Not to waste great weather...decided to take a tool up SR 202 and SR 9 to Jim63's kneck of the woods..its just 80 miles away...nice country...don't know which snow covered mountain was in the background but it was purty. ..

Came home on the interstate. Managed to merge just fine at 75 MPH..it would appear north of Everett the 70 MPH speed limit is a suggestion....realistically..top end is 80 MPH. I only passed one double truck and it was a fuel tanker...but the buffeting was within reason.