How-To: Completely Dismantle A PCX

[j.d.b.]

Magnificient post, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I'm going to write about WHY I say this in an upcoming thread (stay tuned).

[maddiedog]

Hah, I saw the other thread. All that tupperware is a lot of work!

[Mel46]

Dave, I have to say that between this tutorial and your personal help I have learned so much that I now have the confidence to take the bike apart....except for engine work. We are saving up to buy and install an NCY variator and drive face. We changed her belt about 3,000 miles ago, when you pulled my belt from my new pcx and installed it on hers. I already have the 13 gm rollers on my bike and hers are in the basement. If I have any problems, guess who I will be calling?! :-)

[Jge64]

Yup, thanks Dave, esp since every major operation I've done starts with "take body cover off" in the shop manual....I've seen better manuals.....

[maddiedog]

Dave, I have to say that between this tutorial and your personal help I have learned so much that I now have the confidence to take the bike apart....except for engine work.

Mel, that's awesome to hear! Engine work is next.

Did you get the variator drive plate that broke replaced? I remember you had a bit of trouble with it a couple of months ago.

[Seth]

Thanks for this Dave.
The Left Inner Outer Cover panel (around glove box) on the 2014+ is just as infuriating. Knowing it was a challenge for someone as skilled as you makes me feel a little less inept.

Also, some of the screws are so tight from the factory that the head wants to strip out before the screw will give. This job hasn't been great for my blood pressure. It's almost enough to make a guy jealous of a ruckus rider. (OK, not really.)

[amruth92]

Absolutely wonderful guide, thank you so much for this!

Just a tip: if anyone's taking the screws out of their bodywork, and putting them back into the same pieces of bodywork, and finding that their screws aren't tightening, insert a length of zip-tie into the hole you're trying to tighten, and then screw in the... err... screw.

[Seth]

Another tip: The screws may look like Philips and for the most part a Philips will work, but they're actually JIS. The geometry is just different enough that you can strip the head on tight fasteners. A set of JIS screwdrivers is worth adding to your toolbox.

[Mel46]

Just to let you know, this instruction helped me when I completely dismantled my bike and my wife's so that I could replace the broken panels. I think I am getting pretty good at this now, though I keep losing screws. I have no idea where they went, but I ended up short a couple of screws. Since I didn't have any to spare, I went to Home Depot and bought some self tapping screws that were similar....not exact replacements, but good enough for floor boards and some other non-critical places. I need three or four spares for occasions like this. Someday I will find the lost ones hiding in a mouse hole or taken captive by a dust ball. Since i work on the bikes in my basement, who knows what lurks in those corners??!

[Alibally]

I usually have spares left over.

[purplehaze031]

great work dude! I haven't needed to do that yet! do you know how to take the front fender/mudguard off? someone reversed into me and snapped it!

[Mel46]

There's a mudguard on the front fender? The front fender itself is easy enough. If you have a service manual it is easy. If you don't have a service manual, you need to get one. They are great.

By the way Dave, no I have not replaced the problem drive plate, but I do hope to use the one on my wife's bike once I put the NCY variator on her bike...once I buy the variator. I already have the drive face and 13 gm weights, so the variator itself is next. Unfortunately, it is the beginning of a new year, so there are other things that require our attention first right now.

[you you]

There's a mudguard on the front fender? The front fender itself is easy enough. If you have a service manual it is easy. If you don't have a service manual, you need to get one. They are great.

By the way Dave, no I have not replaced the problem drive plate, but I do hope to use the one on my wife's bike once I put the NCY variator on her bike...once I buy the variator. I already have the drive face and 13 gm weights, so the variator itself is next. Unfortunately, it is the beginning of a new year, so there are other things that require our attention first right now.

Tomato/tomatoe. Potato/potatoe. Yoghurt/yogurt. A front fender is a front mudguard.

[Robbie]

If you've got small hands, you can actually remove the engine at this point for installing big bore kits or whatever else. This is the point where you can do a valve adjustment easily as well

The ECU looked a right pain to unplug, so i left it alone. Just as an alternative, I removed the rotor and stator from the engine rather than unplugging the ECU. Don't need to drain the coolant as there is enough slack in the hoses to get the radiator out of the way. Do need a puller for the rotor and an impact gun helps, but fortunately I had these.

Its an alternative to stripping the front plastics off.

[homie]

That's why you're one of the PCX whisperer's, I wish you would buy the current generation PCX150 and take it apart in pictures. No one will do it as good as yourself. Handing these new scooters over to the dealership gorillas at 600 miles and getting them back less than perfect with missing fasteners and broken tabs is ridiculous.

[Mel46]

I think every generation of PCX has that same problem at some dealers. We took ours to one shop to have the service done and when I got it back I had to take it apart again and put it together like it should have been. They had even cracked a panel, which I had them purchase and replace. Then I went home and put it on again the way it should have been put on. I never went to them again.

[pxc-in-japan]

Thanks for this how-to - much appreciated. When I get to the point of any self-service of my 2015 model, things will be different, but it's great having a comprehensive hot-to like this all the same.

Now that I have the full manual (200 fekking dollars), I am going to take off the panels necessary to get to the CBS master cylinder in order to replace the fluid as the bike has been on the road for 18 months now.
Even reading the manual, it seems to be an extremely long process to take off what I need to take off in order to finally be able to take off the inner cover (the part that your knees face / the part below the handle bars).
I shall video / take photos of the bike and the manual and put it on the forum once done.

[pxc-in-japan]

Another tip: The screws may look like Philips and for the most part a Philips will work, but they're actually JIS. The geometry is just different enough that you can strip the head on tight fasteners. A set of JIS screwdrivers is worth adding to your toolbox.

A fact I should have been aware of before trying to open the brake fluid reservoir on my 2008 Suzuki Address 125.
A Philips does indeed strip the head, and a pricey impact screw driver does nothing to help.
Shall be using a JIS on the PCX, though.

[DAB]

Another tip: The screws may look like Philips and for the most part a Philips will work, but they're actually JIS. The geometry is just different enough that you can strip the head on tight fasteners. A set of JIS screwdrivers is worth adding to your toolbox.

A fact I should have been aware of before trying to open the brake fluid reservoir on my 2008 Suzuki Address 125.
A Philips does indeed strip the head, and a pricey impact screw driver does nothing to help.
Shall be using a JIS on the PCX, though.

If you don't have a JIS screwdriver you can file down the tip of a Philips screw driver. Not perfect but will sit better in the screw.

[WhiteNoise]

Hmm, anyone else? Phillips screwdriver vs JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard).
So what's the difference? Let's Watch and Listen



Love learning new Stuff! I think I got me some of these drivers.
Dimples!! Maybe Not on all JIS hardware but Look anyways for the dimple....then SMILE