2018 KYMCO Spade

[jsumd]

Originally Posted by SamM

A new CREE LED headlight, new LED turn signals, a muffler, and piggyback rear shocks are on the way for my Spade. Handlebars, front SS brake cable, grips and mirrors will be next. It’s been too cold to do any riding with it. Hoping for warmer temps in the next week or two.

Yesterday, I purchased a new 5’X8’ enclosed trailer for the Spade. Next June, we will be going down to the Smoky Mountain Crawl sponsored by MNNTHBX. The trailer will be the base of operations. Tie downs and a few other things need to be purchased for the trailer to have it ready to go. We have a lot of time.

SamM

Im going to be attending on the vader. Hope to see you there!

[SamM]

Really looking forward to going to the SMC. It’s been a few years since I’ve ridden in that area.

Not the best picture from Team Powersports, but they took this one when we were picking up the bike. It’s a nice sized bike. New shocks are on the way that will lift it 1.5” in the back. Should be about right. The new muffler, turn signals and LED headlight should be here this week as well. A buddy is going to help me fab an adapter for the new muffler.

The goofy header shields and mounts are being removed from the pipe, as it will be kept on the bike. The passenger pegs and mounts have been removed too. These are basically useless on this bike. No passengers will be on the Spade. The centerstand is coming off. It’s just too heavy and unnecessary for such a light bike. The header will be repainted and wrapped. More pictures soon.

SamM

[SamM]

The new black and gold RFY 15” shocks fit perfectly. So glad that the Root Beer Spade was available. This sets it off nicely. Looks killer. The centerstand is now useless but it was coming off anyway. The headlight bulb has been swapped for an LED bulb. It’s super bright. New shocks and bulb went on yesterday. LED turn signals go on today.

Renthal handlebars, a Galfer front brake line and KYMCO K-Pipe pegs will go on next.

SamM

[SamM]

The Spade fender eliminator kit from MNNTHBX was on my list of mods but I have decided to make my own fender parts from steel and buy a longer plate mount. I purchased a black Bates LED tail light from Carpy’s Cafe Racers. The Spade fender is a bit flimsy so, I’ll reinforce it and add a steel support for the light. My thought is to do all the work on the inside of the fender and protect the paint to keep from needing to repainting it. The rear fender and plate mount have been cut off the bike along with the helmet lock and the two small steel brackets near the fender. That area still needs cleaned up with a sanding disc.

The seat has been taken to my local seat maker. His work is very nice. He will recover the black portion with brown material and the gray section with black up to the second black angled seam at the rear of the seat. The seat stitching will be black as well to stand out. Carpy’s is also sending brown Kung Fu grips. I’ll post pictures as soon as I get the seat back. The new muffler has not arrived yet. I’m hoping to get that soon. The handlebars still need to be purchased. Not sure what I want yet.

A good bit of weight has been removed from the bike. The next thing to go will be the centerstand and I’m trying to decide whether or not to keep the rear grab handle. The Spade looks really clean without the grab handle. The side stand will need to be lengthened an inch or so.

It’s coming together and should look pretty sweet. The brown grips and seat will look great on it.

SamM

[SamM]

Got a little work done on the Spade and my Bravo trailer today. New tie downs were mounted in the trailer. I cut holes and installed them with backing plates through the floor. The inside and bottom wood was treated with waterproofing stain and paint last week, when we had some good weather. The factory trailer jack interferes with the rear door on my Wrangler, so I’m looking to replace it with a fold up jack that I have. I purchased a mount for that over the weekend. The trailer will probably get a new axle as well. It has drop spindles with 5x4.5 hubs and I’d like raise it a few inches and run Jeep Rubicon wheels and tires. This would allow me to use the Jeep spare and not have to buy and mount a spare tire to the trailer. An aluminum tongue box would be more useful than a spare tire mounted there in the way. Dexter axles and hubs are reasonably priced and I’ll keep the factory leaf spring suspension. The new axle will be purchased from eTrailer.com. They always have good prices.

A few tabs were cut from the exhaust pipe on the bike. The pipe will need removed in order to finish the sanding, painting and wrapping. The two piece rear fender was taped together and glued. It didn’t turn out bad but glue leaked onto the outside paint. I may need to have it painted after all. Still waiting on the seat and new handlebars. The headlight brackets will be finished up tomorrow and painted. The Yoshimura muffler and bar end mirrors arrived yesterday. They look amazing. Here are a few pictures.

SamM

[SamM]

Worked on a new front fender today. The new fender bracket in the pictures is off a Harley V-Rod. It will be used to reinforce the new front fender. The stock KYMCO fender is somewhat flimsy and needs reinforced. The steel fender bracket will stiffen up the fender. I hope to get to the headlight and muffler brackets tomorrow. Didn’t quite get to them today.

SamM

[Vegas]

Keep the updates coming!

[culcune]

Sorry for just catching this, but congrats on the new Spade!! You were interested in in this thread's infancy, but nice to see you got your hands on your very own!

[SamM]

Thanks culcune! It’s a great little bike. Mine is coming together nicely. There are some new parts on the way for it and it’s only going to get better.

Stay tuned!

SamM

[SamM]

The Spade was going to be a cross between a Tracker and a Scrambler. I love the styling of these motorcycles. However, the Brat Style bikes are really starting to grow on me because they are so different. Lower handlebars, new levers, a flat Brat Style seat and a few other parts have been ordered. The recovered stock seat, fenders and all the factory takeoff parts are going on eBay. The centerstand is next to come off the bike. New Pirelli SL60 dualsport tires arrived a few days ago. They look awesome. When the new seat gets here I’ll be making a fender eliminator plate, a license plate mount and installing the rear LED tail light and turn signals.

This bike project is evolving as I go. It’s a lot of fun for me and great to be working on a bike again. Once this is done, I may just dig that a Buell S1W frame and parts out of my shop and look for a cool engine to go into it. Do you think a Versys 650 engine would fit into it? I just happen to have one. I also have a couple KLR frames.

More pictures after the snow stops.

SamM

[SamM]

My brat style seat didn’t work out very well. The quality wasn’t what I had hoped for. Thankfully, the recovered stock seat looks awesome on the bike. It matches perfectly with the brown Biltwell Kung Fu grips. The bike now has lighter aluminum handlebars and some other cool parts. I’m considering removing the front and rear turn signals and adding LED bar end signals. You may also see checkered stripes on the fuel tank and side covers. These really set the bike off.

Sorry for the dark pictures.

SamM

[odramracs]

How do you like Pirelli SL60 dualsport tires? My spade should arrive next week Monday and looking at the Pirelli too.

[wheelbender6]

"The trailer will probably get a new axle as well. It has drop spindles with 5x4.5 hubs and I’d like raise it a few inches and run Jeep Rubicon wheels and tires. This would allow me to use the Jeep spare".

I bought my wife a Jeep Wrangler a few months back. Its another great hobby to sink a lot of money into.

I love the root beer color on your Spade.

[Azhule]

Any extra "buzz" in the hands with the Aluminum Bar installed?

[SamM]

The bike still has the original 6 miles from my test ride back in November. It’s still snowing here so, I haven’t ridden it since that day. The Pirelli SL60 tires have not been mounted yet, but I have used the very similar Pirelli MT tires on a Supermoto bike years ago. They’ll be great on the Spade. Basically, I’m just fiddling with it until the weather breaks in a few months.

Sorry, but I don’t have much to report yet!

SamM