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Post by ellpee on Jan 24, 2015 13:56:55 GMT -6
Vibration has pretty much killed the OEM trunk on my red 2011 Roketa; bottom plastic badly cracked at all four bolt holes. Might be able to achieve a workable repair with a gallon or so of Gorilla Glue and some stronger backing material, but it might not be worth the effort. Looking for experiences with trunks bought on line, both good and bad (need to know the sites to be avoided). Not looking for anything fancy; a red color roughly matching the original Roketa red would be nice, but not essential. Don't need anything with lights either; reflectors okay but not essential, but definitely lockable. Those who have bought on line, please share. I see lots in the <$40 range that LOOK okay, though I haven't spotted a red one yet. OK, y'all, time to steer Ellpee straight; will run without it for awhile, that's why they invented bungee cords.
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Post by fflintstone on Jan 24, 2015 14:18:07 GMT -6
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Post by fflintstone on Jan 24, 2015 14:22:02 GMT -6
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Post by alleyoop on Jan 24, 2015 14:31:27 GMT -6
Always put BIG DIAMETER WASHERS under the bolt inside the trunk so it covers more of the plastic around the hole otherwise it will crack.
I have had my Trunk on almost 5 years now and still going strong.
Alleyoop
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Post by ellpee on Jan 25, 2015 9:45:53 GMT -6
Thanks for the links, guys -- saves googling time. Still weighing whether to attempt a repair, as the exact color match is nice, but it may turn out to be more trouble than it's worth considering there are lots of replacements available for small money. I posted first and foremost to see if I get any BAD feedback about any on line sellers, want to avoid scammers/poor customer service places.
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Post by ellpee on Jan 25, 2015 11:34:00 GMT -6
Updating, bit the bullet today and started on a repair that may or may not work -- 1/4" plexiglass overlay on the entire bottom of the trunk and LAGG (large amounts of Gorilla Glue). The way the plastic was molded on the bottom kept me from using any washers bigger than maybe 3/4", but after this procedure I should be able to move up to some really big ones, 1.5" to 2", and we'll see how that works out. I've previously added rubber strips underneath the trunk and some squishy styrofoam stuff where the rear plastic (and therefore the rack) attach, to cut vibration, so we'll see how long it survives. Have been astonished at what you can buy trunks for on line versus what scooter shops want -- price factor of 10 in some cases. And of course you get the usual "If we don't sell it, we can't help you" BS. If/when this scooter dies, I'll be tempted to remove all identifying marks and dump it on their front doorstep for disposal! With thousands of these things running around, hard to grasp why so few shops are willing to work on them. I mean, people on this forum are for the most part able to locate parts and fix things, why can't or won't the geniuses at the shops do the same? Franchise issues with their Japanese/Taiwanese suppliers, maybe? Annoying, but far less so when I remember I only paid $2K or so for the Roketa in the first place and am now well into my second year of fun in the Arizona sun.
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Post by fflintstone on Jan 25, 2015 14:24:04 GMT -6
I wouldn't be surprised if the trunk is much quieter now with all the repair work and the added insulating foam--looks like a good job elpee--and I have had my local motorcycle shop to refuse to have anything to do with a scooter--not interested--and he even says he doesn't work on Honda Goldwings,refers a customer to a Honda shop 30 miles away--he explained that he only has time to work on the Harleys ,they keep him busy with repairs ..kinda like a Chinese scooter does for us--hehe--he does oil change and tune up for them,plus replacing broken parts,lost parts---his parts book goes back to 1932 for motorcycles--and he needs it often..as far as I am concerned we get our moneys worth from our Roketas
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Post by ellpee on Jan 25, 2015 20:00:42 GMT -6
Ain't it that truth, based on what you/re telling us. If he's so busy doing work on Harleys that he doesn't have time for scooters, that doesn't say much for Harleys, now does it? Of course, I might just be setting myself up for a butt-whupping the next time I drop by the biker bar -- but wait, I never do that! Agree, though it ain't how it used to be back in the day, if my $2000 Roketa some day breathes its last, I can probably trash it or part it out and stand the pain, and have had a LOT of fun with it in the meanwhile.
PS, my son-in-law has a vintage Honda ?450? from the early 80s that he loves dearly, but he seems to have had his share of EXPENSIVE issues with it in the last few years. Bigger ain't necessarily better.
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Post by ellpee on Jan 29, 2015 18:50:18 GMT -6
WRAPPING IT UP, I did a repair job. Used gorilla glue first time around, attaching two strips of 1/4" plexiglas to the bottom as there are a lot of molded-in high and low spots. Then gorilla-glued a template-cut piece of same plexiglas that in effect created an entire new, much stronger bottom for the trunk.
Arggghhh -- gorilla glue dried too hard, when drilling the necessary bolt holes it cracked loose, apparently doesn't adhere all that well to plastics. So I did it over using Liquid Nails adhesive, which stays at least somewhat more flexible (presumably also a minor advantage for absorbing road vibrations).. Much better result. Put in new bolts and humongous washers -- had to go considerably longer because of the additional thickness of all that plexiglas -- and finished it off by glueing a thin foam rubber pad on top of the new plexiglas "bottom" strictly for cosmetic reasons. Loaded all my junk back into the trunk and have been on three road runs since then, very little rattling to be heard, from which I deduce that it's all firmly secured and in a way that soaks up vibrations.
So it looks like I found a good alternative to spending the huge amount of $40 or so for a new trunk. At least this one still matches the scooter color, and still has my "Hardly Davidson" sticker attached. Probably wouldn't have opted for this if I had a day job, but with time on my hands, why not give it a try?
Keep on scooting, y'all.
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Junior
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Joined: Jul 8, 2011 8:03:23 GMT -6
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Post by scooterran on Feb 28, 2015 20:23:05 GMT -6
Do yourself a favor and get a trunk large enough for : 2 helmets or 1 helmet and a lunch bucket . Just a little reminder .  |
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..BAD TO THE BONE..
