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Post by ellpee on Aug 7, 2013 19:57:04 GMT -6
Well, sadly I'm too old and too mechanically clueless to accept this challenge. One hopes there's a young(er) whippersnapper out there somewhere who will step up, and negotiate with Mao Tse Tung or whoever is running things over there now, and make that happen some day. Meanwhile I guess we just muddle through ordering parts on line and having our local lawn mower mechanic install them.
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Post by rapidjim on Aug 8, 2013 8:14:54 GMT -6
That is exactly what I mean, Idle adjust is not going to make the motor get the right amount of fuel to air mixture. I just wanted to point out the money someone pays for a PDI is really not worth the money and gives the customer wrong expectations. Motors need to be adjusted for the climate they will be running in. Take your old cars with carbs same problem now all fuel delivery and timing is computer controlled and can make changes on the fly for the different climates, temps changes people will be driving in. I remember back in 1960s my wife and I drove to Las Vegas went through Denver. I had a 1967 Buick Wildcat Big 455 motor and going through the mountains was a pain, no power could not even pass a Semi which was in front of me. Alleyoop That may have been what you meant, but that is not what you said, Ah come on jim the damn scoots come with the Carb plugged up so tell me how they adjust the carb. It would be illegal for them to mess with the carb. And anyone can see the PDI, CHECK, CHECK ,CHECK, TIGHTEN, TIGHTEN, TIGHEN and change oil, no real skills needed for that my friend. Alleyoop Also, not everyone has the skills, knowledge, tools, or even the desire to assemble and check over a machine. What seems easy to you or I, is extremely hard for some. That is one of the reasons why Ice Bear added their PDI option, for those people that don't want to do it or can't do it themselves or don't have anyone in their area to do it. It has been my experience, that the majority of the people that have had the PDI/Assembly done before the machine is shipped have been very happy with it. Of course, just like anything else, the happy folks very rarely post on these forums. Jim |
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Post by alleyoop on Aug 8, 2013 16:33:41 GMT -6
Okie-Dokie (*
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Post by ellpee on Aug 9, 2013 18:23:36 GMT -6
Well, my Magnum is currently at local wrenchbender #2, who seems confident he can re-jet and tweak the carb for optimum high-altitude performance (which, he makes clear, will be something short of what I could expect at or near sea level). Will report here on how all that works out. Meanwhile, Alley and Jim, please kiss and make up. I need you both. FYI if you haven't noticed it, I've now posted a PDF detailing my entire experience with purchasing the Magnum, in the hope of saving somebody else the aggravation I had to deal with. I put it on three different forums and also file a gripe with the relevant BBB. You think it's not nice to fool Mother Nature? Try messing with Ellpee!
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Post by alleyoop on Aug 9, 2013 21:04:37 GMT -6
I do not know if you know but BBB is useless, all they want is the money. Your story is nothing compared to mine. COUNTYIMPORTS is the worst at least at the time I ordered TWO PST150H TRIKES back in March of 2009. I had to get a lawyer to either refund my money or send me the TWO TRIKES.
I sent all the emails from to to me and me to them and telephone charges and a copy of their website EVERYPAGE. I sent them to BBB of ILLINOIS and CALIFORNIA as well at to the ATTRONEY GENERAL of both states. All they do is sent them a letter about the complaint and if they do not answer BBB and the ATTRONEY GENERAL tell you to get LEGAL HELP(NICE..HUH), so I did and the lawyer and I were going to bring them to COURT and sue them for fraud and deceptive practices. Cost me some bucks but I was not about to let them get away with taking my money and no product or refund.
Two weeks after the lawyer sent the letter we got the two trikes delivered and two weeks later the Ca police in that town notified me they closed shop. They notified me because I had contacted them and talked to them to see if they could do anything. They told me the place was closed up and all the scooters and whatnot were inside and in the GUYS HOUSE AND YARD(HAHA). So it seems I was not the only one getting the ripped off.
Alleyoop
P.S And you still cannot convince me the check check, tighten tighten is worth $295.00 useless. Now if they set it up and ship it all put together so that all they have to do is put GAS and battery in and turn the key and IT WILL RUN GOOD that is a different story.
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Post by ellpee on Aug 10, 2013 15:17:43 GMT -6
Eye of the beholder, I guess. I agree that fully checked/fully adjusted/fully assembled is nice; that's what I THOUGHT I was going to get with my Zodiac. When I had to settle for a Magnum, all that got lost in the shuffle. But since doing a really thorough check of all the hose and electrical connections involves removing all the plastic, then re-installing it, I'm okay with paying somebody a reasonable price to do it for me. $295, though, is not reasonable in my book unless the full assembly is included.
As to BBB, yes, my impression over the years has been that they aren't particularly effective in actually getting you satisfaction, but it is a place to "post" my bad experiences so others can at least see them. I also still want to put my sad story on Angie's List if I can do so for free; one more place where lots of people can read it and make a better buy decision as a result.
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Post by rapidjim on Aug 11, 2013 9:36:27 GMT -6
Ellpee, No reason for Alley and Me to kiss and make up with are just having a friendly disagreement. As far as I know neither of us is mad at the other, we sometimes have a difference of opinion but everyone does now and then. "P.S And you still cannot convince me the check check, tighten tighten is worth $295.00 useless. Now if they set it up and ship it all put together so that all they have to do is put GAS and battery in and turn the key and IT WILL RUN GOOD that is a different story. Read more: .thescooterprofessor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=3wheel&action=display&thread=2887&page=3#ixzz2bfsSHzHn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> .thescooterprofessor.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=3wheel&action=display&thread=2887&page=3#ixzz2bfsSHzHn" I must have missed something somewhere, so I will add jus this comment. When Ice Bear does the PDI and Assembly, the trike is shipped on a different pallet, ready to ride, just add gas ( the battery is already installed). The only thing they don't do is, remove the air/fuel mixture screw plug and adjust the ratio. Frankly, I am surprised that I haven't seen more write ups on high altitude issues. The only issues I have had, was a bad carb that adjustments would not fix and it was warrantied. Case in point, I just had a customer receive her trike( the 2nd one, the first one was fatally damaged in shipment and returned) that was PDIed and Assembled from Ice Bear and all she did was remove it from the pallet, put gas in it and go and has been riding the tar out of it. Jim |
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Post by alleyoop on Aug 11, 2013 10:44:11 GMT -6
That is true Jim and I are not pissed at each other like he said we do have our own opinions and at times may disagree. And we may have a back and forth dialog but nothing to cause getting pissed at each other. We all learn from discussion and disagreements. In this case I LOST  I did not know that they shipped it ready to rock and roll when you pick which PDI you want. Now that is good and I understand why they cannot adjust the carb it would be illegal and they would get in a heap of trouble. Sorry Jim but you never mentioned that they can be shipped ready to rock and roll if you choose in all the back and forth.  Case Closed ;D My apology to all and to all a good ride  Alleyoop |
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Post by rapidjim on Aug 11, 2013 14:22:24 GMT -6
That is true Jim and I are not pissed at each other like he said we do have our own opinions and at times may disagree. And we may have a back and forth dialog but nothing to cause getting pissed at each other. We all learn from discussion and disagreements. In this case I LOST I did not know that they shipped it ready to rock and roll when you pick which PDI you want. Now that is good and I understand why they cannot adjust the carb it would be illegal and they would get in a heap of trouble. Sorry Jim but you never mentioned that they can be shipped ready to rock and roll if you choose in all the back and forth. Case Closed ;D My apology to all and to all a good ride Alleyoop OMG I won one LMAO Yeppers they started that back when the changed their warranty. Now keep in mind: ready to rock and roll is an ICE BEAR PDI and Asem, and has to be ordered that way. It is not the same as a dealer PDI. Jim |
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Post by ellpee on Aug 12, 2013 7:05:14 GMT -6
In my case, it was clear at least to me that the Zodiac was to be Ice Bear PDI'ed, since I have gotten no indication whatsoever that Extreme-Scooters ever even sees most of the scoots they sell. Mine both went from California straight to me, so no way the schlubs in Georgia could do a "dealer PDI" even if they have mechanics and a shop, which I very much doubt. The former would have made me a happy camper indeed. Unfortunately, as I described in my PDF, when I waived full assembly you-know-who apparently took that as carte blanche to blow off the PDI as well, and just pocket that part of the sale price. Ah well, the silver lining is that I quickly learned a lot about what is where underneath all the plastic. When skrood with little or no recourse, one must be philosophical if possible.
As to high-altitude woes, yup, they are a big factor. No problems of that kind at all in Tucson, 2500' average, 75 mpg and 60-65 mph on the Roketa. By all means pass the word to anybody who plans to be scooting in the High Country.
Oh, PS: BBB has forwarded my gripes to E-S; will see whether they respond.
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Post by ellpee on Aug 14, 2013 13:05:05 GMT -6
Extreme-Scooters' response to my BBB gripe was basically that (1) I had bought a scooter from them before and was satisfied {true} and (2) this time around they had done everything honestly, etc., etc., etc. {Not entirely true, IMHO). Be that as it may ....
Just got the Magnum back from Local Guy #2 and rode it home, about 10 miles. Started very well, idled smoothly, though a little lower than I would set it myself (tach on the way, will see what's what when it arrives). Responsiveness on the road okay for what it is, uphill still a bit wimpy (maybe that's gonna be about lighter rollers/sliders in the variator). Got home, pulled the plug, not black, which is a huge difference. Also gassed up on the way home and will see what's what with the mileage. So, first impression after carb re-jetting is that things are better, if not great. Will post more after I've done some more high altitude riding.
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Post by rapidjim on Aug 15, 2013 7:54:39 GMT -6
Glad to see things are working better
Jim
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Post by ellpee on Aug 15, 2013 14:06:00 GMT -6
Anybody want to chime in about the roller/slider thing? Unless it's really awful I'll probably postpone that to next summer, but it's never too early to start learning. I've seen videos about removing the variator and putting in new rollers or sliders; is it going to be much different for my Magnum trike than for a typical two-wheeler? That's deeper inside the "guts" of the scoot than I like, but absent any competent mechanics in my general area, there's not much I can do except study, study, study on line and then go for it. Guess I'm hoping for moral support as much as actual technical help.
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Post by ellpee on Aug 16, 2013 14:02:26 GMT -6
Just got back from my first serious test run after re-jetting the Magnum. Started nicely under all conditions, idled well, ran smoothly under all conditions, acceleration acceptable on the flat. Uphill, not so great, 30 mph on some of the steep stretches; presumably I'll have to tweak the CVT if I want improvement in that regime. Waiting for it to cool down a bit so I can check how the plug looks; will edit this post when I've done that. But I'm strongly inclined to do the Happy Dance at this point as far as how re-jetting worked out.
TWO HOURS LATER: Plug looked great, nice toasty-brown, looks like maybe I'm good to go for now. Will worry about performance/hill-climbing power/acceleration later, time to have some fun for right now. (And time for a 500-mile oil change within the next few days.)
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Post by ellpee on Aug 18, 2013 20:06:15 GMT -6
Took a pretty good local spin today, maybe 15 miles, some hills, with a 130-lb passenger. Start/accel okay on the flat, pretty wimpy on hills. Have the feeling I'd be dragging my a$$ trying to hold 55 on the highway with that load. Idle a bit fast when fully warmed up, tweaked it downward a bit afterward but will revisit when tach arrives in the next couple days. Gas mileage still sucks, barely 40. Plug okay, light brown, no black gunk. Starting to think that, unless I make the leap and start playing with both ends of the CVT, I'm going to have to live with somewhat anemic high-altitude performance.
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..BAD TO THE BONE..