A Rayof Optimism By ellpee (Read 466 times)

[ellpee]

After the ONLY scooter shop in town that would even touch a Chinese scoot failed the test miserably, to the tune of $200 for nothng, I got it started and running well, or at least starting well, with a small amount of effort properly connecting and tweaking the carb and idle settings. It'll be stored for the entire summer as we are snowbirds, AZ winter, NM mountains summer, but I feel good that I'll be back into the riding business a few months down the road. Lesson learned, though, at least for Tucson, is you have to be able and willing to solve your problems yourself, as apparently the Chinese scooter sellers have almost zero support network outside China. (Unless, of course, you happen to live in Millville, Wisconsin, right down the road from RapidJim!)

[crwford]

Maybe you could have been your own worse enemy you should have solve the problems a long time ago. It wasn't the china trike it was people who either did not know how a 4 stroke cylinder worked or cared less. Around here some say we service what we sell or say show us you money but a tip always works well. In my case I have had many years of repairs with auto and trucks but early years paid off with trike 4 strokes were about the same. So now you fix what was broken maybe that should convince you you can fix it your self and enjoy riding like my wife and I do. R ember DIY be happy and enjoy it.

[ellpee]

Annoying thing is that the shop that DID mess with it sells and works on Kymco scooters, same basic four-stroke engine design I would assume. So it's presumably not that they didn't know how such engines work, or they wouldn't still be in business after all these years. But based on my experience, not sure I'd ever consider buying one of THEIR scoots if they are so generally clueless about the basics of small engine mechanics. I even had somebody tell me recently that HARLEYS spend a lot of time in the shop! So it's not so much the product as the folks who claim to be able to work on them. Chump is chump is chump, no matter what sign is hanging out front.

[rapidjim]

As many of you know, I have been dealing with Ice Bear and their products since 2009. I still do not understand why some shops have such an issue with these machines, unless they just don't care or can not be bothered with them. Any "mechanic" worth being called a mechanic or technician should not have any issues at all fixing these. One thing I have learned over the recent past, these so called mechanics are lost without a computer to tell them what is wrong. In fact, Tech Schools don't even teach how an internal combustion motor works, or even the basics. I feel we are going (or in) the "change parts till it works" theory.

[gorj]

May 17, 2017 7:21:15 GMT -6 rapidjim said:

As many of you know, I have been dealing with Ice Bear and their products since 2009. I still do not understand why some shops have such an issue with these machines, unless they just don't care or can not be bothered with them. Any "mechanic" worth being called a mechanic or technician should not have any issues at all fixing these. One thing I have learned over the recent past, these so called mechanics are lost without a computer to tell them what is wrong. In fact, Tech Schools don't even teach how an internal combustion motor works, or even the basics. I feel we are going (or in) the "change parts till it works" theory.

I totally agree with rapidjim. So many of the younger generation (under 50 years old) repair techs are so dependent on computers that they are lost when it comes to engine repairs. Scooter engines are so simple that anyone with a rudimentary understanding of internal combustions engines should be able to diagnose and repair. So unless you live where you have someone like rapidjim who understand you scooter, I suggest you better start learning how to repair it!

[ellpee]

I've learned a lot of the basic stuff since 2011, though I'm hoping the day will never come when I have to actually open the engine up and do something major. There's a certain amount of satisfaction in being able to answer newbie questions that totally stumped me when I first got into this.