Post by kylescoot on Feb 13, 2013 18:36:22 GMT -5
My first larger scooter was a Viva 250 (by Roketa, I believe), purchased on line from Familymotorsports in 2007 and delivered to the local freight warehouse. I went down there with a few tools and a gallon of gas, unpacked it and rode it home. It had been damaged in shipping, mostly the rear rack, and they sent me a replacement part. Although I still have it and have put 8,000 miles on it, it would have long ago been landfilled if I had not able to work on it myself.
Several minor but tricky problems at the start: The temp guage did not work at all, which turned out to be a bent pin inside a wiring harness connector, midway. It also lost power at high speed which required a modification of the vacuum hoses, there was a fix shown on the website.
In the Spring of the second year it started overheating, I trailered it home and found a steady stream of bubbles coming up the coolant fill hose. A compressed air squirt into the spark plug hole did the same so i knew it was a head gasket. Took the head off and discovered that one of the head bolt cap nuts had the threads pulled out of it. This happened because that stud had been inserted too far in the engine block and only stuck out above the head 1/4". Found a new head gasket, took the head to a machine shop and had them mill it down a little where that cap nut landed and problem resolved.
After that I had voltage regulator problems but I think it was because I had replaced the taillights with bigger bulbs and that upset the charging circuit. Fixed that with LEDs.
Anyway now it is my backup scooter, still runs only the gas guage is inop - pretty sure it is corrosion in the float sender. I use the odo instead.
Meanwhile I found a deal on a Burgman 400 which I like but is noticeably noisier and really more scooter than I need. So its up for sale (Spokane area).
Final solution was a second hand Honda Reflex - the bike that the Roketa/Viva was almost exactly copied from (except quality). Very happy with this, I find the suspension and headlights much better and overall less likely to get my hands dirty.
So there you go. I understand that the Chinese have improved a little and the Taiwan scooters like Syma are better - but also more expensive.
Several minor but tricky problems at the start: The temp guage did not work at all, which turned out to be a bent pin inside a wiring harness connector, midway. It also lost power at high speed which required a modification of the vacuum hoses, there was a fix shown on the website.
In the Spring of the second year it started overheating, I trailered it home and found a steady stream of bubbles coming up the coolant fill hose. A compressed air squirt into the spark plug hole did the same so i knew it was a head gasket. Took the head off and discovered that one of the head bolt cap nuts had the threads pulled out of it. This happened because that stud had been inserted too far in the engine block and only stuck out above the head 1/4". Found a new head gasket, took the head to a machine shop and had them mill it down a little where that cap nut landed and problem resolved.
After that I had voltage regulator problems but I think it was because I had replaced the taillights with bigger bulbs and that upset the charging circuit. Fixed that with LEDs.
Anyway now it is my backup scooter, still runs only the gas guage is inop - pretty sure it is corrosion in the float sender. I use the odo instead.
Meanwhile I found a deal on a Burgman 400 which I like but is noticeably noisier and really more scooter than I need. So its up for sale (Spokane area).
Final solution was a second hand Honda Reflex - the bike that the Roketa/Viva was almost exactly copied from (except quality). Very happy with this, I find the suspension and headlights much better and overall less likely to get my hands dirty.
So there you go. I understand that the Chinese have improved a little and the Taiwan scooters like Syma are better - but also more expensive.