My RS250 blowed up!

[Dave-]

atomic mate, gutted to hear you got semi-shafted too.

perhaps a letter to the motorvehicle assosiation might be in order.

check your PMs too dude.

basically I've got a lawyer in the family who's taken a look at the CGA and the other acronym organisations out there, it says that if within 60 days of the purchase, an inspection deems the motorvehicle to have had a major fault then the buyer can reject the sale and get their money back.

my dad (who's sort of taken over the running of the circus) called the dealer today who reckons the fault isnt major and only requires a few hundred dollars work.

so I'm gonna get duanes and hamptons to do a written report on the bike giving their opinion of whether they think it's a minor or major fault.

it'll cost me a few hundy to get the bike back up north but there's talk of rs250s down here soon.

[Dave-]

looks like we're going to court, I wonder how much I can say about the dealer.

if someone were to guess that'd be out of my control.

[little green FXR]

Got to say it sounds like you've been getting the worst deal imaginable.
I'm getting a new bike in Chch within the next month. Can you tell me, and all of KB who you bought this bike from so that we can know not to deal with them in future?

And good luck getting this sorted

[Ixion]

Perhaps a bit harsh to blame the dealer ? It's a two smoker, it's what they do.

Not that all two strokes seize, but it's something that has to be taken as part of the two stroke experience. All part of life's rich tapestry. Look upon it as an opportunity for spiritual enrichment.

Is why old time two stroke pilots always carried a spare piston assembly , and tools to fit it by the roadside.

No way the dealer could have predicted it. And the OP sounds like the classic "how to seize a two stroke" routine.

[Jantar]

so I'm gonna get duanes and hamptons to do a written report on the bike giving their opinion of whether they think it's a minor or major fault..

Piston failure on a two stroke is hardly a major fault. It is a common occurrence that experienced two stroke owners can fix in an hour or so.

What may be a major fault is the initial cause of the failure. Oil pump failure, incorrect jetting (for those after market pipes), power valve failure etc can all cause piston failure, but so can long periods at low throttle then over working the engine, improper warm up, wrong spark plug etc.

Keep us posted on what is found.

[laRIKin]

First I feel for you.
But they are what the are.
A street legal race bike and that means, High maintenance.
The last owner was probably behind in the maintenance.

The piston must be check every 8000km and replaced every 16000 km.

I was looking at one once, but a mate who worked in the Aprilia shop talked me out of it.
That said I would still like one.

[little green FXR]

Granted, two strokes are a high maintenance vehicle, but it does sound as though the dealer was misrepresenting himself in the first instance, claiming that the pistons and powervalves had been checked.
I'm not a mechanic myself, but surely if these are checked, the bike should not have had this problem.
combined with that, the dealer shouldn't be making it at all difficult for the customer to have it repaired locally by a reputable mechanic like Duane's at the dealers cost.
I know that there's no way I would want to pay the premium price that these bikes go for, and have the hassles this guy has gone through.

[Ixion]

Granted, two strokes are a high maintenance vehicle, but it does sound as though the dealer was misrepresenting himself in the first instance, claiming that the pistons and powervalves had been checked.
I'm not a mechanic myself, but surely if these are checked, the bike should not have had this problem.
....

Don't agree that two smokers are higher maintainence. In fact , less than four strokes cos you don't have all those silly cams and valves and chains and shit. But they do seize if you don't treat them rough.

Dont agree either that checking the powervalves and pistons could prevent the seizure. Its either seized or its not. You could check everything and all be fine, then seize it 100km later. No way the dealer could predict that. Its just what two smokers do

And holding a steady low prolonged throttle, then loading it up , as the OP implies will do it (almost) every time. And I suspect that when the OP accelerated to overtake the car be probably did it as he would on a four stroke. Can't be surprised if a two stroke dies if y' do that.

[Sketchy_Racer]

And holding a steady low prolonged throttle, then loading it up , as the OP implies will do it (almost) every time. And I suspect that when the OP accelerated to overtake the car be probably did it as he would on a four stroke. Can't be surprised if a two stroke dies if y' do that.

I tend to disagree with that statment.

A correctly tuned two stroke should be able to hold small throttle percentages for the same amount of time as large throttle openings.

At the throttle position he would have been he would be running on the needle jet. Because of the after market chambers - even if the main jets have been adjusted to counter the extra scavaging of the chambers - this does nothing for the needle jet. Which i can almost gurantee was over looked. and wellah here we are now.

I would trust my Honda RS125 (half the size motor making similar power) to run as well on half as it would on full throttle.

JMO

-Glen

[laRIKin]

These are not a normal two stoke.
These are a highly tuned weapon.
Every thing is lightened to get the max out of the motor.

And like I said I feel sorry for the guy and maybe the shop has told porky's.

But these bike are what they are and just like MX bikes it is best to do your own checks and maybe change the pistons your self or get someone to do it for you.

Very unlucky for it to break on the first ride.

I know lots of guy's that say their MX bikes have had new piston and rings fitted when they are trying to sell them.

As they could last awhile and just rattle badly until the new owner fixes it.
They don't normally turn to mush.
You can not always tell if the piston is going to break by just looking at them.
And most shops would just look though any hole (spark plug, power valves or exhaust port) to see if the piston looks good and not going to take the barrels off and just take the risk.
As that is going to cost them to much it time and money to pull the motor to bits and put back together.

Sales men (person) tell lie's to sell something, never.

I hope he does get a happy out come and I do feel his pain as it happened to my sister when she bought a RD400 and it had receipts (fake) for a rebuild and it blew up on her first ride to get a WOF after she had just ridden it home the night before.
3 miles home and it did not hang together for another 5 to get the WOF test.
It threw a leg out of the bed and it stuffed the barrel, both upper and lower cases so was a right off.

It took over a year to go to court and get her money back.
So did not have a bike or a car for a year as she had to keep paying off the RD400.
It was not the bike shops fault as they knew the guy bought the parts, but they were for his mates bike and not the one he traded.
So the bike shops get set up from time to time as well and they have to wear the loss.

Best of luck and I do hope you get a fast and good out come.

[Boob Johnson]

Granted, two strokes are a high maintenance vehicle, but it does sound as though the dealer was misrepresenting himself in the first instance, claiming that the pistons and powervalves had been checked.
I'm not a mechanic myself, but surely if these are checked, the bike should not have had this problem.
combined with that, the dealer shouldn't be making it at all difficult for the customer to have it repaired locally by a reputable mechanic like Duane's at the dealers cost.
I know that there's no way I would want to pay the premium price that these bikes go for, and have the hassles this guy has gone through.

Yep I did tell him prior to purchase to steer clear of it


But yeah in saying that the dealer is a farking major asshat. A mate recently bought a Duke (with less than 10k on the clock) and the selector fucked out locking it in 5th gear, the dealer (also in ChCh) didn't hesitate to agree to paying for the thing to be fixed here in New Plymouth at his cost.


You pay a premium @ a dealer which is a form of insurance for these possibilties............nail his ass to the wall Dave

[Dave-]

The Dealer took the risk, not me.

also in this case it is a major fault (try reading the whole thread), as the cyclinder wall has been ripped up, taking half the power valves with it, the crank has been twisted and there's bits of metal through the bottom end, it's a $3000 to $5000 repair.

I'm faxing him tomorrow with the letter and report by hamptons, my lawyer will also contact him, with any luck he'll realise he's fucked and just bend over.

although his wife on the phone told my dad "YOU BRING IT ON, YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANYFING FROM US!"

[Buddy L]

I don't believe in all this "they just seize business", a 2 stroke motor should be able to plod along no worries at all at any RPM and be safe. If this was the problem then their is a major flaw in this motorcycles design, Or the motor has been tampered with and not set up to run properly.

But i can't talk i seized my cr125 early in the year, as i crashed heavely in MX and developed an unoticed leak in my radiator.

[Boob Johnson]

The dealer took the risk, not me.

also in this case it is a major fault (try reading the whole thread), as the cyclinder wall has been ripped up, taking half the power valves with it, the crank has been twisted and there's bits of metal through the bottom end, it's a $3000 to $5000 repair.

I'm faxing him tomorrow with the letter and report by hamptons, my lawyer will also contact him, with any luck he'll realise he's fucked and just bend over.

although his wife on the phone told my dad "YOU BRING IT ON, YOU'RE NOT GETTING ANYFING FROM US!"

Sounds like this bitch needs to be taken down a notch or two & your just the man for the job Bounty






*hands over the can opener of justice*

[Sensei]

Sounds like the bike may have been sitting for awhile & gotten condensation in the bottom end which can put light rusting onto the crank surface / short story once you start to ride it again the mains / bigends etc pick up & seize . Trev Hall has been around for along time so will be tough to get money from I would say . Do your home work & see what they come up with before getting into a Legal fight . Good luck