My RS250 blowed up!

[jade]

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. (

Agreed, sick of people in this thread saying, its a 2 stroke, its just what they do
Ive done 30 000km on 2 strokes on the road without any engine trouble ever
I do all my own maintenence and take care of my engine, know what it likes and doesnt like.
I had no mechanical experience whatsoever when I bought an nsr, within a week it was fowling plugs and running on 1 cylinder, giving me grief
So I started reading about two strokes and working on mine, got it sorted and taught myself everything I needed to know.
Now ive completed 3 topend rebuilds, put it back together and had them fire up first pop with no dramas whatsoever
I agree that 2 bangers require more maintenence, but the maintenece is usually to sort little problems and mine is fully sorted now and requires no maintenence, put petrol and oil in - job done
my bike is my only form of transport and you people are talking nonsense about throttle openings, if the engines sound, you can ride it however you like, low throttle mid throttle full throttle.. traffic or open road
no dramas
Hope you get your bike sorted and get to experience the thrill that these machines hold
I will never sell mine.

[FkNAmerican]

Your motorcycle blew up and you dont know why.

Its an Aprilia.

'Nuff said.

[Dave-]

Your motorcycle blew up and you dont know why.

Its an Aprilia.

'Nuff said.

clearly this is the reason why, I cant believe I didn't ask an american sooner!

usually when I have a problem I cant believe the results of I just ask an american and they'll tell me to nuke it, invade it, or that it's just what they do.

can't be too complicated.

[Dave-]

argh my old man knocked my fxr over today...minor damage sometimes i wonder if I'm supose to constantly have something wrong.

sent trevor a fax today...ill send him the report and get my lawyer to send him one, with any luck he'll actually sit down and read (assuming he can) the CGA, realise he's fucked and gimme what i asked for.

[unrealone]

Your motorcycle blew up and you dont know why.

Its an Aprilia.

'Nuff said.

Hah! I've had more problems with older 4 strokes vs my RS. My other biker buddies have all had a fair amount of issues with their 4 strokes too.

Put it this way, NO bike is without its troubles, nor is any car.

[Grahameeboy]

Sorry to hear it, but, Dude, it's a two stroke. It's what they do. Y'want a two smoker, y'must expect such things.

Y'did the classic stuff up, didn't y'. Holding it on a small throttle opening at lowish revs (anything below the red line is lowish!), then putting it under heavy load, still without wringing its neck, and then buttoning off. Does it every time. Well, not every time, but often enough.

Now y'know why the old time two smoke riders always carried a spare piston, and the tools to fit it.

Being an old time two smoke rider I never had to carry a spare piston and tool kit. Had RD's and YPVS's, altogether about seven 2 strokers and had no problems. Yes this would happen on Yam FS1e's if it overheated going up a hill but not an Aprilia.

[HenryDorsetCase]

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

good advice that. Though the CGA and the fact the guy is an LMVD is, as someone said, the reason that you pay higher prices from a dealer... after all they are carrying the risk.

Having said that, imagine if it was bought privately: no comeback to the vendor, AT ALL unless you can establish they knew it was dodgy. And even then you are in Disputes Tribunal territory i.e. LOTTERY as to result.

Keep pinging away, be firm, fair and reasonable, and it sounds like you did the right thing getting a third party involved. Find out if Mrs. is a director of the company, and if she isnt then ask politely to speak with someone who can bind the company: if she just works there then she has no more authority than any other employee (even if she is sleeping with the boss). www.companies.govt.nz is your friend here.

[HenryDorsetCase]

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

by "old time" presumably you mean pre-War Scott Flying Squirrels and stuff, or DKW's and the like.?

technology has moved on a bit since then.....

[nudedaytona]

Agreed, sick of people in this thread saying, its a 2 stroke, its just what they do
Ive done 30 000km on 2 strokes on the road without any engine trouble ever
I do all my own maintenence and take care of my engine, know what it likes and doesnt like.
I had no mechanical experience whatsoever when I bought an nsr, within a week it was fowling plugs and running on 1 cylinder, giving me grief
So I started reading about two strokes and working on mine, got it sorted and taught myself everything I needed to know.
Now ive completed 3 topend rebuilds, put it back together and had them fire up first pop with no dramas whatsoever

Mate I've just bought a 96 'prilia rs250 would you mind teaching me a bit about it? I'd be really grateful if you would come round one day and point out how to maintain it. I live on the Shore too. I've got all the manuals, but it would be nice to talk to someone who had a bit of experience with this machine. I saw those Te Awamutu bikes, now I'm glad I didn't buy one of those ones.

[Ixion]

Being an old time two smoke rider I never had to carry a spare piston and tool kit. Had RD's and YPVS's, altogether about seven 2 strokers and had no problems. Yes this would happen on Yam FS1e's if it overheated going up a hill but not an Aprilia.

I've owned way more than 7 two smokers, probably thirty something. Most never seized. Some did

Whilst it was always possible to assign some sort of reason in hindsight for the seizures, none of them occured for any reason that could have been detected or prevented a week in advance.


'Modern' technology two strokes are not immune to seizure.


Cal Rayborn was killed at Pukekohe when his Suzuki seized. Les Kenny died when his TZ seized. Merv Robinson, lots more.



There's quite a few on this site have seized two strokes , with varying degrees of spectularness.


It happens. Not always, but when it does, it is very improbable indeed that any inspection weeks before would have prevented it.

[Grahameeboy]

I've owned way more than 7 two smokers, probably thirty something. Most never seized. Some did

Whilst it was always possible to assign some sort of reason in hindsight for the seizures, none of them occured for any reason that could have been detected or prevented a week in advance.


'Modern' technology two strokes are not immune to seizure.


Cal Rayborn was killed at Pukekohe when his Suzuki seized. Les Kenny died when his TZ seized. Merv Robinson, lots more.



There's quite a few on this site have seized two strokes , with varying degrees of spectularness.


It happens. Not always, but when it does, it is very improbable indeed that any inspection weeks before would have prevented it.

Interesting response................Bikes break down, be they 2 stroke or 4 stroke..........more riders die due to non-mechanical failures........

[Ixion]

A difference is that a breakdown on a four stroke is much more likely to be preventable by prior inspection (assuming that one has some reason to do such an inspection).Which is the whole point about whether the dealer was remiss in not preventing the seizure.

And of course, the reference to riders killed when their two strokes seized is simply because those are the only seizures that make news. A racing two stroke seizing without nasty consequences is so commonplace that it is not at all newsworthy.

[unrealone]

If Harvey Norman sold a computer to someone which then broke down in a week, they would be responsible. Same principle applies IMO. There is no way Harvey's could of known it might brake down, just the same as this dealer. However, just because they 'didn't know it would happen' doesn't exempt them from being responsible. That is the risk a company takes when selling a product.

Unless of course you were told clearly that they couldn't and wouldn't guarantee any part on the bike.

Now, I'm not sure if he sold it to you with any sort of guarantee but most dealers I've delt with provide up to 3 months.

My $0.02c

[onearmedbandit]

Can't contract out of the CGA.

[Jantar]

If Harvey Norman sold a computer to someone which then broke down in a week, they would be responsible. Same principle applies IMO.

If that breakdown was due to a virus, or to bad operating, then HN would not be responsible.

Have a look at the gaurantee that manufacturers give with two strokes. Piston failure IS NOT covered.

Like Ixion, I have owned many two strokes over the years, most have gone many thousands of km without any problems, but most of the high performance ones have siezed. One particular 250 would perform faultlessly until I put in AC sparkplugs, and the piston would fail within an hour or two. I went through three pistons before I discovered the cause.

A TM125 piston nipped on the exhaust bridge, shattered the piston skirt, bent the con rod, and sent bits of alloy right through the engine. That was a complete rebuild which took almost three hours.

A GT380 went 54000 km before I lifted the head for a bit of a clean, no other work needed. Both GT750s never needed anything done at all.