You're not going to get that kind of hard, locking seizure on a small 2 stroke engine. 99% of the time when 'seizure' is quoted, the piston has nipped a bit in the bore, deformed a piston or (more likely) damaged the bore to the point where compression is lost. With a CVT transmission, there's no counteracting force from the transmission engaged. Agreed that you'd probably want to check the conrod hasn't deformed on a seized crosser or similar geared vehicle, but scooter cranks are over-engineered by comparison to the fragile top ends. If caused by oil starvation however, it's probably a good idea idea to inspect the crankcase bearings and seals to check for wear. A flush of the block is worthwhile if the damage to the top end is worse than scoring to clear any swarf. Source: I've repaired hundreds of the bloody things and used to run a tuned / nitrous italjet 180 as a second fun bike (blew a couple of piston crowns inside out on that one!). Agreed that the OP should pick the thing up in bits if transport can be arranged. Put the block back in the bike on the pivot, chuck any loose bits in the helmet bucket and clear a Sunday to fix it. It's not rocket science, a Haynes manual is about £15 (or free info online) and as the fault is purely mechanical, should be easy enough to fix. You'll need basic hand tools (sockets, combi spanners, circlip pliers, vernier calipers etc), a few bits (top end kit, gaskets, crankcase sealant (hylomar)), a lot of patience and a big mug of tea... Once you've done it once, you'll realise how much of a rip off scooter repairs are...

Thanks for the advice Kiki, but I'm already in touch with Honda CR (the proper office in slough) If anyone wants the direct line, it's 01753 590 338. I'm not getting a lot out of them other than that the contract is between myself and the dealership and I should take legal advice. Not what I expected from Honda.

Thanks for the reply. Are there any rejection letter templates on the site? The dealership are adverse to accepting a rejection of the vehicle, citing length of time owned.

4 stroke or 2 stroke scooter? If a 2 stroke, you'll need a new piston and barrel, but it's an easy job to fit. Air cooled takes about 30 minutes, an hour or so for a water cooled engine. I've done one at the roadside with basic tools before now. A standard cylinder and piston without head will run you between £60 and £100, more for an aluminium cylinder. You won't be able to salvage an alloy cylinder, it will need to be replaced. The price quoted is reasonably high, unless they have to split the cases (in which case it's cheap) but I can't envisage any serious damage being done to the bottom end from a seizure.

Hi Chaps, My bad luck with bikes continues... I purchased a new cb1000rr ABS from Fowlers in Bristol in March 2012 as a replacement for a ktm rc8 that blew up. It is still under warranty. The bike developed a fault with the brakes some months ago. The symptoms were spongy brakes with no power and the lever biting point not consistent. The lever occasionally comes back to the bar unpredictably with no application of power. The brakes are generally spongy. The bike has been back to Fowlers 4 times to fix this. Every time it is returned, they swear they have fixed the fault (air in the system, bled it 7 times, leaking caliper seal where they were replaced) and every time the vehicle returns to me the fault quickly re-occurs (1 or 2 days). I have been unable to use the vehicle for some months now, as it has been either in the workshop or waiting on a workshop slot to become available. There doesn't appear to be any understanding of the cause of the fault or ability to test if it is rectified. There is also the issue of my safety. It's brakes FFS! Clearly, I can't keep being a guinea pig and I'm getting incredibly frustrated at the lack of progress. I have involved Honda customer services, but they don't seem to have any solutions or sense of urgency. Could someone offer advice? (Note, this seems to be a theme with the Honda ABS sportsbikes if forums are to be believed... it's not so simple as a leak from the brakes, the abs system is an incredibly complicated setup that relies on flow modulators and is linked front and rear - the modulators are about £1500 each...)

Thanks again to all who posted advice. In the end, I got into a discussion with a senior chap at Harley Davidson UK. After fairly lengthy negotiation, they extended the warranty on the bike by 2 years, repaired the damage and sent me some gift vouchers. Proof positive that they want to maintain their reputation and quite heartening.

The're talking complete nonsense as regards not having worked on the bike - I used the selling dealer for several of the repairs. Just seems to have conveniently slipped their minds. Most of the things that have gone wrong have been original parts or replacement parts fitted by Silverstone. Oh, the bike has done 7400 miles.

Had a response back from Silverstone, which all seems a bit teflon... _________________________________________________________ I am sorry to hear you are not completely satisfied with your Harley-Davidson motorcycle and it is disappointing we have not been given the opportunity to rectify the faults as they are unusual in nature and we would have liked to ensure you were happy with the machine. I refer to your recent complaint which has had to be referred to our lawyers due to the seriousness of your statements. Under their advice I would comment as follows: Your complaint would appear to concern the manufacturers components (or repairs under warranty carried out elsewhere) We cannot comment on any aspect of your complaint as we have not been given the opportunity to inspect the motor-cycle to form our own opinion on its condition. If you are dissatisfied with the work carried out under warranty this must be taken up with the dealership that carried out the work, we cannot be involved in this issue. If you wish to pursue your complaints about Harley-Davidson in the manner you outline it would require an independent engineers report to determine the issues of concern. Given that we have not received any prior complaint from you, or been asked to carry out any work on the motor-cycle since its purchase and the length of time the bike has been in your possession (well over one year) coupled with the late notice of the problems, we would resist the claim to reject the bike on fitness for purpose and quality grounds. You are correct in your statement that Silverstone Harley-Davidson is to close this month and therefore we will be unable to deal with this matter from the end of June as the company will no longer exist and Harley-Davidson will cease communications with us. To protect your interests I suggest you return to the dealership that has been carrying out the repairs and continue your complaint to Harley-Davidson through them as they are responsible for the work that has been carried out. I have always found Harley-Davidson to be a very supportive company and I am sure that if they agreed that one off their products failed to meet their high standards they would act accordingly. Regards ___________________________________________________________

Ah, good point. I don't think that Silverstone would comply completely though - maybe if I SAR Harley-Davidson UK they'll have transcript of calls?

Hi Surfer, thanks for the input. I'm loath to give them another £10 Think I'll be OK as regards records, the only information stored electronically will be a couple of work orders from Silverstone HD. Harley-Davidson UK have a complete list of prior faults and manifest of work done to the bike to date by all their franchised dealers.

Thanks for looking into that Conniff - you're a star and I owe you a beer. I'd expect some level of deduction for my enjoyment - I'd be happy enough if they just bought the bike back for current used market value, I can't in all good faith sell it on to a private person. It's the unreasonable attitude and unwillingness to provide proper aftersales service I find disconcerting. If they're not limited liability then my worries are unfounded as regards timeframe. I wonder if they're going to keep the same building and just change the name? I'll tempt my solicitor (family member) out of the pit where we keep him with some fish heads on Tuesday and get him on this.

That's what I'm afraid of... I was under the same impression of quality - it's just not true. The myth stems from the typical Harley owner - average age 53, average annual mileage sub 1500. The business is Silverstone Harley-Davidson in Towcester and they are behaving shamefully. The person I spoke to laughed at me today. He found it ever so amusing. I gave them over fourteen thousand pounds for a vehicle and they won't discuss its repeated catastrophic failure in under a years use or try to rectify the situation. They found it funny. Historically, they've been a large dealership. The person I spoke to today said that they have had their franchise taken away by Harley Davidson, so were closing down the existing limited company and reopening under a new name to sell other marques of bike. Japanese bikes are your best bet, I've had 30 or so over the last 11 years and they've never missed a beat - 30,000 miles on an sv650 in 8 months, 22,000 on an R6. Generally, Suzuki / Kawasaki / Honda / Yamaha dealers know that there are people for whom bikes are their main transport and act accordingly. My advice would be to buy after the first years initial depreciation with 12 months of manufacturers warranty left, it's what I'll be going back to from now on.

This is the most recent failure... definately unsafe. The wheel has carved into the fixed axle! (Note: this is the 'bearing failure' - according to my local dealer, the brand new Harley Davidson supplied bearings fitted when the rear end was replaced 'exploded' whilst I was driving)

Hi Coniff, thanks for the response. I think I'm just in the thrall of her charming phone manner That and the fact that she's really trying to help! Unfortunately, I paid on the debit card - I checked earlier to see if I put the deposit on the credit card but unfortunately I didn't. There has never been finance of any sort on the bike.

looks as though the rear pulley bolts issue is a common problem, the alloy is too soft on the rear wheel and the bolts torque out... sprocket bolts sheared off on street bob, YIKES!! - Harley Davidson Forums