Bike repairs - garage now unable to complete for 6+ weeks

[konifer]

My scooter died on me a couple of weeks ago. I took it in to my usual garage on 19th July. It took them a while to figure out what was wrong, but on 30th July they called to tell me that the engine had seized and would need a complete rebuild, quoted me £200-300 depending on what they could salvage and the time involved.I was told I'd need to decide whether to go ahead straight away as one of the two bike mechanics was already signed off work for six months with a torn ligament, and the other (the one I was speaking to) was going in for surgery on 6th August so would need to get to work straight away to complete it before he went off. I gave them the go ahead.I have just called (9th August) and spoke to the owner, apparently my bike is nowhere near ready and the mechanic's condition is worse than anticipated and he will be in a wheelchair for at least 6 weeks and so unable to work on it. They are basically saying there is no one else who can work on it, and with it being in pieces in their workshop I can't exaclty collect it and take it elsewhere.Any advice please? I am stuck taking the train to work at the moment, it is costing me a fortune and taking a very long time, and I can NOT carry on doing this for 6 weeks plus!

[Surfer01]

As a "reasonable" time has passed, you can request that the bike is assembled and return to you. It is not your problem how this is done as they knowingly took the bike for repairs. What are they doing with other work? Tot up the cost of train fares as you may be able to claim part of this.

[MaisyMouse]

Is there something preventing the shop employing another mechanic in the meantime ?

[konifer]

Thanks for the responses.The mechanic who has gone off for surgery was the co-owner, the one who was already off is his son. I believe it is basically monetary considerations that are preventing them hiring someone in the interim. The garage does both bike and car work, they still have car mechanics in but no one who knows about bikes, apparently. I have made the point that an engine is still an engine and have even offered them my Haynes manual for reference!They have said they will try looking at it "this week" (wonderfully vague!). I will hound them and keep you posted.

[1hogan05]

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.

[king12345]

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.

 

I disagree, if there was a seizure it is paramount to check and 99% of the times change the conrod.
So the crankcase neexs to be opened, and once there, all gakets, o-rings, seals and bearing should be changed.
It's not essential, but for £20 or so it's worth doing.
If they are doing this, £200/300 is about right.
If they're only replacing cylinder and piston than £150 sounds about right and can be done in half hour or so.
Not replacing the conrod is too much of a risk; even an invisible deformation can seize the engine again.
Going back to the op, I would collect the bike (even if dismantled) and take it somewhere else.

[1hogan05]

I disagree, if there was a seizure it is paramount to check and 99% of the times change the conrod.

So the crankcase neexs to be opened, and once there, all gakets, o-rings, seals and bearing should be changed.

It's not essential, but for £20 or so it's worth doing.

If they are doing this, £200/300 is about right.

If they're only replacing cylinder and piston than £150 sounds about right and can be done in half hour or so.

Not replacing the conrod is too much of a risk; even an invisible deformation can seize the engine again.

Going back to the op, I would collect the bike (even if dismantled) and take it somewhere else.

 

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...

Edited October 31, 2013 by 1hogan05