Well, I'm done. Rattler seized AGAIN

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:35 am

Seems that I'm just not meant to ride. Not 3 months and 2500 miles after the last rebuild, the Rattler seized AGAIN, but this time stranding me at 117th ave and BFE! To give you an idea why that's a bad thing, it was 109 degrees today (by my phone's assessment) and I live at 15th ave. No truck, no van.

Made it about 7 miles before I said screw it. Locked it to a rack at a QT, had a lovely argument with the wife and got a ride home. So, it looks like I'm "done" with bikes simply because I can't afford to be rebuilding a 2 stroke POS every few months because it can't take the heat.

For everything Genuine put into their Stella, the Rattler in all honesty has turned out to be a piece of shit. Never mind the engine blowing due to some hillbilly hot rodding by some of the biggest idiots I've seen wh\g wielding at first and then just JB weld since I didn't have the time or cash to fix a new break on the same bracket. Then the footpeg for the kickstand broke. Haven't got around to welding that. Then the factory thin as hell tires gave out within a few hundred miles of ownership, but with plenty of tread. Then there's the 2 week+ attempt to even get an exhaust gasket, and the fact that there are PLENTY of other parts not even available for this thing. Keep in mind I've only owned this bike for a few months. Now, I don't know if I can even remotely blame the FIRST engine seizure to Genuine, but the 2nd one was broken in proper over 750 miles, used only Motul 710 synthetic oil and Motul gear oil, and NGK plugs. Standard grade fuel, and plenty of care.

Perhaps it's the Arizona heat. Perhaps it's because I really could not afford for this bike to fail. Otherwise, the bike is in perfect shape (and I even got TWO new rear tires, one spare and one to replace the mufti-punctured one) with zero body flaws or defect and the running gear minus the engine are in good order.

It's just the most important bit that keeps failing!

It just seems not designed for this environment. Either way, there is little hope of us affording another bike. And, there is little support for me to get another bike from the other in the household.

laxer · Post by **laxer** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:45 am

Super sorry to hear that, man. Mine was darn near bulletproof until I started changing the pipe and the carb and stuff.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:55 am

laxer wrote:Super sorry to hear that, man. Mine was darn near bulletproof until I started changing the pipe and the carb and stuff.

That's the great part... I spent a ton of cash to revert everything BACK to stock! But, I guess it just couldn't even hack it under the best of conditions.

Post by **ericalm** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:17 am

Sorry to hear about this.

Your experience with the Rattler certainly isn't common. The problems with this scooter are well documented in other threads here. It was screwed up before you even got it. "Taking it back to stock" isn't the same as "leaving it stock."

This may be the only instance of a Rattler completely seizing up we've seen on the forum so far.

I'm not putting the blame on you, simply saying for the sake of anyone who stumbles across this thread that what happened here, for whatever reasons, even if it's some defect with the scooter, is rare.

Did you have any interaction with the seller (a dealer in another state for those who may not know) since you discovered the scooter was incorrectly described when sold?

JHScoot · Post by **JHScoot** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:37 am

Don't give up on scoots, 'neo. Maybe just get a nice no fuss 4T and be done with it.

velobuff · Post by **velobuff** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:18 pm

JHScoot wrote:Don't give up on scoots, 'neo. Maybe just get a nice no fuss 4T and be done with it.

Yeah, you need a liquid cooled 4 stroke... I'd check out why others are riding in the heat... And forget the mods! If you wan a faster scoot then get one with a bigger engine to begin with next time.

Swordsman · Post by **Swordsman** » Wed May 16, 2012 1:53 pm

neotrotsky wrote:it was 109 degrees today (by my phone's assessment)

Yeah, I'm thinking that's just more than an air cooled machine can deal with, especially a single cylinder one. That sucks!

So, how much are you selling it for?

~SM

Post by **ericalm** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:14 pm

Swordsman wrote:
neotrotsky wrote:it was 109 degrees today (by my phone's assessment)
Yeah, I'm thinking that's just more than an air cooled machine can deal with, especially a single cylinder one.

Plenty of air-cooled, single-cylinder 2T engines survive that kind of heat. There are 2T Vespas and other scooters all over North Africa. Also many in desert areas in the US.

We don't yet know why the engine seized; it may not be heat related at all.

Wheelz · Post by **Wheelz** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:51 pm

Bummer Neo! that's really all there is to say.

tortoise · Post by **tortoise** » Wed May 16, 2012 3:55 pm

ericalm wrote:Plenty of air-cooled, single-cylinder 2T engines survive that kind of heat.

Might be prudent to monitor cylinder head temperature.
http://www.trailtech.net/tto_temperature.html

Keys · Post by **Keys** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:01 pm

So replace the engine with a cheap Gy6 engine and keep trucking. Shouldn't be too hard to do. If I'd have kept my Rattler, that's what I was going to do.

Lokky · Post by **Lokky** » Wed May 16, 2012 4:02 pm

ericalm wrote:
Swordsman wrote:
neotrotsky wrote:it was 109 degrees today (by my phone's assessment)
Yeah, I'm thinking that's just more than an air cooled machine can deal with, especially a single cylinder one.
Plenty of air-cooled, single-cylinder 2T engines survive that kind of heat. There are 2T Vespas and other scooters all over North Africa. Also many in desert areas in the US.

We don't yet know why the engine seized; it may not be heat related at all.

Hell I once rode me and luna on my Stella 160 miles from Richmond to Baltimore and the heat index was 115F. All I did was swap to a colder plug and it ran great all day long.

Neo have you had your oil injector checked at any point?

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Wed May 16, 2012 5:33 pm

neotrotsky wrote:Seems that I'm just not meant to ride.

This sucks, neo; but not meant to ride or not meant to own the bikes you choose to buy at this point in life?

k1dude · Post by **k1dude** » Wed May 16, 2012 5:45 pm

I think you should stop buying used bikes. You have terrible luck with used. So what about buying new?

I, like you, have had terrible luck whenever I have bought ANYTHING used - cars, watches, electronics, you name it. If I bought it used or "open box," I got hosed in a major way. That's just how my luck in life runs. So at some point I wised up to that fact and bypassed the bad luck by ONLY buying new. I've had great luck since (knock on wood).

Some people have great luck in some things and terrible luck in others. Learn which luck you have and run with it, and avoid the bad luck like the plague. My lifelong awesome luck streak has to do with finding open car parking spots right up front. My wife never believed me until we were together for awhile. Not she's in total disbelief after 20 years of marriage. She still cannot believe my absurd luck at finding spots right up front no matter how crowded the lot is.

iMoses · Post by **iMoses** » Wed May 16, 2012 6:13 pm

My chin hurts....
self inflicted by my knee-jerk reaction...

easy · Post by **easy** » Wed May 16, 2012 8:15 pm

sorry abt your bad luck. I dont belive in that karma stuff but if I did I'd be wondering whose cornflakes you pissed in to deserve this

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Thu May 17, 2012 1:33 am

Well, i was able to finally get the bike home. Downside is that I tried to do it by myself in a Chevy Tracker

Jacked up my back pretty bad... but it's home.

As for rebuilding it with a GY6: I don't like the bike much in the first place. It was simply supposed to be an "in-between" bike, but has cost me more than the P200 would of in the long run. Frankly it's just been worthless. At least the P200 always ran and was easy as hell to work on. It just wouldn't pass state Emissions no matter what you did to it.

I'm selling the bike as-is, since the rest of it is in good nick and just needs an engine rebuild due to the seizure. $500 or so and I should be out of it. As for another bike, we're so broke in the off season there is no hope of finding wheels right now so we're going to have to make due with one car. When I do get to the start of the season, I don't know.

Skootz Kabootz · Post by **Skootz Kabootz** » Thu May 17, 2012 1:44 am

Really crappy misfortune Netrotsky. Don't give up hope of getting a new scooter though. Things sometimes can workout against the odds.

rajron · Post by **rajron** » Thu May 17, 2012 2:08 am

I was reading about your plight – sorry.

I have a Buddy 125, bumped 36cc’s that needs a new home – once tried to sell it, at the time no one was interested. topic14612.html I will let it go inexpensive because I rarely use it anymore and you are in need.
PM me if you are interested;

PS I live in Albuquerque so transportation will be up to you. I live in ABQ, but, currently working in the Phoenix area and will be in the area for the next couple of months except for next week when I go on vacation – anyway we could meet for lunch and talk about it if you want.

neotrotsky · Post by **neotrotsky** » Thu May 17, 2012 2:27 am

rajron wrote:I was reading about your plight – sorry.

I have a Buddy 125, bumped 36cc’s that needs a new home – once tried to sell it, at the time no one was interested. topic14612.html I will let it go inexpensive because I rarely use it anymore and you are in need.
PM me if you are interested;

PS I live in Albuquerque so transportation will be up to you. I live in ABQ, but, currently working in the Phoenix area and will be in the area for the next couple of months except for next week when I go on vacation – anyway we could meet for lunch and talk about it if you want.

PM Sent. Amazingly fair price on that btw. We're just so broke it's not even funny right now. Luckily I was able to sneak in the purchase of some new PA Equipment to replace some kit I lost so I can pick up some quick BS gigs during the summer (the dreaded "wedding" events. They suck, but they help us get by). Who knows? I may get some fat gigs and put us in the running again. But, 4 stroke is definitely in my future. I made it 20k on my old Stella, but that was built WAY more sturdy than this was.

michelle_7728 · Post by **michelle_7728** » Thu May 17, 2012 2:39 am

So sorry to hear this! I hope that somehow things will work out for you, though it may seem bleak to you at this time.

Beamster · Post by **Beamster** » Fri May 18, 2012 1:32 am

In in southern New England air cooled bikes can act up if not moving in the heat.
One of our motorcycle's tries to stall at lights and is a bear to restart if it's 90 degrees out. On the otherhand, if it's 50 the thing runs like a bear.

If you want dependable reliability in a hot environment, get something water cooled.

Swordsman · Post by **Swordsman** » Fri May 18, 2012 2:46 pm

ericalm wrote:
Swordsman wrote:
neotrotsky wrote:it was 109 degrees today (by my phone's assessment)
Yeah, I'm thinking that's just more than an air cooled machine can deal with, especially a single cylinder one.
Plenty of air-cooled, single-cylinder 2T engines survive that kind of heat. There are 2T Vespas and other scooters all over North Africa. Also many in desert areas in the US.

We don't yet know why the engine seized; it may not be heat related at all.

Huh. I just always assumed small air cooled singles were prone to heat damage, since they tend to stay wound up pretty high.

~SM

Modern Buddy

Well, I'm done. Rattler seized AGAIN

Well, I'm done. Rattler seized AGAIN

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