Need Advice on Electrical Probs Possibly Caused by Body Shop

[JustJessie]

Hi. I have a 2008 Genuine Stella 2T. I took it into a local shop that does a lot of custom paint work on motorcycles and has a reputation for doing good work. After checking out a number of shops this place seemed like the best choice, however, when I got my scooter back it broke down on the drive home from the shop, the wiring seemed messed up my blinkers and lights weren't working and things got worse from there. A few days later I couldn't even drive the bike because when I started to downshift, I lose power and have to keep revving the engine for it to stay going but eventually it will cut out completely and I can't get it going again. Since the scooter worked fine prior to taking it to the body shop, I assumed it was something they did that messed it up. I took it to my regular shop who told me the wiring was really messed up and that they were "chasing shorts" and they rewired it for me and got everything going. The guys at my regular shop told me I may need to invest in a new coil and that the body shop guys busted my speedometer cable when they put it all back and I'd definitely need a replacement.

Their wiring fix worked for 5 days. Then scooter started doing the same stuff - no power. When my scooter was at the regular shop, I wrote an honest review of the body shop (they messed up several other things too). Body shop contacted me immediately after I put up the review asking why I wrote such a poor review of them and told me they wanted to make this right. I told them I'd taken it to my regular shop who rewired it but it is still not working. They told me they'd come get it, fix what's wrong and get things going again, no problem.

So today they come get it. I explained every problem I've had so far to the guy who came to get it. After he gets it back to the shop, the shop manager texts me saying

"What Im not understanding is we just took body parts off of bike. We had nothing to do with mechanical part. We took rear fenders off and seat on rear and we took off front fender and compartment on front everything else was painted on the bike"

So I guess they're saying that they didn't do anything to the wiring, but it is kinda odd that I got it back and my headlight was blinking in the same sequence as my blinkers normally would, none of my blinkers worked, my horn didn't work and the bike kept losing power all the way home and eventually wouldn't start at all.

I'm wondering what all is involved in prepping a scooter like mine to paint and what is normally done with the wiring. I assumed that it was something they did, since it all worked fine before. Now it sounds like they're telling me they had nothing to do with the problems I've had since getting it back.

Honestly I have no idea what to do and I don't know enough about the process of preparing the scooter to paint it to tell if this is just coincidence or if the problems were caused by something they did. I am feeling really disappointed with the whole experience I've had. I just wanted to get my scooter looking good after it was dropped off a tow truck thanks to some incompetent tow truck driver tried to help me out during a roadside assistance call that went horribly wrong.

These past few months I've had really bad luck with other people who are supposedly professionals, handling my scooter. If anyone has any advice on how to proceed with the body shop or repairs I'd love some input. Thanks.

[jimmbomb]

I really hate to read a story like yours. A local body shop, has no business taking apart a scooter and putting it back together. Especially when you say that they took off the front fender. Now that whole entire front end ,front forks, headset, everything has to come off in order to get that front fender off. That is a job for an independent shop that just works on scooters most likely Vintage vespas. I recommend that you find an independent Vespa mechanic. Not a genuine dealer, but a few local guys that have their own place, and know scooters and do it right. We have two of those guys here in St Louis,. I would pay one of those to take your bike apart, and put it back together and they will do it correctly. Good luck with all that. I hope your luck turns around, and you start to enjoy your bike.