Ignition locked/stuck - key won't turn

[tspinning]

Well, a foot of snow gave me a work from home day yesterday which was nice, but this morning upon attempting to start her up and ride into the office...

No luck, key/ignition won't turn from "Lock" to Start/Run position, tried fiddling with handle bar turn/position, heating the key (scoot was fully covered during snow and dry when put away so shouldn't be ice related) and nothing helped. Tried spare/new key.. Still nothing. Getting ready to call Buddy Warranty Tow but of course all paper work is safely stored in the pet carrier which also won't open... DOH.

[TVB]

Have you tried lubrication? Maybe graphite would help things slide, or WD-40 might work loose whatever's holding it in place. Combined with jiggling, lots of jiggling.

[tspinning]

Yea, don't have any graphite lube or WD-40 on-hand, just orange de-greaser which I'm not too keen on using! I did get in touch with my local shop and they got me the roadside assistance number. Will report back with diagnosis.

[BuddyRaton]

Don't use WD-40...it will get sticky and attract dirt. Use graphite as suggested above or a silicone lubricant. My favorites are super slick stuff and triflo

[tspinning]

It was indeed the ignition which failed/seized (700 chilly miles on her so far). The part(s) and labor are covered by warranty and have been installed by my friendly and knowledgeable local mechanic at ScootersGoGreen in South Boston, thanks Nick!


BUT... (isn't there always something)...

I got a call from the shop as soon as the vehicle was delivered yesterday, this can't be good I think, and sure enough... "well the scooter is here, but it fell over and was damaged during the tow!"

DAMN.

Working out the kinks with insurance claim through the tow company has been difficult so far (no return calls form their general manager in a little under 24 hours) and only the dispatch desk is reachable by the public. I'm getting things started with Genuine's Roadside Assistance folks too, and they have been friendly and helpful through the process thus far. I realize they are not likely to be at fault as they contract out to local providers for the towing, however I hope they can assist in applying pressure to the local tow folks to do the right thing.

Damage report so far:
Windshield
Front Cover/plastics
Lower side plastics
Side-Mirror(?)
---------
Not the end of the world by any means, but unfortunate and frustrating, especially when one takes into account the time to order, receive and install parts.

Hopefully the rear rack or mounts (which is accommodating a milk crate) were not damaged, as I've heard excessive force or weight on the rack can cause frame problems.

Just to wrap up- ScootersGoGreen has been VERY helpful with this process so far. Export Towing has been less then responsive to my request to start a claim for the damage done. Genuine Buddy Roadside, also friendly and responsive.

[jrstone]

That's a shame. Good luck with your claim with the tow company. I hope you have better luck than I did with my car. My car was towed after I hit someone who turned left in front of me (luckily it was one of the few days I didn't ride to work last year), and when I got the car back there was damage to the wheels that was not there prior to towing. They must have hit every curb they could. Body shop blamed the tow company, tow company blamed the body shop, other guy's insurance wouldn't take responsibility and I couldn't prove that the damage wasn't there before the wreck. Lesson learned. If you get in a wreck, take photos of the entire car, not just the damaged area.

[Syd]

Isn't MA a no-fault state? I hope you can get it straightened out because the only thing worse than dealing with an insurance company is dealing with a towing company.