Modern Buddy

My Stella was known around here for being the most reliable Stella ever, until 2 days ago. 2 friends and I were making a beautiful ride in the country, when I felt Stella suddenly lose power, thinking I was out of gas, I flipped over to reserve - no help.

The then engine seized, I pulled the clutch and coasted to a stop. Even though we hadn't been riding too long since our lunch break, we thought it may be a "soft seize." Couldn't budge the kick start and couldn't roll the bike with it in gear.

I called back to Tucson to have my son bring my van out to retrieve me.

Long story short, we got back to the club garage, pulled the head and discovered that my crank bearings failed. My piston is shot. Looks like time for a new top end. 12,226 miles on my Stella.


Beautiful scenery to ride through


We had lunch in Patagonia, AZ at theHome Plate cafe'


That's my Stella on the left, after she seized along Scenic Route 83


My buggered piston

Bummer At least now you can learn how to do a rebuild.

Was it the big end or the little end that failed?

Howardr wrote:Long story short, we got back to the club garage, pulled the head and discovered that my crank bearings failed. My piston is shot. Looks like time for a new top end. 12,226 miles on my

And that, unfortunately, is something the 2T Stella is known to do.

When you rebuild, make sure to use upgraded bearings, not the stock stuff.

Same thing happened to me early on. Upgraded bearings resolved the problem and I'm now topping 17,000 miles with no issues.

I'm definitely upgrading the bearings. Haven't decided, yet, on how we'll do the rebuild. I might doa 177 kit, but I'm still not sure.

Howard

Doing the kit is an interesting proposition. There are definite trade offs as you modify the engine. The additional performance you get can come with the possibility of less reliability. I eventually opted to keep my modifications limited to an upgraded crank and Sito Plus exhaust. I'm running a 2-T so I've got no clue what you could expect with the 4-T.

It looks like I'll be upgrading the crank and bearings. AS it turns out, it was my crank that seized, rather than the usual bearings. I think I'll also be going with a Malossi piston, thus the head will have to be modified as well.

Howard

Keith wrote: I'm running a 2-T so I've got no clue what you could expect with the 4-T.

Howard's is also a 2T

Ahhhhh, so that's why Howard's info sounds so familiar! I'll be interested to hear how the upgrade piston works down the line. My confidence waned after I put the crank and Sito Plus on my scoot. I eventually came to the point where I wanted to ride longer distances at greater speeds. Rather than make the Stella into something it wasn't engineered to do, I bought a second scooter for that purpose. The Grand Vista gets me anywhere I want to go but Stella if far more fun to ride.

Howardr wrote:It looks like I'll be upgrading the crank and bearings. AS it turns out, it was my crank that seized, rather than the usual bearings. I think I'll also be going with a Malossi piston, thus the head will have to be modified as well.

The previous owner of my Stella decided to pre-empt these failures by installing top quality bearings and a Mazzy race cut crank when the scoot was relatively new. It's at 6K miles now now. It still has the stock top end with a Sito plus, GGR carbon reed, and carb de-blue/re-jet. I'm happy with the performance for the city. This scoot is my daily commuter (25 city miles each way).

I don't do anything outside the city on the Stella (I use the motorcycle for longer stuff), but it's perfect for what I use it for.

This is slightly off topic, but does anyone know if the bearings used in the new Stella 4T come from the same supplier that provides the often failing crank bearings in the 2T?

The previous owner of my Stella decided to pre-empt these failures by installing top quality bearings and a Mazzy race cut crank when the scoot was relatively new. It's at 6K miles now now. It still has the stock top end with a Sito plus, GGR carbon reed, and carb de-blue/re-jet. I'm happy with the performance for the city. This scoot is my daily commuter (25 city miles each way).

Perfect! That's a sweet setup.