Modern Buddy

New to scoots. Bought one just for fun. Initially, I bought a Kymco Super 8 derestricted, maybe 30 mph and took about 100 yards to get there. Then I bought a RH50. It will do 45 in about 20-30 yards. NIGHT AND DAY difference. I am 6'6" and 270lbs and I can take the RH50 out in local traffic (35mph areas) and keep up with traffic. Much safer. So, I took a $600 bath and traded the Kymco Super 8 for another RH50. Glad I did.

Two issues on one of the bikes. Has the "whirring" sound described in another post about 1/2 the time that I engage the electric starter. Once I release and try again, it turns the motor over. In the old days of my car repair, that was a starter drive (engages the starter) or weak battery. 1) Question is, could that be a weak battery on the RH50 (almost no miles on it), or should I have the dealer replace the starter. Also, when they derestricted they forgot to reattach the piece that holds the brake cable away from the rear tire. I fixed that myself (it was just hanging there), but noticed some oil gunk at the junction of the engine and exhaust. I tightened up the two bolts, and one seemed a bit loose, but I do not have a torque wrench, so I did not tighten it too much. 2) Question, do they all do this? Is it possible that when they took off the restricted gasket they did not replace it with any gasket?

I called the dealer and he told me to just ride them and they would look at any issues when I bring them in at 500 miles. 3) Last question, manual says 1st service should be at 200 miles, but dealer says that is overkill and I should wait til 500, good or bad advice?

Thanks.
joe

PS - my son came home for Easter, and we spent a couple of hours scooting around town. He wants one desperately now, and so does his GF. These things are so much fun it is addictive. It is raining today and I am bummed cause I want to ride, but don't want to get it dirty.

Congrats on the new toys! Yes, they are a lot of fun for sure, and I can really relate on the thing about not wanting to get it wet and dirty. here in WI, I am still waiting for a little more degrees on the thermometer to get our scoots out , and still waiting for a good rain or two to wash salt residue off the roads. As for the "gunk" you mentioned, I don't have anything like that on my RH anywhere. If the dealer isn't to far of a ride, scoot on over there and have the service guy take a peek at it. Its under warranty and you inquired about it, so as long as you have record of that you should be covered on it should something go afoul.
Our dealer said to bring ours in for the initial oil change at 300 miles, so sorry I cant help you out on that.

Thanks. Service is about 40 minute drive, so I'll probably just wait and take it in at 3-400 miles instead of the 500 he recommended and let them put in a gasket. I'll bet they did not put one in. That shouldn't hurt anything other than my garage floor if I let it go too long. I do like my scooter clean, so I wipe it off after a ride.

So you have had no prob with your starter I suppose? I just charged the battery and it was pretty low. Tried starting it and no "whirring" so maybe I got it. BTW, I will be in WI next week for business, I hope that you get the weather we have been having in Des Moines, (until today) 60-75 over the weekend and most every day before that all week.

Anyone else have any thoughts or comments on my questions?

Hi Joe,
Depending on where you are in Wi in the spring can make a huge difference. If near Lk Michigan and the winds are from the east, you can expect bone chilling cold,like the other day it was 44 degrees by the lake, but 20 miles west it almost got up to 70. Right now we are at 37 degrees, and I.m in the far southeast part of the state (racine county).
No, I haven't had any problems with the starter on mine. My wifes buddy on occasion does what you describe, and I agree it sounds like a starter solenoid not engaging the starter ( I too remember crawling under a car a time or three and tapping on the starter solenoid to get it to engage, quite frequently actually on an AMC Hornet I had eons ago!!).

I will be in LaCrosse, but without my scooter.

Hi Joe,

I am new to scoots also. I bought a 2015 Roughhouse. I don't have any starter issues, but I have noticed what I think is a transmission belt noise when coasting (i.e. closed throttle) at about 35mph. Sounds like a fast "shoop, shoop, shoop, shoop" noise that goes away when i get down to below 30mph. It is not a super loud noise, but it is there nevertheless.

With your starter issue, I would make sure that your battery is fully charged from a battery tender, then try electric starting/stopping it about 5 time in a row. Or you could just keep trying multiple electric starts/stops from a full charge until it occurs again when the battery is starting to get exhausted. That way, you would know that it is the battery and not the starter on the flywheel.

Hello G-man,

Can't say that I have noticed any noise, other than the engine gurgle as I let off throttle, but I only have about 3 minutes of total time at that speed, as I am doing back roads to break it in (have about 90 miles or so right now). Between engine noise, wind noise, my helmet and my lack of familiarity with scooters, I may have the same noise and just not notice it.

Already did top off battery and no issues with multiple starts. I did notice that at an idle the headlight brightness varies on that bike, like it is running off the alternator but on the other R50 it does not. Could be one was just idling faster, so I a not worried. I don't like the "missing gasket" but I know it won't hurt anything except my annoying dedication to vehicle perfection, so I'll just have the dealer look at 350 miles or so.

BTW, when did your dealer tell you to come back for 1st check up/maint? Manual says 200 miles, my dealer said 500.

joe6 wrote:Hello G-man,

Can't say that I have noticed any noise, other than the engine gurgle as I let off throttle, but I only have about 3 minutes of total time at that speed, as I am doing back roads to break it in (have about 90 miles or so right now). Between engine noise, wind noise, my helmet and my lack of familiarity with scooters, I may have the same noise and just not notice it.

Already did top off battery and no issues with multiple starts. I did notice that at an idle the headlight brightness varies on that bike, like it is running off the alternator but on the other R50 it does not. Could be one was just idling faster, so I a not worried. I don't like the "missing gasket" but I know it won't hurt anything except my annoying dedication to vehicle perfection, so I'll just have the dealer look at 350 miles or so.

BTW, when did your dealer tell you to come back for 1st check up/maint? Manual says 200 miles, my dealer said 500.

The headlight (and tail light) always flicker when idling after a cold start. This is normal. Later, when the revs are higher, this appears to stop.

My dealer did not mention the service. There really is not a lot to do on these... no valves to adjust, no engine oil or filters to change. I changed the gear oil at 100 miles, then again at 300 miles. I now have 370 on it. I think the only thing a dealer can do on the RH is change gear oil, check/tighten bolts, maybe check the richness, adjust idle. I have a tach on mine, so I re-adjust the idle to about 1900 rpm whenever the temperature changes.

Do you have a link for a video on changing gear oil on these? Looks simple enough, but I read somewhere that if you overfill it comes out on your rear wheel which makes braking dangerous.

There may be something in the technical library, but this video has everything you need: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiMdoxK73PA

The video is for a buddy, but the transmission is the same. Get yourself an oil premixing syringe from an auto parts store and refill the tranny with only 90cc of gear oil which is usually about one and a half syringes worth. Check that the spring is about 60cc volume, but I think that they are.

PERFECT! Thanks.

You're welcome.

Of course I meant to say "Check that the syringe is about 60cc volume". Bloody tablet auto-correct...

Auto correct is a pain, but you should see the junk I send as texts when I use voice recognition. Sometimes they are funny.

Ha ha, i just realized that in my earlier posts on this thread, i used the wrong unit of measure. For the gear oil replacement, I meant 90 ml, not 90 cc. I'm sure you knew what I meant, however.

G-man. To make you feel better, 90cc IS equal to 90ml.

Ha ha, you're correct. I did not realize that until now!!