Evil Ill handling and Brand New By notscruffy1 (Read 1,723 times)

[notscruffy1]

I recently took delivery on a new BMS Pathfinder 200. I have gone through the scooter and am pleased with the quality I found. A few minor issues but nothing big.

This is not my first scooter. I have three others. I bought this with the intention of giving it to my son because his scooter was stolen. The stolen scooter was an ITA 150. SO we are familiar with the 16 inch scoots and that one rode like dream.

I began the break-in a few days ago and the thing is evil to the point of dangerous going in a straight line and down right scary in the corners.

The behavior is bad at any speed but I have not dared to go above 40 because it is so scary. In a straight line the scooter wanders and hunts, sometimes abruptly. Any input to correct the wandering can create a violent reaction.

Counter steering for a corner will start the bike into the corner, but as soon as you have the line and the angle it is impossible to hold it. Very spooky as well!

I cannot turn my son lose on this if I will not ride it.

Tire pressure, loose blots and the like have all been addressed with no change to the handling.

I put a little more preload on the rears and things got worse if anything.

Any ideas on what I am looking for would be greatly appreciated.

On the up side the 176 cc motor is clearly superior to the 150. There is much new in this engine. It has a high rise intake manifold the raises the carb up over the engine mount. external oil galley from the oil pump (very easy to install an oil cooler) and has run like a top so far (only 10 miles so far).

[Bashan]

Wow, sounds like a bent frame to me if all of the bolts are tight. Can you put it on the centerstand and eyeball the wheels and see if one is tilted? Also, I think we should get some of the dealers on our squad here and see what they think, they run through hundreds of scoots. Ootscoot and Big Guy are dealers, I'll see if I can rouse them up. You say you took delivery, I'd contact the dealer you bought it from and make sure he knows right away. Rich

[ootscoot]

Front axle torqued?, air pressure in tire? I assume these were checked, then lets check the steering column - is there play in the handle bars with front wheel held tight?
Most likely the nut at the top of steering column needs tightening, but it could be the triple tree bearings/race - especially under load. Also if there is any movement, side to side on the front wheel - check for bad wheel bearings or missing spacer.

[notscruffy1]

The dealer is standing up as of now. The are getting info. I took measurements using my digital level and a laser. They agree it is not right and that a bent frame is a real possibility. I can not fault them or their support so far.

I will share the photos of what I have after the dealer has responded with their interpretation. Like I said so far they have been great. They will go un-named until I know what I'm calling them! (humor of a sort)

Yes we have checked over and adjusted the head set (forks to grips) adjusted somethings that seemed on the edge of OK. Nothing so far. Now we are looking for tweaked I think.

If anything comes to mind (to check or measure) please let me know. I had to qualify that because some of the stuff I have seen from JRs mind is already twisted.

[♔Big Guy♔]

Common problem for dealers... Your fork is loose. Open the front bonnet of the scooter and look at the top of the fork. You'll see a large fork nut - tighten it up. DO NOT ride the scooter until you do!


-Rich

[ootscoot]

We have had a few bikes that must have been dropped from the truck - front forks at strange, but always noticable, angles. If you have tightened up everything, the other possibility is the front fork bearings - on some bikes there are upper and lower bearings and races.
Could also be the tire or wheel - check for true spin by holding a stationary pointer (felt pen) to the side of wheel rim and spin.

[mthomas]

I agree, sounds like the forks are loose OR too tight. Put on the center stand and have someone push the back of the bike down raising the front wheel off the ground. Grab the bars and turn the wheel, is it loose or tight. Is there any play in the bars? Can you move it side to side? This should rule out the forks or bearing then you could turn your attention elsewhere to troubleshoot.
Great Dad.

[Bashan]

I'm glad your dealer is helping, but shouldn't they have test rode it even a little? It seems an egregious problem like that should have been addressed before you got it. I bet Big Guy and Ootscoot do a thorough PDI before the customer gets the bike. My Amore from Valley Scooters was shipped in a crate and they had put the wheel on and put a little on the odo! I think your dealer is leaving himself open to a lawsuit, he sold a dangerous scooter that was meant for a kid. JMO Rich

[ootscoot]

We strive for customer satisfaction, but our 1st priority is customer safety. We do a thourough PDI, and then I take every bike out for a two mile test ride. I have a route that covers hills, twistys, traffic and Starbucks. I dont let a bike go that is not safe to ride.
I had one SYM RV 250 that checked out fine, but the customer came back 6 months later saying that the front end wobbled on him and he didn't feel safe. We torqued and tightened and test rode - could not find the wobble, so let it go back to him. He came back with the same issue - we could not duplicate the wobble, but put on a new front wheel with new bearings just in case. Turns out he had put on a cruise control/throttle clip and had been riding hands -free...no wonder we couldn't find it - we always hold on...
I am not saying that this is your situation, it is obvious there is a problem that needs addressing, and your dealer is responsible for fixing it. I hope it works out for you - those bikes can be a pleasure to ride!

[notscruffy1]

I think I am getting somewhere. Today I decided to tear it apart and inspect the steering head up close. Although I had adjusted and readjusted the pre-load on the steering bearing I could not get them as smooth and silky as my other three scoots.

Everything looked fine on the outside of the bearings but when I dropped the triple tree out it was clear that the lower bearing race was not seated squarely.

I could not seat it so I took it out. The photo is what I found. The rear of the race was almost an eighth of an inch short of the seat. Metal had piled up behind it and had to be ground down before the race would seat properly.

After about an hour of careful application of my die grinder I was able to seat the race.

In effect the triple trees were balancing on one ball (maybe two) at the back of the race. At least now I can adjust to the same silky feely as my others.

Now to reassemble everything and test ride.

The good news is that after all my careful measurements and comparisons on the geometry of these bike they are remarkably true. The front shocks, front disk and front axle are within 1 degrees of where the should be to the rear axle and disk. I have ridden bikes further out than that and they were fine so I think the canted race may have been the problem.

I will let you know.

[mthomas]

Factory Quality control or lack thereof.
Dealer should give something back for the problems.

[notscruffy1]

I got it on the road today. Oh man it is sweet. I may check this in all of my scooters , the difference is night and day.

Really if you have an issue like this that nothing seems to help much, you might want to take a look at the seating of the bottom race. They may not be as bad as this one was but they might be off a lot.