My motorized bike keeps breaking down and that's ok

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
07/23/2018 at 16:22 • Filed to: tooty scooty

My motorized bike has less than 15 miles on it, and has more breakdowns under its belt than an average Dumpster Fire trip. That is OK, the learning is part of the fun... Right?

Disclaimers: This build is for entertainment and learning purposes only. I do not expect to get any practical use out of the end product. I understand this is the worst choice of 2-wheel motorized transport.

I took the Tooty Scooty out three times this weekend, and all three times there was a problem.

Trip 1 - Brakes? What brakes?

First trip out was the first run with the new rear sprocket. Overall it was pretty good. The bike felt more balanced and wasn’t making weird noises anymore.

That said, the brakes felt... bad. I was having a hard time slowing down on even the most modest hills.

I get back to the house and find two problems:

I’d failed to fully reassemble the rear brakes

The tensioner was rubbing against the fenders

The former was solved by retracing my steps and find where the brake pads had fallen off the bike. I didn’t go far, so that wasn’t hard.

The latter was solved with a hammer. I am really tired of both that tensioner and those fenders.

Trip 2 - I don’t think it is supposed to make that noise

The next day, I went out for a spin and everything went pretty OK. Power delivery is getting better and starting is very easy now.

Then it started making a weird noise from the clutch cover.

I drove home, popped off the clutch cover, and immediately noticed a bolt was missing out of the main drive gear.

Shit.

I guess it has been loose for a while...

But where was it?

I turned the clutch over and the bolt fell out.

I have no idea where it was. Like... there isn’t a space big enough for it to hide!

I pulled the clutch plate and inspected the clutch. It had taken some damage, but overall was OK. I called it a win and reassembled, this time using loctite.

Trip 3 - OH SHIT

Sunday my new lights arrived, and I thought it would be fun to go out for a little night ride.

This was all going fairly well and the bike was a lot quieter following the fixes from trips 2 and 3, plus some chain oil.

Then the left pedal fell off.

No really.

It just like... fell off in the middle of an intersection.

After retrieving the errant part, I realized the threads were too fucked up to repair on the side of the road. This would have been fine, except I shut off the bike when I stopped.

Shit.

I backed the bike into a nearby steep driveway and gave it a little bump start. Luckily the warmed up and eager little 2-stroke fired to life and puttered me home without incident.

Once home I somehow managed to reinstall the pedal... though in retrospect I wish I hadn’t. Oh well... hindsight is bullshit.

So... WTF?

Ok yeah... this thing is astonishingly bad. I’ll be one of the first to admit that.

That said, most of the problems I’ve experienced have been reasonable, so far. Ok the bolt backing out and the pedal falling off are... less so.

I still haven’t left the safety of the square mile of my neighborhood and haven’t ventured onto any major streets yet.

So far I’m still enjoying finding the problems and with every fix I feel like I am getting closer to a useful end product.

Eventually.

Sort of.

It is fun! I swear!

DISCUSSION (7)

Nom De Plume > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/23/2018 at 16:41

This is everything I feared enough to offer advance warning about come to fruition. IF you walk away from serious fork damage unharmed this will be the best serial OPPO story of the year.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Nom De Plume
07/23/2018 at 16:46

Haha I have taken the warnings seriously and I swear I am having fun and being safe(ish). I’m treating this as a bike, not a motor vehicle, and keeping it slow and off major roads.

But you’re right, this is an comprehensive shit show.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/23/2018 at 16:54

Do you want me to make a GoFundMe to cover your hospital bills/funeral costs now or later?

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever
07/23/2018 at 17:10

Now is fine. If it gets up to a reasonable number I might fake my own death to fund cars parts.

cbell04 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/23/2018 at 18:01

2 wheels has never been badder. I'm loving this build.

Nom De Plume > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/23/2018 at 19:01

While I see that now. Last week I was having a bout of adulthood.

Going to add to my previous statement as I forgot the only remaining disaster. The seat breaking off and leaving a jagged full height post to deal with. Spot check of seat tells me this is not a far fetched plot development to watch out for.

M.T. Blake > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo
07/24/2018 at 05:22

Transients seem to keep theirs running. I’d ask them what you need to do to keep yours reliable.