How many miles you got - for DT owners who live on their scooter!

[Cortez]

Greets people.

I figured we could use a thread where owners can post their mileage and report any problems
if they had any up to that mileage. Considering the DT300 is rather fresh on the market, there's
probably only a few owners that went over 20k, or 30k miles..

..but I figured every current and potential DT300 owner would like to read about how the DT300
is coping with big miles.

[scootinChris]

Yes this should become an interesting thread.
Ddoing between 30 and 50 km a day. I won't be having to report anything soon, I hope.
Right now I'm just shy of the 1000 km total.

Having a blast!

[streetdown]

I got my DT last Dec. I now have 5500 miles with not one problem!

[Cortez]

Yes this should become an interesting thread.
Ddoing between 30 and 50 km a day. I won't be having to report anything soon, I hope.
Right now I'm just shy of the 1000 km total.

Having a blast!

Put some effort into it! 
I did the first 1000km on my Kawasaki in 2 days.

[Ckline3783]

got my DT300 in June and have 485 miles.  getting ready to take it in for 600 mile service.  no problems at all.

[StKilda]

Picked mine up last saturday 600klm by sunday night, will have to get it serviced next week. how sweet it is.

[Goodrich]

3999 miles as I rode up the driveway coming home from work this morning, I got it in late March.  It's my main mode of transportation as long I don't have cargo/passengers or if it's raining.  71/72 MPG with 14g sliders while driving semi-aggresive with the throttle.  The front brake disc is warped from some "oh sh!t" moment or series of small ones, so now I just use the rear brake for my primary and use the front as secondary only if needed since it's not covered under warranty.  If they warp that easy there is no reason to replace it until absolutely needed.  The discs aren't very meaty at all, they must import them from China.

[axy]

3999 miles as I rode up the driveway coming home from work this morning, I got it in late March.  It's my main mode of transportation as long I don't have cargo/passengers or if it's raining.  71/72 MPG with 14g sliders while driving semi-aggresive with the throttle.  The front brake disc is warped from some "oh sh!t" moment or series of small ones, so now I just use the rear brake for my primary and use the front as secondary only if needed since it's not covered under warranty.  If they warp that easy there is no reason to replace it until absolutely needed.  The discs aren't very meaty at all, they must import them from China.

1. The disc cannot get warped from a few or few dozens or few hundreds of sudden brakings.

2. I have designated with bold a few very bad decisions, including using rear brake as a "primary" and conclusion that "there is no reason to replace it until absolutely needed". When you find out it is needed, you might have your brains all around.

3. Discs are for sure imported from China considering that probably the whole scoot is made there.

4. Reasons for warped discs can be multiple: poor steel quality, not balanced calipers, excessive overheating (not due to braking - you will sooner kill yourself than overheat these brakes in open wheel rims - but due to stuck caliper, for example), too hard brake pads, manufacturing error..

Btw. a good text: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

I quote:

" in more than 40 years of professional racing, including the Shelby/Ford GT 40s – one of the most intense brake development program in history - I have never seen a warped brake disc. I have seen lots of cracked discs, (FIGURE 1) discs that had turned into shallow cones at operating temperature because they were mounted rigidly to their attachment bells or top hats, (FIGURE 2) a few where the friction surface had collapsed in the area between straight radial interior vanes, (FIGURE 3) and an untold number of discs with pad material unevenly deposited on the friction surfaces - sometimes visible and more often not. (FIGURE 4)

In fact every case of "warped brake disc" that I have investigated, whether on a racing car or a street car, has turned out to be friction pad material transferred unevenly to the surface of the disc. This uneven deposition results in thickness variation (TV) or run-out due to hot spotting that occurred at elevated temperatures."


I would fix that. Saving money on a few dozen dollar front brake disc on a new scooter is a very wrong place to save money.

[Cortez]

Agreed!

[Goodrich]

1. The disc cannot get warped from a few or few dozens or few hundreds of sudden brakings.

2. I have designated with bold a few very bad decisions, including using rear brake as a "primary" and conclusion that "there is no reason to replace it until absolutely needed". When you find out it is needed, you might have your brains all around.3. Discs are for sure imported from China considering that probably the whole scoot is made there.

4. Reasons for warped discs can be multiple: poor steel quality, not balanced calipers, excessive overheating (not due to braking - you will sooner kill yourself than overheat these brakes in open wheel rims - but due to stuck caliper, for example), too hard brake pads, manufacturing error..

Btw. a good text: http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

I quote:

" in more than 40 years of professional racing, including the Shelby/Ford GT 40s – one of the most intense brake development program in history - I have never seen a warped brake disc. I have seen lots of cracked discs, (FIGURE 1) discs that had turned into shallow cones at operating temperature because they were mounted rigidly to their attachment bells or top hats, (FIGURE 2) a few where the friction surface had collapsed in the area between straight radial interior vanes, (FIGURE 3) and an untold number of discs with pad material unevenly deposited on the friction surfaces - sometimes visible and more often not. (FIGURE 4)

In fact every case of "warped brake disc" that I have investigated, whether on a racing car or a street car, has turned out to be friction pad material transferred unevenly to the surface of the disc. This uneven deposition results in thickness variation (TV) or run-out due to hot spotting that occurred at elevated temperatures."


I would fix that. Saving money on a few dozen dollar front brake disc on a new scooter is a very wrong place to save money.

Ha...that's funny.  I was getting into an argument at the shop with the guy when he was trying to convince me that I should be using my rear brake as primary anyway.  I just left it alone, when I get pissed I get loud and at 6' 265 lbs (not ALL fat) I could soon be seen as "trespassing" by the local LE.  The next closest shop is 90 miles away...one hell of a trip if something goes wrong.

[axy]

Ha...that's funny.  I was getting into an argument at the shop with the guy when he was trying to convince me that I should be using my rear brake as primary anyw

He is a moron.

Unfortunately, very often you can hear not only incorrect, but downright dangerous information from people who should be "professionals", including vehicle sellers and shop personnel.

It's a sad state of affairs that these people are not only uneducated but also do not do anything to get informed in the area that basically earns their living.

[Cortez]

He is a moron.

Unfortunately, very often you can hear not only incorrect, but downright dangerous information from people who should be "professionals", including vehicle sellers and shop personnel.

It's a sad state of affairs that these people are not only uneducated but also do not do anything to get informed in the area that basically earns their living.

Agreed again.
Fortunately, there's a lot of online reading material and even some good old-fashioned books
to read on the subject, and they all disagree with the clueless salesman.. and anyone who rides
should also disagree just by trying his brakes.

However, on a scooter, the rear brake is A LOT more efficient then on a normal motorcycle,
especially on the butt-heavy scoots.

The Downtown can stop rather fast using rear only since the rear wheel has a lot of load on
it, but using both will make the stop happen a lot faster (and safer).

I guess that's why we see more and more linked brakes in scooters, to MAKE people use the
front whatever lever they pull.

[axy]

However, on a scooter, the rear brake is A LOT more efficient then on a normal motorcycle,
especially on the butt-heavy scoots.

The Downtown can stop rather fast using rear only since the rear wheel has a lot of load on
it, but using both will make the stop happen a lot faster (and safer).

While it is true that rear brake might feel more efficient on some scoots than on some bikes (Piaggio NRG 50 has unbelieavably good rear (and front) brake for such a small scoot), considering that most scooter drivers are newbies and/or inexperienced and have no idea how 2-wheeled vehicle behaves under extremes, braking with both brakes is highly adviseable, maintaining most pressure on the front brakes.

The amount of stopping force that can be produced by front wheel can by no means be compared with amount of braking force produced by rear wheel.

Furthermore, under extremes, balanced front and rear wheel braking is the only way to maintain maximum stopping force while keeping some resemblence of vehicle stability.

Personally, the more I drive scoots, the more I am worried about wheels locking because bigger scoots have more than ample amount of stopping power that tends to spill over into locked wheels. When I drive my People with dual front discs, and have to stop suddenly, I have to take great care not to lock the wheels and the pressure that has to be kept on the levers is relatively slight to come to locking point compared to some scoots from just 10 years ago.

Braking technique may greatly vary depending on driving style, road type, bike load and bike type. For example, my Kawasaki had too soft front telescopes prone to excessive dive during aggressive curve approach. For example, if you approached the bend at 100-110 mph (and there is a number of such situations on the road where my group used to go to ride), but could only negotiate the bend at 60-65 mph, you could be faster if you depressed the front brake while increasing the pressure on the rear wheel in the final braking stage before opening the throttle fully after the apex. This is contrary to most braking tips you will hear but suited the dynamics of that particular bike nicely - it would probably send you rubber side up on most other bikes including sports bikes. However, this kind of brake usage is an exception and should not be used on the regular roads by regular drivers anyway.

[roboscoot]

this an excellent thread ....a great idea...to track performance and maintenance issues in real time...as for me i have my 300 for about 2 weeks now  at 450 km...and i am readying myself for first oil change and change of spark  plug....i had caught a nail in rear tire but had it plugged ,,,all is fine ...holding at 32psi

have been checking oil level every few days....dealer told me to keep oil level all the way up on the stick ....despite what owners manual says.....lost a few ounces since purchase and began riding ....re-plenished....again all is fine and i am very satisfied with scooter's performance thus far...

[TANWare]

My oil stayed all the way up from the first fill. After my 3,000 mile though they didn't tighten the filter cap properly and I lost alot of oil. Retightening the cap has solved that issue.

As far as brakes I haven't had an issue. Our brakes do not seem strong enough on flat pavement to be able to lock up the front wheel. I have though on an emergency clapping locked up the rear............