Kymco Downtown 300 MY 2015

[Sprljo]

First of all, let me introduce myself, I'm new to this forum
I'm from Croatia, bought my Kymco brand new. So far I got 43 500 km on it.

I must say I had quite of few problems with him.
Other than that, I'm quite happy with it. Looks, comfort, under seat storage, performance, even consumption are all great.
My consumption was lowest at 3.8 l/100km, but most often it's around 4.2 or 4.3 l/100km. Translated in US that's ~55 mpg or UK ~65mpg.
I drive rather lively, lot of open road and also lot of WOT, what you can probably presume from my consumption
But I never force it with cold engine.

Everything on bike is stock other than Dr. Pulley rollers, which are on it for last 12k km. They improved acceleration drastically, top speed remained the same, I went for 14 gr rollers.
And bike is serviced regularly in official service shop (max 5k km between oil changes etc.).

Now let's go to the problems:
I've got my first belt snapped at 6 000km. Replaced under warranty, got a replacement belt which I found out afterwards. Apparently they didn't have original one in warehouse.
That belt snapped in few months time, at 10 500km. Got another one in warranty also, this time Mitsuboshi original.
That one lasted full mileage (it's meant to last 20k km), so I got a new original belt at 30 500 km.
That one also snapped at 35 500 km.
All 3 snappings occured while driving, meaning I got left by the road 3 times. First 2 times while scooter was brand new, in warranty, in first 12 months. You buy a new vehicle, hoping it would be reliable...

Anyway, now I have another problem, sound that is becoming louder slowly, like it has a leak in exhaust somewhere. I also notice slight loss in engine power.
My mechanic immediately diagnosed what's the problem, it's the crankshaft.
He said it's best not to repair it (not economic, expensive parts and lot of work to rebuild engine + shipping time for parts) but to swap the whole engine for used one.
He has in his garage frontal wrecked K-XCT (same 299ccm engine) which will be a donor for mine.
Engine is ok, has done 23k km, I saw it with my own eyes.
We agreed on price for engine at 500 Euros + he said he's gonna charge his hands at least 130 Euros.

So, any comments/suggestions?

[NorWeWa]

May be time to just buy a new scooter.  Is that just to expensive ?

[Ruffus]

@Sprljo, dobro vece, welcome here in this hive!
My points to this matter:
-if your mech is sure and trustworthy then is €500,- plus €130,- labour a good deal here in our med corner (HR, SLO, IT).
-for its the same or even more job to renew your scoots main bearings/crankshaft (fairings off, motor out and opening, etc. appr. 8 hours work)
-if you want to keep this scoot, go for it, its worth.

[CROSSBOLT]

I'm not as objective about my 2nd DT300i as 500 sounds very reasonable IF it is a good engine and 130 to swap is a steal! Assuming the € and the $ are still fairly close.

What is supposed to be wrong with the crank? WOT too much is a better suspect. I had 22000 miles on DT#1 when stolen and wrecked and now have ~17000 miles on DT#2. #1 cooked a belt because mice plugged the CVT vent with birdseed and #2 had a precautionary replacement because some lugs were missing, inside the belt and outside.

I have a suspicion about 3 belts on a new bike low mileage....

What Ruffus said....

[Sprljo]

May be time to just buy a new scooter.  Is that just to expensive ?

Thinking about it, but for now I have to fix mine. If I do hrt something new in the end, I'll go for something bigger, admirably 2 cylinder engine.
It would probably better suit my use case, I'm quite aware that my driving had quite a lot to do with this scenario at all. That's why I mentioned lot od WOT driving and fuel consumption, for you guys to get a better sense of my way od driving. I'm not slow driver 😐

[Sprljo]

@Sprljo, dobro vece, welcome here in this hive!
My points to this matter:
-if your mech is sure and trustworthy then is €500,- plus €130,- labour a good deal here in our med corner (HR, SLO, IT).
-for its the same or even more job to renew your scoots main bearings/crankshaft (fairings off, motor out and opening, etc. appr. 8 hours work)
-if you want to keep this scoot, go for it, its worth.

Yes he is, I almost trust him to life 😁
I want to keep it, it's in great condition, regulary serviced, never fallen, got set of new tires few weeks ago...
Other than 2-3 little marks on body, it's almost as good as new.

[Sprljo]

I'm not as objective about my 2nd DT300i as 500 sounds very reasonable IF it is a good engine and 130 to swap is a steal! Assuming the € and the $ are still fairly close.

What is supposed to be wrong with the crank? WOT too much is a better suspect. I had 22000 miles on DT#1 when stolen and wrecked and now have ~17000 miles on DT#2. #1 cooked a belt because mice plugged the CVT vent with birdseed and #2 had a precautionary replacement because some lugs were missing, inside the belt and outside.

I have a suspicion about 3 belts on a new bike low mileage....

What Ruffus said....

Yes, probably my driving. I sometimes drive ~30km distance in under 15 mins, meaning almost WOT the whole time. 😐
Maybe I just need 50 or more HPs under my ass 😁
I'm like Jeremy Clarkson: Poooweeeeer