New LIKE owner

[CB024]

I purchased a new Like for my wife about a week ago. Its a nice scooter with the exception of the seat and the front wheel. The seat isnt new news to you guys but the front wheel on this brand new bike is badly out of balance. Any speed about 40 and the bike shakes so bad it feels like you're rolling on an egg shaped wheel. I'll have to build a jig and go buy some wheel weights this week. My wife is a new rider so its really not safe for her to ride as is. Other than that she loves the scooter.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Can you take it back to the dealer? Spin balancing is much better - your dealer should be able to do that esp. if they sold you a scoot with a front shake.
Put their tech on it, let him see what it does.
I do not think any LIKEs come with wheel weights - perhaps its a fault in the wheel or tire - nevertheless you're right to get it looked at.
Congrats on the scooter - I'm very happy with mine (just finished a 20hr seat rebuild - still, it's a good scoot and a pretty darn good bargain!)

[tclhb]

I second that. Take it back to the dealer. The worst that can happen is they don't repair it. On the other hand, anything you do could potentially void the warranty regarding the problem. They could say you caused it, or something could go wrong during your attempted repair, and you are now responsible for that repair. I'd give the dealer a shot at it first.

[CB024]

Well went to two different places this morning and neither could do anything with scooter wheels and tires. I guess Im going to have to go to the place I bought it. Just sucks I have to ride this thing 25 miles back to the place in the hopes that they will fix it. It is my opinion that this scooter is unsafe for road use.

Glad you guys are having better luck with your scooters.

[tclhb]

Mine has no weights on the wheels. I thought that possibly 12" are too small to require them? Hey, maybe you should call ahead. They may say the cause could be something else? Maybe the scooter is not safe to ride?
If that is the case, maybe they will pick it up. The dealer I bought mine from just loaded it in a mini truck using a folding aluminum ramp. It was really easy for him to deliver it. They did not charge either. My dealer is close to twenty miles away.
Good luck! I think once this is sorted out you will like this scooter. It's a great bike.

[CB024]

Mine has no weights on the wheels. I thought that possibly 12" are too small to require them? Hey, maybe you should call ahead. They may say the cause could be something else? Maybe the scooter is not safe to ride?
If that is the case, maybe they will pick it up. The dealer I bought mine from just loaded it in a mini truck using a folding aluminum ramp. It was really easy for him to deliver it. They did not charge either. My dealer is close to twenty miles away.
Good luck! I think once this is sorted out you will like this scooter. It's a great bike.

Yeah I'm not knocking the scooter itself. Its not a bad scooter for the money. I think its a bad tire which happens. I'm going to call the place on Tuesday and see what they say (they are closed Sun and Mon).

[91cavgt]

I talked with a veteran motorcycle racer who told me that if a motorcycle/scooter tire needs to be balanced then it needs to be removed because it is unsafe.  He said the motorcycle and scooter tires are made with more exacting tollerances than automotive tires and thus don't need to be balanced.  He said he has been mounting tires since the 70's and has only seen a handful of tires that needed balancing, and they all had manufacture defects and/or structural damage. 

A different motorcycle shop mounted my Michelin Pilot Sport tire on my Like and they did not balance it.  I have ZERO vibration, even with hitting 70 mph down a steep hill. 

[CB024]

I talked with a veteran motorcycle racer who told me that if a motorcycle/scooter tire needs to be balanced then it needs to be removed because it is unsafe.  He said the motorcycle and scooter tires are made with more exacting tollerances than automotive tires and thus don't need to be balanced.  He said he has been mounting tires since the 70's and has only seen a handful of tires that needed balancing, and they all had manufacture defects and/or structural damage. 

A different motorcycle shop mounted my Michelin Pilot Sport tire on my Like and they did not balance it.  I have ZERO vibration, even with hitting 70 mph down a steep hill.

I have to agree with your buddy. If the place I bought it from wont do anything about it then I'll probably end up buying a new set of tires. I'll also check the run out on the rim while I have the stock tires removed in case the rim is bad. Just sucks because I bought new hoping that it would save me having to wrench so much. I own a Harley though so Im no stranger to having to wrench on my own stuff. Story of my life, haha.

[kriden]

I have had good results with this product:

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/motorcycle.htm

Sorry to hear of your issue.  Hope you can get it resolved.  Good luck.

[TroutBum]

There are products you can use to balance the tires. Balancing beads is one and the other is a slim like product that doesn't harden, but moves about to keep your tires in balance. Can't recall the name of the product at the moment.

Check that the tire was mounted correctly. I could be it was mounted with the tread going in the wrong direction of travel.

[TroutBum]

The Like is a good scooter, but it does have its quirks. 4500 miles and riding better with each passing mile. 

[CB024]

Got a hold of the place I bought it and he agrees that it sounds like a tire issue. He said to bring it in and he would take care of it. I'll drop it off on Friday this week and see how it goes.

[tclhb]

Good luck!  It seems everyone is getting good service from the dealers.

[CB024]

Update: I dropped the scooter off at the dealer that I bought it from. After having the scooter for a week their conclusion was that the front tire pressure was low. They added air said everything was fine. I check my tire pressure before every ride on all my bikes so I know that wasn’t the issue. I asked if anything else was done. He said no that the tire pressure was the issue. I took the scooter and as soon as I hit 40mph the shake was there again peaking at 45mph just like it was before I dropped it off.

Needless to say I’m done with the dealer. It’s not only too far from my house but the dealer isn’t interested in properly fixing vehicles, just selling them.

I’m going to have to fix it myself and then its going up for sale. Nothing against the scooter or Kymco but a 2 year warranty is worthless when the dealer honoring it can’t wrench on the product they are selling.

[Dolemite]

That sucks about your dealer. You know those front tires are pretty easy to remove, i'd take it off and bring it to any powersports shop and have them balance it, it probably wouldn't cost more than $10 if you bring it in off the bike.