DW
04-16-2013, 04:47 PM
Hi all. The wife and I have been riding 2 of these for the past 3 years with the normal problems arising from time to time. Thought I would share my issues and my solutions with these two scoots. I live in Spokane Washington so the riding season is about 7 to 8 months a year. I ride mine everywhere I go unless weather, taking a lot of stuff, or too many passengers force me to drive. It has not always been a smooth trip tho.
We can't get parts in town for our bikes and no shop will even look at them. I wouldn't have considered that an issue because I am fairly good at trouble shooting and took the time to read the forums and watch the vids. The only real problem I have is waiting for parts in the mail while I am forced to drive the family mini van.
The stock Roketa Fiji took a couple mods like better headlight bulbs L.E.D. tail light, and a set of mirrors that I could live with. After digging I found some brighter headlight bulbs at 35W instead of the 25W stock lamps. Had to adjust the reflector some but I can see the potholes at night now. The tail light (1157) was way too dim in daylight so I found one of those L.E.D. 3 wire trailer lights at walmart, trimmed it down to fit inside the reflector with the Dremmel soldiered some wires to the terminals, broke the old bulb to get access to the base to solder the wires in and it works great.
I change the oil every 500 to 800 miles due to lack of an oil filter. Gear lube change every 1500 miles.
Wife had a problem with low tire pressure from the cheesy valve stems so I replaced them all with the type with a nut to hold them in place. Used the C-clamp method to pull the side of the tire over to gain access to the inside of the valve without taking the rim off the bike. Works like a charm! Did all 4 in about an hour.
If anyone asks me about the stock belts on these scoots I would say replace them now, before they break. I know this from experience. I got to mine in time but the wife's broke while we were riding in the country and it took hours to find a way to haul it home. I have a small trailer to pull behind the van now lol.
Was riding to work one day an stopped at a light and it just stopped running. cranked it a bit but nothing but a sputter or two. Pushed it off the road, got the tools out, and started looking things over. Fuel was ok, so I took the rubber boot off the coil and everything looked ok. Put the boot back on and it fired right up! Slapped it all back together and rode to work, went to leave and it wouldn't start again. So I took the boot off the coil and pulled the spade clips off the coil. They almost fell off I should say. Got some pliers and gave the terminals a gentle squeeze to tighten them up. Fired it up and rode to the hardware store to get some better terminals. Soldiered them to the wires, put some heat shrink tubing over the whole mess and haven't had that particular problem since.
Did my First valve adjustment at about 1500 miles. I know everyone says to line up the timing marks on the cam gear and it seems that everyone likes a different lash clearance. Ok, I tried all that and was never satisfied till I rotated the cam lobes completely out of the way and set the lash to .004 on both valves. Works for me!
Wife came home one night and told me that her bike lost most of it's power and she limped home at 15 mph. Went out to take a look and listen and had to give it some throttle to get it to start. It would not rev up, it would just die when I gave it a twist. OK, running lean for some reason was my first thought. Did the usual vacuum line inspection, all looked well there so I took the top off the under seat air box just for shits and giggles and peeked in and found that the top of the snorkel had come loose and created enough of a gap to lean out the air fuel mixture. Put it all back together and it ran fine. Same thing has happened to my bike about a month ago. Simple fix when you know what to look for lol.
Just remember, the smaller the engine, the more picky it is about the A/F ratio. Ever try to run your weed wacker without the air filter?
There have been other minor issues you would have with any rig. Tires, batteries and such but that's normal.
People ask me if I would buy another one. Sure, for parts lol.
They aren't bad if you consider what you pay for them. But I wouldn't take a long trip on one and I always carry some tools.
BTW, they will power a small stereo amp ok. Mine says 100W but it sounds more like 20W. Just wire it to the ignition so it shuts down completely so it shuts off with the bike.
Keep smiling and keep the rubber side down....
We can't get parts in town for our bikes and no shop will even look at them. I wouldn't have considered that an issue because I am fairly good at trouble shooting and took the time to read the forums and watch the vids. The only real problem I have is waiting for parts in the mail while I am forced to drive the family mini van.
The stock Roketa Fiji took a couple mods like better headlight bulbs L.E.D. tail light, and a set of mirrors that I could live with. After digging I found some brighter headlight bulbs at 35W instead of the 25W stock lamps. Had to adjust the reflector some but I can see the potholes at night now. The tail light (1157) was way too dim in daylight so I found one of those L.E.D. 3 wire trailer lights at walmart, trimmed it down to fit inside the reflector with the Dremmel soldiered some wires to the terminals, broke the old bulb to get access to the base to solder the wires in and it works great.
I change the oil every 500 to 800 miles due to lack of an oil filter. Gear lube change every 1500 miles.
Wife had a problem with low tire pressure from the cheesy valve stems so I replaced them all with the type with a nut to hold them in place. Used the C-clamp method to pull the side of the tire over to gain access to the inside of the valve without taking the rim off the bike. Works like a charm! Did all 4 in about an hour.
If anyone asks me about the stock belts on these scoots I would say replace them now, before they break. I know this from experience. I got to mine in time but the wife's broke while we were riding in the country and it took hours to find a way to haul it home. I have a small trailer to pull behind the van now lol.
Was riding to work one day an stopped at a light and it just stopped running. cranked it a bit but nothing but a sputter or two. Pushed it off the road, got the tools out, and started looking things over. Fuel was ok, so I took the rubber boot off the coil and everything looked ok. Put the boot back on and it fired right up! Slapped it all back together and rode to work, went to leave and it wouldn't start again. So I took the boot off the coil and pulled the spade clips off the coil. They almost fell off I should say. Got some pliers and gave the terminals a gentle squeeze to tighten them up. Fired it up and rode to the hardware store to get some better terminals. Soldiered them to the wires, put some heat shrink tubing over the whole mess and haven't had that particular problem since.
Did my First valve adjustment at about 1500 miles. I know everyone says to line up the timing marks on the cam gear and it seems that everyone likes a different lash clearance. Ok, I tried all that and was never satisfied till I rotated the cam lobes completely out of the way and set the lash to .004 on both valves. Works for me!
Wife came home one night and told me that her bike lost most of it's power and she limped home at 15 mph. Went out to take a look and listen and had to give it some throttle to get it to start. It would not rev up, it would just die when I gave it a twist. OK, running lean for some reason was my first thought. Did the usual vacuum line inspection, all looked well there so I took the top off the under seat air box just for shits and giggles and peeked in and found that the top of the snorkel had come loose and created enough of a gap to lean out the air fuel mixture. Put it all back together and it ran fine. Same thing has happened to my bike about a month ago. Simple fix when you know what to look for lol.
Just remember, the smaller the engine, the more picky it is about the A/F ratio. Ever try to run your weed wacker without the air filter?
There have been other minor issues you would have with any rig. Tires, batteries and such but that's normal.
People ask me if I would buy another one. Sure, for parts lol.
They aren't bad if you consider what you pay for them. But I wouldn't take a long trip on one and I always carry some tools.
BTW, they will power a small stereo amp ok. Mine says 100W but it sounds more like 20W. Just wire it to the ignition so it shuts down completely so it shuts off with the bike.
Keep smiling and keep the rubber side down....