Scooterotica

today has been a bad day.
finally getting scoot ready for mot, went to kick over to test lights and... well nothing, kickstarter didnt return. played with it a bit and then thought right, casing off, b@11@x b@11@x b@11@x.
The worst happened. kickstart shaft had snapped, and the split part had wedged itself against the casing and cracked it. about an inch and a half from the gasket face down. To say im gutted doesnt quite do it justice, im p155 poor and its my daily commuter, and it looks like i wont get it on the road for quite some time.
The local ally welder has said he an only do it with a bare casing. That makes the situation even worse! last year i rebuilt all the top end, so drive side bearing and seals etc will all need to be replaced again, everything needs stripping and then whilst in there i need to replace bottom end shims seals bearings and probably gear selector, basically another full engine rebuild. Which I dont have the money for.

What i now want to know is, why did this happen?

last year i bust the original chaincase whilst in a fit of absent mindedness i didnt do up the front sprocket correctly. so i bought another side case, believed to be from a gp.
the inside face where the shaft sits had been machined down, but wasnt at all even, and i fear this is what has weakened the shaft... also i didnt shim it up properly from the outside, but it wasnt rubbing on the clutch or elsewhere...

any ideas?

whilst were at it, i need a replacement shaft, is it best if on a budget to get an original one rather than the 15 quid indian ones?

also, my first gear had alot of play, could push it back and forth quite a bit so really for the long run its best that im being forced to rebuild the gearbox, just wish i was in a position financially to do so!
cheers all, a very miserable youngun!

I have one of those £15 ebay (unused) jobbies which you can have for free if you want it fella, just pm me your address and I'll post it at the weekend. Let me know what shims you need and I'll see if I can help there too.

Re the damage to the case, how bad is it? if it is just a crack then MAYBE you can get away with JB Weld after thoroughly cleaning with brake cleaner. Save the welding until you have the funds for a full rebuild.....just a thought.

Colin

Im sorry to hear your trouble, you're not the first one to crack a side casing on a badly fitted sprocket.Any pictures of the latest damage Ollie?

thanks for the kind words guys; its almost funny i was panicking all week about how i was going to afford the insurance and looking at different overdraft rates and now this!
Coaster thats really kind of you mate, i doubt im gonna touch ti until i have a plan of action, as i have no garage all work is done outside and then if the missus allows in the living room so its not the simplest of things! im tempted and very grateful for your offer of the shaft, but i am weary of using ebay parts regardless of financial stuff, if its just a case of it looks a bit rough but will do the job then great!
I shouldve learnt me lesson from the sidecasing, it was jammed so i push started it then it cracked, same here, jammed so instead of investigating im wiggling the kickstart around which is probably how the broken piece got lodged and cracked my engine casing. the split has moved the gasket face out of line, so it needs pushing back together. theres a dent where the broken piece hit it. I dont think chemical metal is going to do, but ive never used the stuff before so who knows? i left my phone at work so ill get some photos up in the week.
its all a learning curve i just wish it couldve happened when i had a bit of money to throw at it!
oh well.
currently on the market for a push bike.

Is there not a scooter club near you that can help?

yes mate im in lewisham and theres some people there that might be able to offer me some garage space... big dave at bees autos was a great source for second hand parts but the sho shut and i have no contact for his new business...
either way heres a video so you can all stare at my crack.... wait, no.. erm. so you can all see the offending article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0pIDVW ... e=youtu.be

I'd have a go a (bodging) sealing that with JB weld. Unless I'm way off beam you only need to seal the casing, there's no stress on it. Someone with more knowledge may disagree?

What a bummer I have a spanish kick start shaft you can have that deffo needs welding down there

Shipleystevep wrote:I'd have a go a (bodging) sealing that with JB weld. Unless I'm way off beam you only need to seal the casing, there's no stress on it. Someone with more knowledge may disagree?

You might be right I dont know much about the properties of jb weld and how oil resitant it is it would always be a nagging doubt in my mind as to whether it would leak

Mine snapped in the same place last year on the way to VMSC do in Coventry, my mates I was with said just push start it and not knowing better I did....on the Way back it gave up and fecked the engine.... ......the only upside was that it was outside a pub.....