Sym Citycomm 300cc  By  falstaff (Read 1,378 times)

$50 for the inspection and then the actual title fees. The scooter originally cost $3500.

Here in KS a salvage title means you won't be able to get full coverage insurance anymore. That's about the only diff I've heard/read of.

>'Kat

As someone who has worked on a salvaged titled bike here are a few observations to keep it from becoming a money pit down the road. A lot of these items go for any used bike you buy, but when you are buying a bike with a salvage title, it's important to really go over the basics. The bike is suspect to start with and a salvaged bike can quickly make you spend more money then the bike is worth.

If you do decide to buy a bike with a salvage title, don't trust what the PO says about why it has a salvaged title. At least here in California, I think they inspect it only once, vin verify, etc and then you are issued a salvaged title. Then it's pay the registration as usual. Other states I'm sure vary. If it has a salvage title, changes are the inspections have already been done. In California, we do not do annual inspections on motorcycles and scooters.

Do an extensive inspection and test drive. Make sure everything tracks straight Make sure the wheels are not bent, and look along the center line of the wheels to make sure one or the other has no "camber" ie, tilted. Check swing arm bushings, and if you can, look at the frame, where the neck is to make sure there is no cracks, or that it is bent. Make sure the suspension travel is smooth and when riding, you hear or feel no clunks. If you are comfortable with the bike, find an open stretch of road, get it to about 35 mph, and carefully, and I mean carefully, take your hands off the bars (have your hands hover over the controls just in case) and see if there is any head shake, very slight head shake is ok but if it's excessive, it have a bent fork, may need wheel bearings, or head set bearings inspected, torqued to spec, or in worse case, replaced.... be ready to grab the bars..... Many bikes, do have a little head shake even when things are right at certain speeds. IE my gold wing has a touch at 20mph and it's considered normal but this only happens when you hands are off the controls and it's very slight. But excessive head shake needs to be addressed, and can be a real pain to track down. Head set bearings are usually the culprit but not always.

Put the bike on the center stand and slowly rotate the front wheel. Do the wheel bearings make any noise (front caliper may make a slight scrapping sound and that's normal) but make sure the wheel turns smoothly and that you have no bearing noise.

Look for aftermarket mirrors. If the bike has aftermarket mirrors, make sure they are mounted to the original locations. I've seen clamp on mirrors added to a bike, because the originals, broke off in the mater cylinder. This makes it to where if you want to put original mirrors back on the bike, you have to replace the master cylinders.

Look at the wiring. While these bikes look like they were wired by a baboon, look for crimp on splice connectors. If you see spliced connectors, ask questions. Ask why, what they go to, etc. If you buy the bike, write down where they are and what they go to, in case they give problems later. Keep the sheet of paper with the bike in the glove box, with the registration, or what ever. It could save you time, energy and frustration later.

Make sure it idles smooth. If possible, make sure then engine is cool on the first start to see how it runs when cold. The get it up to operating temp, make sure it doesn't die when hot. See how it starts when at operating temp. If the bike is liquid cooled, does the fan come on? Does the bike overheat?

Check the oil... Color, consistency and smell tells you a lot. Golden Amber, probably just changed (is the PO trying to cover something up?). Blackish, NOT GRITTY, is normal, needs an oil change, (which you are going to do first thing when you get it home, right?) Brownish, looks like a milkshake indicates, coolant contamination, possibly blown head gasket. A very little "milk shake" in the cap is ok (bike was ridden cold on short trips a lot, without getting up to operating temperature), but you shouldn't see it on the stick it's self.

Take off gentle a couple of time to make sure the clutch doesn't chatter. Usually, especially with the scooters in the 250 class and larger, you always use a firm hand when taking off so you don't glaze the clutch, causing which causes the chatter. Taking off gentle, lets you see what kind of shape the clutch is in.

Make sure the exhaust system has not cracks, breaks, holes or is not crushed or scrapped to . Exhaust systems on the larger (250cc and above) scooters are very expensive. On my Aprilia for example, I've seen prices up to 600.00 bucks. Of course that is an extreme example, but you get the point. The exhaust system takes a beating if the bike goes down on the right side and we are talking a salvaged bike so chances are it's been down, at least once. Aftermarket exhausts are much harder to find for larger scoots and if you do find one, a lot of "shade tree scoot scoot mechanics" don't bother to re-jet the carbs and they never run right if you skip re-jetting. Aftermarket exhausts, don't always mix well with fuel injected bikes either.

When you get it home, do a PDI, as usual, brake fluid, new fuel and vac lines, new fuel filter, new brake fluid, and of course an oil change. Don't forget to replace the oil in the final drive. Also, inspect the belt while you are doing your PDI.

I have a Sym Citycom 300i. I bought mine second hand and later found that the owner and agent where it was purchased and 'serviced' lied about the maintenance. I had to service and replace the front brake disc and both sets of brake pads. I am very impressed with the quality and reliability of the Citycom. Speed wise, I got 90mph on the clock, but the speedo's are always out. True speed was 83mph, which is still not bad, considering it was carrying about 100kg's of weight and required a service. Air filter was very dirty and the plug gap was way wider than required.
I recon that it is a good buy, but then I haven't tested it.