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Post by rockynv on Apr 22, 2016 5:12:31 GMT -5
On the Piaggio its more than a paid recommendation since they test and void warranties if you use other than the specified type and grade of lubricant. At best it would only be a brand endorsement and not the type and grade such as use Motul 4T Synthetic 10W40 Oil instead of use a 4T Synthetic 10W40 Oil.
30,000 miles on my bike and it looks like its good for another 30,000 on the recommended lubricants at the specified 6,500 mile oil change schedule.
On some engine designs the need for synthetic is beyond the lubricity as with synthetic they can use spray nozzles machined into the blocks to enhance cooling in certain areas by having a mist of oil being sprayed on certain components. Those spray nozzles would quickly clog up with if one used conventional oil in the bikes. This feature is usually only found on engines with full filtered lubrication.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 21, 2016 12:20:11 GMT -5
This June 7th I will be ninety years old...WW2 Marine and I ride my Roketa 257 every day that it don't rain. I have a 2008 Chevy Malibo LT with only 33,000 on it 'cause I ride my scoot as much as I can.....I love the ride. If you were in the Pacific Campain and had any dealings with the 257 Americal you may have met my Dad. a 40 year old Army Ranger and Jungle Raider who was there to greet the Marines when the hit the beachheads giving them maps and intel including the info on where he had already setup the buried phone lines. They were as glad to see him comming out of the jungle at the Canal as he was to see them after being there by himself for months. Needles to say his uniform was no longer regulation due to condition. |
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Post by rockynv on Apr 21, 2016 12:13:36 GMT -5
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Post by rockynv on Apr 21, 2016 4:53:54 GMT -5
Some rubber formulations do not react well to full synthetic. Had that happen on a vintage Fiat Spider that a Tire Kingdom shop added full synthetic brake fluid to. In a short time the new master cylinder failed with the seals turning to putty and the brake hoses had the liners swell and close off. The brake hoses which were only a few years old looked like they were filled with RTV sealant when I put a mechanics wire through them. While most new stuff is made to hold up to synthetic there is probably no guaranty that stuff coming from China will always have gaskets and seals that are going to hold up to it unless they specify the use of synthetic in the manual at even then it could be hit and miss.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 20, 2016 4:44:27 GMT -5
The Genuine to me are the over 25 year old engine designs from before Piaggio started recommending using synthetic in their bikes but its still possible that Genuine is making them tighter than the original specs. Owners manuals are great however there is always the possibility of a tech bulletin sent out to the dealers that over rides what's contained in them. My nephew had the Genuin Stella 125 but it was a 2 stroke with a shift which is real old school Vespa so he probably would not be able to speak to this.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 19, 2016 23:58:23 GMT -5
Leo - There are a handful of folks here that I wish were down the street and in arms reach to assist and indeed you are on that list. My scoot is down and I am going through withdrawal however I got the call today that the seal I lost when a defective belt shredded is finally at the dealership. At 30,000 miles I too am impressed with the quality of the Aprilia such as you are with the Kymco. Good is good regardless of the country of origin.
Keep hoping for the best with your wife and be sure to take care of your health and mental state so you can give her the best possible care. You won't be doing her much good if you let yourself get sick and grumpy.
Don't forget to pray for and about the doctors and nurses who are caring for your wife as they are often overworked and need all the help they can get.
You should have seen the look on a tired doctors face when after some prayerful consideration we told him we wouldn't mind if he thought it would be better to take care of one of my mothers surgeries the next morning after he got a well deserved good nights rest instead of squeezing it in at the end of the current day. He was bright, chipper and on top of his game the next morning instead of fighting fatigue and heading to the O.R. after 12 + hours on the go making his rounds. If the situation allows for it a little consideration for the docs human condition can be very beneficial for everyone.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 19, 2016 23:24:51 GMT -5
Like the $100 saddle JR. On a GY6 at best you could get the Super Tech 15W40 Rotella alternative in the $9.99 Gallon Jug for your 500 mile oil changes or just about dino any oil that meets the 4T Motorcycle Oil spec Super Tech 15W40 Dino Rotella Alternative (said to be universal and therefore meeting 4T)Super Tech-20W50-Dino Motor-Oil-1-Quart (said to meet 4T Spec). For my Piaggio powered bike I asked the manufacturers rep about those two oils along with real Rotella and the answer was no way. Use only 4T Synthetic in our newer series tight tolerance full flow filtered engines which means any 4 stoke they have made in about the last 25 years. Again use what is appropriate for what you have and try to understand why something would or would not be appropriate. Do not use synthetic in an unfiltered engine that you want any combustion by products etc to accumulate in the bottom of the sump to get drained out every 500 miles which is what you really want on a GY6. The 500 mile oil change is technically not because the oil is worn out but rather because those engines are not particularly clean running so that you need to get the dirt accumulating in the bottom of the sump drained out before it starts circulating back through the engine. |
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Post by rockynv on Apr 19, 2016 12:19:43 GMT -5
Frasi - The engines are similar but not identical to what Honda made. Read the article that Tortoise posted and you will see an experts comments on the difference in the quality of the castings and how the excess porisity makes the Chinese GY6 a poor candidate for a synthetic oil.
Znens head castings were particulary notorious for cracking in the timing chain area they had so many gas inclusions in them. When I had the Znen bike the mechanic at one shop showed me the difference between the Chinese GY6 head and the Honda GY6 and when they are sitting side by side it is like night and day.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 19, 2016 3:52:02 GMT -5
My brother traded in his car and it was stolen off the Car Lot before but since it was an older model they did not file a report of surrender the title as stolen. A year later my brother gets a visit from the police asking him about paying up his something like $5,000 (it was an absurd amount) in impound fees or being taken to court. Its a good thing he still had the full sales contract available listing the VIN number of the car traded in. It was in impound since it was used in a drug related crime.
Since it was basically a loan that was to be returned after a certain period of time maybe you should at the least report it as stolen.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 18, 2016 22:18:29 GMT -5
The Piaggio has a high output charging system so if the battery dead shorts on the ride in you could be in for an expensive repair. Can you at least check the water level and ensure that is not so low that the plates are exposed and could short out on the ride in?
If you are able to hook up a charger you should be able to change the battery since you appear to be a level headed sort that can follow directions. Even a Caveman can do it so why not a more evolved Cavegirl? Just remember disconnect Neg(-) first and Positive(+) last and when putting the new one in connect Positive(+) first and Neg(-) last. Don't drop the little nuts and bolts like a Caveman does with his sausage fingers.
Be sure that the battery is charged correctly beforehand. I have seen a number of fresh motorcycle and power equipment batteries reverse phased when first purchased so that they require a hookup to a battery charger to orient them correctly to match the positive and negative terminals. This is more prevalent on batteries that need to be filled with acid at the time of sale.
Note: Proboards appears to be deleting the abbreviation for Positive. Maybe it thinks its a profanity.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 17, 2016 22:32:24 GMT -5
What I have observed about many of the 200cc bikes is that they seem to be made for new riders of slight build in their teens and not full grown adults. They appear to want adults to spring the mega bucks for a Wing, Burgman or Majesty.
Personally I believe Piaggio did it right with the Vespa for the slight of build and the Piaggio/Aprilia Tall Riders for us full figured folks. The 6' 6" finance manager of the local Piaggio dealer for years had a Sport City 250 for his daily commute and with a 465 lb capacity it was perfectly able to ride the Interstates with his 350 lbs on it. He is now back on a 1,200cc cruiser to take some interstate tours but was perfectly comfortable with the Sport City as delivered. He was fortunate since being the finance manager of a mega dealership that has Yamaha, Honda, CanAm, Suzuki, Piaggio, Kawasaki and KTM under one roof he gets to play Goldilocks whenever a new bike is previewed by the dealership. He has to cut and sign the checks so he is one of the first to see the bikes before they hit the showroom floor.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 17, 2016 9:50:57 GMT -5
The new Briggs EXI Engines are specifically designed to never need an oil change. Not sure how they pull that one off. Hope its not because they wear out before the first oil change would be needed. I have a B&S EXI mower and what is happing here is that the engine has little notches in the rings allowing it to slowly and safely burn just a small amount of oil. The ideal is that by the time you need an oil change you have already replace the old oil with new. Now if you look at the new B&S mowers you will not find a oil drain plug, yep go look, find it? Nope. Is it a bad thing that they stopped putting them on? Yep i think so as i use to be the guy you took your mower in for repair and now to change the oil you have to run it low on fuel, tip it over and drain it from the fill spout. What where you thinking B&S? Ahhh i see you weren't! As far as scooter oil for the 139-gy6 im with most everyone : Buy what works for you and your scooter fund UNLESS it's a 2 smoker, then it's Bell ray Si-7 all the way. I found it on Newegg with free shipping for $14.42 a Litter (1.5Qt) www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=2WH-001M-00018BTW the pic of the oil on newegg is old but you get the new stuff. I really despise when you have to upend a mower to change the oil. Now I have a Self Propelled 36 volt Black and Decker and its just fine as long as you read the owners manual. Home Depot regularly has them on sale for $278 and they at that price they are a good value. I have not been able to run the battery dead even when mowing the neighbors easements and going over the front a second time I have always run out of will to continue before running out of battery even while mulching. On a GY6 it really does not matter as much however old fashioned dino is what it was originally designed for with no real filtration however you loose the real benefit of the high end synthetics on it and are mostly just throwing money away since you still have to change it per the original schedule. Again on something engineered for synthetic that specifies use of synthetic in the owners and service manual use nothing but synthetic on it. |
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Post by rockynv on Apr 16, 2016 7:53:33 GMT -5
Ethanol can contain algae which can almost instantaneously clog a fuel filter. Some will use a filtered funnel when fueling their bikes if the stations in their area have a problem with algae contamination of their ethanol. Wouldn't that cause everyone who fueled up there to have their vehicles crap out soon after leaving the pump? Appears to be worse for those with the tiny sintered bronze filters instead of the screens or pleated paper ones. We use to have to remove the sintered bronze filters from the Rochesters in the old GM vehicles and change to a larger in-line pleated paper filter where contaminated fuel was a problem back in the day. Compared with the in-tank 70 psi fuel injection on most modern vehicles, large fuel sock pre-filters and rather enormous in-line pleated cartridge filters the small scooter with a carb and at best a 1 psi vacuum powered fuel pump could probably end up being like a canary to a coal miner when a bronze filter is installed in it. The canary would die first warning the miners it was time to run and escape from the gas leak. |
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Post by rockynv on Apr 16, 2016 0:50:42 GMT -5
Ethanol can contain algae which can almost instantaneously clog a fuel filter. Some will use a filtered funnel when fueling their bikes if the stations in their area have a problem with algae contamination of their ethanol.
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Post by rockynv on Apr 16, 2016 0:40:28 GMT -5
Scooter motors spend a lot of time at high rpm. They are no lawn mower engines. You can buy a gallon of 5w40 synthetic shell rotella t6 for $22. Kymco recommend full synthetic. Genuine recommends full synthetic for their 2 strokes. Since both of these companies provide 2 year warranties I would bet synthetic oil provides better protection at start up and continuos high rpm use. No dollar store oil for me. My scooter only takes about .75 lt. Dino oil today has all kinds of additives but even modern cars are needing semi or full synthetic if you expect the manufacturer to foot the bill for the engine while its under warranty. After the first oil change its synthetic for me Yes you have to go with what the manufacturer recommends especially on the more finely machined engines. Non-detergent dino oil is a great choice for a fairly dirty running GY6 since it does not keep the dirt suspended for the oil pump to send it back through the engine and accelerate its wear while on a full flow filtration engine yes a high detergent Synthetic that works with the oil filter specified by the manufacturer is the best way to go. With the Piaggio its the combination of Synthetic Oil, Filter Material and Engine Design that work to give you a long lived 50,000 mile plus trouble free ride. Everyone has to be mindful that The Ride is not just a GY6 or Yamaha 260 clone and includes other bikes that are designed from the ground up to get the longest service life using Synthetics and while a High Detergent Synthetic may be good from the Piaggio, Suzuki and other full filtration bikes it will indeed be of very limited value to most GY6 engines and could be detrimental in a particularly dirty running one. |
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