Bought a Piaggio Skipper 125cc in June and has been ok up until recently, it needed a new starter motor and spark plug and carb drain which cost me £130 with Labour. At the weekend I went to fill up and it wouldn't start and I had to call breakdown to take me home, took the bike to my local bike shop on Monday and got a phone call yesterday saying it's seized, the cog where the starter motor is won't move so it doesn't look good but it will cost a lot of money in labour just for them to take it apart, is there anything I can do. Anyone on here live near Gloucestershire who might be able to help? If someone can fix this for a reasonable price I'm willing to do it, I don't want to have to scrap it. Thanks.
Why not take it as a oppurtunity to learn to do it yourself? Its actually really simple to do once you have your head around it and youll save yourself loads should you ever need to do it again.
Due to health problems, I cannot do physical activities and which is why I'm best suited to automatic bikes. The bike shop said it could be the engine but I'm not paying them £100 just to confirm that.
ahh right, a top end rebuild isnt too hard to do but youd also need to find out why it seized in the first place and fix that issue too. Your best bet is to try and speak to local bikers who may know of a backstreet mechanic who should do the job cheaper than the shop, Make sure you speak to a few of their customers first and make sure they can prove they do good work. once youve found a good backstreet mechanic theyre usually for life. Stevep is one so he may be able to give you pointers on finding one in your area?
you could swap the engine out maybe? with a competant mechanic it will only take a couple of hours. i know the feeling of bad health, im signed off work and the kommune want to put me on full time disability, but i refuse to give in doing what i love! shiney red is in gloucestershire, worth giving him a call, he might have an engine kicking around that you could get for cheap?
The question is, is it the starter motor that's seized (relatively easy) or the engine (not so easy and probably expensive). If the latter then an engine swap is your best bet as already suggested, you need to weigh up whether it's worth spending on an engine and labour or cut your losses if the bike isn't in good Nick overall. Hopefully you'll find a helpful soul nearby to assess it for you...
Don't take it to a bike shop as they know nothing about scooters, scooter shops are far better! Try locating a scooter club near to you and ask if anyone would be prepared to have a look? Is it a ST 4t skipper or early 2t?
