Half Rant/Half Seeking Advice on my SYM Joyride 200i EVO repairs

[Foxtrot Delta]

Sigh. The cost of repairs of my second hand scooter is racking up to be quite high. I'm not an expert mechanic so I leave all the diagnostics and repair to the "professionals" I was introduced to and trusted.

 

I keep track of my repairs on Fuely app and racked up nearly $2886 in repairs and maintenance over 2 and a half years of ownership.

 

I stay in Jurong area and work near Serangoon area who I need to use my bike daily at maximum up-time. If down, taking public transport will take 2 hours, each way to and from work. Also, my work requires me to sometimes go offsite which, again, will take forever on public transport. Taxi transport not covered by company during day hours.

 

I first got the scooter in May 2017 for $6000 from Ah Fook Motors with the COE still valid until June 2022.

 

 

When I first got it, they claimed that they have done a full overhaul of the bike before hand. This was clearly a lie because I began noticing problems immediately. I sent the scooter to my "trusted" mechanic, which I knew for a long time, and checked, the internal components are all old and dirty, having to replace the oil filter, engine filter and engine oil just a month after getting the scooter.

 

About in March 2018, I noticed the scooter's performance has dropped. Not sure why, I handed the scooter to my "trusted" mechanic and he said need to replace the belt and "Auto Clutch". The belt is ok since I have ridden the bike for quite a while but I have no idea about this "auto clutch" but I just trusted him and have it replaced for about $328.

 

Then again in Nov/Dec 2018, my scooter performance starts to drop again, sent it to my "trusted" mechanic and this time said that it was the "Drive face" requiring replacement for about $230.

 

Then in Jan/Feb 2019, I noticed the scooter temp is getting unreasonably high. I sent it again to my "trusted" mechanic and he did a "cooling system maintenance" for $196. But the issue persist so I brought it to "SYM Singapore", on facebook, recommended workshop, which is Sporting Motors Pte Ltd. They diagnosed the issue is with the cooling system and need to overhaul it. Replacing water pump gasket, gasket block, gasket head, Thermo Switch, crank case cover gasket, Thermostat Assembly and Oring. Total parts cost was $180 which was OK but the labour cost was $280, having to pay a total of $492.95. So $492.95 plus the "trusted" mechanic's "cooling service" gave it a grand total of $688.95 for the overheating issue of the bike.

 

But the one thing I learnt from my dealing with Sporting Motors was they provided black and white. All previous dealing with my "trusted" mechanic, all he gave was a "service" receipt. But Sporting Motors provided a full breakdown of the service, including the $280 labour charge. I don't know if the labour charge was reasonable but at least the transaction was recorded in black and white. I decided to change mechanic to another with documentation as well I looked around and decided to have my dealings with Unique Motorsports which is near to my home.

 

Unique motorsports was professional and all transaction was documented. I noticed that the belt replacement was way cheaper with them at $115 compared to the $180 from my old mechanic.

 

Again, in Dec 2019, I noticed the scooter performance dropped again so I brought it to Unique Motorsports for diagnosis and maintenance. They said most of the engine parts are old and requiring replacement so they convinced me to go for a Top-Overhaul costing $938, replacing all the rusted valve, timing chain and Coil Assembly. The magnetic coil assembly being the most expensive part at $260.

 

For 1/2 a month, the scooter feel like a totally new bike and I was happy with the performance, even if the maintenance was really expensive. I can actually ride and nearly max speed which I haven't been able to achieve for a long time.

 

But again, this month, something weird happened and performance dropped dramatically. I sent to Unique Motorsports again and they diagnosed it with a faulty ECU/Throttle Body, requiring another replacement repair of nearly $900 again, $500 for the throttle body and about $400 for the wiring harness. Also, the parts are not available so need to order and wait for approx 2 months for it to arrive. I asked if there's anything they can do to temporarily fix the throttle body while waiting for the part and they said nothing can be done.

 

 

I feel really sian having to pay so much on maintenance. The overall cost of purchasing and maintenance of this second hand bike is still overall cheaper than buying a $11k brand new one 2 1/2 years ago. But it is getting closer at nearly $9k total spent. This scooter is becoming one of my biggest expense overall.

 

I intend to have this fix and renew 5 year COE until 2027 because this SYM model is actually quite perfect for my needs. Good speed (when at good performance), a flat floor design so I can sometimes carry bulky item I can't put in my box and overall looks nice.

 

I don't know, maybe its a good idea to scrap and get a new one? But that will also be very expensive. Willing to listen to any suggestions on what is a good move forward.

[armani123sg]

Just go to AC motors