What did you wrench on today?

[FrankenMech]

The seller is sending a new axle assy. I don't know what color it is but if it is not blue I will paint it my favorite color, like my scoot, -rattle can black. I have an automotive paint store not far from me. I could take a fender in and get the paint matched but that costs $$$. I have figured out how to fix the axle assy but that also costs $$$$. I would have to disassemble it and then clamp it to a real welding table for a real welder, not some demented amateur like me. I would still have to check alignment at installation. Some of the customer reviews on Amazon mentioned trikes that listed to one side, which were probably this defect.

Mentioning fenders, I will probably leave the rear fenders off. They serve no purpose, just weight. If I was 3 feet wide and rode in the rain they might. I am a skinny old man that is wasting away. The front fender is useful. I will have to find a place to mount new rear reflectors/LED lights, probably on the basket.

With time on my hands (dangerous) I found the crankset and front fork bind up at times and do not rotate smoothly. I have taken the crankset apart and found a mangled bearing cage on the sprocket side. There was almost zero lubricant and I found dirt and paint chips in the bearings. So I have contacted the seller for a new bearing, hopefully not a floor sweeping. I have taken apart a lot of cranksets and have never seen a mangled bearing cage like this. Godzilla must have chewed on it and spit it out, maybe a fork truck ran over it. One of the balls fell out when I removed it. Then I went magnet fishing. The brake handle assys are extremely cheap junk but they will probably 'work' for a while. They are replaceable standard bike parts. The bearings are standard also. Checking the front fork bearings is next.

This trike must weigh over 56 pounds, 4 stone, since the shipping weight was 67 pounds. It is a far cry from my last bike which I could lift with my little finger.

I should send the trike to milly or fly him over here to help fix this thing. Bikes are his area of expertise. He could make big money assembling these things right for old people. I hear bike shops charge $150 but they probably just slap the cheap China junk together, drag it behind a truck, run over it, then return the junk to the owner.

[aeroxbud]

You are not really selling the good points of this trike to me.

[FrankenMech]

Time will tell if I have to return it. So far it is a normal China POS. They manufacture stuff and put a lot of effort into it but it is the small details their manufacturing and QC misses that makes their stuff junk. It is a shame really. QC is important but you really can't inspect in quality. Quality has to start from the ground up with trained intelligent and caring workers to get really good products. Unfortunately I have not had a lot of better luck with stuff made elsewhere. Everyone seems to cut corners all for that God, -money.

With this trike I get the basics at a finished product price, -ouch! I can probably get the basics to work, it just depends on how much effort I am willing to put into it before I have to give up polishing a turd. There were other trikes, some with premium prices, but probably turds also.

The trike in question:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8PNDLB

The product pictures are not what it looks like. It has stupid white "MOONCOOL" lettering on it as well as white accent stripes. I wil be reporting the pictures to Amazon.

It has a stupid back rest on the seat, -it is being removed. The tires are 26x1.75" which are good for pavement and walking trails around here. I may have to electrify the stinking heavy thing. I am looking at a 350W 36V 300RPM gear reduction motor to drive the rear axle with a chain and freewheel. I am thinking about gearing it for 10MPH just to see if it will help with a couple of nasty hills around my home. The walking trails are paved and fairly level following a stream and railroad tracks. I just need some exercise pedaling it around down the trail in my diapers.

[milly]

Ah very similar to ones I have put together in the past FrankenMech.

[FrankenMech]

milly

The crank bearings are on the way, 7-10 days. Why can't they just make things right in the first place?

The China scoots aren't much better. They are manufactured with poor electrical connections, Gold plated connectors and poor crimps that look pretty but are worthless because the plating is too thin and not done properly with the proper prep. Then the scoots are packed in containers and exposed to salt air at sea and in the ports both here and abroad. It is no wonder that they don't work later, connections and switches corrode, parts break, fasteners corrode in aluminum, parts fail, parts crooked, it is a nightmare.

EDIT: The front axle bearings felt as if they were assembled in a sand box. The axle will have to come apart also. The rear wheels and axle are all sealed bearings and feel smooth.

[jackrides]

Damn sorry you're having such a bitch of a time with it, but please keep us posted. Good affordable electric/pedal trikes are really needed.

[FrankenMech]

I don't have any of the specialized tools to work on bikes anymore, not even a spoke wrench. I have tried to use the useful looking 'tool' they provided but it does not seem to fit many of the fasteners, or the bearing cones on the front axle, so I am modifying it to fit with a file. It all takes time and other things demand attention (laundry, pets, 49ccScoot, sleep, etc). I don't see worth crap anymore either. If it had been just a straight assembly job it would have been done in a couple of hours. Some people listed assy times in beers, but that would not have been good for assy or reliability. The trikes probably end up broken and trashed within a year. I bet they missed a lot of the defects and just slammed it together like the Chinese sweat shop 8 year olds that assemble China scoots...

I am glad milly backs up my experience. I would hate to be alone in this. I figure he has some of those specialized tools at hand though. I bet if I dug through enough boxes and drawers I could find one of those stamped sheet metal wrench sets that would fit the front axle bearing cones and a spoke wrench. Back when I was 9-14 years old I had an old bent front fork to stick in the garage vise and true wheels... All of that shade-tree equipment has gone to the mists of time.

[FrankenMech]

I did get the front axle apart. The bearings were loose packed in grease, 10 per side. I think the problem is the bearing races in the hub. There are nicks and burrs in the race on both sides. I haven't been able to determine what could have caused that yet. I have more cleaning to do before I can get a good look at the races and balls.

The nicks and burrs are only in the inner races on the inner diameter, something from the manufacturing process. The races are too hard to be just handling damage. There were some marks in the main races.  I did stone the burrs out and cleaned it up. Once I get the balls clean and inspeced I will grease it and reassemble it. Then I can test to see if the roughness is gone or I will need a new wheel assy. Again, time will tell.

[FrankenMech]

I was too poor as a kid to have many specialized tools for bike work. I had to make do with what I had. I didn't even have a spoke wrench at first. I used a little 3" crescent wrench for spokes. I ground down a narrow open end wrench to make a cone wrench. Those tools were lost or donated to others when I gave up bikes and started working on cars. I might as well go out and buy the bottom crankset bearings rather than wait 7-10 days for a replacement. I have not had a notice the axle has shipped and tracking number for it.

[FrankenMech]

I finally have a FedEx tracking number for the axle but it has not been shipped yet? I don't know what that means. I guess this hunk of steel will sit on my floor for another week while I wait. I just hope the axle is not defective like the last one. They say the replacement axle is black, not blue like the trike. I bought new crank bearings. I will go ahead and put the rest of it together, probably a waste of my time... I guess I could look around for a welding shop to fix the axle I have.

[captincvmn]

So aggravating to “fix” a “new” product.

[FrankenMech]

I figure everyone here has to do it when they PMI a new China scoot. When I bought mine it sat uncrated but defective for most of a month before I got to ride it. It was dangerous having a defective scoot sitting with an engineer here. I rewired parts of it to better suit me. I also eliminated/modified parts etc etc...

I have already eliminated the ugly seat back on the new trike and I am leaving the rear fenders off. Now if I can just figure out a way to get the ugly logo off. The trike, when fixed, would be fairly good looking without the huge company logo.

[fuzzyruttin]

Drove the 'S' to the '6 Hours at the Glen' at the end of June. There was a pretty bad infestation of the Gypsy Moth, they were (are) attacking primarily the Maples. They instantly turn leaves into poop, like a constant rain <GAG> and it was all over my car. Not to mention the ones that fall out of the trees and smash their guts all over. And then my (big) buddy that hardly fits in the car, with sunblock on everything. Good grief. Finally washed, cuz I've just been too dang busy on house project. Oh wait, this is a wrench thread... got that covered in the second shot - the SS cap nut was MIA. Luckily had a bag of 10 from when I bought them a few years back. Crescent wrench (spanner?? tyres?? hehe) such sacrilege.

And ya know, how cool would it be to sell the S and buy a brand new 1290 SuperDukeR.... there would be so much more room in the garage!

[captincvmn]

Ah Gypsy Moths.
They ate our woods behind my childhood home in the early 80’s. Their droppings sounded like rain. I’ll never forget.

[fuzzyruttin]

Aug 7, 2021 18:49:55 GMT -5 captincvmn said:

Ah Gypsy Moths.
They ate our woods behind my childhood home in the early 80’s. Their droppings sounded like rain. I’ll never forget.

Yeah I was a teen way back in the 80s growing up in Pennsylvania. That infestation was huge compared to this, but still. Bleghk