^i was just about to say something about that being a whole damn crate engine

6/7/2012 4:29:50 PM

I just got off the phone with the mechanic. he's going to write up a document on letterhead that details the failure, how he is 100% sure that the thing was rigged to be sold, etc. He's sending me that and a bunch of pictures tonight.

Quote :

"what was the description of the failure... for the 5th time!"

generally, he said that there is evidence the other guy had removed the head, and had used sandpaper or sandpaper-like material to brush the cylinders and try to get it smoothed out long enough to run. he said that he reused the factory head gasket and sprayed copperhead sealant on it (which you aren't supposed to do unless it's a copper gasket, which this one is not). He said everything inside is black and destroyed from the cams, pistons, all the way up.

as far as the initial failure, he thinks that the kid rigged it to run and he said himself that we could put it back together and get it to run for a few minutes - and he even said that he's had customers ask him to do that so they could quickly sell it - pretty much what this kid did to me. The fact is, it will never run properly without all of that being replaced. The bike was advertised as "runs perfect", which is no where close to accurate.

He said that all of this was caused by riding it superhard off-road and/or racing it and that it probably either had low to no oil, or more likely that the oil is dirty, which he said especially affects four strokes.

I'll probably get another opinion when I get it back to Raleigh, but I really don't see why this mechanic would try to rip me off, because I told him initially if it was over $1,000 I couldn't afford to fix it and would probably just sell it - before he even looked at the bike. The estimate was about $3,500 so why wouldn't he just bs me up to $800-900 to get the most he could out of me? I only owe him $100 right now.

[Edited on June 7, 2012 at 4:38 PM. Reason : wrong copy/paste ]

6/7/2012 4:38:26 PM

I still don't get how sandpaper is gonna temporarily fix a problem long enough to make it run.

[Edited on June 7, 2012 at 9:30 PM. Reason : And what other than no oil would ruin the crank, piston, and head?]

6/7/2012 9:25:58 PM

if you lose have him come mow a friends yard and drive a bunch of pieces of rebar in the ground to screw his stuff up

6/7/2012 9:48:26 PM

Quote :

"The idea with a lien is that you can take your portion out of any future property he owns for the next 10 years. So, he can't buy a house, or a car, etc., without you having a lien against it. At the end of the 10 years, if they haven't bought any property and you haven't been paid, you can renew it for another 10 years."

good to know!

6/7/2012 9:49:59 PM

^^^I'm not a mechanic but generally speaking things inside the engine can get "gunked up"
or over time wear so there's friction and it makes it difficult to fuction properly. Smoothing out those inconsistencies with an abrasive helps, but doesn't always solve the problem. Basically, it can run but as soon as it gets hot, it seizes up and won't start agian.

^^haha I'm not sure replacing a lawnmower blade would make me feel even on this matter

[Edited on June 8, 2012 at 2:42 PM. Reason : .]

6/8/2012 2:42:35 PM

^^^pretty epic revenge idea imo

6/8/2012 2:54:00 PM

court date set for third week of July.

6/9/2012 2:20:11 AM

Had court this week. I recovered $1,500 (of $2,000) plus court costs!!

7/18/2012 3:16:09 PM

nice!

7/18/2012 3:18:49 PM

Excellent result. Why not the full $2000?

7/18/2012 3:26:03 PM

judge asked what I could get for the bike and I said since there's $3,600 in parts alone it would probably just be worth what I could get at a scrap yard, maybe $300. When he made the judgement he said that he thought I could get at least $900 for it (since he's an expert on motorcycle valuation) and therefore he'd award the difference plus shop time ($1,200). The guy asked if I would sell him the bike back and I said that since I had told him weeks ago that I'd just settle for $1,500 I'd honor that by just selling it to him for $300.

Felt kind of bad because if he hadn't rigged it, it was a big loss for him. He was very honest in court and courteous afterwards. He told the judge he sold the bike to repay his student loans, which I'm sure was bs as he told me after court he has the money in hand and will give it to me when I get the bike back, which I was happy about so I don't have to go through the 11th floor to collect over what could be several months.

All in all, I think it was a pretty fair ruling because it covers both of us - him if he honestly thought he had an excellent running bike, and me for the majority of my uneducated purchase.

[Edited on July 18, 2012 at 3:47 PM. Reason : .]

7/18/2012 3:46:33 PM

if you're confident he lied about the loans, be confident he lied about something else. good job on not taking this sitting down.

7/18/2012 3:54:52 PM

Seems like a fair result then. Glad you pursued it.

7/18/2012 3:56:49 PM

Quote :

"The guy asked if I would sell him the bike back"

anyone wanna take bets if he'll try to sell it again to someone not as persistent or saavy as the OP?

7/18/2012 5:38:55 PM

that's exactly what my parents said. he said "it would help me out a lot"

I sincerely hope it doesn't happen to somebody else

7/18/2012 6:09:58 PM

Take all your newly purchased parts back out!

7/18/2012 9:06:47 PM

Didn't purchase any

7/18/2012 9:21:14 PM

glad you won your case and i hope he pays you.

7/19/2012 7:11:56 AM

Quote :

"i hope he pays you."

Yes, let us know when you have the money in hand!

7/19/2012 11:09:47 AM

that's why I'm giving him the bike for $300. I have a friend that offered $500 for it but I'd rather give the guy the incentive to pay me in full. he said he has all the cash and will give it to me when I get the bike up to Raleigh (it's in Wilmington). Otherwise he could set up some payment plan through the court and pay like $40 a month or some bullshit.

7/19/2012 11:47:49 AM

I would hurry up and get settled up with him, don't wait like weeks and think he wont dissap[pear again, I would be bringing the bike back yesterday.

7/19/2012 11:54:43 AM

^

7/19/2012 12:11:18 PM

I just can't because I work two jobs but I'm getting it ASAP

7/19/2012 6:30:46 PM