£250 to fix moped tyre puncture!

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Hi, hoping someone can give me some advice -

I bought myself a 2nd moped a couple of weeks ago (Peugeot V-Clic). The bike is 6 years old. When I got it home I noticed that the back tyre was looking a bit flat. I took the bike to local garage to inflate it, but, the next day, tyre was looking flat again.
I've taken it to my local motorcycle shop who were going to charge me £50 to fix the puncture. They say it looks like a new tyre, and the nail in the middle of the tyre is easily fixable.

I then got a call from them to say that unfortunately, due to the way in which the sports exhaust was fitted, something has broken off?? And basically, they will be unable to remove it. So, to get the back wheel off, they need to remove the engine! Due to the labour costs, I'm looking at £250, just to fix a tyre.

I called the young lad I bought it from who has suggested using foam to fix the puncture?

I know nothing about bikes, only bought it to drive the 5 miles to work and back. Can't afford to pay that much to get it repaired.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Cheers

Joe_Horner

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Yes - find another bike shop.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Yes - find another bike shop.

The shop has an excellent reputation - does what they're telling me sound not quite right??

spacey2012

Was it April Fools day ?
Take it to a tyre shop.

Tilt

£250?? You could buy 2 decent performance car tyres for that!!

SnowWhiterThanWhite

spacey2012 wrote: »

Was it April Fools day ?
Take it to a tyre shop.

But, aren't they going to have the same issue? ie, not being able to remove the rear wheel?

Joe_Horner

SnowWhiterThanWhite wrote: »

But, aren't they going to have the same issue? ie, not being able to remove the rear wheel?

That's the bit that seems wrong - (cynically) sounds like they're either incompetent or trying to talk the price up.


eta: Don't know the machine, but looking at parts online it appears that the exhaust is gheld b a 2 stud flange to the cylinder and a 2 bolt bracket to the frame.

If "something's broken" that means engine out it sounds like they've sheared one of the studs to the cylinder and are trying to !!! the blame (and make you pay for their mistake)

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Joe_Horner wrote: »

That's the bit that seems wrong - (cynically) sounds like they're either incompetent or trying to talk the price up.


eta: Don't know the machine, but looking at parts online it appears that the exhaust is gheld b a 2 stud flange to the cylinder and a 2 bolt bracket to the frame.

If "something's broken" that means engine out it sounds like they've sheared one of the studs to the cylinder and are trying to !!! the blame (and make you pay for their mistake)

They def mentioned the 'stud'. I'm never going to prove one way or the other who/when/what caused the damage.
Can a puncture be repaired without removing the wheel?

Joe_Horner

No, but it might be possible to remove the wheel with the exhaust in place. The trouble is, if they've sheared or stripped a stud then you'll have a blowing exhaust very quickly.

What's really not on is that they're intending to charge you to put right something that it sounds like they've done - any competent mechanic would have realised there was likely to be a problem before doing damage and at least warned you before proceeding.

You may end up having to pay someone to put this right (although £250 sounds steep for the likely work involved) but if I had to pay I certainly wouldn't want to be paying the people who (probably) caused the problem.

Take it elsewhere, get a second opinion.

Oh, and don't use the previous owner's suggestion of foam - it's only intended as a temporary "get you home" repair and you don't want to rely on it!

Stooby2

Unfortunately on most of those scooters the exhaust has to come off to get the wheel off as they have a single sided swingarm. (Wait until you want to do the rear brakes - wheel and exhaust off just to change the pads on some of them!)

When you say "sports exhaust" - does that mean it's got a non-standard exhaust on? It may mean someone bodged it during fitting and that's what caused the problems.

It may be they (the bike shop) sheared a bolt getting the exhaust off and are covering up, or they could be telling the absolute truth. It'll be difficult to tell and unless you know someone who's willing to do the work for a lot cheaper you're kind of stuck, as you can't take it back without a van or something.

SnowWhiterThanWhite

Stooby2 wrote: »

Unfortunately on most of those scooters the exhaust has to come off to get the wheel off as they have a single sided swingarm. (Wait until you want to do the rear brakes - wheel and exhaust off just to change the pads on some of them!)

When you say "sports exhaust" - does that mean it's got a non-standard exhaust on? It may mean someone bodged it during fitting and that's what caused the problems.

It may be they (the bike shop) sheared a bolt getting the exhaust off and are covering up, or they could be telling the absolute truth. It'll be difficult to tell and unless you know someone who's willing to do the work for a lot cheaper you're kind of stuck, as you can't take it back without a van or something.

It's def a non-std exhaust so you're right, the damage could have been done before. I will get the bike back and try somewhere else. I can still ride it as the back tyre isn't yet completely flat.
Thanks for your replies