Went to pick up the bike today.  It was an hour away from Quan 1 by bus.  Got there by noon as agreed. When we arrived,  they probably just started working on the electrical. They haven’t had the time to really iron out all issues to make it trip ready. Didn’t even crank the engine for the 1st time till I got there.

Upon arrival, I immediately notice the front tires is getting bald. The British owner Kevin instantly try to over come my opinion by stating that it is not illegal to ride in Vietnam with tire condition like that.

His attitude completely changed from the day when I first met him. The tires is worn passed the 20% wear indicator. The tire is no long effective at channeling water, will definitely hydroplane if it rains. If tires really only cost $10 to replace, this will be a must upgrade for safety. It certainly feels he did not have his buyer safety in mind. It got me to start checking in more detail.

Chain and sprocket is another area that needs attention. Typically there is a replacement interval for these two parts. Chain cannot be too loose,  as it stretch overtime. At some point when tightening is no longer possible, that will be the time to replace it. From what I can tell, it’s near that life already. What really disappointed me was that it wasn’t even lube. Chain is really dried. So Kevin overcome that opinion by having it lube,  a 5 second job.

Further inspection, engine oil hasn’t even changed yet. WTF? Nothing is done on the bike. Kevin overcame this by having it change. It took less than a minute. It so quick and easy as they have this pressurized container that sucks up the oil with a tube from the fill hole,  rather than draining it to a drain pan. If it’s so easy, why isn’t it done yet?

During the test ride, the front brakes didn’t feel up to par, almost no braking power at all. It is running on the traditional drum brake style. I do not know how effective these brakes should be as I’ve been spoil by amazing modern dual front caliper brakes throughout my riding experience. I mentioned to Kevin the front brakes doesn’t have much stopping power. He jumps to the conclusion that I am clueless about bikes. He said with these old bikes, you should only use the rear brakes. That these motorcycle are not meant to be able to do stopies. After than comment, I am so frustrated with Kevin now. All I was saying are the brakes aren’t very effective…hardly stopping the bike. It took so long to get my point across, and 5 secs to adjust the screw for the front brakes to make it effective again. From no brakes to some braking power.

Now I have concluded nothing has been done to the bike. As I still have time in Saigon, roughly a week, I will have him iron out all my concerns after testing it for the next few days.

Along the 15 kms back to Quan 1, I found a few more serious issues. After filling the gas tank, there is a leak between the seat and the tank once the bike is on the kick stand.

On the highway back to Saigon, the front steering vibrates during braking. I suspect something the front column was loose during the test ride. But the speed was too slow to manifest the issue. At highway speed, the issue really exhibit itself. All it really needs is to be tighten, or repack with new bearings. As before, Kevin ignored the issue when I mentioned it at the time.

In the slow congested  traffic of Saigon, the tranny will pop out of 1st gear. Had to leave my foot on the peddle so it will stay engaged in 1st gear.

And lastly, the starter died. I texted him, and this is the Kevin’s response :

I was too eager to pick up the bike, although with all these problems when I picked it up, I can easily fix it myself if need. But now that I feel I bought a lemon bike, I just want my money back and hope for better luck finding something Epic Ready. Will see what happens when I go back tomorrow.