my 2 month old scooter hit the 1,000 km mark and i dropped it off at the main dealers that i'd bought it from, for it's first service....

As i returned, the mechanic appeared to be finishing off and i saw him blowing the tyres up....thought to myself, "blimey he's on the ball"

As i drove down the road, something didn't feel right, the handling was awful and i could feel every bump on the road.

then it dawned on me that laughing boy had fiddled with the tyre pressures and it was the most obvious reasion for the atrocious handling.

stopped off at big C and got a decent quality tyre pressure guage like this one:


https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tyre+pressure+gauge&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=1Ob5UsW5MKWTiQfDroFo&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1280&bih=619#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=lEFCWer7LHwRnM%253A%3BdixtRZbmnAIQjM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.toolstop.co.uk%252Fcomponents%252Fcom_virtuemart%252Fshop_image%252Fproduct%252FTST-PGX.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.toolstop.co.uk%252Fsealey-tst-pgx-tyre-pressure-gauge-professional-3-way-p54829%3B1181%3B831




Got home and downloaded the scooter's manual in english.....


Tyre pressures:

front 29 psi

rear (single rider) - 33 psi
rear (with pillion) - 36 psi

so on the with the pressure guage...

Reading:

front 52 psi....

rear - wait for it 62 psi.....

I'm waiting for Brian Rix to walk past and drop his trousers, as this is obviously a joke...

Better check the oil level too. In fact you should check everything the service guy touched. TiT

Even better don't let them touch it ever.

Never NEVER let them touch anything unless you are watching all the time , and know how it should be done. Had similar dangerous experience at Honda main dealer - i also had 62 PSI in the rear tire. Tyre would "ping" if you flicked it !. Find a recommended local mechanic.

My dealer does the same, i always watch them working on my bike. When i told them the tires are to hard they said mai ben lai kab.

After they have repaired my tires they always have pumped them too hard. Also the brakes don't work because they put their greasy hands on the brakedisc. Also they don't even have brakedisc cleaner in their shop so i bought that myself.

My dealer mounted a windscreen on my brand new bike but it was loose, had to go back there 4 times for it to be fixed. Then i noticed that they used o-rings made of copper, the ones that are on the oil plug. When i showed that to the owner he sad they modified the new windscreen to be perfect. With used oilplug rings . While he was working on that windscreen he put it on the buddyseat so it could easy drop, that thing is not cheap and sure would have been damaged if it dropped.

What can we do? Find another dealer but i bet there it is the same story. Or do it yourself but then i first have to buy a good set of tools here and english manuals.

There are very few real mechanics in Thailand.

The Thai mentality of having high pressure in the tires, is that you will have bettet fuel economy and reduced tire wear. Handling & safety does not enter the equation. Go figure...

Sent from my SM-T211 using Tapatalk

The Thai mentality of having high pressure in the tires, is that you will have bettet fuel economy and reduced tire wear. Handling & safety does not enter the equation. Go figure...

Sent from my SM-T211 using Tapatalk

Hard tires also prevent punctures is what they told me. I think it works though because my punctures were mostly on the side of the innertire from friction between inner and outertire combined with the bad roads full of holes and cracks. Also overloading the tires caused the friction.

But the motorbike pump at the fuel station does not even have a pressure gauge here, only the car pump has that but there i usually have to wait. I had to pump the tires every 2 weeks which is normal according to my dealer.

I wonder if there even is a technical scool in Thailand where mechanics can learn how to repair or assemble vehicles. I guess that they just do something with the availlable tools/materials they have. Does Honda train their dealers or personell?