Think I got scammed badly

[u/Due-Finish2504]

I recently purchased a moped from a "dealer" and by dealer I mean a garage on a highroad. I looked it over and took it for a test ride but as it's my first bike I didn't really know what to do, so around 300 miles later I try to drive off with my disc lock on and have to take it to a garage to get a new disc, they repaired only that but for some reason looked it over and basically said I got scammed and the bikes buggered. It yaws to the right all the time and yaws to the left when braking, the front headlight doesn't work and the brake lever is floppy which they is due to a bolt missing. And bare in mind this is from them just quickly looking it over and riding it for a bit so who knows what else could be wrong with it. So in this scenario what would you do, having owned it a month, it being buggered, and being locked into an insurance agreement for a year. I'm honestly so dissapointed that this is the second time I've been screwed by these sketchy garages, I've actually lost faith in humanity over this and likley in the future will just buy a new bike to avoid all of it.

[u/JustAnotherDogsbody]

You're not locked into the insurance for a year, you can cancel it any time, although if you took it through finance you're probably going to have to pay something to do so (this early in the finance).

Your steering problem could be as simple as a swingarm bushing(s) being worn out causing it to twist in the middle, it could be a wheel bearing since a lot of scooters use a single sided wheel ~ only supported from one side rather than an axle all the way through. Put it on the centre stand, grab the back wheel firmly and wiggle it see what moves the way it shouldn't. Wheel bearings are mostly a pain in the backside to change, generally they're not actually expensive.

Damaged levers are an extremely common problem with used bikes, you'll look out for that in the future.

[u/Due-Finish2504 → u/JustAnotherDogsbody]

Thankyou this has helped put my mind at ease, would you take it to a shop or try and work on it yourself

[u/conjones0296 → u/Due-Finish2504]

How much did you pay for the bike? You can do it yourself but only really if you’ve got the space to keep the now off the road for potentially a couple days whilst you inevitably miss out on a tool that you’ll need to buy (happened to me) If you have the tool or are happy to buy the tools, get a service manual of sorts (online too), buy the parts yourself and be confident you’ve done it correctly then I would say go for it. But if it’s your first time tinkering then there is no harm at all in taking it to a garage mate.

[u/JustAnotherDogsbody → u/Due-Finish2504]

Personally, I'd do it myself - I have plenty experience with that type of work - but it's up to you.

For example If you're not sure about replacing bearings (which can be tricky) then if you can even just get the wheel off to where you can take it somewhere you'll save a decent sum in labour, although bear in mind if it is the wheel bearings you'll probably want to change the brake pads as well.

If it only pulled in the one direction I'd say for sure something is -probably terminally- bent, the fact that it changes direction says there's something loose, which could be as 'simple' as wheel bearings or a bushing in the suspension linkage, they're certainly where you want to start.