Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 November 8

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November 8

Please help a new owner of a United Motors Matrix 150 motor-scooter?

Hello. I just bought this motor-scooter from a private seller on Craigslist for $700. The model-year was 2006, and has almost 2700 miles. (The scooter allegedly cost $2400 brand-new.) I am allegedly the 4th owner now.

After test-driving it for some time, I noticed that the braking power has weakened. I tried to send it to a Motorcycle Supply establishment in town, but the lead mechanic took a look and said that it’s an “oddball scooter,” like having bought a Russian car. He stated the difficulty to getting parts, and would rather not charge me the $60/hour just to find reliable parts sourcers online; he’d rather be paid to actually fix bikes.

He took it on me to find the parts myself, and supply them to him once I have. The most critical parts I need are brake rotors and brake-lines (He said cables, IIRC.) This is because the brake-lines were “tightened to their limits.” (I didn’t ask, “So how does one loosen them again?” But I hope you can answer that as question #3.) He also mentioned something about a hydraulic going out for the front. Who knew that brakes were hydraulically-operated on the front, but cable-operated on the rear? (<-- #4)

Now you see, my problem with finding parts suppliers, for this ‘’obscure’’ model, first off, would be by making sure they’re reputable, reliable and genuine. Google isn’t exactly all that great at telling how shady or legitimate these parts suppliers are.

Therefore,

1. What can you tell me about your experiences with United Motors motor-scooters?

2. What parts suppliers would you find trustworthy who supply for United Motors motor-scooters, and how did they earn your trust in the first place? (Caveat: This should go without saying, but I must order from them online.)

3. (See remark about loosening “tightened” brakes.)

4. (See pointed-at remark.)

I don’t care too much about cosmetic damage, as long as all important functions work right, and the Matrix 150 still gets me to my destinations on-time. Thanks kindly. --70.179.167.78 (talk) 09:47, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

What you're asking for is pretty much either original research (our own experiences) or opinion (on supplier trustworthiness). Neither of these can be supplied by the Reference Desk (see top of the page). All we can do is point you towards references. Someone may be able to do that, but you would probably do better joining an online forum for owners of this machine and asking there, rather than hoping that one of the volunteers here might happen to have the experience you're looking for. - Karenjc 11:26, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Would a Wikiproject:Motorcycles talkpage take the request for help I'm looking for? (Well, since it's redlinked, there's some kind of wikiproject for 2-wheelers out there. I just know there is. --129.130.216.154 (talk) 00:03, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

It exists at Wikipedia:WikiProject Motorcycling --Jayron32 00:18, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

The Skeleton Key

I have searched all over the internet trying to find the answer to: Is there a book of the movie The Skeleton Key?

I saw the movie and would very much enjoy reading the book, if there is one.

Could you please let me know, and if so, could you please tell me where I can purchase it?

Thanking you in advance for you kind help, Enedina Rolon — Preceding unsigned comment added by Neddy1947 (talk • contribs) 12:22, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

I have taken the liberty of removing the spaces at the start of each line in your question, to make your text display correctly on the page.

The original screenplay for the 2005 movie The Skeleton Key was written by Ehren Kruger. Like you, I can't find any evidence at all that Kruger, or anyone else, has written a novelisation of the movie, so chances are there is no book, unfortunately. But someone else may know better. - Karenjc 12:47, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

There is an old novel called The Skeleton Key by Bernard Edward Joseph Capes who died in 1918. I haven't been able to find a synopsis to see if one was based on the other, but I somehow doubt it. Alansplodge (talk) 16:52, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Sorry, the plots don't seem to be related, but you can read it here if you're interested. Alansplodge (talk) 16:57, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

24 Hour Fitness - New York

Hello – I’m trying to figure out where the information below was obtained. It is on the 24 hour fitness page. Thanks so much for your help!

the comment is unsourced, prejudicial to the company's business, and has been removed from the article as unsourced, so I am again collapsing it
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
“The company entered the highly competitive New York City market in 2007. Despite significant investment and a partnership with New York Yankee, Derek Jeter, membership levels at the company's Soho and Madison Square Park location remain dismal. Analysts suggest that these locations are "dead spots" within Manhattan, being too close to commercially zoned areas as well as existing health clubs with strong member loyalty.” — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.195.193.254 (talk) 22:32, 8 November 2012 (UTC) recollapsing unsourced prejudicial material μηδείς (talk) 02:06, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Round there most of the "analysts" you'd get would be quants, so perhaps not experts on gymnasia. Normally I'd tag this and let it remain in the hope of a source being provided in due course, but it's such an obvious attack in such a competitive market that I removed it instead. Wikipedia does not exist to tell anyone whether one gym club or another is better, anyway. --Demiurge1000 (talk) 22:38, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

If there is a reference you need please ask for it. We cannot think on your behalf or offer opinions about commercial enterprises. μηδείς (talk) 23:17, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Did you even read the question? The IP asked what source that information comes from. Someguy1221 (talk) 01:53, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Have you? It's unsourced crap that's been removed from the article--not by me--and it doesn't belong here in any shape or form. μηδείς (talk) 02:06, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

In answer to the original question: After dicking around on the article's history, the content was added a year ago, and the editor who did that never made another edit. Looking around Google, the only websites that mention something along the same lines are simply copying the Wikipedia article. I highly suspect that the editor, "myohmy87", completely made it up on the spot, and that the "analyst" in question was himself. Someguy1221 (talk) 03:00, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

In other words, crap that doesn't belong here? μηδείς (talk) 20:45, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

It's crap that doesn't belong in an article. I don't understand why you're so hostile to a reader asking us to help him find sources for a statement that he found on Wikipedia. Someguy1221 (talk) 20:49, 9 November 2012 (UTC)

Hostile to the editor? Where? I haven't said anything at all about the OP. But prejudicial and unsupported comments about a business are defamatory if repeated without reason. I am really surprised this is difficult for an admin to comprehend. μηδείς (talk) 02:05, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

It wasn't repeated "without reason". The OP found this text in our article, discovered it wasn't sourced, and asked where the information came from. That is a perfectly legitimate request. We're here to answer questions of this general nature, are we not? And it was a perfectly reasonable request, because you can't ask where something came from without identifying the something you're asking about. True, we don't offer opinions about commercial enterprises, but the OP never asked for any such opinion, nor did they offer one, so what that was about, search me. They never even asked if it was true or not; but we assessed it not to be true, and removed it from the article. Unless the OP had brought it to our attention, it would almost certainly still be there. We owe the OP a vote of thanks for that, and for putting up with all this BS. I'm sure most admins could understand all of this. Some others, maybe not so much. -- Jack of Oz ^[Talk] 06:37, 12 November 2012 (UTC)