My first experience with CEN was the Nemesis and just recently the GST. From what I read in magazine articles the Nemesis was an awesome truck and ran almost flawlessly. I learned rather quickly that by no means was it a beginner truck. The magazine articles boasted of an easy starting pull start engine. I found it to be the most difficult 2-stroke engine to start in my life (I had huge blisters to prove it.) This was due mainly in part to the insane compression it comes with from the factory. After break-in it was extremely inconsistent in two respects. For one, the engine would run beautifully one day and horribly the next. It seemed as if the tune had magically changed overnight somehow. As of late it runs very strange with what sounds to be a lean condition. It sounds like it’s running out of gas with that signature funky idle sound, but the temps won’t climb at all. Then out of nowhere it will just stall. To put it simply, it’s totally frustrating. What I think is DEFINITELY adding to this engines extreme inconsistency is a very very leaky front main bearing. It’s been like this from day one but for some stupid reason I never got it fixed under warranty. I’ve had this happen with other motors during break in since a lot of excess oil is drained back into the crankcase and naturally a bunch leaks out of the front main bearing. The problem is, the Nemesis hasn’t stopped leaking since. In comparison to my GST (which I talk about later), this thing leaks A LOT. Another problem with the engine in the Nemesis was the heat sink head. After breaking the motor in, the back of the engine was doused in fuel/air mixture and it was making a huge mess leaving my exhaust manifold permanently brown. I first thought it might just be from the exhaust since the exhaust fluid kind of makes a mess of the back of the truck during break in, but I’ve never had such a mess near the back of the engine before. Believe it or not, three of the heat sink head screws had cracked loose resulting in a huge compression leak. This also added to the engine’s inconsistency but tightening the head screws definitely didn’t fix the poor running problem since the engine still ran unpredictably just like it had before. Bottom line, I have NEVER had heat sink screws loosen EVER. Secondly the 2-speed is very finicky. After babying the adjustments in very small increments I could have the transmission shifting PERFECTLY. Then the inconsistency reared its ugly head and the shift point got lower and lower until it was shifting like a regular car driving down a city street. At first I thought possibly the adjustment screws had backed out or something, BUT I found a) the screws adjustment was held in place by locknuts and b) I could tell from where I had adjusted the screws that they hadn't backed out a bit. This was quite annoying. I also installed the CEN 3-speed, which was a mistake since, from what I read, flaws were found in the clutch shoes and the spacing between them. From what I remember, two washers were installed between the shoes which made shifting into third more consistent. All I can say is that it would have been nice to have these alterations made to the 3-speed kit before having it put into mass production since like the 2-speed, the 3-speed was even more difficult to adjust. And just like the 2-speed, the shift from 2nd to 3rd came earlier and earlier every full throttle pass. If it's one thing that was a huge disappointment (besides the inconsistency of the engine), it would definitely have to be the shifting mechanisms in the transmission. Another thing to say about the Nemesis in initial quality would have to be the shocks. It seemed the minute it was out of the box, the shocks were already leaking. After break-in, the lower control arms had a good covering of shock oil on them. Of course at first I thought the stuff on the lower control arms was just exhaust fluid, but I knew for sure that it was shock oil because when the trucked was pushed up and down, the shocks made that all too familiar noise; the noise of air bubbles squeezing their way through the holes in the shock pistons. After awhile they were drained pretty well and I opted for the aluminum CEN upgrade shocks. Another huge annoyance was brake fade. After about a gallon and a half of fuel (including break-in), the brakes got worse and worse, little by little. From the beginning I had my endpoint adjustments PERFECT for both throttle and brake. As time went on, I found myself almost *****g out the endpoint adjustment on my brakes until it could go no higher and I was left with poor braking. Naturally I set my endpoint to a more moderate adjustment and adjusted the brake linkage. I made perfectly sure that the brakes were not dragging, and with the throttle left alone the truck would move freely when I pushed it forward. My brakes were pretty good again, but the same problem occurred shortly thereafter in which they started to fade. Now, the brakes seem kind of jumpy, like a car with a warped set of rotors; just another thing to fine tune. Also, the gear mesh between the two speed clutch bell and spur gears from the factory was off. This is due mainly in part to the shear impossibility of getting the mesh perfect between these gears. Right from the get-go I tried to get a better mesh and it was still off to my standards. I could adjust it perfectly for the first gear but the engineering behind the engine and mount design prevents the engine from being perpendicularly aligned with the gears. This results in great mesh with the first gear, but too much lash with the second gear. Also adding to the torture of attaining perfect mesh is the fact that the clutch bell gears wear at an EXTREMELY fast rate! Every tank of gas, the teeth would just get more and more worn down to the point where I would be adjusting gear mesh very often. Another addition to the list of drive train problems would be the clutch springs. I broke a total of four springs on two different occasions. The first time I thought I just got a bad batch and was very careful when installing the four new springs, not over-stretching them or forcing them to be installed properly. Contrary to my optimism, two out of the four brand new springs snapped only about a half gallon later and out came the engine for the fiftieth time. To give the Nemesis credit where credit is due, when it ran to its full potential, shifting from first to second to third gear it was absolutely amazing. I have never seen such a heavy truck pick up so quickly and go so fast in top gear. Also, the Nemesis (aside from the flaws mentioned above) comes very beefy from the factory. The plastic parts are heavy, the overall chassis design is nice and solid, and most of the drive train parts stand up to the abuse of a 5 hp engine pretty well. But of course, they do wear out and need to be swapped out accordingly. That much I can TRULY and HONESTLY say about the CEN Nemesis.

As for the CEN GST I recently picked up, some improvements have been made but there have also been some obvious cutbacks in quality. The most noticeable difference is by far and most certainly the new power plant. Contrary to the painful experience I had breaking in the Nemesis engine, the new black heat sink 7.7 engine started very easily for me. Although it does have a ton of compression when new, it still started a lot easier than the Nemesis. I’m still in the process of breaking it in, so I will have to comment back at a later time to inform you all of the consistency after break-in and so on. I will also have to comment at a later time about the consistency of the updated 2-speed and 3-speed in the GST’s transmission. Some problems with the Nemesis have also showed up in the GST. For one the plastic shocks STILL have not been updated/reengineered and still leak, leaving silicone shock oil all over the lower control arms. As I mentioned I’m still breaking the truck in, so it’s not like the shocks are being brutally beaten on. Another recurring theme with the CEN line is the gear mesh. Just like the Nemesis, the engine issue STILL has not been resolved and the mesh STILL comes off from the factory. It is still utterly impossible to attain perfect gear mesh, since like the Nemesis, the engine and gears are not perpendicular to each other. The mesh of the first gear will be good, but since the engine is slightly tilted to the left side of the truck, there will be too much lash between the second gears. It should be mentioned that getting the engine and spur gears in a perpendicular, 90-degree square fashion is inconceivable and therefore the gear mesh issue will not be resolved until something is done at the engineering table. I see it this way. If the mesh doesn’t come perfect or at least close to it from the factory, something has to be off with how the engine and mount bolts to the chassis in relation to the transmission. Other small problems with the GST include wheel alignment. The camber on both front and rear wheels is great but the toe in on the front wheels is off by quite a bit. The left wheel could be pointing straight ahead while the right wheel would be off by AT LEAST + 5 degrees and that’s being modest. Another small problem was the throttle linkage not being setup properly from the factory. One of the locking collars was placed incorrectly and the throttle only opened less than half way. I know some people will read these last two problems and say I’m nitpicking, but for me it comes down to attention to detail and I just can’t buy the argument that “it’s a truck for advanced hobbyists and requires mechanical abilities”. If I’m paying over $500, I automatically expect I’m getting what I’m paying for. I think requesting a properly setup throttle linkage and aligned front wheels for a $550 price tag is reasonable. Don’t you? There is also an aspect of the new GST where it is evident that costs were cut in one area to beef up another. What I’m referring to would be the Skyion radio. The Airtronics MX-3 radio that came with the Nemesis was an EXCELLENT FM radio, even for a more advanced hobbyist. I have to say, I haven’t had ANY PROBLEMS WHATSOEVER with the Skyion system thus far, but it’s an obvious attempt by CEN to cut costs and in doing so they replaced a super high quality MX-3 with a mediocre Skyion. As I said before I’m still breaking this GST in, so you will hear from me again on ANY other issues that arise, good or bad. I have to admit so far though; it looks like CEN is heading in the right direction with the GST.

I know this write up was rather lengthy but I really wanted to share my personal experiences with fellow CEN owners and give other people looking to buy a Nemesis/GST a heads up on what they might encounter. Another reason I decided to do this write up is because I sincerely believe the articles that mentioned the CEN Nemesis were HIGHLY biased and gave the truck FAR too much credit than it deserved. The magazine articles seemed like a hotrod show on television where they change a rusty exhaust system for example. In reality, the extremely rusty bolts are completely frozen in their threaded holes and are impossible to get out, but with the magic of television, the show hosts make it look as easy as cutting butter with a hot knife. The same applies for the Nemesis. It just seems like a coincidence that the reviewers ran into virtually no trouble and totally ran the crap out of the truck. I just figured I would voice my honest opinion and possibly help some people out. And of course, there are always two sides to every story so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND other forum members chime in and comment on what I have to say. There are no feelings to be hurt here.