Opinions on Chinese built Scooters By rdwarrior (Read 1,499 times)

[rdwarrior]

A newby here. Hi guys. Have read your many posts, and I am considering buying a trike scooter. Needless to say I am a bit older, and am done with the 2 wheeled vehicles.I am looking for opinions from those who know, any recommendations on manufacterers?

I have been looking at the Ice Bear line, and those offered by ScooterDepot.com. The main difference is the dual wheels in the rear versus the dual wheels in the front. I would like to stay in the 150cc range for size.

Any feedback would be appreciated as to the pros and cons of what I have looked at. Have to admit that I like the Ice Bear Eagle 150 so far. Thanks for any response.

[Alleyoop]

Stay away from the trikes with the dual wheels in front. They are NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME.
Some folks have bought them and have nothing but problems with the front end and some even say they are dangerious.
I have had my Ice Bear Trike since march of 2009 and have over 10K miles on it. Now I do have to mention that NOBODY will touch a Chinese Ride whether a Trike or 2 Wheeler unless of course you happen be lucky and have a shop near you that the mechanic will work on anything.

So if you are somewhat mechanical and are not afraid to get your hands dirty a Chinese Ride will do you and not have to pay about $80.00 an hour labor plus parts.
You can see my Trike in my Sig it is a PST150H similar to the CYCLCONE they sell now.
Alleyoop

[frmrwiseguy]

Despite all the slam reviews of Scooterdepot online I found my purchase from beginning to the license plate Excellent.
They sell and move thousands of units weekly.
Seems the peep's who purchased and slam them did Not read half the content information that is provided ie how its shipped. PDI, Pre delivery inspection, a 2012 or pre model may have to clean the carb. Mine listed as a Best pick of 2012, saw peeps receiving 2011's, My MFG date was May 2013, no Carb cleaning. Fired right up.
For the price I'm very happy with my purchase and having a ball with simple upgrades. These Scoots are too much fun for the $$$$.
Good Day.

[bhinch]

I don't believe that Alley was slamming anyone. He just had an opinion of the trike with the dual wheels in front. All opinions are welcome or at least for me they are....

[kz1000st]

Re: Opinions on Chinese built Scooters

I'd rather not comment on that. It gets me in trouble.

[Alleyoop]

KZ go ahead and comment, he asked a question if you know different by all means.

I am just commenting on the REVERSE TRIKES nothing but bad complaints with the owners of them. As far as the dealer I have never dealt with them so I cannot comment on the dealer at all.
Alleyoop

[royldoc]

I own two Ice bear trikes a 50cc and a 300cc, both of them are 2010 models. If you do a proper pdi and regular maintenance they will last a good time. Like Alley stated there are not many shops that will even look at one of these trikes, but you may get lucky and find one that does. The two wheels in front present a whole different set of problems. There are some that have had good luck with them, but the majority of people that have owned then have lots of problems. As with any dealer you should do research. Check out costumer complaints, check with the bbb, ect..

A lot of people don't spend the time to research the product, the dealer or how to properly maintain said product. then they get on forums and bash said product/dealer.

A proper pdi and regular maintenance is key to the longevity of these scooters. There are threads on here on how to do a proper pdi. If you cant find them or have questions just ask and we will help.

Roy

[rapidjim]

From a dealer stand point and from experience. The only reverse trike ( 2 wheels in front) that is worth anything is a true CA AM. The Chinese reverse trikes are nothing but problems. Ice Bear use to sell reverse trikes, for another distributor, and they had nothing but warranty issues and could not even get parts. So if a distibutor has problems what chance does a consumer have?

The PST150-7 Eagle is a great trike. As already said if you have it set up right and PDIed from the very beginning it should give you years of enjoyment.

As far as Dealers go. Do your homework! Read the BBB reports, read forum comments and by all means call the dealer you are thinking about buying from to get a feel for them personally. Remember that who ever you buy from is the one that will have to service you if you have warranty issues. That is Ice Bear's policy.

Jim/Owner
Rapid Repair

Note: I can get and sell any model that Ice Bear has even if it is not on my website yet.

[rdwarrior]

Thanks people, I really appreciate the input. I have really been doing my "due diligence" on everything. Still undecided.

I have, since, received info on the "reverse" trikes. Seems they have had problems with bearings in the front steering/suspension system, and owners did not know it existed until too late. I spoke with the California distributor, and he verified that, but it was due to incorrect assembly on the new owners part. They (scooterdepot) are now shipping the scooters completely assembled by their technicians, and have had no complaints ever since. There is no assembly needed by the customer. Shrink wrapped on a pallet, when delivered, and ready to go.

I am still leaning towards the Ice Bear Eagle 150. And as others on this forum, I will contact RapidJim for more info on that scooter.

Thanks again for all the input. This forum is really worthwhile to a potential new owner.

[kz1000st]

KZ go ahead and comment

That's what I would have said:

I will contact RapidJim for more info on that scooter

Chinese scooters are a darn good bargain for the money and buying them from a reputable dealer goes a long way towards insuring that you don't get a problem child.

Seems they have had problems with bearings in the front steering/suspension system, and owners did not know it existed until too late. I spoke with the California distributor, and he verified that, but it was due to incorrect assembly on the new owners part. They (scooterdepot) are now shipping the scooters completely assembled by their technicians, and have had no complaints ever since.

Call me a cockeyed optimist but I'd like to think that these reverse trikes were actually tested in China by the builders since no one anywhere wants to be known as "The Company that Killed hundreds of Consumers." Sometimes you can sell a product that the average Joe shouldn't be assembling himself without advanced tools and training.

I'm betting that if a guy like Rapid Jim had gotten his hands on one it would function like a Stradivarius.

[mike6736]

I see a lot of the Ice Bear 50s and the 150 in Florida and a few of the 300s. I think the 150 trikes are great and stand up well. Hope you get one soon and keep us posted

Magoo

[rapidjim]

Sept 7, 2013 11:41:26 GMT -6 rdwarrior said:

Thanks people, I really appreciate the input. I have really been doing my "due diligence" on everything. Still undecided.

I have, since, received info on the "reverse" trikes. Seems they have had problems with bearings in the front steering/suspension system, and owners did not know it existed until too late. I spoke with the California distributor, and he verified that, but it was due to incorrect assembly on the new owners part. They (scooterdepot) are now shipping the scooters completely assembled by their technicians, and have had no complaints ever since. There is no assembly needed by the customer. Shrink wrapped on a pallet, when delivered, and ready to go.

I am still leaning towards the Ice Bear Eagle 150. And as others on this forum, I will contact RapidJim for more info on that scooter.

Thanks again for all the input. This forum is really worthwhile to a potential new owner.

Actually there were more issues than just the bearings. As I mentioned there were warranty issues and parts issues as well as major issues in handling ( not attributed to the bearing issue) I knew of these issues when I called Ice Bear to inquire about one for a customer. After I got all the information, I refused to sell one.

Sorry to say IMO the Chinese version of the reverse trike is a bad design. I have worked on a couple, pulled my hair out, and couldn't get parts, can't fix something you can not get parts for. Needless to say I will not work on them again. Maybe they have got the bugs out now, the vote is still out since I have not read a good review yet. Maybe it is time for me to do some research and find out. At this time I can not endorse them.

I did get your email and responded.


Jim

[clonedrone]

Iv'e been following as a guest for awhile.
Ready to make my purchase.
Anyone with experience in dealing with Scooterdepot?
I read many bad reviews, only a couple good reviews.
With there prices they must move allot of units.
Like to hear from anyone who purchased from them, and how there expeience went.
Thanks in advance.

[rdwarrior]

Hi clonedrone,
I came aboard asking the same questions about ScooterDepot. It seems that there have been quite a few problems with their trikes. You can read RapidJim's comments on these.

They are now shipping their scooters completely assembled in order to alleviate their problems, but it seems the jury is still out on them. They, obviously, sell a ton of scooters through their website.

One of my local dealers here in Florida, used to be a dealer of these scoots, but lost money on them with repairs. He could not get the parts. He had to take them back from the customers he sold them to.

Now, whether or not all of this has changed...I don't know.

[amac1680]

Hey.
I wrote this when the trike had 1000 miles and its about the same at 3000. These can be good scooters for the type of person that enjoys some wrench twisting. As long as you keep an eye on the front end, alignment, toe-in and the steering stops all is good. Once its set up just keeps thing tight.

Most important is how it is ridden. This is not for the meek or the incompetent.
I have let very few ride it. There's a learning curve that too many will try to advance and that could spell trouble on this scoot.

That said I still own it because once you know this trike it is a load of fun.


2012 MC-95-250

It goes by many names.
Cyclone, Momba, Spyder etc.



I must say from the first time I saw this "scam-am" I found it intriguing on a few levels. First I guess the folks in china have pretty much cloned everything else so it was time to raid the Canadians.Next was who would pay anywhere from 4 to 5k for this scooter.

As it turns out there are more than a few who have, many of them were beyond unprepared for what was to come.

I bought the trike at a auto auction. The original owner gave up at 200 miles. The front end was a mess and took about 30 hours total to get just the front end right. Forget getting most shops to play with the toe-in.

Long story short I paid $1100.00 and have about another $300.00 in it. I thought I would have sold it by now but it's not in the way so............


The Trike:
It looks cool there's no denying it. It's about as well put together as most china scoots. Rattles etc but nothing out of the norm that a few twists of a screwdriver wont fix. Body finish is OK . The electrical on these things have always been a nasty topic with me and this bike is no different . I used a ton of shrink tube, liquid electric tape and connectors to make things more water tight.

The early models had big time stability problems. That was fixed but it scared the hell out of a lot of people. Even those that have done their own PDI on china scoots before weren't ready for the front end tuning it takes to make these bikes stable. I thought I was but found out otherwise. Fortunately I found some info online.Once it's right it's not all that tough to keep it that way.

I can't say anything bad about the CN250 clone. It's a workhorse that's been in scoots for years. Ive always enjoyed working on them. Strong and reliable as long as its not asked to do more than its made to do. More on that later.

Handeling
Like any trike you need to adjust your riding style. Unlike traditional trikes this scoot rides like an ATV or snowmobile. No fancy computers to keep the front wheels on the pavement. It's all on to the rider .

It's extremely sensitive to input on the bars. It takes very little to make it turn. If you lean on the bars things get shaky. With the front end right it tracks true and is predictable as long as you don't lean on the bars.Bumps and potholes can bounce you from side to side so one needs to keep an eye on the surface .

Performance
As I said I like the CN250 clone I just don't like it on this trike. It's just asking way to much for that little kicker to push a heavy bike with 3 heavy small car tires and a lot of windage.

The CVT is set up as well as I can be for the job at hand. Pulling out into traffic is not an issue she zips to 30 mph just fine. Between 30 and 40 she's ok, not fast but not a total dog. At 40 the shanking starts and it screams until about 44 then the CVT makes its last shift. Then it smooths out.

Only problem is that's about it. I used a GPS to check speeds but from 44 to 52 I used a calendar, it took forever.I'm only 135 lbs live at sea level and any small bridge will knock the speed down 10 mph. Evenlight wind will cut speed.

I can't imagine riding it in the hills or two-up.

We have tried everything from CVT tuning to carb/exhaust work and the bottom line is there is no replacement for displacement. This trike is the perfect example of that. It needs at least 300cc to do 55mph cruise.

Of course should the suspension be asked to do much better than 50mph ? I've seen a max of 62 coming off a steep bridge and it was "sporty" to say the least. To fast period. BTW that same bridge spanked the bike on the way up, 33mph. Yuck.

Bottom line is 44 mph cruise, 50mph or so top end.
Not 5k worth of performance.I said earlier that the trike is predictable and it is. That's not to say its simple to ride. It takes attention to the road surface ,even more than on any other bike. But it's a safe ride in the hands of a competent driver.

It may seem like I'm bashing the thing but I'm not I totally enjoy the ride. It's a hoot around town, I can pull some cool turns and everyone comes over to talk at the gas station. Good ole fun !

Just don't ask to much from it. It's a "sheep in wolves clothes" looks like Tarzan runs like Jane. It's a scooter and a slow one at that. Don't let the wrapper fool you.

I couldn't use it as my day to day scoot but it's fun for a change of pace. I'm sure their are those that would be happy with this trike as is, say maybe at the "over 55". Lol.

I can't bring myself to selling it. It's just a lot of fun.

Of course I may not enjoy it as much if I paid top dollar for it.

Be Big,
AMAC