Overall Chinese scooter quality - - - Discuss By kevinharrell (Read 3,728 times)

[kz1000st]

I started this with a review shortly after I bought Rocket and its stablemate. Read the raves, questions about where to buy one and defense by owners. The comments read from bottom to top. This person, TWADDY38, is the 70+ year old woman I've mentioned before. She uses hers in the mountains of New Hampshire, a place where a lesser bike would burn up from use.

www.motor-scooters-guide.com/bashan-bs48q2-moped.html

Edit: I'll tell you something else. I look through all the online dealers from time to time. Their selection of 250 scooters has dwindled to a select few. I doubt they're trimming their selection to cut down on models available by choice. I'm guessing that all the formerly available inventory is selling out. Where many had six or seven 250 scooters in their lineup now I'm seeing two or three. If the scooters were so horrible they would have a backlog.

[DrRocco]

Jun 22, 2014 18:55:37 GMT -6 cyborg said:

wow are we on this same ol saw??? The Doc had problems???,,i thought it was smooth sailing with him,,,,i think i have to get my raincoat hat and boots on,,,it's gettin deep in here,,,what say you Doc??

It's obvious I haven't been around in a while. I thought I'd pop in to see how things are here on the forum. I blocked LUKE a long time ago but when I made my return this evening I wasn't logged in so his previous post showed up. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't chime in on anything he has to say. Because he made up a story about me however, I thought I'd set the record straight.

To this day, I've had a great experience with my scoot. Just like everyone promised, doing the prep work up front seems to have shielded me from problems thus far. I've only had one problem to speak of, and that is one of the welds on my luggage rack broke. I ordered a new one from Eagle ATV. At first, they didn't send me the correct part but their customer service is actually pretty good and they worked with me to make sure I was taken care of. To go even further, the luggage rack issue was probably my fault. I had pretty much been using it to lift the bike up every time I put it on the center stand.

It's been a while since I've ridden.  It's just been too cold or rainy for me.  If I remember correctly, I've got about 1800 trouble free Km on the scoot.  I go out to the garage and start it up and run it for 10 minutes or so every couple weeks and it's still firing up like it should.  I'm 100% happy with my purchase and recommend the same to everyone I come across.  In fact, I'm strongly considering following mxmatt and putting a Chinese 250 next to it in the garage.

[cyborg]

Good i'm glad it's going well for you,,,and as we were saying all along ,,,a careful setup ,, mild breakin,,and a good maintenance schedule and you can get good service,,, if you flog them for extended periods they break,,,pretty simple

[drahken]

chinese scooters suck. I had one that was a lemon. And that's not that rare of an occurence. Dealer inspected, means they inspected the money you gave them, then you'll never be able to return it.

[rks]

If you think Chinese Scooters suck....you need to visit and read this link.

link

[cyborg]

We have beat this subject upside down and backwards,,,not all chinese scooters are junk and their quality is getting better by every tick of the clock,,,but if you're trying to compare a china scoot to say a Sym or stella or any of the "big 4" there is a difference in quality,,,considering you can get a china scoot delivered to your door for under a grand,,,Sym's are $4000-$5000 otd,,Genuine Stella about the same,,,any 150cc+ japanese scoot right there with them price wise as is Aprilia and Vespa ,,, ect,,,the companies that make them know all about it and is reflected in the warranty they give with the machine,,,,Sym and Genuine 2 years,,,all the big 4 one year,,,most china scoots 3 months,,,this is not saying you can't get a bad one from the "premium brands",,,i had nothing but trouble with my et4 Vespa and got it running great (AGAIN) and sold it for what i had in it,,,,bought a Stella and other than a wonky main fuse holder that i changed has been a dream to own ,,,turn key push button go,,,with fabulous milage,,,also there are stories from other forums of chinese scoots going huge miles,,,it's not that it can't be done,,,if you are religious about service and maintain them regularly they can go a long way,,,2 guys went on a trip from San Francisco to New York on 2 chinese scoots one was a $100 find and really the only trouble they had was a starter bushing went on the $100 bomber,,,so long miles can be had with one,,,

[drahken]

so much for an open discussion.

and also everything you said is total not even true.

a new bike is around 2000$
so, so much for an open discussion eh? you show one circumstance and i show another which means the total opposite is true. so a japanese scooter has a warranty against this kind of stuff. recalls. chinese scooters, no.

[cyborg]

What i am saying is The quality issue is evident in the aftermarket,,,any hotrod parts out there for sym's,,, very few if any,,,why? They basically don't need them,,, any hotrod parts other than pipes and carb maybe or reprogram for the EFI for the aprilias, Vespa , or any of the other higher end scooters? Very few and far between,,, why?,,, they just don't need them,, they are stout enough for their intended purpose,,,, and the Chinese scoots are not of the same calibre,,, but for their intended purpose they are fine,, just don't flog them and expect them to hold up,, this is why there is such a large aftermarket for the Chinese clones,,, better designs,,, better materials ,, and better manufacturing makes better parts that hold up longer under heavier loads ,,, don't get me wrong I am basically agreeing with you,,, if you are trying to balance a $600-700'chinese scoot next to the higher end ones coming from Europe, japan, or Taiwan that costs thousands more there is no comparison,,, but not all Chinese scoots are junk

[steelblade]

Well, most here have seen my posts about my old TaoTao. The maintenance is just too high on them.

[Bashan]

Dec 17, 2014 12:56:56 GMT -6 drahken said:

so much for an open discussion.

An open discussion is one in which the participants are free to say whatever they want within the constraints of the discussion medium. I don't think anybody has told you to not to say something.

I had two $700.00 crate Chinese scooters....Bashans. One had a great engine but the rest was junk. The other scooter was just junk. I had a $1,500 Motorino, it was OK but there were some cheesy things on it. I have two $2,000 CF Motos and the engines blew.....my bad for pushing them too much. I have a $1,800 Znen right now and it's probably better than any of the others I just mentioned, it still has some cheesy things about it. Then there's the SYM. I know everybody is sick of hearing this but it puts things in perspective. It is in another universe from all the other scooters I owned. It is finished to perfection, runs perfect, and there is not a cheesy part on it. It has 9,000 miles on it and nothing has gone wrong......I repeat...nothing. The MSRP was almost 5K but I got it cheaper. Even so, you get what you pay for. It kills me when folks on the forum get a $1,500 scooter and then are stunned when it breaks. You don't get a bike that cheap and have it be SYM quality, it's going to break down.

[richardv]

Even the high end Hondas break down. Just go on any of the Gold Wing boards or any other make for that matter.

[Bashan]

Yes, agreed. It's percentage wise, the high end scooters don't need the repairs that the others do. If you don't mind working on your scooter all of the time then buy cheap Chinese and buy some tools. It kills me the people that come on this forum and buy the dirt cheap scooter and then don't have a torque wrench or a feeler gauge! If you want to get off cheap expect cheap and deal with it.

You want bulletproof? Buy a SYM or something in the bracket. Not being a snob...just fact.

[cyborg]

Right you are Richard ,,, early in my conversion to being a scooter rider,, I had found and bought a very low mile Vespa et4 150cc scooter,,, with nary 1000 miles on it ,,, it was a royal pita,,, and had fuel couplings go bad at 2000 miles on a BMW r1150r ,,, ecu went on a ducati I owned,,, I could go on for over an hour about the parts and system problems I've had with my so called " high end" 2wheelers,,,

[drahken]

Dec 17, 2014 8:55:55 GMT -6 cyborg said:

We have beat this subject upside down and backwards,,,not all chinese scooters are junk and their quality is getting better by every tick of the clock,,,but if you're trying to compare a china scoot to say a Sym or stella or any of the "big 4" there is a difference in quality,,,considering you can get a china scoot delivered to your door for under a grand,,,Sym's are $4000-$5000 otd,,

Dec 18, 2014 10:38:18 GMT -6 Bashan said:

Dec 17, 2014 12:56:56 GMT -6 drahken said:

so much for an open discussion.

An open discussion is one in which the participants are free to say whatever they want within the constraints of the discussion medium. I don't think anybody has told you to not to say something.

he, was the one who stopped the topic or tried and now you are too.  this topic is free for anyone to say whatever they want.  so WHATS YOUR PROBLEM? 

what are YOU saying?  i dont even get it.  i was speaking to him specifically, now you've drewa straw man to also buff up the chinese scooter crap thing.

you know them chinese scooters that are crap that you like so much. this guy asked a question and where answering it nobody told me not to talk but him and you now. i mean these 2 quotes i put here.  i can say these bikes are crap all i want.  the topics not beat up and down if someone asks.  someone witha  different opinion you attack all you can.  as far as im concerned adn that guy, who wrote that that i was speaking to to begin with, on this subject, did not agree with me.  he was lying about the cost of the bikes to try to lie about them.  and yu are trying to reinforce that by yelling at me over me spefically talking to him.  thats a nice straw man you drew there...  now how buffed up are you about your crap chinese scooters.

i see chinese scooters like this, you ever bought one of those manual chinese can openers?  how about a chinese pop bottle opener, with a fridgerator magnet?  ok heres my experience with them.  the can opener, last 6 months. 

how can you compare chinese prices to american products?  theyve screwed america over and my can opener made in america, was a dollar and not realy making much more now anyway.  and the thing still, i have an ameircan can opener found it in a new house we moved in, must be 30 years old.  oh it works just fine.  usually metal, doesnt FALL APART.

chinese can opener, 6 months later, grinds itself out.  you dont want this to happen on a scooter.
a chinese bottle opener, yea it works. how could it not?  i dont see it very strong either thou.  like that it wouldnt snap.  and, stick it to a fridge, weak magnet, it falls off. 

and whne theres a problem with a oem name scooter from not in japan, produced developed and came out of japan, theres an answer or a recall, or a replacement.  if its chinese, its run once if it doesnt fall apart on you, they cant keep no standards.  then its throwaway.  thats, not what i like, to get.

[cookees]

Don't forget..... Bashan's SYM is a Citycom 300, the largest of the SYM line. SYM also makes the Lance Powersports line of scooters. In fact, in PA the Lance's come through PennDot with a SYM title.Available in 50, 125, and 150cc models. The MSRP on the 125's start at $1895. So in all reality your looking at spending maybe $500 more to get a great scooter with a two year warranty.
I've sold a ton of Chinese scooters and find it perplexing that people won't pony up a few more dollars for a Taiwanese scooter.