Lookin' to get a new scoot By steelblade (Read 4,006 times)

[Bashan]

Right, I understand that. I was talking to the membership in general. Maybe Tom has something with a few more cc's sitting around. If not, you other Docs should snap up Tom's offer. I would but my wife says I have enough scooters.

[tdi]

The price of 1500 is great.
I'm surfing the web for prices and for instance:
The vino 50cc is suposed to cost 2290 usd, but out the door from Motoport usa in Miami costs 3650 usd! and its only a 50 cc

[Guitarman]

I had a Roketa 250 and it gave me hives. I went nuts trying to keep it on the road.

Take the deal from Cookies.  Ask him if he has a 250 or 300 ready to go for you.

[kz1000st]

Here's the thing. In my opinion if you have to rely on the scooter you should have a brand name scooter. If all you do is ride to Starbuck's, take a trip to buy beer or go to the Post Office a China scoot is just fine. I used to believe that everybody needed more power. As the patina of dust thickened on my last Kawasaki and I used the Bashan 150cc more and more I realized the folly. Lately this has been tempting me.

scranton.craigslist.org/mcy/4662499807.html

but I keep telling myself, "The Fashion is fine. The Rebel is all the bike you need right now." On the other hand a better scooter may open up new paths for you and you'll want something even better. Just don't over buy for your needs. An RV-250 for $1500?? What are you waiting for?

[JR]

Sept 25, 2014 18:40:45 GMT -6 Guitarman said:

I had a Roketa 250 and it gave me hives. I went nuts trying to keep it on the road.

Take the deal from Cookies.  Ask him if he has a 250 or 300 ready to go for you.

Hives? Oh yea like the ones I just got 16 quarts of honey from, man forgot what a job it was putting that liquid gold up.

Now as far as the Roketa 250 goes? I've got over 15k on a 08 model and it still other that tires,battery and LED lights everything is OEM and running like a fine watch. Wouldn't be afraid to strike out any where at any time on it.

JR

[kz1000st]

Yes, but you're retired, don't commute anymore and are more likely to hop into the Chevy. If a new Tao Tao is too high maintenance then he wants/needs something better. Don't take it personal Jack. You and I both know you do a lot of fiddling on the scooter. How many PDI's have you done? One man's PDI is another man's "Too much maintenance".

I still say get a bike. I read. People are out there with brand name scooters paying an arm and a leg for maintenance that a bike would never need. Absolutely no comparison for reliability or longevity.

Paul Smith has over 20,000 miles on his Kymco People 150 but....

Consider that my Kymco just had to go through inspection, and the bill for labor and parts came to $455.00. Compare that to this little 50cc with its simple engine and it's hard to argue that they aren't a viable alternative.

scootinfool.blogspot.com/2014/08/low-carb.html

[steelblade]

I need my current bike running to trade it in, save me a few more bucks and put the old bike to some good use.

[JR]

Sept 26, 2014 6:37:47 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

Yes, but you're retired, don't commute anymore and are more likely to hop into the Chevy. If a new Tao Tao is too high maintenance then he wants/needs something better. Don't take it personal Jack. You and I both know you do a lot of fiddling on the scooter. How many PDI's have you done? One man's PDI is another man's "Too much maintenance".

I still say get a bike. I read. People are out there with brand name scooters paying an arm and a leg for maintenance that a bike would never need. Absolutely no comparison for reliability or longevity.

Paul Smith has over 20,000 miles on his Kymco People 150 but....

Consider that my Kymco just had to go through inspection, and the bill for labor and parts came to $455.00. Compare that to this little 50cc with its simple engine and it's hard to argue that they aren't a viable alternative.

scootinfool.blogspot.com/2014/08/low-carb.html

Yes, but you're retired, don't commute anymore and are more likely to hop into the Chevy

I was retired if that's what you call it back when I bought my first scooters in 08, since then I have taken on raising two grandchildren and my life is far from retired. I bought a new Chevy Traverse in Nov. 2012 and just yesterday it turned over 55k, why? The granddaughter since she was 8 has been playing traveling youth softball and even now we are in the fall softball tournaments and travel even out of state to play. She this past week has been ranked as the number one 10 and under pitcher in this state with a 0.001 earned run average.

The grandson has just left the youth leagues and is in the 7th grade and plays football, basketball and baseball and the granddaughter is also the starting point guard on her basketball team, needless to say I move around a lot, my grandson is the starting tight end and linebacker on his team and they beat Atkins last night in a game that yes I was there.

This summer he had to attend weight room every day and I took him every single day on that 250B which is a 31 mile round trip 5 days a week from the end of May to when they started school in August. Why? Takes miles off of that $25k Traverse and he loves it, also take the granddaughter to her practices when I can on it too. Just got back from Morrilton in the last hour on my 250B from paying my auto insurance 34 miles round trip, in the 60's very pleasant ride so the don't commute anymore? Don't know where you came up with that idea? I just don't get on the forum anymore telling of every trip, actually the scooter did turn over 15k a few weeks ago on a trip I made to the oral surgeon to Conway a 74 mile round trip ride. Had titanium implants put in my jaw this past March and they are getting ready to fit my new teeth in a couple of weeks.

My wife and I with her 250A ride when we can and since we have a break in softball for just this weekend we're planning a 3 hour ride to Lake Greeson because the grandkids are staying with her sister this weekend. So nothing personal, just make sure you know the facts about things when you make statements. I still "hop" on that scooter.

How many PDI's have you done?

Actually 5, I do a damn good one when I do it, again both 250's have all OEM things still on them including the tail shafts. I own 5 scooters.

You and I both know you do a lot of fiddling on the scooter.

Fiddling? Ok I'll call it improvements.

Revamped the radiator and added two smaller cooling fans, yes it's hot here and like I said before I add things to keep them cooler, was it necessary? Didn't do it to the wife's scooter and it's got 4k on it and still runs fine it's a 07 BTW. But it hasn't made 5 trips to Dallas and back in 100F heat but I wouldn't hesitate to ride it just like it is.

Taller windshield, yep put the Givi windshield  on both made for the reflex, I like to ride with my cap on, with this taller windshield I can, yes I replaced the cheap Chinese rubber well nuts that hold the windshield on with good ones from Ace Hardware.

Smoothed and honed out the rough carb intake. was it necessary, nope just figured it would add a little pep to it. Again didn't do it on the wifes.

Added a volt meter and better radio but I wouldn't think either of these have anything to do with the scooter running or is needed?

Changed from rollers to sliders, why? I run in the hills it was a nice helpful mod. Helped the top end too but one could do this one a PDI if they wanted. Did this on the wifes too.

Raised the carb needle one notch, necessary? Nope just added a little pep to both of the scooters.

The old Bali 150, yes did some of the same things and added a custom oil cooler, there's that cooling thing again.

Both my 50cc scooters are in my shop, going through them to start training grandkids with. Both need a battery and entire fuel systems cleaned and tanks drained, why? The haven't been touched in over 2 years, not the scooters fault, my fault.

Now all this fiddling as you called it happened a few years back, only thing that's been done to the two scooters the wife and I ride in the last few years is normal oil changes and batteries/tires as needed. With the schedule I have I don't have time to fiddle, this week alone today will be the first time I will NOT go to any game, practice or school event this week. Add 5 acres to mow, a fruit orchard, a huge garden/s that I am still putting produce up from and I don't have any time to fiddle. As I stated I just got through from robbing my bee hives and put up over 16 quarts of honey. When I get through responding here I'm going to go mow for a few hours, cook some supper, go get the grandkids from school, do Savannah's hitting and pitching that I do with her every day and then come home and enjoy the supper. My wife is asleep right now as she works nights but is off this weekend.

I'm not going to as I said before get into the pissing match of the my scooter is better than any other scooter anymore. My statements to the 250 Roketa reflect what my experience is with my scooter, others may or may not have the same luck just as some don't have as good of luck as you and your scooters while some do. Name brand all great and if that's what you want then that's absolutely fine and dandy with me. I know some people that no matter what they ride have good luck while others who do everything right have awful luck, just the way it happens sometimes.

JR

[kz1000st]

If you could holster your guns for a minute and go back to the beginning to see what this thread is about it would work much better. You do/did a lot of maintenance on your scooter for the mileage you have. Do you know what I've done on my wife's Rebel in almost 10,000 miles? Three or four oil changes and two tires. One day soon maybe a chain adjustment. That's the kind of reliability the OP wants. If you had to ride 80 miles a day, five days a week, how much more would you have to do? It's not a question of better. It's a question of purpose. A Chinese scooter will never be up to the task of turn key/everyday use at the moment. He didn't ask "How do I turn this scooter into a Honda?" he asked, "What scooter would be less of a chore to maintain." A Roketa, a CF Moto, a Znen, Tao Tao or Bashan doesn't fill that prescription and you know that.

No "My scooter is better than yours." They're all finicky and temperamental, some just more than others. Even a Harley makes ALL scooters look fragile as glass. I can read.

[JR]

Sept 26, 2014 11:12:04 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

If you could holster your guns for a minute and go back to the beginning to see what this thread is about it would work much better. You do/did a lot of maintenance on your scooter for the mileage you have. Do you know what I've done on my wife's Rebel in almost 10,000 miles? Three or four oil changes and two tires. One day soon maybe a chain adjustment. That's the kind of reliability the OP wants. If you had to ride 80 miles a day, five days a week, how much more would you have to do? It's not a question of better. It's a question of purpose. A Chinese scooter will never be up to the task of turn key/everyday use at the moment. He didn't ask "How do I turn this scooter into a Honda?" he asked, "What scooter would be less of a chore to maintain." A Roketa, a CF Moto, a Znen, Tao Tao or Bashan doesn't fill that prescription and you know that.

No "My scooter is better than yours." They're all finicky and temperamental, some just more than others. Even a Harley makes ALL scooters look fragile as glass. I can read.

Read the list again, maybe you have a different definition of maintenance? Ok so the maintenance on my 250B? 3 sets of tires, 4 oil changes and 3 gear oil changes, adjusted valves twice. Cleaned the air filter 4 times, two batteries now that's maintenance again you're making statements with no facts. Let's not ignore the facts it's now 6 years old and started just this morning and rode like a charm. PDI is a PDI whether done by dealer or individual, personally even with a name brand I'll do a PDI that a dealer wouldn't.

Piddling = the changes I made on the list because I wanted to, not to try to make it into anything else. Yes he did ask the question of what has maybe less to maintain, so he does it himself or has a dealer do it if he gets name brand. Dealer will do a PDI and as long as it's under warranty do anything else so make it apples for apples, piddling is oranges. Dealer will also charge the crap out of him to do a simple oil change but a oil change is a oil change and is "maintenance"

My piddling was cosmetic and has in no way altered the life of this scooters engine one way or another and it has proved long haul trips to other places not only once but 5 times in all kinds of weather conditions and never failed to bring me home. So I can compare it's reliability because as I said it's 6 years old, and other than piddling and regular "maintenance" it is still purring right along with the same parts on it as when it arrived in the crate in Sept. 2008. When the OP asks about the 250B I can say that I've rode the piss out of mine for 15k and it's still running and it even still has the OEM headlight bulbs, all the OEM switches, a few piddling changes and  oh and I did forget I did replace the speedometer cable, a cost of $12. I piddled with it a hour to do that.

If you had to ride 80 miles a day, five days a week, how much more would you have to do?

I rode 816 miles in two days 5 times and had a CDI wire come loose in the rain one time and figured it out and made it home, that equals 4080 in 10 days. At 15k I've done no more than you've done to the Rebel plain and simple. My wife's 250A with 4k on it and at 7 years old has had the tires changed once, 2 oil changes, 1 gear oil change, air filter cleaned twice, valves adjusted once, replaced the battery. Replaced windshield, changed to sliders and that's it. Because of her crazy work schedule I ride her scooter more than her to keep the battery up. It still has every single OEM part on it including the speedo cable. BTW both scooters still even have the OEM Gates powerlink belt on them, I have a new one that I bought 3 years ago as a spare.  I wouldn't hesitate to get on either scooter and head to California.

BTW don't have any guns up just don't like people telling me what I have or haven't done when they don't have a clue as to such.

JR

[steelblade]

Alright, you two. Am I gonna have to separate you?

In any case, I want something that isn't going to fall completely dead once a month, requiring me to open the engine to recrevelate the dowatter. Tires, oil? That's normal.

[JR]

Sept 26, 2014 12:37:57 GMT -6 steelblade said:

Alright, you two. Am I gonna have to separate you?

In any case, I want something that isn't going to fall completely dead once a month, requiring me to open the engine to recrevelate the dowatter. Tires, oil? That's normal.

Sorry for the interruption of your request. Like all answers on a subject like this it's all a matter of opinion, same with anything, take a computer, some people like HP others a Dell.

Falling completely dead? Can also offer comments on this, how do you ride, where do you ride, how much do you weigh, how much do you want to do things yourself, how much do you want a dealer to do? No magic answer here all depends on a lot of factors, how much do you even want to spend?

Some people will tell you a Chevy is the only thing to drive others a Ford? Scooters, you've been given opinions on several here so what do you do?

All boils down to one simple answer, what you want.

JR

[JR]

Sept 26, 2014 12:37:57 GMT -6 steelblade said:

Alright, you two. Am I gonna have to separate you?

In any case, I want something that isn't going to fall completely dead once a month, requiring me to open the engine to recrevelate the dowatter. Tires, oil? That's normal.

+1 piston.

[kz1000st]

He just answered your question, He wants something that won't fall apart every month. One week doing I rode 816 miles in two days 5 times and had a CDI wire come loose in the rain one time is not the same as riding every day, day in and day out. Maybe he wants something he can depend on, daily, ask Rich and Jim63 how that worked for them. Not so good as I recall.

In my past I did a scant 14,000 in one year in all sorts of weather with just a tire replacement. Of course a Kawasaki has four 250cc cylinders. You might not be retired but you're not going out at 6 AM to reach the plant by 7:00 and needing your scooter to start, each day, every day. As good as my CF Moto is I have another scooter and a bike behind me and a car as backup. Of course the Rebel does actually start each day, every day, but it also costs as much as two online 250cc China scooters. The Honda is what reliability is all about.

[JR]

Sept 26, 2014 14:10:21 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

He just answered your question, He wants something that won't fall apart every month. One week doing I rode 816 miles in two days 5 times and had a CDI wire come loose in the rain one time is not the same as riding every day, day in and day out. Maybe he wants something he can depend on, daily, ask Rich and Jim63 how that worked for them. Not so good as I recall.

In my past I did a scant 14,000 in one year in all sorts of weather with just a tire replacement. Of course a Kawasaki has four 250cc cylinders. You might not be retired but you're not going out at 6 AM to reach the plant by 7:00 and needing your scooter to start, each day, every day. As good as my CF Moto is I have another scooter and a bike behind me and a car as backup. Of course the Rebel does actually start each day, every day, but it also costs as much as two online 250cc China scooters. The Honda is what reliability is all about.

No I'm up at 5 a.m. everyday and have kids breakfast done by 6 so they can eat. We don't have a bus to get them here because they are out of district. I take them to school by 7:30 and then do the things I do.

KZ I'll make it simple not matter what anyone else does in this world they will never out do you or be better, move on this thread has been enough and I apologize to the OP for it. I know you've done it all and everyone else is stupid and knows nothing. You also have a shaft for the next breakage too.  Be warned when I say move on.

JR