What's the consensus? By cookees (Read 1,973 times)

[cookees]

www.kandiusa.com/products/Kandi-Cyclone-250MB-Trike-%28KD%252d250MB2%29%2C-Fully-Assembled%2C-wholesale-to-dealers-only.html


What's the consensus?

Should I carry them?

They'd retail for around $4500ish.

[trailheadmike]

I only know what I read on Scootdawg, but the people who've posted there seem to have had bad experiences, especially with front wheel alignment. then again, some have said that this and other problems may have been addressed in later models. I'd do some Scootdawg reading and see what you think. The sure look cool though.

[philosophydoc]

Be careful about drawing conclusions from what people post at ScootDawg or any scooter site, for two reasons. First, how many Kandi owners are members of any such site? Suppose (rather generously) that 10% of all Kandi owners are on ScootDawg; that still means you would be drawing conclusions without knowing what the other 90% of Kandi owners think.

Second is the Amazon effect -- people tend to post comments if they (a) love the product, or (b) hate the product. But those who are satisfied with it (who neither love it nor hate it) tend not to post. Again, merely as a illustration, suppose 10% love it and 10% hate it...what about the remaining 80%?

People make bad inferences all the time from limited data...just a warning to be careful about what drawing conclusions from such a skewed data source.

[mcalli]

I like the fact that it is water cooled. Some trikes are air cooled. I wouldn't want to say if you should carry or not. But I will say that when I can no longer ride a bike (due to old age?), I would consider one of these. Top speed is only 65 though. Is this thing highway legal? Don't know that I would want to try it on interstates.

[yoster]

I personally don't think those are going to take off, with that engine anyway. The 250 is ok for a scooter, but that 'bike' is getting heavy.. full size tires, three of them, largeish frame.. the general consumer will expect more out of it just by looking at it than scooter-ish speeds (in real world testing it will undoubtedly be slower than our scooters). Bottom line, it needs a bigger engine.. or a much, much lower price-tag.

My 2 cents.

[Cruiser]

I agree with Matt. This trike weighs twice as much as the average 250cc scoot and is supposed to perform as good as a 250cc scoot. The price is also high.

If it has a fuel injected modern 4 valve engine, then it might pull that kind of speed and that would also, in turn, help rationalize the more expensive price.

It does look purpose built as a trike and not a normal scooter with two wheels tacked on one end or the other. The unit would certainly have to sell itself and this can only be determined by actually seeing and driving it.

[speedracer]

To me it's just a Cam Am look alike with not enough power and a small gas tank to boot.

[cookees]

Thanks for all the input. I got notice today that they are indeed legit in PA. I also have a customer that will buy it...after I show it off at a few "bike nights".... so I pulled the plug and ordered a yellow one today.

I'll keep you posted.


PS. The freight from LA on a single one of these puppies is outrageous,
so I think the retail will be more like $4995ish. ( Plus they ship to the terminal)

[Cruiser]

Ahh, yellow which is the fastest of the colors. I took a closer look at the pictures. This looks like a large unit. A scooter in the middle with a chain drive to the rear wheel and an independent front suspension with two wheels. Seems to have a CfMoto style engine also.

Here's the trike I would probably buy. It's a 150cc which retails for $1900 to $2000. I believe it comes in yellow too!

[turtle8]

Jun 22, 2011 22:44:28 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

Ahh, yellow which is the fastest of the colors. I took a closer look at the pictures. This looks like a large unit. A scooter in the middle with a chain drive to the rear wheel and an independent front suspension with two wheels. Seems to have a CfMoto style engine also.

Here's the trike I would probably buy. It's a 150cc which retails for $1900 to $2000. I believe it comes in yellow too!

Yup, I like that one too. It is a quasi-clone of the Piaggio MP3. Does it have the parallelogram front suspension that leans too?

[speedracer]

My problem is what type of system does it have in place when making a quick but needed turn? The Can Am uses it braking system to automatically keep the front the tires from lifting and having the trike tip over. Of course the Cam Am is 10 times the price and comes with a much larger engine.

[cookees]

The Sunny trike won't pass the strict PA VIN rule.

[Cruiser]

Jun 23, 2011 7:32:30 GMT -6 turtle8 said:

Jun 22, 2011 22:44:28 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

Ahh, yellow which is the fastest of the colors. I took a closer look at the pictures. This looks like a large unit. A scooter in the middle with a chain drive to the rear wheel and an independent front suspension with two wheels. Seems to have a CfMoto style engine also.

Here's the trike I would probably buy. It's a 150cc which retails for $1900 to $2000. I believe it comes in yellow too!

Yup, I like that one too. It is a quasi-clone of the Piaggio MP3. Does it have the parallelogram front suspension that leans too?

Yes it does.

[speedracer]

What exactly is the parallelogram front suspension?

[turtle8]

Jun 26, 2011 10:12:37 GMT -6 speedracer said:

What exactly is the parallelogram front suspension?

When you lean into a curve, the two front wheels lean in parallel keeping all three wheels in contact with the road.