CF Moto Jetmax Opinion through first oil change By vintner (Read 4,778 times)

[vintner]

Well, I made it through the first oil change at the 300 mile mark and thought this is the time to provide an opinion post. Since I am comparing it (in part) to my experience on my Jonway YY250T, it may not compare with other opinions.

This is heavier than the Jonway, bigger and beefier. It is also a lot more machine than the Jonway.

I had upgraded the Jonway by adding a electric fuel pump which added to the throttle range, but the Jetmax whoops its butt. This thing has get up and go all the way through the throttle range. I have not opened it up yet, but have had it up to 70mph. On a good day, I could get the Jonway up to just over 60mph.

Handling-Hmmm. I am not sure on this. I swear I could turn tighter or faster on the Jonway, but not sure. I do know that I have made corners on the Jetmax where I have scrapped on the road.

Comfort-I probably fit the Jetmax a little better. It has a nice back stop on the seat and the seat height is right for me. Getting on and off seems to be a little better on the Jetmax, better leg swing area.

Paneling-Seems tighter and better fitting on the Jetmax. The front skins come off in multiple sections; front, right half and left half vs. Jonway front and full cowling. There are a couple screws on the Jetmax that are a b*tch because of positioning, and replacing a headlight bulb isn't fun, but I have replaced the 35W with 60/55W bulbs. Smaller hands would eliminate having to pull off the panels.

MPG-about the same. I am getting (last fill) 63mpg. That is about the same as the smaller and less powerfull Jonway.

And as far as the oil change, this Jetmax has oil drain plug, paper oil filter and a primary oil screen filer. More filtration and more time to change oil than the Jonway. But, better oil filtration means it is better oil going to the engine.

(typing has got more difficult, dog has decided to have close time with me making the laptop not in the same position-she is old, I let her have what she wants).

Flaws-A few:
1) No luggage rack. I can get something from China, but it isn't cheap. Point to Jonway, cheap and includes luggage rack and top box. There is space under the seat, but not enough for my needs.
2) No Trip Odometer and of course, speedometer is not accurate. What the heck. How could you put that much into an instrument panel and not include a trip odometer? I added a bike speedometer to get correct speedometer and a trip odometer.
3) Glove compartment/front storage. Cheap. The door is very thin and bends easy. Don't store anything in there that you want to protect. The seal isn't good, so no water resistant seal.

I am expecting more years from the Jetmax and hoping to sell the Jonway as soon as it comes back from the repair shop where it is getting all new rear skins, fender, mud guard, etc.

I like my Jetmax very much and glad I have it. Sorry it took a woman not watching the road to cause me to get it.

[vintner]

This is a picture of my bike speedometer on my instrument panel.

The cable is routed down the steering column shaft area and out to the right fork near the regular speedometer cable.

[kz1000st]

Sounds like a good scooter. With four valves and fuel injection I'm not surprised it's fast. Judging on the build of my bike I'm sure it's sturdier than what you're used to.

These guys second what you're saying in their 620 mile ride.

www.scootersales.com.au/News-4072-cf-moto-jetmax-250i.aspx

especially like this line.

Could you ride from Melbourne to Sydney on a brand new Chinese built maxi scooter which costs less than $4000. Yes you can, and in the case of the JetMax with confidence.

[jaksonbrown]

Glad you like the scooter and it by all means should be better than the Jonway it cost more and you should get more.

Seems that the reviews are all on including the cheap things you mentioned and I'll agree for the price you paid a tripometer would have been easy and IMO a trunk too.

The EFI and four valves have nothing to do with the fastness of it in fact on EFI no adjusting or changing the fuel input will happen while on a carb adjustment is easy and cheap but I wouldn't think you would need to add any speed anyway? EFI is the future for several reasons mainly EPA crap but if it ever does go down then if it's out of warranty you'll need a deep pocket to fix it. Was reading just the other day about a fellow who had to have his re-done on a Honda and it hit him to the tune of $1250.

High mileage trips can and have been done on a cheap Chinese scooters also with confidence, I know, have done them. The cost of it was less than $1600.

Congrats on your scooter.

[kz1000st]

High mileage trips can and have been done on a cheap Chinese scooters also with confidence, I know, have done them.

But not on interstates or freeways, apparently. Unlike the ability of CF Motos to do it.

[jaksonbrown]

But not on interstates or freeways, apparently. Unlike the ability of CF Motos to do it.

All depends on if you have the nerve to do it? Personally I don't think any scooter belongs on a freeway or interstate. One why take the risk of being blown off the road by semis which was one of the reasons interstates were made for and second why would you want to ride a scooter that is so fun to ride in an enviroment that every second you have that worry?

I ride a scooter for fun pleasure and at times for savings and any place I go with the exception of one large city where I have children at I don't have to take the risk of getting killed or run over on a interstate where people run 70mph.

Not only does this kill fuel savings on any scooter it takes away from it's longevity no matter what kind you ride.

If I get in big enough hurry that I want to move at 70mph plus I ride in a cage or fly in a airplane.

One last thing riding on smooth flat interstate no big deal, bring your scooter out in the heat and hills and push the 70 mph envelope and then tell me it's gonna hang in there. Bring it to where your everday riding is like this and push it 70mph.





I quit mowing on my yard yesterday at 12:15 p.m. and hopped on my 250 and headed up to the country store 5 miles up the road for a cold glass of ice tea and the gas station digital sign read 105F.

It ain't no fun riding in that either! ;D

[Alleyoop]

Yep, if you get a Caddy type Scoot it cost a lot when something goes wrong. Take this as prove just happened to my brother-in law last week:

The Burgman 650 I sold to my brother-in law last week we were riding and it overheated the fan would not come on. So we took it to HONDA SUZUKI dealer were he stores it and they work on it. It was the ECM and they wanted $1,000.00 but that everything else was ok just the feed from it to the Relay went bad but it requires a new ECM. So they instead put a toggle switch on the dash and hooked it to the fan so if he is riding and sees the bars 4 or higher he just flicks the switch and flicks it off when the temp goes down. But they said it will not overheat unless it is really hot outside and or stopped in traffic for some minutes. So we went and picked it up and all the way back it did not overheat.

They also changed the antifreeze total was $259.00.
Alleyoop

[kz1000st]

It isn't just a question of nerve. You have to have the ponies to maneuver in traffic, not just aerodynamics. I don't flinch at riding the interstate for just this reason:

Two years ago I'm rolling along in a 55 mph zone on the local interstate on my 650 Kawasaki. I'm reading 65 mph on the clock. Cars are passing me like I'm standing still. So you say, "Well you're too slow". So get this. A few minutes after the sedan blitzkreig I see a tiny spot in my rear view mirror, a few seconds later the spot is much bigger, a few seconds after that a NY State Trooper blows by me in his Crown Vic doing upwards of 90, no lights, no siren. I guess he was late for the end of his shift and had to get back to HQ.

The moral. You watch your mirrors because on the interstate nobody can move fast enough on any wheels. My 650 would kick any scooter's butt and even I was chum out there.

AND before you say, "See Interstates are dangerous" I saw a clown in a Toyota Camry running away from a hot pursuit at 90+ on my local State road. Yes, he crashed, eventually. So I don't believe there's any such thing as a "Safe" road for a scooter. Or it's more powerful brother, the motorcycle.

[jct842]

On my majesty with efi and a ecm to run it all should I ever have a failure of either I will probably bolt up a chinese carb and ride off. There is one other option that recently hit the market lately and that is add on efi. I wish there was a happy medium between quality and simplicity and afford-ability..

[jaksonbrown]

Sept 8, 2012 12:36:57 GMT -6 kz1000st said:

It isn't just a question of nerve. You have to have the ponies to maneuver in traffic, not just aerodynamics. I don't flinch at riding the interstate for just this reason:

Two years ago I'm rolling along in a 55 mph zone on the local interstate on my 650 Kawasaki. I'm reading 65 mph on the clock. Cars are passing me like I'm standing still. So you say, "Well you're too slow". So get this. A few minutes after the sedan blitzkreig I see a tiny spot in my rear view mirror, a few seconds later the spot is much bigger, a few seconds after that a NY State Trooper blows by me in his Crown Vic doing upwards of 90, no lights, no siren. I guess he was late for the end of his shift and had to get back to HQ.

The moral. You watch your mirrors because on the interstate nobody can move fast enough on any wheels. My 650 would kick any scooter's butt and even I was chum out there.

AND before you say, "See Interstates are dangerous" I saw a clown in a Toyota Camry running away from a hot pursuit at 90+ on my local State road. Yes, he crashed, eventually. So I don't believe there's any such thing as a "Safe" road for a scooter. Or it's more powerful brother, the motorcycle.

70mph on a scooter on any road is just dangerous and IMO the smaller state two lane highways make you somewhat safer just because unlike the idiot in the Camry people do obey the law some and 55 mph gives one a better chance of survival.

If you do have the ponies at 55 you have more left to get out of the way than at 70 mph.

Where I live they seem to keep the big trucks more inline on the speed limit on the smaller highways while on the interstates they run wide open.

I'm not going to play chicken with a semi no matter how fast my scooter will go.

[Bashan]

Thanks Vintner for taking the time to post the insightful review of the Jetmax. You confirmed what I've been thinking about CF Motos, they are indeed beefier. My Fashion and Pegasus are definitely heavier than their other Chinese counterparts and inspection of the frame reveals the thicker tubes. It makes them more stable in wind and traffic and they handle bumps better. Having said that I wonder why they don't spend just a few more bucks and finish off the plastics better. My Fashion has a cheesy glovebox and gas door among other things. The Pegasus quality is there throughout the bike so I know it can be done.

Nobody is safe in any vehicle nowadays, scooter or semi. We just got back from a trip to Ohio and drivers were insane! I was doing the speed limit of 60 through Nashville and most of the other drivers were weaving wildly back and forth at 80 to 90. There were several crashes along the way but that didn't slow anybody up. My Fashion is definitely stable and fast enough for the E-way but I won't get on it because of the death wish idiots out there.

[kz1000st]

Here's what I know. At least two reporters took a Jetmax on the freeway. To me that's the true test of versatility. If it can do that and make runs to the grocery store it's a useful machine. If I have to keep a bike, even a 250 Rebel, around to make the long rides then it's not worth it. I'll use my CF to travel on interstates, go to work and pick up milk. All the while hoping that CF Moto sells a busload of Jetmaxes so I can pick one up later, used and cheap, and do some really serious riding. Seeing what the Aussies, Dave Harrington and vintner are saying, I'm sure it's more than possible.

[jaksonbrown]

Aussies ride on flat ground and straight roads and any machine no matter what it is wears and loses engine endurance, speed and reliability ran at higher speeds than at less agressive slower speeds, not a hard thing to know.

I'm like the other fellow, not going to get out on the interstate with the idiots, besides what's the hurry? When one thinks about it scooters except here were never thought of for 70MPH plus riders. Small wheels, light weight and small engines, yes I know you could put a goldwing engine in one if you wanted to but why?

Lot more fun to go to the store for that milk easing along a pretty two lane highway at about 50 and just looking at creation.

On the interstate you're looking at other idiots just to survive in any machine. If you're looking at anything else you end up being a statistic.

Here's what I know. At least two reporters took a Jetmax on the freeway. To me that's the true test of versatility

If it does it for kkkkkkkk's and normal PM then you can say that. Part of versatlity is endurance and two reports doesn't cover that.

[kz1000st]

Part of versatlity is endurance


Uh-not quite.

ver·sa·tile (vûrs-tl, -tl)
adj.
1. Capable of doing many things competently.
2. Having varied uses or serving many functions: "The most versatile of vegetables is the tomato" (Craig Claiborne).
3. Variable or inconstant; changeable: a versatile temperament.
4. Biology Capable of moving freely in all directions, as the antenna of an insect, the toe of an owl, or the loosely attached anther of a flower.

I don't see anything in the definition about endurance, reliability or strength.

I do see "Capable of moving freely in all directions" which means Freeways, State Roads or where ever. I guess as a motorcyclist who rides a scooter and doesn't put limitations on a machine I just see things differently. From what I've read about the Jetmax and CF Moto in general they're versatile. Oh, and they endure.

[jaksonbrown]

VERSATILITY

Definition:
1.[noun] having a wide variety of skills

Simply put endurance is a skill.

In the English class you took in schhol you learned by adding letters to a word you added meaning lots of times to the word. You didn't say versatile = adj. You said versatility = noun.

So if you say the machine has versatility then it means speed, good gas mpg, reliability, endurance, freeway and small road capable, etc.

But you can't put price in that description for sure! ;D

There is another word you can add to this discussion, OPINION

At this point you have two you're read about and this poster is working on one. It's takes time to know if it's Durable

If it's till running well 5 years from now and doing what it is now then you can add that to VERSATILITY


If it's not then it'll be on what you mentioned earlier since the only way it's affordable to many and that's Craigslist ;D