15,000 miles on the Automoto! By automotoguy (Read 1,202 times)

[automotoguy]

Can't believe how the miles stack up on these bikes. My two wheeler 150 has 28,000 now, and the Automoto has racked up 15,000 in a year of ownership.

I still laugh at anyone who calls Chinese scooter junk or throwaway bikes. Mine have been pretty good to me for sure.

[Alleyoop]

Yes your right, just some initial checking and fixing and they will run with the best of them the cost doesn't bankrupt you. Just go and see how much a part for a HONDA or YAMAHA or any brand bike or scoot is. Unbelieveable, also take it in for service you may have to sell your house(HAHA).
Alleyoopi

[automotoguy]

Got that right lol

[drifter]

THANKS FOR THIS POST

I got 14. 300 it can be done.

tho i no longer recommend china bikes, many work well, please discuss in detail your riding habits.

and please comment on the old saying--

Fast starts and stops mean a fast stop to the bike.

[royldoc]

Lot's of miles can be logged on a Chinese scooter, with proper care, regular preventive maintenance, and good riding habits. And they are a lot cheaper. It looks like his best riding habit is to ride a lot.

Roy

[drifter]

Jan 11, 2013 13:21:17 GMT -6 Alleyoop said:

Yes your right, just some initial checking and fixing and they will run with the best of them the cost doesn't bankrupt you. Just go and see how much a part for a HONDA or YAMAHA or any brand bike or scoot is. Unbelieveable, also take it in for service you may have to sell your house(HAHA).
Alleyoopi

yes but you never replace those parts as often.
I went through 4 scrappy dawg break switches in one summer.

IS THIS ANOTHER CHINA HATE SPEACH

NOT AT ALL

I found another switch company, and i can not get it to break with a hammer hit.

problem is the market mentality.

The main stream theme is what is ever available.

This market needs a consumer union.

which will never happen till the market stops confounding any one who is organized.

[rapidjim]

Jan 12, 2013 2:55:56 GMT -6 drifter said:

Jan 11, 2013 13:21:17 GMT -6 Alleyoop said:

Yes your right, just some initial checking and fixing and they will run with the best of them the cost doesn't bankrupt you. Just go and see how much a part for a HONDA or YAMAHA or any brand bike or scoot is. Unbelieveable, also take it in for service you may have to sell your house(HAHA).
Alleyoopi

yes but you never replace those parts as often.
I went through 4 scrappy dawg break switches in one summer.

IS THIS ANOTHER CHINA HATE SPEACH

NOT AT ALL

I found another switch company, and i can not get it to break with a hammer hit.

problem is the market mentality.

The main stream theme is what is ever available.

This market needs a consumer union.

which will never happen till the market stops confounding any one who is organized.

In our shop we work on anything that comes in the door. We started as a repair shop long before we got into sales, so I can say from experience that Alley is right on the money. Parts for Yamaha and Honda scooters are more expensive than parts for Chinese scooters. The initial cost is way higher also. Now there are those that will spout Japanese Quality vrs Chinese and I would agree to that 3 or 4 years ago. Today the quality of the Chinese machines is leaps and bounds higher than it was. Of course it also depends on the "brand" or "tier" of Chinese scooter/part. Just like everything else in the world you have your good, better and best. I have many customers with many miles on their machines with no or little issues. The most common problem is carbs and most of those problems are from ethanol gas or not prepping the machine properly for winter storage. Experience has taught me the more you ride your machine the better it acts and the less problem you have. Initial prep and good maintenance is the key.

Drifter: 4 bad parts from 1 supplier does not make for changing parts as often. That is like saying I bought 4 Sony radios from company x that were bad so all of them are bad.

Please clarify your statement "The main stream theme is what is ever available." with facts. I have been in the business for a very long time and can tell you in my experience your statement, as a rule, is totally off base. I will agree there are some I wouldn't buy a light bulb from, but that is not the entire market. Same is true of distributors. Research is the key and knowing how to interpret what you find.

One thing that is sad is there are too many "dealers" out there that only care about getting your money for the initial sale and forget all about service, warranty issues and general customer support. Not all dealers are created equal. In my opinion, when the distributors start to crack down on their dealers I think we will see less complaints. There are a couple distributors that are doing that right now.

For the initial price of a Chinese Machine and the cost of proper maintenance it is hard to beat. Take care of it and will will take care of you for many miles.

Automotoguy: congrats on your mileage!

Jim/Owner
Rapid Repair

[kz1000st]

So Drifter. Is yours running or not?

[automotoguy]

Wow drifter, I buy most of my parts from scrappydogscooters and have never had a problem with bad parts. I order my CVT belts from scooterbelt.com

I ride both of my 150's in commuter traffic and average speeds between 40 to 50mph. I have always run Castrol Syntec 10w-40 in them.

[automotoguy]

Jan 12, 2013 1:07:23 GMT -6 royldoc said:

Lot's of miles can be logged on a Chinese scooter, with proper care, regular preventive maintenance, and good riding habits. And they are a lot cheaper. It looks like his best riding habit is to ride a lot.

Roy

The shop i use for things that I can't / don't feel comfortable doing tells me that. Using it everyday is the key - vehicles aren't made to sit for a week or more at a time then be expected to perform. This results in leaks, clogged carbs and the list goes on and on. He did tell me that when I get over 30,000 that this engine will likely have to be rebuild, but then again thats not really that expensive either.

I didn't realize that air cooled engines don't last as long as liquid cooled ones till he was explaining the difference.

[automotoguy]

Jan 12, 2013 0:22:56 GMT -6 drifter said:

THANKS FOR THIS POST

I got 14. 300 it can be done.

tho i no longer recommend china bikes, many work well, please discuss in detail your riding habits.

and please comment on the old saying--

Fast starts and stops mean a fast stop to the bike.

I don't know what sort of riding habit details your looking for, I ride it almost everyday and my commute is 84 miles a day round trip so thats where the miles come from. This is the slowest trike around so fast starts just don't apply LOL.... I cruise at speeds between 45 and 55 depending on what traffic is doing or usually cruising at Metro Atlanta's traffic rate of 10mph or less

I have two Chinese gy6 150's and both have been very good to me so I don't see where all the negativity comes from. I get that the Honda is a nicer bike Im sure but everything mechanical suffers fatigue and will have problems, thats just life. A good example is my friend whom I ride with some on weekends bought a Honda PCX which is a sweet scooter, but almost 5000 for a 125cc I just couldn't spend anyhow at 19,000 miles he's stranded on one of our rides due to front wheel bearing failure and he acts shocked that it happened. Things happen to everything, even those most expensive bikes will break. Thank got for Progressive Roadside assistance so that Flo will come rescue me (I hope anyway)

[kz1000st]

The difference between the life expectancy of air cooled versus water is almost moot. Numerous bikes with exceedingly long lives are air cooled. BMW has only recently switched to water but before this they were renowned for lives beyond 500,000. Even the Japanese have had many bikes with air cooled engines exceed 100,000 and ran like new. Yes, forced air motors like a GY6 are a different matter but I think that if they're ridden intelligently they can reach 100,000 miles. 150 Vespas do it all the time.

[rapidjim]

Yep What KZ said!

Jim