Clinician
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Post by tdi on Sept 15, 2014 3:07:57 GMT -6
Thanks to all of you for your feedback. kz1000st. I trust your judgment and i know that for American Roads a 250 cc water cooled scooter would be much better but i truly want to do it on a small displacement scooter ( the exception would be a big Ruckus but they cost too much) @jr. Thanks for the link for killermotoersports, they are placed in Dallas that's a great help. The Tao Tao BWS looks rugged and should be ok right? On the site they don't mention what the warranty covers. cookees you are also right for such high mileage in only 2 months a kymko or Sym would be better options, just like the Honda would. I am not saying i will buy chinese and not a major brand but i drive daily a chinese scooter and it works fine. The difference is that i drive less than 100 miles a day and in this trip i would drive more than that everyday. Edit: In fact although the Kymko Agility 125 wasn't my first choice it may be a solid option. It uses the GY6 engine i am familiar with and i have all the parts that i need in my garage: Belts, Rollers, Variator, CDI, Clutch... So i will really save a lot of money on spare parts |
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Clinician
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Post by tdi on Sept 14, 2014 4:54:30 GMT -6
American road trip summer 2015 A little introduction first: In the last year and a half I drove more than 25.000 kms in 2 Chinese scooters. I have been using them daily. The united states is always a fascinating destination for everybody because of movies, literature, tv and music. So what better way to visit it than at slow pace in about 2 months by scooter? I plan to start in Dallas because I have a friend’s brother that can help me there with the paperwork to register and insure the scooter and its easy to get flights from Europe to there. I am by no means a mechanic but I learned the basics to change oil, adjust brake pads, clean and change spark plug, repair tire punctures…. I am used to travel light and don’t mind to camp or use roadside motels all along My main doubt so far is to choose the scooter. I would like to buy a Chinese gy6 125cc because they are cheap, I know them a bit and I have with me variator, rollers, spark plugs, gaskets, belts….. But I know there are good Chinese products and cheap Chinese products, I would be afraid of buying a lemon and remain stranded on the desert. I am a great fan of the Honda Ruckus but its just 50 cc, I know that it had been done before but I would like to have a bit more juice. One used big ruckus would be great but they are too expensive for me. The Honda PCX it seems a good sensible choice, specially because I can by a low mileage one for about 2.500 usd I would like to do it on this dallas.craigslist.org/dal/mcd/4630713239.html, do you think it can take around 10.000 miles without major problems? |
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Clinician
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Post by tdi on Sept 14, 2014 4:35:47 GMT -6
 The front rack is a good help. In this picture i manage to carry 2 12v 80 amps batteries plus a box full of acid containers and some small parts. So far the scooter has 7.500 kms, zero breakdowns. I had to change the rear tire just bellow 6.000 kms, that's too soon in my opinion  And as you can see i used it untill the last thread |
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Clinician
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Post by tdi on Jun 13, 2014 10:43:49 GMT -6
 First thing let me say my language is not English, so sorry for the errors. My first contact with Chinese made scooters was around 2005: 50 cc 4 stroke Jianling’s and they couldn’t be worst. Terrible quality not a single scooter in 10 survived the 2.000 kms: cvt belts would get trashed in less than 500 kms, engines that blew with. I think each one costed around 250/300 usd at the factory plus transportation and taxes to local market. They belonged to a company that I used to work and I said “I will never ride a Chinese scooter again” A couple of years ago I stumbled upon this: www.scooteristscene.com/news/scooterist-road-test-neco-abruzzi-tested. I said to myself “I got to have it” I knew it was made in China but I found difficult to catch the real factory who built this. By fortune a few months later I discovered they were built by Geely Zhongsheng motor company (yes they belong to geely). I ordered a container with 10 of this retro model plus 22 more modern/cheaper model www.geelybike.com/product_view125cc.asp?id=953 . I bought a second container after with more 24 units. So far I sold a total of 40 units. My local market is a island in the middle of atlantic with lots of corrosion, low quality petrol and some roads are really bad. Can you guess how many scooters are still on the road? Answer: all of them! What problems have occurred so far? A few punctured tires, a cvt belt that got trashed with 13.000 kms on it (manual mentions to change each 10.000 kms), and a single variator. Yesterday I did the conversion of a 50cc gy6 to 100cc on a scooter with 19.000 kms (the owner wanted more power) by curiosity I checked the piston rings and the inside of the block and they were flawless. Of course some units (maybe half) come with stupid problems. All scooters are tested on factory for lights, horn, running in. Some arrived with disconnected lights, starter and hosing for the carburetor. Meaning that really was nothing broken just laziness or lack of care for some worker. The only problem as a over inflected tire that upon arrival had a side “mole” and had to be changed (they gave me one for free on the next order) I should also mention that the tires are kenda, the spark plugs ngk, the belts gates…. So even if they use lower shelf products are made by some well known brands Opposite to the Jianling scooters that costed 250/300 usd this are more expensive: For the classic vespa clone I pay 900/1000 usd and for the simplier modern model 500/525 usd. What can I say? Not all Chinese scooters are the same and you truly cannot expect to pay peanuts and get a masterpiece but its possible to get a honest product for a low price. All the prices I quoted on my text are factory prices in China. |
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