I think it's safe to say that the "Purchase" stage of my relationship with my new scooter is complete. I figured it might be helpful for others in the future if I gave a detailed accounting of my experience. I'm not claiming that the way I went about it is necessarily the right way or that the decisions I made are the best. I'm simply telling my story here. Do your own research. Buy the bike that's right for you. Hopefully, my experience can help you a bit. Below, I mention different brands, dealers, part providers, etc...
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As of a couple months ago, I didn't know the first thing about scooters. I had never owned a motorcycle, never owned a scooter. I knew I needed to do my research before making any decisions.
STEP 1: What kind of scooter do I want? I used to work with a guy who rode into the shop one day on a Honda Ruckus. I thought it looked kind of cool so I asked him about it. When he told me what he paid for it, I just laughed. In my mind, a scooter is about affordable transportation. A new Ruckus costs more than my truck and mini van combined. When I got online and started looking at alternatives, I was amazed by the online presence of Chinese scooter dealers. I was even more amazed by the prices of these scooters. Money talks, so I immediately narrowed my consideration to Chinese scooters only. Be careful though. You also get what you pay for.(More on that below) Rocketa, Jonway, TaoTao, Ice Bear, and other brands, are all out there to be considered. Ultimately, I decided on TaoTao because I was able to find the most assembly and repair information about that brand online. Also, while almost every Chinese scooter brand offers the same handful of nearly identical bikes, the internet told me that build quality differs between brands. I looked around online and saw that compared to other popular brands, TaoTao had relatively few complaints in that regard. Next decision: What engine size? With a top speed of about 35 MPH, I wouldn't want to drive a 50cc in traffic. In some states, buying a 50cc scooter might be a good idea. What it lacks in speed can be offset by the fact that a 50cc does not need to be registered or insured and you don't need a driver's license to ride one. Every state is a little different regarding that. Here in IL, a 50cc gets treated just like a Goldwing as far as the law is concerned. A 250cc obviously is much faster but scooters with that engine are much more expensive. A 150cc seemed to be my best option. With reported top speeds in the neighborhood of 55MPH, I could keep pace with traffic on any street in town plus could hit the highway if I really really had to. The TaoTao EVO ATM-150A is the scooter I decided on. It's one of the larger 150cc scooters plus I thought it was also the sharpest looking.
STEP 2: Do I have what it takes to be a Chinese scooter owner?I noticed right away that people tend to have very strong feelings about Chinese scooters. Some people will tell you that you'll be lucky to get the thing to the end of your driveway before it breaks. Others swear by them. The only thing everyone agrees on is that you get what you pay for. After reading hundreds of horror stories and success stories about Chinese scooters, I noticed a common trait in every review. The bad reviews were written by people who expected Honda quality at a dollar-store price. These people either didn't want to, or were not handy enough to work on their scooters. The good reviews, on the other hand, every one of them, were written by people who knew what to expect in terms of quality. The good reviews were written by people who expected to do their own maintenance and repair... frequently. I would compare buying a Chinese scooter to buying a new puppy. Sure, it's cute. It's real easy to buy one on impulse. If you're not prepared to pay attention to that puppy every day, feed it, take it to the vet, throw a frisbee now and then, you'd best not buy one.
STEP 3: Where to buy?This is another topic that receives a wide variety of opinions. Generally speaking, you have one initial decision to make: Do I buy from a local brick and mortar dealer, or from an internet dealer? I can't really say much about the brick and mortar route here. The closest dealer to me is about 90 miles away. That's not all that local. I suppose if you have a REPUTABLE local dealer who has been in business for several years, then the additional money you'll pay may be worth the extra service you get. Even if I had a local dealer, I'm not too sure I would have purchased from them. A common theme you'll find among people who have had success with a Chinese scooter is that they've done an extremely thorough inspection and replaced common trouble components before putting a single mile on the scooter. Do you trust that your dealer did that? I'd rather have the peace of mind, not only of knowing it was done, but also of knowing that if something screws up there's no one to blame but myself. Regarding internet dealers: Man, will you ever read some terrible, horrible, despicable reviews. Throughout my entire purchase experience, this was the most troubling decision I had to make. I didn't read much about people having anything other than a nightmare experience when buying from an online dealer. By far, the best price I found on the bike I wanted was at
Killer Motor Sports. If I remember correctly, that was the topic of my first post here on the forum. I asked the scooter experts here about buying from them. After being assured that they were a pretty good online dealer, I decided to pull the trigger with them. Things went very smoothly. I couldn't be happier with my decision to buy from them.
What now?
Well, I've got the crate in my garage. What happens now? You're here at Scooter Doc already. Stay here. Read old posts. Ask questions. All newcomers here seem to be amazed by the warm welcome they receive here and by the amazing knowledge the true scooter pros here are eager to impart... I know I sure was. On YouTube, two users you need to become intimately familiar with are
activity10cc and
90gtvert. Both have thorough uncrating and PDI (Post Delivery Inspection) videos. Specifically, 90gtvert has this
playlist which is INCREDIBLY thorough. Another resource I depend on is the fine folks at
Rolling Wrench. They also have a pretty good collection of YouTube videos. Their biggest asset though is a brand new website they just set up,
Cycle Teacher. A $5/month subscription gets you access to personalized, specific repair help and a 10% discount on parts. I bought their
Chinese Scooter Upgrade Kit which contains everything most people recommend to replace during your PDI. As you might notice, the money I saved from the discount on that paid for a month's membership. My first experience with Cycle Teacher was a great one. I emailed because I had a question on the replacement vacuum lines. A day later, they made a video for Cycle Teacher, responding directly to my question. They had a scooter very similar to mine and did the entire upgrade, step by step. I'll pay $5/ a month for that.
After doing all I detailed above, I now have an affordable, good looking, well-running scooter parked in my garage. If the ownership experience going forward is half as good as my initial purchase and set-up experience, I'll be having a blast on my scooter for years to come. Worst case scenario, the thing blows up on me this afternoon. I'm only into it for just under $900, not counting riding gear or the storage trunk I added. The amount of knowledge and experience I've gained just researching the purchase and set-up of this scooter has already been well worth $900. I'm a winner either way!
