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General Discussion / Re: Cheap Chinese Scooters?
« on: January 08, 2021, 10:25:47 AM »
Looks to me like stuff original manufacturered by Znen (Zhongneng) and potentially Jiajue.
We don't get these in the UK anymore; they were finished off by Euro 4 emissions standards.
So I rode cheap Chinese scooters for most of my 20s that I bought off eBay with short MOTs in rough conditions. On the whole, I did fantastically well with them.
GY6 motors are fairly bombproof. Change the oil, set the tappets (they're almost always too tight from factory) and it's a very easy unit to work on, and cheap to replace bits if anything goes wrong.
Plastics are usually less hardy than Japanese equivalents, but if you don't fall off they are fine, and they are, again, cheap to replace.
Chinese scooters get a bad rep generally because people pay little for them, treat them badly, then are surprised when they fail.
If you buy one, look after it and keep on top of any problems, they're probably the cheapest motoring money can buy. Yeah, they aren't as good as a Japanese equivalent, we all know that. But are they half as good, when they are half the price? I don't believe the differential is the same.
My Chinese motors;
~ Baotian BT49QT-9 (Pulse Scout) - had three of these at various points. All under £100, all ran lovely, one of them I couriered with for a winter. Minimal problems, very cheap spares.
~ Lexmoto Gladiator (Sanben SB125T-23) - Bought for £180, put 10,000 miles on it in a year before the cam chain snapped on the dual carraigeway. Could have fixed it for £40, but lacked the knowhow at that point.
~ Zhongyu ZY125-2 - Looked like a Suzuki GS125, but with a CG125 clone engine. it was basic, but it soldiered on for a couple of years and got me through a very financially difficult point in my life. High miles, rattled like a paint can full of spanners, but never broke down.
~ Yiben YB49QT-11 - Little retro scooter. Again, bought for £100 and it was like a sewing machine. Shouldn't have sold it.
There's probably a handful more, but my memory is getting more ropy. Basically, look after them and they'll look after you.
Both the worst bikes I've ever owned have been 90's Yamahas.
We don't get these in the UK anymore; they were finished off by Euro 4 emissions standards.
So I rode cheap Chinese scooters for most of my 20s that I bought off eBay with short MOTs in rough conditions. On the whole, I did fantastically well with them.
GY6 motors are fairly bombproof. Change the oil, set the tappets (they're almost always too tight from factory) and it's a very easy unit to work on, and cheap to replace bits if anything goes wrong.
Plastics are usually less hardy than Japanese equivalents, but if you don't fall off they are fine, and they are, again, cheap to replace.
Chinese scooters get a bad rep generally because people pay little for them, treat them badly, then are surprised when they fail.
If you buy one, look after it and keep on top of any problems, they're probably the cheapest motoring money can buy. Yeah, they aren't as good as a Japanese equivalent, we all know that. But are they half as good, when they are half the price? I don't believe the differential is the same.
My Chinese motors;
~ Baotian BT49QT-9 (Pulse Scout) - had three of these at various points. All under £100, all ran lovely, one of them I couriered with for a winter. Minimal problems, very cheap spares.
~ Lexmoto Gladiator (Sanben SB125T-23) - Bought for £180, put 10,000 miles on it in a year before the cam chain snapped on the dual carraigeway. Could have fixed it for £40, but lacked the knowhow at that point.
~ Zhongyu ZY125-2 - Looked like a Suzuki GS125, but with a CG125 clone engine. it was basic, but it soldiered on for a couple of years and got me through a very financially difficult point in my life. High miles, rattled like a paint can full of spanners, but never broke down.
~ Yiben YB49QT-11 - Little retro scooter. Again, bought for £100 and it was like a sewing machine. Shouldn't have sold it.
There's probably a handful more, but my memory is getting more ropy. Basically, look after them and they'll look after you.
Both the worst bikes I've ever owned have been 90's Yamahas.
