..Are you a ride warrior?...

[winginman]

Bought mine because:
1. Seemed to be the most scooter for the money.
2. My favorite dealer whom I trust became a Kymco dealer. (Station Park Honda in Louisville)
3. I liked the looks of the X500
4. By reputation Kymco seemed to be good quality and long lasting

I have not been disappointed.

[zombie]

Tony M... You have one hell of  a scoot! For the money, it cant' be beat. I found just looking at the Kymco there are NO cheap parts. Meaning they use all the good stuff. Nothing over the top mind you but all quality materials, and NO POT METAL. I will buy another... when I need to.

[axy]

Tony M... You have one hell of  a scoot! For the money, it cant' be beat. I found just looking at the Kymco there are NO cheap parts. Meaning they use all the good stuff. Nothing over the top mind you but all quality materials, and NO POT METAL. I will buy another... when I need to.

I would disagree. The plastic bits are quite cracky and thin and difficult to remove without damaging them, non-painted black plastic surfaces tend to be destroyed and "bleached" by sunlight after just one year (many other scoots' plastic parts are not affected by UV rays). Kymco's screws usually go directly into plastic, while other manufacturers use metal bits and nuts. Heat insulation pads around engine and under the seat are barely glued with few spots of glue. Exhaust pipes are made of plain iron/steel and tend to rust immediately while most Chinese little scoots have stainless steel pipe cans. I could go on and on. After one year I already have rusty discs, and I am not talking about rust that shows on friction parts after rain etc, also, a lot of bolts and nuts on the scoot are rusty.

However, most important parts are made of relatively good quality, even though there are exceptions to that rule (remember I had leaky engine casing that had to be replaced at 7000 kms, when also the speedo cable snapped etc. etc.)

I think that "great quality of build" is a myth perpetrated by people that did not have many scoots, do not drive scoot 365 days/year, keep scoots in the garage and not outside etc. However, it certainly helps Kymco to sell.

[zombie]

You are correct on all those points Axy, Great quality is not a term I would use, but for the money you are getting a scoot that will outlast any of the China crate scoots. It seems to me the scoot you are referring to w/ all the oxidation problems is something of an anomaly, meaning it was most likely made w/ lesser quality parts than most of the other kymcos. I saw the earlier posts referring to the same issues, and I think that model/year were built at an inferior plant. Mine is 9 years old, and was outside all it's life untill I got it 2+ years ago. There was/is no rust, or oxidized metal anywhere on it. I did have to paint it as the Florida sun did a number on the factory plastic, but all in all I will buy another Kymco before spending twice the money, and twice the replacement parts cost on any other brand. For ME this is just a cheap/fun way to get around a tiny little town. Even w/ all the modifications I have done I haven't spent more than  200.00 on maintenance in the past 30,000 km. If I bought a vespa I would expect to hand it down to my grandkids, and if anything broke I would be at the factory every day till they made it right, but I love my little BIC LIGHTER of a scoot.

[wordslinger]

There was/is no rust, or oxidized metal anywhere on it

..i remember axy's post also...and i've seen none of those issues on my a50...

[zombie]

I think it was just the plant his was made at. Some are better than others.

[axy]

There is no rust on Agility either, except standard exhaust can and completely rusty rear shock spring.
People - a different story. You do not notice it at first glance but when you start looking, all tiny metal bits are rusty (nuts, bolts...).

[wordslinger]

..the 01 people i bought does has some rust around the lower parts of the shock mount...but that's about it...

..cpl of the cvt cover fasteners have oxidized some too...