Regarding build quality issues for the KYMCO LIKE:
Thinking back over the posts for the LIKE these past several months I can recall one case of a failed oil seal, a rear shock that came unthreaded from its mount, a failed seat lock....and some broken keys, a couple failed foot peg springs, some screws gone missing from vibration, and a Throttle Body that acted up and was replaced under warranty to the owner who liked to run it WOT for miles every day
*.
The oil seal, failed shock mounting and murdered Throttle Body (
) are significant warranty issues, granted. And some owner frustration stems from a dealer being located too far away when a warranty issue (big or small) pops up. It is hard to fault Kymco for the distance we live from our dealers.
Some folks here have postulated (pontificated even) that we all own cheap Asian scooters and that we should not expect too much from them. I disagree - they are not cheaply made nor poorly engineered scooters and we
do expect a lot of them - and for the most part we get pretty much
what we have paid for. Sure, a problem is a pain - but so many of these complaints remind me of my old boss: Her husband bought her a new gold Buick Park Avenue. She came through her office door complaining that the car was "a piece of crap!". I investigated her new car and found that she had twisted the seat belt so much that it would not retract. So....
Interestingly, I have not heard a complaint that we paid too much for our Kymco vehicles.
(
*Running a scoot at WOT is the equivalent of running the family Chevy at 112 MPH - or what ever it maxes out at. Now, I am not the only scooter owner who feels this way - I can point you to a veteran owner and reviewer, of many scooters over many years, who has stated the same thing. I think it is impressive that so few scooters have heart failure when subjected to this treatment.)
I have about 7000 miles on my LIKE 200i - and my one quality complaint had to do with the stock tires and their poor wet weather grip. But then I've had a few new cars that were fitted with lousy Goodyear tires from the factory. Goodyear makes a lot of great tires - but these were pulled from the bargain bin to get something black and round on the car.
A LIKE is also very, very easy to service when compared to many other scooters. (Drop the engine on a Vespa to do the valves; remove nearly every panel on a Honda PCX for the same...)
Some of my appreciation for my scoot comes from taking it apart to see how things work...and how they were put together.
OK, what was the question again?
Stig
