If you are any good at working on real bikes these scooters are a breeze.
The biggest hurdles to overcome are the plastics, cheap wiring harnesses, and rather thin walled aluminum'
The plastics are such a pain to deal with every time you have to fix something that I wind up leaving 1/2 the mounting hardware out of the re-assembly. It will only matter if you hit a wall or something but they are done anyway at that point.
The wiring harnesses use simple open ended molex casings, and cheap tin plated blade connectors. Some of the critical connections are done with bullet connectors, and vinyl sleeves.
You will constantly be chasing gremlins if the bike lives outside or if you (like me) ride rain or shine.
Lastly are the engine components... re-cycled aluminum, and thin castings. If you are not careful you will strip every thread on the bike. I left a case 1/2 on my bench, and knocked it off onto a gravel floor. The whole corner of the case broke off.
Understand I am NOT slamming these scoots but I am saying they are NOT quality items like a real motorcycle is. They are built cheaply, and that is reflected in the top issues I mentioned.
In my minds eye the only difference between Kymco, and all the generic crap bikes is Kymco's lack of chrome parts. The cheapo bikes have a lot of chrome bling-y stuff that rusts out in a few months making them look like sh** in short order. Kymco doesn't use as much chrome so their bikes look a bit better a bit longer.
The one Kymco I do own is fine for what it is but it's no Honda or Piagio by any means.
I have a Honda NC 50 for the early 70's with a gagillion miles on it, and it doesn't have one missing or broken part. I bought my 2005 Kymco w/ a gagillion broken parts, and it was not running.
Ps. the fella that delivered the NC50 opened the tailgate, pulled it out by the rear wheel, and just let it fall.
He stood it up, and it started on the second try.
Not trying to tell you they suck but they are not well built machines. Just scooters meant to be cheap.
