Broken Key

[tsumineko]

Hi everyone,

I have had a problem with one of my Kymco Super 8 keys breaking, and I am wondering if anyone else has had a problem like this.

A few weeks ago I was filling up at the petrol station, and I locked the steering and tried to withdraw the key. I had a tough time getting it out, but once I had I found that it was slightly bent. Not sure if this happened in my pocket or in the ignition.

Today, as I was filling up once more, I put my key in the seat lock, and started taking off my helmet and gloves. Accidentally knocked the key, wasn't terribly hard, but the key snapped and half of it dropped to the ground.

I tried comparing the metal to other keys I had and the bike key felt a lot weaker in metal than my other keys...

Has anyone else had any problems with their keys breaking?

[zombie]

Couldn't say if mine is weak or not. I lost it right after I bought my scoot. You can go to a good hardware store and get a blank cut that will most likely be of better quality. Think about manuf. 100'000 scoots a year. If you can save a 1/2 cent per key it adds up! thats how they sell the scoots so cheap. Volume savings on all the non essential parts.

[wordslinger]

..i lost one of my keys the second day i had my scoot...my other one is doing ok, but you gotta be careful with the gas cap when using it ....keep the cap clean and it works much better...

[axy]

Couldn't say if mine is weak or not. I lost it right after I bought my scoot. You can go to a good hardware store and get a blank cut that will most likely be of better quality. Think about manuf. 100'000 scoots a year. If you can save a 1/2 cent per key it adds up! thats how they sell the scoots so cheap. Volume savings on all the non essential parts.

I would not say the scoots are cheap. I would say that non-Chinese brands (Italian, Taiwanese, French...) are extremely expensive.

250 cc scoot like People 250S has suggested price of approximately 50 % of a very small car, like Chevrolet Spark.
500 cc scoot like X500 has suggested price of the same car.

http://www.chevrolet-hr.com/novi-spark/novi-spark-index.html

Bigger premium scoots (>500 cc) have the price of entry level compact class of cars.

On the other hand, I would say that a small car has much more parts and development cost than an average scoot, where everything except the Tupperware has not changed in decades.

I would say the relative profits of scooter manufacturers outside are very sweet, compared to those in the car industry.
The problem is that unit price is low and the number of sold units is lower so absolute profit is also lower.