Cheap Chinese Scooters?

[Stig / Major Tom]

I always walked over and checked the odo's on scooters when visiting Florida these past 10 years....and talked to the owners if they were around.
Most of them were Chinese scooters....and most had a lot of miles on them. Plastics were wicked faded from the sun - but they were getting plenty of use as daily transportation. There was one nearby shop who sold and serviced these scoots.
Always envied these folks - to live where all you need is one of these things and a poncho so your work clothes stay dry - 365 days!

Stig

[Kansas kymco]

Stig I haven't watched the video IAHAWK sent me yet. That's why I started this thread to find out if the high rate of failure was due  to owner neglect or parts breaking. We all know the plastic on cheap scooters is garbage.

[randyo]

my GF has a cheap, we don't know who the manufacturer is, Chinese scooter, 49cc, it ran good, till it didn't,  she thinks it just needs a carb..... I think it needs a motor,  she had the thing pegged all the time,  I clocked her almost 60mph, down a local hill (I rode it once down that hill @ 35 and felt sketchy)

I would prefer she take it to the scrapyard, and get a name brand scooter that has a dealer/parts network, a little bit bigger, as big as a 250

[gctkaz]

My first scooter ever was a Lifan LF50QT-9. I installed a 72cc kit on it, and it ran fine. The belt wore fairly quickly and I replaced it with a better belt. I only had it for a few months before I upgraded it to a Bet&Win 250, but I sure wouldn't mind having a cheap beater in my garage again. It was my first experience to do my own mechanical work; I learned a lot and continue to learn and do what I can myself owing to that experience.

I actually argue that parts availability for Chinese scooters is superior, because I can order pretty much anything and everything I need online, for a relatively low cost.

I would not disrespect their reliability either. I have seen these things at work in the motherland, and what the people put these machines through on a daily basis as a matter of necessity will blow your mind.

[Kansas kymco]

My first scooter ever was a Lifan LF50QT-9. I installed a 72cc kit on it, and it ran fine. The belt wore fairly quickly and I replaced it with a better belt. I only had it for a few months before I upgraded it to a Bet&Win 250, but I sure wouldn't mind having a cheap beater in my garage again. It was my first experience to do my own mechanical work; I learned a lot and continue to learn and do what I can myself owing to that experience.

I actually argue that parts availability for Chinese scooters is superior, because I can order pretty much anything and everything I need online, for a relatively low cost.

I would not disrespect their reliability either. I have seen these things at work in the motherland, and what the people put these machines through on a daily basis as a matter of necessity will blow your mind.

Thanks for your input. Just curious what area do you live you don't have to be specific if you don't want to.  Like I said earlier just trying to figure out the early demise of so many of these scooters with low miles.

GTCKAZ if you look on craigslist you can find these things with very few miles for next to nothing if you want a project.  The sad part is a lot don't have titles which makes them useless in a state that requires them.

[gctkaz]

Canada west coast here. We really don't have a lot of road-legal choices due to what I presume are an abundance of hoops to jump and expenses for getting approval from Transport Canada. I see tons of Chinese vehicles, mostly mini-bikes, being sold in the US that I would love to be able to have here.

The Lifan was CAD$1000 brand-new when I bought it 11 years ago. I am always looking on Craigslist, and it's fairly rare to find anything with papers for under $1000 these days. Besides, I am married now so the Mrs doesn't like things that divert time and money away from her 

[Kansas kymco]

Canada west coast here. We really don't have a lot of road-legal choices due to what I presume are an abundance of hoops to jump and expenses for getting approval from Transport Canada. I see tons of Chinese vehicles, mostly mini-bikes, being sold in the US that I would love to be able to have here.

The Lifan was CAD$1000 brand-new when I bought it 11 years ago. I am always looking on Craigslist, and it's fairly rare to find anything with papers for under $1000 these days. Besides, I am married now so the Mrs doesn't like things that divert time and money away from her 

You see brand new cheep scooters for around 1k around here. In fact there's a dealer in Ceder Falls Iowa that even advertising left over 2020 Kymco Agility 50's for $1295.  don't know what fee's  are added on. Seen left over new cheap Chinese 50's  scooters for $599.as well.  I run across 1 and 2 year old scooters (usually not running) for $100-$200 range in Craigslist.  Since the price is so low there is no money in used Chinese scooters, probably spend more on fuel to go get them then the cost of the scooter. LOL

[JJJoseph]

I've had several Chinese scooters, and enjoyed living with them.  They may not be "leading edge" tech, and most are kind of ugly, but they're like garden tractors for reliability.  Their main advantage is that parts are really cheap and always available.  You can get any part for any GY6 scooter, no matter what the brand or how old it is.  My present scoot is a Kymco 100cc which is really rare and has a Taiwan engine, not Chinese.  To be honest, it's a nice machine but the scary part of owning it is there's no parts availability.  If I run into trouble, I'll likely ditch the Kymco engine and replace it with a Chinese motor from Amazon since Kymcos share the same installation hard-points as standard Chinese scooters, and all the peripherals are interchangeable. 

[Viper254]

The lack of parts availability and no resell value precludes any desire to tackle such a project. Just no R.O.I.

It might be a good project for a young person with limited funds for cheap transportation.

I think this might the difference between the US and the UK - a lot of Chinese stuff is really well catered for spare parts over here.

They are usually fitted with diaphragm carbs and vacuum fuel systems so are prone to gumming up when parked up for too long.

[JJJoseph]

They are usually fitted with diaphragm carbs and vacuum fuel systems so are prone to gumming up when parked up for too long.

The standard Chinese Keihin-type diaphram carb is surprisingly durable and easy to maintain.  No gaskets to replace. All that's really needed in the way of preventative maintenance is a $3 inline fuel filter, and they can sit for months and still fire on the first kick.  All Chinese scoots have one-piece poly fuel tanks (no fuel pump!) which last forever - light years ahead of older Yamahas with those dreaded steel gas tanks that rust out!

[Iahawk]

reading this thread over, again, got me thinking about that cheap Tao Tao youtube vid.  As of the latest video the scooter has 2400KM on it and has needed $122 in parts and if you had to pay a motorcycle mechanic to do all the work would cost an additonal $883 in labor for a total of $1006 US dollars!

It is a disaster...during assembly steering head bearings were loose, valve lash was way off, it has had welds break on the exhaust (muffler fell off), factory belt shredded, front brake line rubbed and got a hole in it, steering head bearings have had to be re tightened, a bulb wasn't connected properly, it runs way lean, carb bowl is not even designed to be removed (has security screws on it)..

So the service cost would have exceeded the purchase price in the first 2400KM! I think we see why there are so many non running Chinese scoots for a few hundred on Craigslist. I'm guessing most owners of a sub $1000 mail order scoot don't have much in the way of mechanical skills. Even if they do it is a terrible investment.

Not saying all cheap Chinese scoots are bad...but this particular example of a Tao Tao sure is.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Recall my post on the Vespa clone. $1200 all-in delivered to his driveway. 150CC's, and running reliably for a few years now. He loved it.

Stig

[Kansas kymco]

Recall my post on the Vespa clone. $1200 all-in delivered to his driveway. 150CC's, and running reliably for a few years now. He loved it.

Stig

Which Chinese mfg  makes it?

[olds_cool63]

reading this thread over, again, got me thinking about that cheap Tao Tao youtube vid.  As of the latest video the scooter has 2400KM on it and has needed $122 in parts and if you had to pay a motorcycle mechanic to do all the work would cost an additonal $883 in labor for a total of $1006 US dollars!

It is a disaster...during assembly steering head bearings were loose, valve lash was way off, it has had welds break on the exhaust (muffler fell off), factory belt shredded, front brake line rubbed and got a hole in it, steering head bearings have had to be re tightened, a bulb wasn't connected properly, it runs way lean, carb bowl is not even designed to be removed (has security screws on it)..

So the service cost would have exceeded the purchase price in the first 2400KM! I think we see why there are so many non running Chinese scoots for a few hundred on Craigslist. I'm guessing most owners of a sub $1000 mail order scoot don't have much in the way of mechanical skills. Even if they do it is a terrible investment.

Not saying all cheap Chinese scoots are bad...but this particular example of a Tao Tao sure is.

Is that the Scooter 911 guy...11 part series? I just finished watching yesterday. REALLY good info!

[Iahawk]

Is that the Scooter 911 guy...11 part series? I just finished watching yesterday. REALLY good info!

yes, that's him! He has some great content. Is that silly theme song "living with a tao tao' stuck in your head, too?