China Scooters?

[GLV55]

That's not far from right, but actually, the company now known as Alliance Motorsports contracted with SYM to produce one scooter a few years ago, badged as the Lance Cali Classic 125. It was essentially a SYM Fiddle 125 with a different skin, and a few other changes (like the naked handlebars). After Lance severed ties with mainland Chinese manufacturers, this was the only bike they offered in the U.S. (while still a mainland Chinese product, but with SYM quality controls). Not sure what, if any changes to to Lance line-up include.
.

Lance now puts out a more retro looking "sister" to the Cali, called the Havana Classic - my wife just bought one and loves it. Same as the Cali, it is basically a Fiddle II with different body design. Great little scooter.

[Vivo]

Lance now puts out a more retro looking "sister" to the Cali, called the Havana Classic - my wife just bought one and loves it. Same as the Cali, it is basically a Fiddle II with different body design. Great little scooter.

I like the "tail" of the Cali... similar to the Honda Joker....

[ShuttleBug]

Vivo, are Taotao, puma, TGBs sold in the PIs?  Kawasaki sells a pretty cool scooter there.

[Vivo]

Vivo, are Taotao, puma, TGBs sold in the PIs?  Kawasaki sells a pretty cool scooter there.

Nope, we have Lifan, Jonway, Sinski, and lot others.. There are also local private brands like Motorstar, Rusi, etc.  If you really are considering a Chinese scoot, it's better to own one and judge.  Different strokes for different folks... some may like it, some may not... 

[MassScoot]

Lance and Tomos.  Znen and Linhai may also be worth consideration.

I agree with Tortoise: Lance scooters are made by SYM & they are very solid. I really like their new PCH125 as well.

http://lancepowersports.com/models/pch125.html

Znen made scooters can be some of the best made by a total Chinese group. The best Znen I think are the ones they make for Bintelli. I love the Havoc 150 here:

http://www.bintelli.com/150cc/havoc-150cc

They can last way more them another poster mentioned then 3-4 years. If taken care of they can last just as long as a Kymco. CF Moto has pulled away from the US Shores (for scooters), so I wouldn't touch them. The problem is there are still a lot of shoddy Chinese manufacturers out there. Stick with Znen & you'll have a fighting chance.

[RUGreasy2]

I can agree with all I've read here. I have probably bought a half dozen China scoots, one from a dealer, that they never could get started. Every time it was the same problem, restricted carb jets.
The good thing about the China GY6 Honda clones is that Honda parts will fit. They are perfect copies. I rejetted them all with genuine Honda jets, one or two sizes larger and they all started and ran great. As stated above, the China materials are inferior to what the Japanese and Taiwanese use. There is not a Mainland China scooter made that comes very close to the others mentioned, but some are much better than others and their names are mentioned above.
If you are on a tight budget, and who isn't now-a-days, one of the Chinese bikes listed above might meet your needs. It helps greatly if you are mechanically inclined and do the routine maintenance
faithfully. Read everything you can about these bikes and treat them as if they were fragile, because they are.

[Stig / Major Tom]

Stick with Znen & you'll have a fighting chance.
[/quote]

I must agree...
Met a fellow in Florida a few weeks ago. He rode up on an abviously Chinese scooter. He got his fishing gear off and sat to fish while I looked over his scooter. It was a Znen...I also noticed that it had over 10,000 miles on it! (not KM)
I spoke with him about it, he said it was the best of several scooters he'd owned. It was a 250 I think. Just a bit of pitting on it from the salt air, but a pretty nice looking scooter. This was big news to me after hearing so much neg. stuff about Chinese scoots!

[ShuttleBug]

I looked at several Chinese scooters today in fla, taotao, vip and peace. Some of them were pretty crappy, the new taotao thunder 50 seemed to be a step up in quality and was pretty cool, large storage under seat and another pouch under the bars.  1300 OTD seemed a bit high.  They had 1 used super 8, were asking 1299 for for it.

[tortoise]

The best Znen I think are the ones they make for Bintelli.

18,000 (unknown if miles or KM) on this Scorch 49cc.

[JOB]

Shuttlebug, I own a Chinese made Kymco Like 200i that I think for its size is great. I also just bought a new 2008 Diamo Turista 300 by Linhai/Yamaha. I have put on over 5000 miles on the Kymco with no problems and I did a few mods for performance and longevity.  I have put on 500 miles on the Diamo in 3 weeks and I am pleased to say that it is a fine performing 275cc scoot. I have had over 80 bikes and scooters in my 52 years of riding and every one made me smile. I believe that scooters are more a product of how you treat them and the service you give then where they were made. Like any tool you would be wise to buy the best you can afford, but down' t think you can' t get the job done just as well for less. Jeff

[AMAC1680]

I looked at several Chinese scooters today in fla, taotao, vip and peace. Some of them were pretty crappy, the new taotao thunder 50 seemed to be a step up in quality and was pretty cool, large storage under seat and another pouch under the bars.  1300 OTD seemed a bit high.  They had 1 used super 8, were asking 1299 for for it.

No question you can have the same scoots dropped shipped to you for much less. But then you need to do the PDI and have little recourse if thing thing is a POS. the bricks and mortar guy assumes some of that risk.

My bet is the same dealer that sells the china scoots also sells kymco, sym and or lance. The higher prices on the china scoots closes the gap.

Are you in NE Florida ?

Be Big,
AMAC

[ShuttleBug]

Amac, in south central fl. I was in St Pete yesterday.

JOB, you got me by about 30 bikes, I think im on 51 right now.....just getting into the scooter scene.  I bought a used 150 Kymco trying to get the bugs worked out now, has more than expected....in due time.  I have rebuilt many bikes through the years and the fun is going out of it....so my next one will be new..of some kind.

I wish Honda would bring the super cub here its a really cool bike!!!  They are in Mexico now??   The SYM Symba is looking good also, my old bod needs lightweight and easy to push around....

[MassScoot]

18,000 (unknown if miles or KM) on this Scorch 49cc.

Znen will built any scooter @ the request of the company selling them. Meaning...Znen has so many different options. In the case of Bintelli, they requested stainless steel outer hardware, Mottobatt batteries, shipped fully assembled, Gates belts, halogen lights, NGK plugs, Deni carbs & Duro tires. This costs Bintelli more money to have Znen manufacturer their scooters. Still...A Havoc 150 will run you around $1600.00. That's a pretty solid deal IMHO.

[Stig / Major Tom]

OK, we're talking a lot of Chinese scooters.
Can we add pictures of what we're talking about.
Liven things up a bit.
Here's the Znen belonging to the fishing scooter rider in Florida.  It had over 10,000 miles on it and he said he loved it.
I think he said it was a 250cc , but maybe it was a 150cc.

[AMAC1680]

OK, we're talking a lot of Chinese scooters.
Can we add pictures of what we're talking about.
Liven things up a bit.
Here's the Znen belonging to the fishing scooter rider in Florida.  It had over 10,000 miles on it and he said he loved it.
I think he said it was a 250cc , but maybe it was a 150cc.

That's a Znen 150. As far as in what state of "dress" is hard to tell. As stated above Znen will build to spec so the product varies from importer to importer.

As an example these are both from the same Znen factory sold by the same dealer. The Motorino is an upgraded version.

http://www.scootersus.com/bmsv9.html

http://www.scootersus.com/MOTORINORIVIERA150.html

Confused yet ? Once you do some digging you can figure out who made what where........sort of.

I've actually had good luck with a couple of Motorinos we gave to out nieces to get around at school. Both have close to 10,000 miles on them. It took some PM and wrench turning but not anything out of hand.

Be Big,
AMAC