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Post by shantyhag on Jul 18, 2015 19:00:31 GMT -5
OK, so we were at a parade today, a celebration of rain and pride, and the shuttle let out right next to what we already knew was the local SYM and Lance dealer. We looked at the beautiful scoots both outside and in, and then proceeded to have a conversation with the guy about our plans. We listened to this guy badmouth all China scoots for maybe 1/2 an hour, telling us how we were certainly going to get sued over and over again, and how the BMS guys were begging him to come back but that he never would.
However, magnanimously, he offered to send anyone looking for "entry level scooters" to us. He used that phrase over and over again. When we tried to explain that his prices were pretty much exactly the same as what ours would cost, he ignored that, and offered over and over again to send the rubes who might be looking for "China-crap" to see us.
It was the least fun 1/2 hour of my day and that includes the 45 minutes we stood in the pouring rain with no umbrella waiting for the return shuttle.
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Post by spandi on Jul 18, 2015 19:45:16 GMT -5
Send him and his potential customers over to the Vespa dealership. (that'll take the shine off his pants!)  |
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Post by ghcoe on Jul 18, 2015 23:18:29 GMT -5
And that is what keeps Chinese scooters at a economical price. I laugh all the way to the bank.
A few years back I agree, there were some really bad units coming in from China. If you took the time even then you could find some good deals. Most of those good units are the names that are still with us today. I think all the bad units dropped off in 2008-2009 era. I guess those early crappy units is what people think of today still though. But hey, remember when it was Jap crap? Do you think japan would make the things they do today if it was all true?
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Post by spandi on Jul 19, 2015 1:45:11 GMT -5
OK, so we were at a parade today, a celebration of rain and pride, and the shuttle let out right next to what we already knew was the local SYM and Lance dealer. We looked at the beautiful scoots both outside and in, and then proceeded to have a conversation with the guy about our plans. We listened to this guy badmouth all China scoots for maybe 1/2 an hour, telling us how we were certainly going to get sued over and over again, and how the BMS guys were begging him to come back but that he never would. However, magnanimously, he offered to send anyone looking for "entry level scooters" to us. He used that phrase over and over again. When we tried to explain that his prices were pretty much exactly the same as what ours would cost, he ignored that, and offered over and over again to send the rubes who might be looking for "China-crap" to see us. It was the least fun 1/2 hour of my day and that includes the 45 minutes we stood in the pouring rain with no umbrella waiting for the return shuttle. "The lady doth protest too much methinks". William Shakespeare |
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Post by spandi on Jul 19, 2015 1:50:45 GMT -5
And that is what keeps Chinese scooters at a economical price. I laugh all the way to the bank. A few years back I agree, there were some really bad units coming in from China. If you took the time even then you could find some good deals. Most of those good units are the names that are still with us today. I think all the bad units dropped off in 2008-2009 era. I guess those early crappy units is what people think of today still though. But hey, remember when it was Jap crap? Do you think japan would make the things they do today if it was all true? That's because in 2008 gas prices shot up, and the Chinese manufacturers were turning out product as fast as possible with little or no QC. This is why I always advise against buying any scoot made before 2010.  |
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Post by semojd on Jul 19, 2015 2:14:05 GMT -5
I'm lucky that where I live all the other scooters on the road are Chinese as well, LOL! A local pawn shop has made a sweet niche selling new Chinese 50cc scooters. For anything more, you have to travel out of town a bit, or order off the 'net. Kennett Missouri is not exactly a hub for the wealthy and famous (except for Sheryl Crow). The "economic recovery" hasn't reached down this far. So if one cannot afford a car, or internet access, and doesn't want to walk everywhere, the pawn shop will put you on a payment plan -- and a set of really fun wheels! Myself, I didn't go this route -- I ordered mine online, had it delivered to where I work, and put it together in the stockroom.
All that said, your post reminds me of the one thing I don't like about the scooter world -- the underlying anti-Chinese clap trap. I've seen it on boards elsewhere (not so much here, thankfully -- which is why I joined this one) Some of us just can't swing the price of a top-of-the-line Vespa. I suppose the detractors decrying "China crap" feel that we are not worthy of membership in the scooter world.
Myself, I just enjoy scooting about, and I rather like my Tao Tao. And I rather like as I go down the main drag, seeing another scooter coming -- and hearing the double-tap of the horn, or the wave -- and returning same. We seem to be a friendly bunch, rooting for each other. And THAT is worth a LOT to me! (Hey, I'm an old geek, it doesn't take much to make me happy, LOL)
Sorry if I rambled...
Cheers,
JD
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Post by shantyhag on Jul 19, 2015 4:22:45 GMT -5
... But hey, remember when it was Jap crap? Do you think japan would make the things they do today if it was all true? You know what's funny? That is exactly what I was thinking. Remembering back, before the Japanese companies started manufacturing here in order to keep their tariffs low, and how the Big 3 would kind of stoke up the anti-Japanese sentiment in order to mask the fact that they were just getting their butts handed to them in the quality wars. At that time Hyundai was the low-cost leader building crap that sold cheap. Hyundai followed the Japanese model and now makes absolutely beautiful cars and Chinese bikes have come a LONG way. The price on both reflects their relative position, I think. Eventually we're going to see African companies becoming the low-end providers of mechanical goods, and their quality will grow over time as well. (Added in edit: to clarify what I mean by "the Japanese model" is that they entered into the market by dominating the low-price, low end position and gradually worked their way up the food chain... Honda an Toyota were, in the 70's, both known for inexpensive, higher mpg cars... when the oil embargo happened in the mid-70's they were well positioned to take advantage and their name recognition grew. Ten years later and they were putting out arguably higher quality cars than the United States, and American companies were sending executives to Japan to train in their management methods. Hyundai followed the same path, as has Kia. The Indian company, Tata Motors, is now in a great position to do the same and may well be the next mainstream auto importer into the US. Likewise, I think the Chinese scooter market in the US will see an evolution from the low-cost leader to one where quality becomes the expectation. Will they ever be Vespa? Probably not, anymore than Toyota will become Maserati, but not everyone needs or wants a Maserati.) |
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Post by ghcoe on Jul 19, 2015 8:05:02 GMT -5
Well, like I said, I laugh all the way to the bank. As long as people have the perception that Chinese units are crap then they will always sell at a economical price. I think the biggest problem the Chinese brands have is little to no dealer support and a unwillingness of repair shops to work on them which builds on the bad perception. You buy a Chinese scooter, something goes wrong, you don't know how to fix it, no one is willing to work on it, now it is a Chinese piece of junk!
What I don't get is that people should see the blatant price gouging that main stream brands do to their customers. My scooter is a clone of a Yamaha Zuma and a new Zuma is going for $3500.00. I can buy two more clones and still be ahead. I see this in other consumer goods too. Most of the time it is the same exact item with just a main stream logo on it and they charge 3-5 times as much for it. Shop around and save some money. Money is hard to come by and I am certainly not going to hand it out to the middle man.
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Post by cyborg on Jul 19, 2015 8:49:57 GMT -5
The high priced spread has their share of problems ,,,i had an et4 vespa i couldn't wait to get rid of,,,,,and the parts counter!!!!!! holy the prices,,,,they wanted $14 for a quart of oil,,,,$50 for a fuel tap,,,,i got her running great finally and sold her off,,,,the buyer and i were very happy,,,parts availability is one reason i did not go taiwanese,,,i feel that the bikes coming out of taiwan are superior ,,,members on this and a few other forums can attest to the fact that a 150cc taiwan bike easily tops out at better than 70mph ,,,but cost double the price of a chinese scoot,or more ,if you don't have or can't swing that kind of buy in,,,chinese scoots are a very viable alternative and are much nicer both esthetically and mechanically than even just a few seasons ago,,,i'm even having a bit of a time getting parts for my 4t stella,,,the dealer here is as dumb as a stump and doesn't even know what i'm talking about half of the time when i go in to get something,,,
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Post by spandi on Jul 19, 2015 13:58:04 GMT -5
Well, like I said, I laugh all the way to the bank. As long as people have the perception that Chinese units are crap then they will always sell at a economical price. I think the biggest problem the Chinese brands have is little to no dealer support and a unwillingness of repair shops to work on them which builds on the bad perception. You buy a Chinese scooter, something goes wrong, you don't know how to fix it, no one is willing to work on it, now it is a Chinese piece of junk! What I don't get is that people should see the blatant price gouging that main stream brands do to their customers. My scooter is a clone of a Yamaha Zuma and a new Zuma is going for $3500.00. I can buy two more clones and still be ahead. I see this in other consumer goods too. Most of the time it is the same exact item with just a main stream logo on it and they charge 3-5 times as much for it. Shop around and save some money. Money is hard to come by and I am certainly not going to hand it out to the middle man. Just be glad Apple doesn't make scooters! |
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Post by ghcoe on Jul 19, 2015 14:39:06 GMT -5
Well, like I said, I laugh all the way to the bank. As long as people have the perception that Chinese units are crap then they will always sell at a economical price. I think the biggest problem the Chinese brands have is little to no dealer support and a unwillingness of repair shops to work on them which builds on the bad perception. You buy a Chinese scooter, something goes wrong, you don't know how to fix it, no one is willing to work on it, now it is a Chinese piece of junk! What I don't get is that people should see the blatant price gouging that main stream brands do to their customers. My scooter is a clone of a Yamaha Zuma and a new Zuma is going for $3500.00. I can buy two more clones and still be ahead. I see this in other consumer goods too. Most of the time it is the same exact item with just a main stream logo on it and they charge 3-5 times as much for it. Shop around and save some money. Money is hard to come by and I am certainly not going to hand it out to the middle man. Just be glad Apple doesn't make scooters! Don't get me started with Apple. Linux all the way..... |
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Post by jtron on Jul 20, 2015 1:10:13 GMT -5
Haha apple...they come out with "new" versions of laptops which have less power than their old ones but they charge way more cuz it looks pretty or something. I've always used pc, I suspect if I was more into computers I'd use Linux but for all I need to do windows works just fine on a 300 dollar laptop. But yeah...Chinese bikes are just fine, people who have never owned one, or who don't like to work on machines seem to have the bad opinions. If I wanted to drop 3 to 5k I don't have on a bike I'd get myself a CBR, r6, or a nice adv bike. But for commuting my 1200 dollar Zuma clone works perfectly and its so simple I have fun working on it and don't feel intimidated by its complexity. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that most work on these bikes is doable with basic tools and help from this forum. For someone who likes to tinker theres rly no better deal than China scoots
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Post by bandito2 on Jul 20, 2015 10:32:07 GMT -5
Messaged moved to the general scooter board as "Jap scoot guy curious about Chinese scooters" thread.
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Post by jennmoto on Jul 23, 2015 2:59:49 GMT -5
chinese scooter have your brand scooter,maybe after more years will be better.now i like it cheap 
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Post by shantyhag on Jul 23, 2015 19:26:28 GMT -5
chinese scooter have your brand scooter,maybe after more years will be better.now i like it cheap Well, ok, nice plug I guess. For those looking, it would appear that Chinese Online Motoparts [sic] might indeed have the part for YOUR brand of scooter. And as the lady said, "[she] like it cheap!" (Disclaimer: Neither Shantyhag nor affiliated entities endorse the above company nor stake claims as to the value of their prices, nor part availability. Information given is for informational purposes only. Sarcasm is given freely for smiles, with no warranties express or implied.)
(Possible Correction: Checked out JennMoto's profile and it's possible that "jenn" wasn't short for Jennifer. If I incorrectly identified gender in my post then I apologize). |
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