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Post by w650 on Apr 1, 2017 11:09:30 GMT -5
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Post by spandi on Apr 1, 2017 20:51:17 GMT -5
Yeah, along with Sinnis, and lately I been reading where Zontes is a brand that dealers in the UK swear by.The importers there are making sure the bikes they sell have a higher degree of reliability and became of it are gaining a large following. BTW, check out Spicy 110 on YouTube for his ongoing reviews the the UK/China riding scene.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 1, 2017 21:35:26 GMT -5
Nice looking scoots, and impressive sales! Looks like 125 is a big (?) as they come though, and at nearly 2,000 British pounds, they are NOT cheap... Europe is SO different from America that it's hard to compare rides, or what they're used for. WAY back in the stone-age (1968-69) when I was in the Army serving in Germany, I learned that so well, and it's probably similar even today. It's good to see such quality showing up though. This company might have a good market here with some larger engines. Maybe it's just me, but I rode a Chinese 150 for seven years and I had it running as well as it was gonna get... good acceleration, and a top speed of around 62-mph. That is probably as good as a modern fuel-injected 125, but still mighty short on "giddyup"... Now, in my third season on "Minnie Mouse" I truly feel a strong-running 250 is the absolute BARE MINIMUM size scoot I'd trust to venture onto 50-mph speed limit surface streets, and it's "pushing the envelope" on 65-mph limited access highways. The old Mouse will top 75, but with a "realistic" cruise of only 65 up and down hills and into wind, that doesn't even begin to equal a safe highway experience. To avoid becoming road-kill on 70-mph limit highways, you MUST be able to cruise  -mph+ up and down hills, into strong wind, etc. MINIMUM.
That performance level really takes it out of the realm of most of our scooters. It would take a 600-800cc (or bigger) ride with a CVT tranny to run comfortably at those speeds. While touring "scooters" do come with big motors, those which can run over 80-mph are really more "cruiser" motorcycles without clutch and gears...
But... If a 125 will meet your needs, these might just be winners!Ride safe, Leo in Texas
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Post by w650 on Apr 1, 2017 22:40:47 GMT -5
I'm just jazzed to see a China scoot importer outselling Honda and investing in Euro 4 spec bikes and scooters. In Europe people use their scooters daily and this shows Lexmoto's reliability. If they didn't stand up they wouldn't sell.
If you add in the other brands selling China bikes like AJS and WK Bikes the Chinese have penetrated the two wheel market deeply. Given that, we can expect improvements to their product here. That's a very good thing.
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Post by spandi on Apr 2, 2017 0:35:38 GMT -5
I'm just jazzed to see a China scoot importer outselling Honda and investing in Euro 4 spec bikes and scooters. In Europe people use their scooters daily and this shows Lexmoto's reliability. If they didn't stand up they wouldn't sell. If you add in the other brands selling China bikes like AJS and WK Bikes the Chinese have penetrated the two wheel market deeply. Given that, we can expect improvements to their product here. That's a very good thing. Well with the Chinese government banning motor bikes in many large cities the huge domestic market they had before is drying up and the only alternative is the world market. That put them in direct competition with Indian manufacturers ( think Mahindra) an so forcing the Chinese to up their game in terms of quality and reliability. BTW, the reason 125cc scooters are so hot in the UK is the two stage system for motorcycle licensing. You start with your "L" plates (125 tops) which you can keep for up to two years.Then go for the higher CC rating, and move up to the "big bike" category. |
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Post by w650 on Apr 2, 2017 9:21:20 GMT -5
Well with the Chinese government banning motor bikes in many large cities the huge domestic market they had before is drying up and the only alternative is the world market. That put them in direct competition with Indian manufacturers ( think Mahindra) an so forcing the Chinese to up their game in terms of quality and reliability. BTW, the reason 125cc scooters are so hot in the UK is the two stage system for motorcycle licensing. You start with your "L" plates (125 tops) which you can keep for up to two years.Then go for the higher CC rating, and move up to the "big bike" category. Any company that plans to grow seeks to export. I'm sure this growth in Britain and here in the States would have happened regardless of conditions at home. Not to mention that there's a lot of China outside Major Cities. I'm not hiding the fact that I'm a fan of Chinese bikes. They are like the Japanese of the 1960s and 70s. Interesting vehicles seeking a place in the world. As I did in those years I'm getting pretty fair mileage out of cheap rides and smiling every mile. Seeing them annihilating much larger and famous companies from Japan and Europe in sales in the British market just tickles my irony bone. |
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Post by spandi on Apr 2, 2017 11:28:17 GMT -5
The chickens coming home to roost? The irony of the Japanese being beaten at their own game in England of all places, the very country who's own domestic (and large export) motorcycle market they effectively overran in the 60's and 70's
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Post by w650 on Apr 2, 2017 11:43:37 GMT -5
Nope. The irony that Chinese scooters and bikes were labeled as hopeless a few years ago and now they be kicking butt in sales and showing how they can do the job as daily rides.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 3, 2017 20:28:20 GMT -5
Nope. The irony that Chinese scooters and bikes were labeled as hopeless a few years ago and now they be kicking butt in sales and showing how they can do the job as daily rides.
I always figured Chinese rides COULD be very good with only minor factory "tweaking". My first modern scooter was a new '07 Xingyue 150. It was BEAUTIFUL cosmetically, but had all the typical "Chinese bugs" including numerous cross-threaded nuts and bolts, coil and CDI going bad first season, starter disintegrating, rear disk-brake caliper "decomposing" inside, and more... Once I tracked down and repaired all the various quirks, it was easy and inexpensive to make "Lil' Bubba" a reliable ride with excellent performance for its displacement... The only reason I traded it in was to get a larger motor to keep up with local traffic getting faster and faster. At the factory, a Chinese manufacturer could have addressed all the mods I did, probably for under $100 total cost per-unit. That would have bumped my ride up to $700 from the $600 I paid. Even today, that would only be around a grand for a really nice 150. Not too shabby!I realize the modern REALLY good stuff like fuel-injection and high-tech emissions goodies add more and more to the cost, but I'll bet China could STILL offer a FIRST-CLASS 150 for $1,200 retail, and a solid dual-disk, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected high-end 300 or 350cc dual-purpose (city/highway-cruiser) that would putt-put around town, AND rip up to -mph when needed, for $2,000 retail.
That stuff would sell mighty fast most anywhere!That's loosely what the Japanese did back in the 1960's and '70's when I was young, and we all know how popular THOSE rides made 2-wheel vehicles... "Naah... MY kid can't have a MOTORCYCLE! But he CAN have a HONDA..." Honda's ad agency made transportation HISTORY with the campaign "YOU MEET THE NICEST PEOPLE ON A HONDA." Suddenly, it was "acceptable" to ride, and Japanese rides were affordable, AND drop-dead reliable.
A large part of the world uses scooters for the family car... And, the Chinese may really score big with better scoots and bikes at REALLY affordable prices! If you build a better mousetrap, the cat gets a vacation... LOL! Ride safe one and all!Leo in Texas |
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Post by w650 on Apr 4, 2017 13:55:37 GMT -5
I've always been of the opinion that there have been three problems with Chinese scooters. First, selling them in a crate to just anybody is not wise. Too many people don't understand that they need a good prep and blame the scooter when they fall apart. Two, Unscrupulous importers were more interested in selling the cheapest built lump they could so they ordered the scooters with the cheapest parts they could order. Chinese built bikes from REAL companies like Piaggio, Benelli, Suzuki, SYM and Kymco have shown that they are world class despite where they were built.
Third, Too many people have expected a $1000 scooter to be up for the abuse you can give a $4000 one. There's a reason a Chinese scooter costs that little. It isn't made from aircraft spec metals. Ridden sensibly they will last. Beat on them and they'll crumble.
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Post by cookees on Apr 4, 2017 20:16:07 GMT -5
Does anyone know who makes the Lexmoto brand?
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Post by w650 on Apr 4, 2017 20:20:35 GMT -5
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Post by oldchopperguy on Apr 4, 2017 22:21:15 GMT -5
I've always been of the opinion that there have been three problems with Chinese scooters. First, selling them in a crate to just anybody is not wise. Too many people don't understand that they need a good prep and blame the scooter when they fall apart. Two, Unscrupulous importers were more interested in selling the cheapest built lump they could so they ordered the scooters with the cheapest parts they could order. Chinese built bikes from REAL companies like Piaggio, Benelli, Suzuki, SYM and Kymco have shown that they are world class despite where they were built. Third, Too many people have expected a $1000 scooter to be up for the abuse you can give a $4000 one. There's a reason a Chinese scooter costs that little. It isn't made from aircraft spec metals. Ridden sensibly they will last. Beat on them and they'll crumble.
I think you're right on the money... And, the quality/longevity of various bits and pieces seems to vary monumentally from one scooter to another... Too much really good stuff comes from China to make me think great quality is not obtainable. I even see complex diagnostic equipment from China in hospitals... And of course, China does build rides for major "name brand" makers. The lower cost of "made in China" items to some extent must be attributed to their "questionable" business practices, blatant patent infringements, manipulation of their money and atrocious "starvation-pay" treatment of virtual slave laborers. I suppose the next years will bring a lot of changes as our new administration attempts to level the trade field with China, and pressures China to engage in managing the out-of-control leadership of North Korea. There are bound to be MAJOR changes in that area of the world coming VERY soon. I hope they may be attained without using things made in USA "that go bang". Only time will tell, but it's likely to get VERY ugly. The whole business only reinforces my personal choice to go with clean USED rides from Japan, Europe and especially Taiwan. Just me, largely because I wanted a really reliable mid-sized scooter for much less than $3,000. Now in my 3rd season on "Minnie Mouse", my trusty old Kymco 250, I feel like she was a good choice over a new Chinese 250, even if the Chinese scoot might have cost a little less brand-new. The old Kymco has been 100% reliable, with GOOD performance up to over 70-mph... And, always giving OVER 80 mpg with most riding being city. Again, just me... There are SO many alternatives when choosing a ride that each buyer simply has to make up his/her own mind. As Humphrey Bogart said in "The African Queen": "Ya pays yer' money and takes yer' choice..."
Whatever you choose, ride safe!Leo in Texas |
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Post by w650 on Apr 5, 2017 10:06:01 GMT -5
My personal opinion is that the Chinese aren't unscrupulous Mercenaries but have been taking directions on what to build since the British moved in over a Century ago. I don't think things will get a lot better until they stop letting tiny importers move their products. CF Moto has a real presence here under their name. They let QLink sell their stuff for years but stopped and took over their name. I recently was looking at Superiorpowersports.com and noticed a subtle change. www.superiorpowersports.com/category_s/145.htmLook at all the dirt bikes called Bashan. Not Roketa, Apollo or Joe Smith. It seems they want their products identified and not hidden under someone else's title. I've had great luck with my GS Motorworks sourced Bashan and would buy one of those in a minute. |
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Post by spandi on Apr 5, 2017 11:40:22 GMT -5
My personal opinion is that the Chinese aren't unscrupulous Mercenaries but have been taking directions on what to build since the British moved in over a Century ago. I don't think things will get a lot better until they stop letting tiny importers move their products. CF Moto has a real presence here under their name. They let QLink sell their stuff for years but stopped and took over their name. I recently was looking at Superiorpowersports.com and noticed a subtle change. www.superiorpowersports.com/category_s/145.htmLook at all the dirt bikes called Bashan. Not Roketa, Apollo or Joe Smith. It seems they want their products identified and not hidden under someone else's title. I've had great luck with my GS Motorworks sourced Bashan and would buy one of those in a minute. You knew with the ever evolving Chinese scooter and motorcycle market that sooner or later they would take a direct hand in selling their own products. Years ago I said one day you'll wake up and find the next "Big Three" motorcycle dealerships in your hometown will be Chinese. I still stand by that prediction. (All the Chinese have to do is upgrade the parts quality and QC by 20 present and they'll eat Japan's lunch.) |
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-mph+ up and down hills, into strong wind, etc. MINIMUM.
