Sophomore Rider
Currently Offline
Posts: 168
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Joined: Feb 26, 2013 15:44:08 GMT -5
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Post by cookees on Jun 19, 2018 21:13:22 GMT -5
Got an update from a powersports distributor today:
As most of you may have heard, due to the tariff change from Section 301, there is a new import tariff on a lot of different products being imported from China.
Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid this and we will be raising our pricing starting today of around 10-15% and then again on July 1st, totaling about 25%.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 19, 2018 22:00:23 GMT -5
Sure makes a new Taiwan-made scoot look better and better!For me to even consider putting up with the cross-threaded bolts, nearly dead-on-arrival starters, coils and CDI's, undersized headers choked with weld residue, "square wheels" rotten valve-stems, rotten fuel-lines, non-working lights, hidden disconnected wires, needles falling off analog gauges, totally out-of-whack carbs, crankcases full of used tractor oil and grass, NO instructions and NO dealer backup of any kind... I'd have to get a new Chinese scoot for HALF of what a well-worn Japanese, Taiwanese or Italian equivalent costs... Even then, I'd have to think twice, and I'd probably STILL go non-Chinese.
Yeah, there ARE quality Chinese scoots... Like the "Chicago Scooter Co." rides from Genuine/Buddy... But $3,200 for a 125cc SHOULD buy top quality.
I paid my "Chinese dues" for five seasons getting my Xingyue 150 "right"... And I finally DID get it right, AND totally reliable and quick... But was it worth FIVE years of wrenching, no riding and walking home to save a grand?
NO.  This is my 6th season on my '07 Kymco Grandvista 250 which had 15K miles on the clock when I bought it... Absolutely TROUBLE-FREE. Just turn the key and RIDE... NO wrenching necessary...If you have the money, get a NEW Japanese, Taiwanese or Italian scoot... If the budget is tight, find a nice USED one. And, if at all possible, from a reliable dealer who backs up his/her products after the sale. Just my two-cents' worth, but I've BEEN there, DONE that, GOT the T-shirt... Ride safe,Leo (happy old KYMCO jockey) in Texas
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Post by pistonguy on Jun 20, 2018 6:51:32 GMT -5
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Post by larrball on Jun 20, 2018 10:13:28 GMT -5
Sure makes a new Taiwan-made scoot look better and better!For me to even consider putting up with the cross-threaded bolts, nearly dead-on-arrival starters, coils and CDI's, undersized headers choked with weld residue, "square wheels" rotten valve-stems, rotten fuel-lines, non-working lights, hidden disconnected wires, needles falling off analog gauges, totally out-of-whack carbs, crankcases full of used tractor oil and grass, NO instructions and NO dealer backup of any kind... I'd have to get a new Chinese scoot for HALF of what a well-worn Japanese, Taiwanese or Italian equivalent costs... Even then, I'd have to think twice, and I'd probably STILL go non-Chinese.
Yeah, there ARE quality Chinese scoots... Like the "Chicago Scooter Co." rides from Genuine/Buddy... But $3,200 for a 125cc SHOULD buy top quality.
I paid my "Chinese dues" for five seasons getting my Xingyue 150 "right"... And I finally DID get it right, AND totally reliable and quick... But was it worth FIVE years of wrenching, no riding and walking home to save a grand?
NO. This is my 6th season on my '07 Kymco Grandvista 250 which had 15K miles on the clock when I bought it... Absolutely TROUBLE-FREE. Just turn the key and RIDE... NO wrenching necessary...If you have the money, get a NEW Japanese, Taiwanese or Italian scoot... If the budget is tight, find a nice USED one. And, if at all possible, from a reliable dealer who backs up his/her products after the sale. Just my two-cents' worth, but I've BEEN there, DONE that, GOT the T-shirt... Ride safe,Leo (happy old KYMCO jockey) in Texas Leo my GS roughhouse sport is not Chinese made but rather Taiwanese. good scooter had it for 2 years now and haven't had a wrench on it yet. |
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Post by Jarlaxle on Jun 20, 2018 19:52:33 GMT -5
I thought the Genuine Stellas were made in India?
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Post by w650 on Jun 20, 2018 19:59:12 GMT -5
I don't think you can compare a 2007 Xingyue to a 2018 Bintelli, Wolf or Lance. Even Tao Tao has upped their game. As we all know numerous Kymco and SYM models are made in China. While some may say "Good riddance to bad rubbish" there are numerous Tao Tao ATM-50s conveying people around reliably. This tariff war will hurt the common man.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 20, 2018 20:57:05 GMT -5
I thought the Genuine Stellas were made in India?
I think they were, and may still be... It's the "Chicago Scooter Co." brand sold under the Genuine/Buddy name that's Chinese, and has a very good rep.
And yes, China makes many components, engines, etc. for name brand rides. It's the older Chinese bikes that gave me a VERY bad taste in my mouth. I understand new ones are much better, but after the grief I went through with my '07, I feel "once burned, twice shy"...
It was no surprise. I'd heard how bad Chinese scoots back then could be, and I gritted my teeth and wrenched, and wrenched, and replaced "new" parts... My Xingyue cost $650 delivered to my door, and after replacing a LOT of defective parts, I still had less than $1,100 total invested. Overall, a bargain, EXCEPT for the countless hours of diagnosing, fixing, walking home after breakdowns, etc. the money saved over buying a better-made scoot doesn't begin to offset the never-ending misery... LO not so L.   
Whether the new tariffs on Chinese goods is good or bad only time will tell. China and other nations have been destroying our exportation of products for decades and nobody seemed to care until recently. Could be that a little of their own medicine might help in the long run.America is getting a much-needed dose of bitter medicine (call it tough love) and unemployment is at an all-time low since the post WWII boom. Jobs (decent jobs) are coming back by the millions. The rest of the world is finding out (finally!) that America is no longer a clown-college run by buffoons. The rest of the world has bled us dry, and beat us almost to death. Only time will tell, but I'm old enough to understand that spanking China and other nations that have been beating us with unfair trade practices should only "hurt for a little while"... Things will even out in just a year or two.
A small price to pay for 40 years of America being on the dirty end of the stick.I'll still go Taiwanese, Japanese or Italian. And if the ride has a Chinese engine/components, that's OK. When I hear Washington use the term "zero-tolerance" I say to myself "it's about time". it's the terminology that counts. Whether immigration reform, crime, trade, law-enforcement, international relations, etc. it matters little. I grew up in a "zero-tolerance" atmosphere. And, I mean ZERO-TOLERANCE. Period. NO excuses. Not ONCE, not EVER. You kept your nose squeaky-clean or got your butt kicked and woke up in jail... and worked AMAZINGLY well.America needed a good "woodshed-spanking" and now it's time we wipe our nose and do some spanking of those who've been beating us for a half-century.
About half of America would say YESSSS! to this, and half would call me cruel, insensitive and outdated. That's OK. It's a free country. Let's do a little more spanking, and keep it that way.
Wherever your ride is made, enjoy it and...RIDE SAFE!Leo in Texas |
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Post by Jarlaxle on Jun 20, 2018 21:07:14 GMT -5
My wife still says all illegal aliens should be rounded up en masse and shot.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 20, 2018 21:10:08 GMT -5
My wife still says all illegal aliens should be rounded up en masse and shot. Jarlaxle… If they did THAT, I'd have NO neighbors!  |
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Post by Jarlaxle on Jun 20, 2018 21:16:59 GMT -5
Her exact words, "Shoot a million or so, the rest will leave."
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Post by pistonguy on Jun 20, 2018 22:27:29 GMT -5
Wow this thread got Extremely Political quickly
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Post by pistonguy on Jun 20, 2018 22:33:31 GMT -5
Im the last one you will veer find using pc correct lingo of "Undocumented" but c'mon Killing them for Trespassing..
Jarlaxle, would venture to wager you've never been to the border or have a clue how its works and only have a clue from the evening news
So is this your and you Misses preferred method of execution for trespasser's?
Thats some pretty Sick Snit!!!
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Post by oldchopperguy on Jun 21, 2018 1:50:15 GMT -5
C'mon now guys and gals,NOBODY on the site would approve of genocide of any kind. Just enforcement of the existing laws.  Not a good idea these days to joke about that stuff I suppose... One of my favorite preachers often muses about his Dad chewing him out as a kid, telling him he might KILL him, and make another one just like him... Years ago in my day, you could say things like that and nobody took offense. Today, we have a nation that has made a fine art of being offended... and every word is taken literally and offensively. Part of the problem we deal with these days... Sad. 
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Post by w650 on Jun 21, 2018 5:34:11 GMT -5
I don't think our duking it out with the Chinese will do any good. We need what they sell and since certain rich people outsourced almost all our manufacturing jobs there years ago we're screwed.
I suppose you've read how Harley Davidson is closing their Kansas City plant due to production downturn? How about this. What they are really doing is shipping the plant to Thailand, lock, stock and barrel. Why?
Because a certain rich person introduced tax reform that made it better to make more money. At the cheaper labor rates they can reap more profits, pay less taxes, keep a lot of it and toss the rest to their stockholders.
It's pretty disingenuous to cry trade imbalance when the person doing it has his branded products made in China instead of Peoria.
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Post by Jarlaxle on Jun 21, 2018 5:59:30 GMT -5
The models built (Dyna, Vrod) in KC were dropped. The Thai plant is for sales in Asia.
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