Why buy a Chinese scooter?  By  scooter12 (Read 5,549 times)

howdy, i have to also come to the defense of the bv500 as i had one for 8 thousand miles and currently have the bv350. the recall work had many potential problems if the work was not done properly. these included top gasket improperly installed and poor materials used for hoses and clamps, and grunge in the tank and vent wrong and so on. the problems stem from not having many units on the road so no-one was very experienced in the repairs. otherwise the motor and rest of the scoot was top notch as a harley mechanic verified the quality of the switches and wiring and such when he replaced my fork seals damaged by my dealer that went out of business.

lotsa miles and smiles to ya
ken

I had the opposite experience with my Lance Vintage and did more repairs to it in 6 months/3,000 miles of riding (clutch, variator, 2 heads, muffler, etc) than I have in 3.5 years/25,000 miles on my Aprilia 250 which cost me $2,999 new from a local Vespa/Piaggio dealership.

To note also is that the Metal Bodied Vespa is usually going to last for 20 to 30 or more years with many of the 1960's and 1970's models still on the road today. For less than $6,000 you can get a new BV 350 or Vespa 300 however for a far better price of $3,499 the Aprilia Scarabeo 500 with the same series of Piaggio engine as the Vespa is still available brand new in the USA.

My Aprilia is now my primary mode of transportation while my Lance was something that made me late for work often enough that co-workers would joke about taking up a collection to help me replace it.

I was 83 when I finally got around to get interested in scooters .Buying my first scoot and putting it together and doing the DDI was the best investment I ever made .Chinese it was and I never had a bit of trouble with it except I couldn't keep my balance on it. so I sold it with 10 miles on it and bought a Q6 Trike .That made a new life for this old codger.It ran like a charm and never a problem . I spent hours puttering with it and as I didn't get a licence for it I ran it around my neighborhood only. As I was planning to move I had to sell it and ran it on Craigs list here in my town ,got a few inquiries but not takers ,so I ran it in Vancouver Wash and in about three days I had a buyer . The buyer didn't care if it was Chinese as it ran like a charm and was the prittiest Burgandy and Black and looked great ! You will never convince me that these Chinese scoots and trikes are't any good ! As far as I am concerned you can't beat then Easy on the pocket book , reliable if you keep them up and a pleasure to own . I sold mine four months ago and I still miss seeing her parked in my garage ,but there comes a time in life when you need to slow down and my time has come .I am just sorry that I didn't get my Trike 20 years ago . I sure have missed a lot of good riding !