Post by lykos23 on Jun 13, 2013 7:39:07 GMT -5
[replyingto=adamlol1112]adamlol1112[/replyingto]Alright, here's my 2 cents.
If you're willing to put a wrench to your bike to make sure it's safe and reliable with a lot of initial tuning and fine tuning then I highly recommend a Chinese bike, 50cc or 150cc as they will fall well within your budget and the parts are cheap.
If you never want to set a wrench to your bike, kind of like Domindart, then I would go for a Japanese, or other high end quality brand bikes. Just remember that the Chinese bikes are cloned Honda engines. The problem is the repairs can be costly if you have to take the bike to the dealer for repairs or maintenance. It's best to learn how to do this stuff yourself, and quickly.
If you want a scooter that you can modify without worrying about the warranty, I would again recommend the Chinese bike. A quality name brand bike will come with a warranty, and like all warranties they come with their limits. This means you won't be able to do any heavy modifications without worrying about ruining the warranty when something does break down. With Chinese bikes you don't have that warranty to worry about, the way your bike runs is entirely up to your skill level.
There are pros and cons to each individual bike, but since most chinese bikes are built almost the same the pros and cons are the same. Pros: the parts are cheap, the wealth of information on them in this forum alone is immense, easily modifyable, the availability of parts, the ease of maintenance. Cons: there is no doubt most chinese bikes are made with cheap labor, that means you need to do a PDI and pay special attention for shotty parts that somehow made it through cheap inspection, there is no "Dealer" to call up and ask for help unless you get a specific model, the reliability factor is luck of the draw vs your own skill with a wrench, lots of stuff will need replacing right off the line.
And don't be afraid about getting into the mechanics of scooters. The stuff is really, really easy. I only started working on them six months ago when I got my first scooter and now I'm more mechanically inclined with scooters than my local motorcycle mechanic. I recommend the chinese scooters only because I have one, I'm familiar with them, and I know how easy it can be to fix them up. Because of the cheap availability of parts you can rebuild the whole bike for cheaper than it cost to buy the thing(aside from the frame)!
Now, whether you want a 50cc four stroke, a 50cc two stroke, or a 150cc depends on your desired speed and what you're willing to do to attain that higher speed. My Peace Sports 50 came with a 63cc engine, and at 240lbs it could only get me up to 35mph, tops. A 150cc engine has much more power to begin with, but they tend to be a little bit more expensive too. For a little bit of money a 50cc engine can be rebuilt with a Big Bore Kit, or "BBK" which increases the engine power exponentially (yeah, exponentially) and will allow most former 50cc engines to go up to 50mph. A two stroke 50cc can attain such high speeds right off the bat, and so can a 150cc.
When you get your first bike, you'll need to perform a PDI more than likely, whether it's name brand or Chinese:
x1scooters.com/pdi.html
The "mandatory" upgrades I recommend are...
Tires, everything that you should replace as recommended in the PDI, bigger battery, new cvt belt, and a high quality sparkplug, copper or Iridium.
Hope this blathering of mine is somewhat helpful.
Good luck in finding your perfect scooter!
If you're willing to put a wrench to your bike to make sure it's safe and reliable with a lot of initial tuning and fine tuning then I highly recommend a Chinese bike, 50cc or 150cc as they will fall well within your budget and the parts are cheap.
If you never want to set a wrench to your bike, kind of like Domindart, then I would go for a Japanese, or other high end quality brand bikes. Just remember that the Chinese bikes are cloned Honda engines. The problem is the repairs can be costly if you have to take the bike to the dealer for repairs or maintenance. It's best to learn how to do this stuff yourself, and quickly.
If you want a scooter that you can modify without worrying about the warranty, I would again recommend the Chinese bike. A quality name brand bike will come with a warranty, and like all warranties they come with their limits. This means you won't be able to do any heavy modifications without worrying about ruining the warranty when something does break down. With Chinese bikes you don't have that warranty to worry about, the way your bike runs is entirely up to your skill level.
There are pros and cons to each individual bike, but since most chinese bikes are built almost the same the pros and cons are the same. Pros: the parts are cheap, the wealth of information on them in this forum alone is immense, easily modifyable, the availability of parts, the ease of maintenance. Cons: there is no doubt most chinese bikes are made with cheap labor, that means you need to do a PDI and pay special attention for shotty parts that somehow made it through cheap inspection, there is no "Dealer" to call up and ask for help unless you get a specific model, the reliability factor is luck of the draw vs your own skill with a wrench, lots of stuff will need replacing right off the line.
And don't be afraid about getting into the mechanics of scooters. The stuff is really, really easy. I only started working on them six months ago when I got my first scooter and now I'm more mechanically inclined with scooters than my local motorcycle mechanic. I recommend the chinese scooters only because I have one, I'm familiar with them, and I know how easy it can be to fix them up. Because of the cheap availability of parts you can rebuild the whole bike for cheaper than it cost to buy the thing(aside from the frame)!
Now, whether you want a 50cc four stroke, a 50cc two stroke, or a 150cc depends on your desired speed and what you're willing to do to attain that higher speed. My Peace Sports 50 came with a 63cc engine, and at 240lbs it could only get me up to 35mph, tops. A 150cc engine has much more power to begin with, but they tend to be a little bit more expensive too. For a little bit of money a 50cc engine can be rebuilt with a Big Bore Kit, or "BBK" which increases the engine power exponentially (yeah, exponentially) and will allow most former 50cc engines to go up to 50mph. A two stroke 50cc can attain such high speeds right off the bat, and so can a 150cc.
When you get your first bike, you'll need to perform a PDI more than likely, whether it's name brand or Chinese:
x1scooters.com/pdi.html
The "mandatory" upgrades I recommend are...
Tires, everything that you should replace as recommended in the PDI, bigger battery, new cvt belt, and a high quality sparkplug, copper or Iridium.
Hope this blathering of mine is somewhat helpful.
Good luck in finding your perfect scooter!
Main Jet
knock on wood