My chinese scooter experience.  By  willruck808 (Read 2,603 times)

12,000 km is only about 7,000 or so miles 2 or so years ago so are we talking 10,000 to 12,000 miles in 10 years? Time can be a bit of a vague measure.

Glad you are having fun and hope you get to ride more often.

10 years here in Florida can get you up around 80,000 to 150,000 miles or riding here as the Sunshine State can have 365 riding days a year.

They are definitely not disposable here in Vegas! Look on craigslist for Vegas, all you see is adds offering to buy your used scooter, hardly any ads offering one for sell, and the guys placing the buy ads probably swoop those up quick as well.

What amazes me is there aren't more garages that are willing to work on them. They are actually very easy to work on, can be modified in many ways, and have decently priced and easy to locate parts for repair and or replacement. I'm seeing more and more on the road over the past few years (recession I'm sure), if they maintain their popularity, I could see a nationwide chain of repair shops being a possibility! Takes less space than car centered shops, there is greater uniformity in the engines and drive trains used than with cars, less complexity or need for high tech repair equipment than with cars, overall much less overhead to run a scooter tune-up and repair shop. Get a recognized (inter)national mechanics association to offer a certification course, and cha-ching!

willruck808,

Welcome aboard! I can't imagine considering ANYTHING that runs as "disposable"... Of course, I'm a bit of a hoarder in my old age... LOL! And it sounds like you've got a slick scoot!

I just traded in my original Chinese 150 on a used Kymco 250. The old 150 was a great ride for 6 years. It did all the irritating "things Chinese" but as you say, the fixes are usually easy and inexpensive and I learned a lot. I finally had ALL the Chinese bugs worked out and the only reason I "upsized" was because local roads were radically changed this year, requiring a ride that will keep up with faster traffic than the 150 could muster. Whomever buys my old one will be getting a very good scooter at a good price.

I spoke at length with the dealer where I traded my Xingyue, and got my Kymco concerning just what you mentioned. "Why don't shops want to work on Chinese scoots since the fixes are usually simple and the parts cheap?" He told me that the problem is that even the simplest fix requires more labor charge than the typical Chinese scooter rider is willing to pay for.

A brick n' mortar store costs a fortune to keep the doors open. They must charge a hefty hourly fee, and nobody wants to pay $100 to install a $20 part. He used to sell new Chinese scoots, but warranty work killed the small profit from the sale and later post-warranty work often cost as much for labor, as a new scooter, for one repair (and you KNOW it will be back again for more work in a few months).. People can justify a $700 repair on a $5,000 scooter but absolutely balk at that same $700 repair on a $600 scooter. It's a shame, but I can understand.

I think Chinese scooters will most likely remain in the domain of the "rider-maintained" breed unless they make quantum-leaps in reliability, and purchase price, justifying expensive shop repairs. And THAT would sort of undermine the entire "cheap as dirt" Chinese scooter experience. I believe they were (like the Model-T Ford, Volkswagen Beetle and the AK-47 assault-rifle) intended to be affordable, and simple enough for the untrained owners to keep running.

They do "unusual" things, like mine when the rear disk-caliper just "stopped working". I spent over 40 hours diagnosing the problem, only to finally find out the disk is too thin for the caliper (which is also used on thicker disks on ATV's). Once the pads wear a little, the pistons move TOO far out, and will not return, rendering the caliper "dead".

I had to get a new caliper (cheap enough) and fab up a "spacer" from an old pad to close the gap. Then the brake worked perfectly. Even a good mechanic used to Japanese or European cycles might have encountered the same tedious diagnosis I ran into, and, the customer would NOT have wanted to pay the $3,000 labor charge.

Such weird problems plague Chinese scooters. Owners understand, and can deal with them pretty well, justifying the time spent because of the low initial, and parts cost. A dealer cannot afford to fool with these things, so they stick with selling more reliable models and survive on the profits from sales of new and used higher-end rides. These also do not bring the nightmare of warranty and repair headaches that will put a shop out of business in short order.

In 6 years, I only spent around $300 in repair parts, and the scooter only cost $700 brand-new. BUT... I probably spent more than $20,000 in shop-labor as a shop would have had to charge to stay afloat. In my worst nightmares, I can't imagine attempting to make a living repairing and/or modding Chinese scooters that only cost a grand, brand-new. As useful as they are, even a paid oil change, or tune up has to cost a significant percentage of the whole scooter's purchase price. Changing both tires can EQUAL the price of a cheap new scoot. They are victims of their own low cost... LOL... I think...

Enjoy 'em for what they are, and...

Ride safe!

Leo in Texas

There is a niche to fill here and someone who has the ability to work on these can make some decent side money from the locals. Everybody sees me on mine and asks questions. Next thing you know they have one and more questions. I dont have overhead but I know where to order parts and how to do most repairs so Ive had good luck doing some odd jobs and having spare parts on hand helps too. Keeps the inventory from overflowing. Most people will watch and some will know how to do that repair themselves in the future, but in most cases the next time it will be something new they havent seen or done before.

I can't say I'll always have a "Chinese" scooter, but it's been reliable for the most part. It has it's ups and downs for sure. Once you find forums, manuals, and parts vendors--- it's a much better experience. Only real major headaches, for me, have been crank bearing failures.

I wanted to, and should have, upgraded my crank last time. I plan on doing that over the winter.