Buying a new scooter - which one though?  By  quattro1432 (Read 2,524 times)

I'd go with the Honda. Even with 8,000 miles on it, it is still the best value at $800 IMO.

I've had two of the Chinese scooters over the past few years. Bought a brand new Jonway Robot from scooter depot drop shipped to my door from the factory. Had to do some assembly, and minor maintenance right of the bat.

After about 6 months, the transmission belt broke and left me stranded. (which I should've changed with a good belt before I ever rode it I learned later)

All in all, it wasn't a terrible buy because it was so cheap, but I just got tired of nickel and diming it all the time. Plus, after it left me stranded a few times, I lost confidence in it on pretty much any ride. It's not fun to go out for a ride and be worried the whole time that you're not gonna make it back home without problems.

After about 2,000 miles on it, and many carb cleanings, fuel filter and line changes, etc., I bought a used Keeway 2t F-act. It is still chinese made but was supposed to be better than the other Chinese scooters.

The oil injection went out within about 3 months, causing me to crack a piston during a ride. Looking back, I honestly believe the seller sold it to me like that and knew that it would be a while before I ran the tank of gas out and he would be long gone.

Other than that, the Keeway has been pretty reliable. I seem to have a lot of problems keeping the carb cleaned out, so I'm constantly taking it off to clean it, even though I use Sea-foam, which is frustrating.

So, I'm now looking at a couple of brand new "name brand" scooters. As someone posted earlier, I just want to "put gas in it and ride" at this point.


The silver lining in owning the two Chinese scoots, is that I learned a LOT about how to service/trouble shoot scooters. I knew nothing about them when I bought my first one. But now, I can confidently clean/replace/re-jet the carb, change the variator and sliders, replace the drive belt, and all the other regular scheduled maintenance.

So, after writing this novel, yeah, I'd go with the $800 Honda without batting and eye.

Good Luck whatever you decide!

I got to the I just want to put gas in it and ride state with my Znen after about a year of constant whatever. I was a bit shocked when I found out how affordable the Aprilia I ended up with was and still is. I will not hesitate to ride out 6 hours across the state and then back on the same day just to see whats there with the Aprilia while with the Lance (Znen) I would have to debate if I would be able to make it all the way to work or be able to get all the way home on any given day. I was also getting a bit tired of the bosses regular comment about getting a horse whenever the Lance would break down and leave me stranded on the way to work. I have not missed a days work or been late because of the Aprilia even after putting almost 15,000 miles on it while the Lance once it got past 3,000 miles became a second job that I needed to work at so I could almost make it daily to my first job.

Honestly, I've had more troubles with my $2600 BMS scooter, than with any of the TaoTao scoots.
The issues with the Tao's are just fuel hose clips, and occasionally they forget to mount a bolt.
Especially their ATM's have a VERY GOOD reliability. I see the VIP scooters in the repair shops ALL THE TIME!
But very seldom do I see an ATM in the repair store.

So the way I see it for the ATM's it's more like: if you have 20 apples, and one is bad...