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Jan 14, 2014 11:10:05 GMT -5 spandi said:

Maybe it's just the relief of not having to deal with a particular "Lemon Lance" made the "brand name" a miracle by comparison. I do know a local woman here who drives a Znen made Lance (and has for three years) with just regular maintenance (the local Honda shop carries Lance and services them) You see her going everywhere on it and she's had no major issues at all. (Maybe the former was a monday or friday scooter?)

You'll get a lemon in life on about anything, just because Lance may have had a scooter that carried that label doesn't mean they are all that way.

I look at Lance like two of the other "better" built Chinese scooter, Fly which went by the way side and CfMoto which pulled out of the scooter market here in the U.S. IMO they did build a better scooter but they still have one thing, Chinese label and then add the higher price it adds up to two bad combinations to sell them when one can save $100's if they are willing to do the work themselves.

It's like the old adage of a $100 saddle on a $10 horse. Horse isn't any better just because he's got a high dollar saddle on.

The point is like anything you ride/drive, sometimes you only ride/drive with no issues but sometimes one has to pick up a wrench, the question is who is going to do it, you or the dealer?

JR

I actually still have a old Tv/FM signal booster with tubes that work and have two of those tubes in it, made by a company long ago that has gone called Vikoa. My father and I built the first underground TV cable system west of the Mississippi River in 1967 and used a lot of stuff like this:

theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org/170/171/1713/index.html

theoldcatvequipmentmuseum.org/160/162/1623/index.html#VikoaInLineAmpModel5025--1.JPG

Lets be realistic.   The scooter thing isn't the only thing in the world with the label China and not the only thing that is use a while, throw away or fix it.

Has anyone recently seen who is quitting the TV business? Does anyone see the local TV repair shop in their small home town anymore? Reason, TV's are made to use, when they quit you throw them away and buy another, not only would it cost more to fix it you can't find anyone who will. When I bought my grandson a Xbox 360S last Christmas (2012) at the black Friday sale I bought the 2 year extended warranty if you throw it off the house they will fix it or replace it, paid $7 for the warranty. Just two weeks ago the programming went nuts, can't play it. Spent 6 hours on the phone with Microsoft techs (Microsoft makes Xbox) and the tech said it's a gonner. Called my extended warranty to get it fixed or replaced, long story short they sent me a free prepaid label to send it back and refunded my money in full in two days. They don't even make this model anymore and will not replace it and it can't be fixed.

Now let's also think about Chinese versus name brand this is one of the oldest arguments around and I do mean old.  Not going to get into the long drawn out drama about it but I will use my "own" experience and it's simple, I never expected my 50cc or 150cc scooters to be a work horse, nor would I expect that out of a name brand 50cc or a 150cc scooter, folks these type scooters are no more than a glorified lawn mower on two wheels instead of four.

My riding lawn mowers are all set up on the same basis, electric start with CDI ignition, stator, R/R and a headlight except my old 1988 Craftsman still has points but does have a stator, rectifier and headlights.

The kill switch circuit is the same, ground out the engine when you turn the key off, doesn't take a rocket scientist to work on them or a scooter even name brand and if you are under the illusion that name brand scooters are flawless then go to your closet name brand dealer and go into the repair shop and ask them what kind of problems they fix, you'll find out everything from blown head gaskets to yes a wheel bearing, why because a lot of them have "Chinese" parts and some just have the same kind of problems. A "honest" name brand dealer will tell you this, I mean they do have a "repair" shop and they do more than "prep" bikes.

Now I'm not guessing on this statement, have a very good friend who is a mechanic at the Honda dealership in Russellville 30 minutes from here. Sometimes I jump on my 250B and go to Russellville to shop and when I'm there I'll stop in and holler at him. He'll tease me about my piece of Chinese junk but he shuts up when he looks at the speedometer (over 12k) and he knows me well enough to know that I done what he does every day on a new sold bike, I prepped it and done a heck of  a PDI.

Not all problems with Chinese scooters can be associated with not doing a good PDI but what would you say the percentage is of people who just bought one, put gas in it and then expected it to be trouble free? Difference between these people and name brand is you can take it to my friend when it's a Honda and he'll take care of it but you need a deep pocket when you take it to him if it's out of warranty. Their shop is full of Honda scooters that are labeled for sale as parts, why? Because it would cost the owner more to fix them than they are worth. Difference?, a lot easier to swallow  throwing away a $500 Chinese piece of junk than a $3500 Metropolitan.

That wheel bearing that was mentioned, can buy it at a local auto parts for under $10 in most cases but put it in a bag with the word "Honda" on it add another $15 for the name Honda.

Other factors for both kinds of scooters, riding conditions, general PM, and how one treats them, the OP said his 50cc was out in the rain rusting? Wiring problems on a 50cc Chinese scooter, extremely elementary again your riding mower is wired the same as is the name brand ones. Don't believe me look at the wiring schematic of a typical Chinese 50cc and a Yamaha 50cc as was mentioned.

Other factors, how many people buy a 50cc scooter for instance and even 150cc scooters and the first question they ask is "how can I make it go faster?" Here come out the wrenches, modify this, change that and then the old "my scooter is not running right" statement appears or the old "how do I make my scooter stop doing this when I changed that" thing?

Why do people "not" do that to a name brand scooter, we all know this is a easy answer, put a wrench on it and warranty is gone.

Let's also be practical about the name brand dealers, lets see I said closest name brand dealer 30 minutes away and it's Honda, do know of some Yamaha dealers in the state, Kymco, Sym, etc.

Remember this is extremely rural Arkansas ( have to pump in sunshine) so all these let the dealer fix things are not next door and a Chinese scooter is as close as the fingers on my key board and there is a JCL dealer in Conway 30 minutes away too.

Difference? I never had the expectations of my computer bought Chinese scooter even though I have proven on several one way in the death of summer heat 400 mile one way trips on my 250B that they can perform well when properly PDI'd and maintained but "I" do the maintaining and part of that is they like everything I own don't sit out in the weather, that's what I have shops, sheds and a garage for.

I don't even do that to that 1988 Craftsman mower and yes she still purrs like a kitten.

The statement of constant wrenching?   That for me means engine, gear oil changes, tire changes and a battery every 3 years, if memory serves me correctly name brand do the same.

Modifications I've done, taller windshield, saddle bags, larger tires.

JR