Chines Scooters.

[Elliott Larron]

There Bikes are So Bad, That even Chinese are Buying Suzuki's Yamaha Hondas instead of there Own Bikes..

Gary L,

[KaraokeGreg]

TwoWheelTim,

My sentiments also, so I'm not alone, once again my under $1800 Chinese scoot still looks & runs great, after 6 years, always fires right up.
My secret is the same, good regular maintenance, I change all the oils when I'm supposed to.

Actually has had way less problems than my 650 Burg. ( trans slip problem, water pump 2x, oil hose rupture).

Still love my Burgman though, best bike ever!

Greg

[ferretsrluv]

I've bought 2 Chinese scooters and NEVER again! They got me to and from work, but once the weather got a little cold, I was left stranded 30 miles from home until it decided to start and STAY running. It was dangerous to leave work and turn the corner and it stop running. Could have easily gotten myself killed. I'm now trying to talk my husband into letting me have a 400 Burgman. Yes, the Chinese scooters (mine were Roketas) were inexpensive and yes, I kept up on the maintenance, but it was not worth my life to keep either of them. Started with a 150cc and went up to a 250cc. Never ever again. I'll wait for my Burgman or Honda Silver Wing.

[DonPiar]

I've bought 2 Chinese scooters and NEVER again! They got me to and from work, but once the weather got a little cold, I was left stranded 30 miles from home until it decided to start and STAY running. It was dangerous to leave work and turn the corner and it stop running. Could have easily gotten myself killed.

I know the feeling, I had a 2009 150cc Chinese Scooter last summer and thanks to the Scooter I lost about 20 pounds (pushing the piece of crap around). I pushed that thing more than I rode it. This year I bought a new Burgie, gave that piece of garbage to my brother-in-law (3 months later he still does not have it running) and never looked back. Although I am still listening to my wife tell me how much money I wasted buying it in the first place. (She insisted I buy the Burgie new!)

Don

[Elliott Larron]

Who, Could Blame you the Only place that stuff Belong is in the Trash Can where it belongs,

I Lost at least $3000 on those bikes...

See he can't get it running becuze of the Cheap Rubber, There may be Vacume leaks in the engine frame same deal i had, I Never got it started again.. So i just Trashed it..

Gary L,

[QuantumRift]

Hi,
Anyone drive a Chinese scooter??? If so where did you buy from? and, would you do it again??? Thanks.

Only if I lived in "Chines"....

[dsfraser]

There's a Twelve Step program for people with Chinese scooters.

FWIW, anyone looking at a smaller scooter should consider the Aprilia Scarabeo. My son has one, 200cc, and it kept up admirably from Kelowna to Calgary through some difficult riding in mountains and bad weather. I was quite impressed. It did much better than I expected.

Scott Fraser

[Elliott Larron]

I was gonna order one of those back in the days an Aprilia scooter but got the Burgman 400 instead, can't find Aprilia's now days used to have the 200 ,500 Importing them stoped!! But there are very nice Scooters,

Gary L,

[grayeeagle2000]

I bought a used Xing 260cc Chinese Scooter, a replica of the Suzuki Burgman 400, it had 87 miles on it, paid $1300.00, its been nothing but trouble, first it started dieing for no apparent reason, never did find the reason for that, but now it idles to fast or may idle to slow, Latest thing the diaphragm in the carb. had to be re sealed, lost all its top speed, with that fix though it seems to have good power, gets about 60 to 67 mpg around town, afraid to go out of town, Ha. Looks good, stops good, but now its up for sale, I just bought a 06 Burgman 650, it seems like a Mercedes compared to the Xing. bottom line is don't buy one unless you intend to spend a lot of time keeping it running.

[Old-n-slow]

It's a copy of the Honda Reflex, not the Burgman. The frame is too small for a 400cc engine in any case.

[billmeek]

Actually, it is a Burgman clone (design-wise) with a smaller engine.

XYST260-4.jpg (14.8 KiB) Viewed 1595 times

[Elliott Larron]

All Bill, Your not going out like that

Gary L,

[MagicMike]

Here are a few pictures of a Chinese 'Rocketta' next to my 2007 Burgman Exec, taken back in 2007. I wonder what the China-Junk looks like now? I'm going to have to see if I can find out if the owner still has it. Notice the exhaust pipe in the third picture. They made it look large but if you look close you will see the real pipe pointed downward on the inside of the fake.



(full size pics at my Flckr page, see the link below)

[sculptor]

I bought a Merato 150 in 2007, have riden it every day that there was not snow or ice.
its how I go to work, run errands, shop, deliver and pick up my two little school kids from elementary school. ( they sit in front of me between my arms we go 5 mph, they love it) it has never been covered, stays out in the rain,snow,sun elements. It always starts within one second of pressing the button, it always goes, it gets 75mpg up and down hills of WV, I have 3000 miles on it and its 11hp engine gets me up to 50mph (I weigh 200 and will get 40/50 lbs of groceries on it as well).

what more could you want for $750.? ($200 to deliver) my other vehicle a suburban gets 10mpg....so I scooter has "boughten" it self - it costs $90/yr to insure and saves me $500 in gas per year. plus its fun. it only weighs 200 or so pounds so its small so it easy to turn or pull back up a hill.

you can get parts for it, its cheaply made, but it works.

ps I just bought a crumpled 400an 2005 burgman for $760 (+$250 delivery) straightened the frame, welded plastic back together,tuned it up.....beautiful!, only 5900 miles, I look forward to 30,000 more miles...its a qualitymachine, will definitely out live the merato and get almost the same gas milage.

they both have their use, the merato is not a "hiway machine" its a scootabout errand runnner. the burg will do that but go coast to coast if needed....big diff. glad I didn't spend 7k on a new one

[MagicMike]

Maybe the reason we call these Chinese scooters junk is because they are so cheap that anyone can afford them, even those that don't have a clue as to how to take care of one. Considering that they are perfect for alcholics it would make sense to see them pretty well beat up most of the time.

Sculptor, I'm curious what you will think of your Chinese scooter after you've put some miles on the Burgman, say a year from now.

You know what I hate? Being treated like I'm riding a Chinese scooter when I am simply obeying the speed laws around town. A guy flew around me the other day and acted like he was mad because I was doing 35 in a 30 and taking the whole lane, instead of riding the outside white line.

[Tokkyu40]

Actually, it is a Burgman clone (design-wise) with a smaller engine.

Actually, it's a copy of the Burgman 250. It better be big enough for a 400cc engine, because the Burgman 400 is built on the 250 chassis.
The Chinese bikes are built from the same parts and materials as the equivalent name brand bikes. The difference is not the level of maintenance the owner gives it; it's the level of quality control the manufacturer gives it. The Chinese bike might skip testing for poor heat treatment or internal cracks, tolerance for measurements can be loose to the point that any part that goes on at all is considered good, and electrical connectors are usually the thinnest sheet metal that can hold the wire until delivery. Despite this, if all the accumulated error lines up the bike could run for years with only minimal maintenance. If the margin of error lines up badly a Japanese bike might be nothing but trouble. In both cases the odds are very much against it.
A Yugo can potentially be a good, reliable car. I recently saw one being driven down the road. How many have you seen?
How often do you see a Volvo from the same period?
Which one would you trust on a long road trip?

Claude

[azrider]

It's a copy of the '03-'06 Burgman 400 with a copy of the Yamaha 260 engine. I had the Vog 260 (aka XY260-T4), pictured above, at the same time as my '06 B400. Side by side in my garage, both in dressed and naked states. While the AN250 and AN400 may have the same frames, the tuperware and dash are completely different. The Chinese scooter was definately modeled off the AN400.

[BirdmanA1A]

I have a Taiwanese Eton. They are licensed to do stuff for Yamaha. So, not mainland Chinese junk,
but not Japanese quality, either. I got mine specifically to goof around with. I think two stroke 50's
are the new VW Beetle of modding in a way. Lots of stuff to play with for very cheap ! Mine has
needed a little tinkering to keep running but Im convinced it was a parts donor bike for the dealership
before I got it, so saying its unreliable from the factory wouldnt be fair. In my experience with
my Eton, people I talk to and the various 50cc hot rodder sites I visit, the electrics are usually what
are going to make you have to push instead of ride

[Ralph M]

Called to see a friend that works at a Yamaha dealers today, in passing he said the mechanics
were moaning about having to unload a truck load of new bike that had arrived in the rain,
on the way out I looked at 4 or 5 boxes containing new Yamaha's that had not been moved
into the building, all were stamped "Made in China" no idea which models they were but must
ask next time I am in.

[rustynail]

We can get those 49cc VIP jobs in my area for 500 bucks or so.

Me & a couple buddies at work were seriously considering getting a few and then racing them on a course layed out on a mowed grass field. After, we would clean them up and sell them for half price on Craigslist.

I think 250 bucks would be worth it for a day of redneck racing

[JustPassinThru]

Thought I'd check in on this...

...Since I last left you, I'd sold the Burg400 under duress on a trip. Life moves on; and I had some bikes...got a BMW Boxer dual-sport. Nice bike, for long tours...

...but I'm getting older; and I found I missed the convenience of the scoot. Just hop on; twist and go. And if the arthritis is acting up on the hip...no problem with the low floor.

Anyway. I still had the Burg when I came across a VOG 260...looked like a discount-rate clone. Did research; and it didn't matter whether it was a TANK or a BMS or whatever, the thing was called trash. Just the same, I thought I'd like to play with one, just as a backup and goof-off bike...

Never found a used one in my area...areas, actually, as the job situation had me move quite a bit.

But last fall, I DID come on a close-out of the successor to the 260 VOG...this one was sold under its rightful name. A Xingyue XY300t-4. Almost identical to the old 260 but for some nose trim.

Engine is now FI.

So far, I'm moderately pleased. Engine has a whallop...it feels a whole lot like the AN400 in terms of power. Had it up to 75; fuel mileage seems close to 80 mpg. Brakes are...middling. Seems that's the weakest point.

But, fingers crossed, there's been no dead batteries; no current leaks; no no-starts. I bought from a dealer who changed all fluids before the sale. Of course, that service cost...my dream of a $1999 beater became a $2999 gamble.

But with 600 miles on it, it's been a winning number so far.

[TwoWheelTim]

Congrats on the new scoot! I still enjoy my Jcl 257 Chinese machine and use it daily for my ten mile one way commute. It has 20,000 miles and runs strong. Also , Let's me save milage on the new Burgman, which is a great bike. Hard to beat for the price $1,708 delivered

[JustPassinThru]

Yeah. Hit 800 miles on my Xingyue Son-of-VOG XY300t-4 this morning.

So far, the ONLY complaints I have are, poor fit/finish and poor brakes. ALWAYS starts; and it's been cold here this spring. Started this morning with an outside temperature of 31. Fuel injection makes all the difference - especially over a Chinese carburetor.

I read some of these gripes, and wonder if they're living on the same planet. NONE of these problems - NONE! Not on the 300; and not on the Rowdy-Big-Ruck clone I got for the hell of it.

[azrider]

Yeah. Hit 800 miles on my Xingyue Son-of-VOG XY300t-4 this morning.

So far, the ONLY complaints I have are, poor fit/finish and poor brakes. ALWAYS starts; and it's been cold here this spring. Started this morning with an outside temperature of 31. Fuel injection makes all the difference - especially over a Chinese carburetor.

I read some of these gripes, and wonder if they're living on the same planet. NONE of these problems - NONE! Not on the 300; and not on the Rowdy-Big-Ruck clone I got for the hell of it.

800 miles isn't very much mileage you know. I put 5000 on my Vog before everything started falling apart. I fixed the many issues it had and sold it, bought the Majesty. Night and day difference. I felt lucky because most people have to start working on them from day one. Maybe you'll get lucky too. Btw, my 260 was not FI but it started every time too.