Am I better off purchasing an older name brand scooter like honda or yamaha, or a brand new off brand?
I see used Honda or Yamaha models selling anywhere between 0 and 00+, and there are brand new off brand models selling for 0+. What is the better deal? If the off brands are worth it, which ones are best? Any ides?
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Tagged with: brand models • Honda • ides • yamaha models
Filed under: Honda Scooter Forum
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Heres my take. I repair motorcycle, ATVs, Mowers and watercraft for a living. What good is a cheap anything if the first time it falls over and breaks a realitively minor part (for a Japanese bike anyway) and you are now sidelined because the place where you bought your indonesian whatever can’t get the repair part for 6 months? And so your bike is sidelined because a lever or some mirror or something simple is broken and you can’t ride it on the street. Then after waiting 6 months for the part to come in, you find that the company sent the wrong part.
The biggest problem with all of the Chinese and korean bikes is replacement parts. As others here have said the engines are junk to start with. they do not take any abuse. The other components are pretty cheaply made as well and will not take any abuse either. Where as the japanese made stuff, HAS a dealer network, that you are never more than 50 miles from a dealer who either has or can easily get you your parts quickly.
My advise is ask questions and lots of them when you go to a local seller about replacement parts. Then spend time reading on answers all the problems people with brand new Chinese products are having and can’t get any dealer backing or help to fix.
theres a reason the off brands are cheap
I would much rather have a used Japanese scooter than a new brand. I know parts will be available for a long time. I know the engineering/reliability/longevity is up to the regular Japanese standard. Just so long as the bike has been well cared for and hasn’t been totally thrashed.
The Chinese and Taiwanese and Koreans are getting better all the time, but the companies are still new and unstable. Without permanent dealer and service networks, these bikes have to be seen as ‘disposable’.
a lot of people are seriously against chinese scooters…
but i’ll give you an objective look at this.
chinese scooters tend not to last very long, the plastic parts rattle apart after a while, the engines go bad if not properly maintained, things like that..
yamaha, honda, vespa, etc tend to stay alive longer.. but parts are more expensive when they DO fail….. yes… even the name brand ones fail…
here’s another thing….
a brand new GY6 motor (which is what chinese scooters use) is around 300 USD…. BRAND NEW 125cc out of the box never been used…. that’s incredibly cheap a 50cc is almost half that price. it’s not hard to find them once you know what to search for.
a new yamaha engine would cost a LOT more than that..
chinese scooters have a LOT of aftermarket parts you can buy for them to give them more horsepower if you should see fit to have it.
Here’s a realistic analysis. if this is your FIRST scooter… why buy something expensive. buy something cheap and see if you LIKE IT… if you do, and that one breaks, either fix it, or buy a newer better one that suits your taste..
if you buy a 3500$ scooter and decided you hate scooting, your out a lot of money. you’ll never sell it for what you bought it for. why not spend 800.. if you don’t like it, you’re mor likely to sell it for close to what you bought it for to someone who doesn’t know much about them.
maybe not, but, either way, you’re out a lot less money…
so i say go chinese…
rocketa makes cool bikes, and there are several others.. ALL of them use a motor from the same manufacturer that they re-brand as their own… so like i said, aftermarket parts for these engines almost always fit…
for what it costs to buy a new honda or yamaha, you can have a chinese scooter with assloads of mods that has almost twice the power, and generally look just as cool.. if you take care of them, they can last pretty well.. but that goes with anything.
thats my $0.02
you will NEVER ride with any Harley Davidson owing a rice burner
I got a HD sportster, Yamaha SX6 and a Suzuki raider 150. The funnest one by far is the little Suzuki. There are a lot of aftermarket parts for it, like loud pipes, shift kits, rims,etcetc. But if you really want something that you can mod as yuo go on, go for a Honda 125. The list of mods are endless. And it is reliable as can be.
Chinese products are very tempting. The Chinese are getting better and better with packaging. Their bikes look as good , if not better , than any Jap bike. But the internals are still crap. I have a mechanic friend who’s got a Chinese scooter. Not once I’ve paid him a visit and he wasn’t taking something apart ot rebuild it.
YOu’ll kick yourself later if you buy Chinese.
New brands suffer from the double edged sword of no reputaion because they are new and poor sales because they don;t have a reputation. If the new brands have a dealership with a parts dept it might be worth trying and the price is a loss leader to to encourage sales, Even tho iffy the is new it no worse. Check it by workmanship.
You pay pay less and take a chance but yoiu WILL know who rode it.
I would rather pay same amounu
In the early 60’s Honda had no reputation in the USA, and were sold in hardware stores