Modern Vespa

It looks like the Covid scooter and motorcycle hot sales market is fading. These are pretty hefty discounts.

https://kymcousa.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/KYMCO-Summer-Rebate-SMB-2023-0701.pdf

Kymco makes very good scooters that have been proven over the years. Parts can sometimes be tough to get, particularly body panels.

I got to see, sit, and inspect a Kymco AK550 recently at a local dealer. It is an impressive (and expensive!) machine, but not on the list shared by the OP.

It's a shame they no longer sell the People GT 300i.

Or the Downtown 300 because what followed wasn't that good.

Honestly those are tiny discounts on 2 year old units. That's no fire sale.

SDG

Yes. But I thought that $425 off on them put them below Lance scooters in price. That was a first for me. The People 150 is built in Taiwan. It's one thing to discount the others, built in China, another for the first class models.

I'd put my Chinese made Kymco up against the Taiwanese made Kymco anyday, and my Vietnamese made Piaggio up against an Italian made Piaggio...any day.
O.S.

That wasn't meant as a slight. I would think the markup on a Chinese built scooter is higher than a Taiwan model. That's all.

It wouldn't be wise, as a "paid promoter of all things Chinese" to state my belief in Chinese products. After all I got a free hat from SSR.

All this talk of discounted Kymcos makes me want to go and buy a discounted Kymco.

I was thinking this too

My 1st scooter, the People 150. what a fucked name but a nice scooter

That's because you've never had one of each side by side. If you compare a brand new Taiwan Kymco to the cheaper ones they make in China, you see a lot of quality differences, especially in the aluminum castings and the feel of the plastics.
I brought Kymco into three different dealerships, two of which were in Ohio, when they were coming into the US, and was surprised when they started to sneak the Chinese stuff in. If you were to park a Chinese made People S next to whatever was still made in Taiwan at the time, like the People, you could see which one was better made. You haven't done that, so you basing this on how you feel about your particular scooter compared to something you've never seen, and not any actual comparisons that were made.
When Kymco first came into the US, they got the foot into the door by offering dealers huge margins, compared to Honda and Yamaha. But to get those, they had to list the Vitality 50, which was a phenomenally well made scooter, for about $2500, more than the Honda or Yamaha 50cc scooters at the time. Nobody wanted to pay that much for something they never heard of. So here came the Agilitys. Chinese made, and at $1500 they had more profit in them then the Yamaha or Honda products.

"People" is a far cry from the worst or weirdest Kymco model name.

Dink? Like? Myroad? Quannon? Bet & Win? Movie? Yager?

Yikes. It's as if they want to chase people away.

Grand Dink, Dink DD, they seem to like that word.

Just brought a 2014 Kymco Downtown 300i

Advertising, who needs it ?

Hmmm. Does that make me a paid promoter of all things Taiwan now?

Oh no. That title well and truly belongs to me.

I'll fight you for it.

I bow to your Title Sir.

Ask the people paying you... I'm sure they'd take issue with that.

They pay you ?

As long as I don't wear a Kymco hat I'm sure they won't mind. Plus Bill has the Taiwan franchise.

As both a former KYMCO Canada employee and a former employee of their corporate dealership here in Toronto, all of that checks out pretty much 100%.

We had to be strategic on which models to bring in and making sure that we offered an assortment that was both made in Taiwan for brand and quality, and made in China for economy and margin.

Delicate balance. Uphill battle. Fun for a fresh out school marketing grad. Twelve years later I still talk to my former boss at KYMCO Canada almost every week. We had great people there.

Yes because no European manufacturer would ever instal cheaper components from China to save money would they.

That would never happen.

Hmm. I wonder where those fuel pumps come from?

Same place as the Stators and Coils.

New belt and sliders arrived today.

The World is my Oyster.

nope

nope

Skids - right on all of the above. May also be stamped somewhere on the bike, probably by the vin, CHINA or TAIWAN.

I wouldn't sweat the Country of Origin on a Kymco. A Like 150, built in China, finished the Scooter Cannonball. It doesn't get much rougher than that.

So what?

When we got our first run of Super 8s (Made in China) at KYMCO Canada the plastic quality looked like shit compared to the Super 9 (Made in Taiwan) they were replacing.

They even messed up the stitching in the seat on the model that was sent over to us to show at our dealer conference.

Literally could not even get seat stitching right. On the unit that they sent us for the explicit purpose of showing to our dealers, and then using as our demo/press unit after that Talk about embarrassing.

Going back to your cannonball thing, if all that matters to you is "Can something last?" get a cockroach as a pet, not a dog. Cockroaches have been around a few hundred million years, dogs have only been around about 1/10th of that time.

But most of us care about a lot more than just 'can it survive something?' so, I think we'll keep avoiding the made in china KYMCOs, and for good reasons.

And I say all this as someone who's not only worked for KYMCO Canada (and their dealership), but has happily owned one (made in Taiwan) since 2009.

Cockroaches don't make good pets.

I'm sure that Kymcos that originate from China are substandard but the Like lasted longer than many other scooters that weren't.

Buicks are built in China but people still buy those.

I think that's the posters point.

They make good motors. Nothing new there.

Is it too picky to want more than a good motor? Is wanting to pass on a bike called "substandard" (among harsher names) too snobbish of me? lol

A scooter, for most people, is a utility device. And this nonsense that the panels are substandard is a myth. My eleven year old crate scooter was still in one piece when I sold it without the panels falling off.

It's the engine that gets you down the road for years. Not shiny chrome. I would take a Kawasaki over a Harley any day for that alone.

Does anyone remember when a European manufacturer built a plant in Taiwan and the initial runs of a new model came out with atrocious paint ?

Actually come to think of it I'm pretty certain that the initial run of this particular model had paint issues when it left Europe in 2009.

So if we made a poll on Modern Vespa, and asked people, "Is your scooter a utility device, and you don't care about finish quality?" you think most people would say yes? Really? On Modern Vespa?

I smell a money making opportunity.

I'll bet you $100 you're wrong. We both send Jess the money to hold in escrow, we make the poll, one of us doubles our money. You in?

I think that you've stumbled on something interesting when aesthetics become more important than utility.

I'll make a generalisation and suggest that an owner of an Italian product is more likely to scrutinise the build quality more than the owner of a Taiwanese one.

If you're paying less are you expecting less ?

I'd also suggest that a Kymco would be better employed as a utility vehicle than a rarely used object of desire.

I thought every hard core rider has a beater and a looker. I'm looking for a new beater now.

My beater will be a Downtown.

Who can forget this beast ? The MyRoad 700. I wonder if anyone actually bought one ?

Not many, I delivered one a few months ago that was purchased as new old stock, and it was several years old.

Bill - I currently have Italian, Taiwanese, German, and Japanese motorcycles. Had British until a few days ago. I look for quality and utility in everything. Zero interest in one without the other though. There's only so much room in the three car garage, not going to waste space on junk. Still hoping someone will take me up on my bet!

New as in unregistered. Old as in not sold to an end user ?