Modern Vespa

Because they don't want to.

(And we're back to Page 1 of this thread)

For the LIKE, you just have to watch that you don't doze off. You lay down near the big tail light, pop those 2 panel rivets, little panel hits you in the forehead, reach in and replace brake, turn, license - bulb, your choice.
Never had a bulb burn out. (I was in there to connect up the DRL and brake lights on my Bestem case)

I'll never be mistaken for a mechanic - but I've had this scooter apart and back together , front to rear. Carry in rim to dealer for tire swaps.
35/35W headlight is exciting.
Stock seat was too thin for 6'3+", 265lb rider. Rebuilt it.

O.S.
....couldn't go far wrong with an NOS LIKE200i. They're still out there.
NO ABS - but the twin disc brakes are fantastic! Smooth, powerful.

All countries have manufacturers that are not famous for quality. UK has Lucas electronics, unintentional inventors of the intermittent windshield wipers.
For US, do a web search for the word "recall" and stand by for a shock. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

A funny story. When one of my friends proudly proclaimed that his Harley wasn't leaking oil anymore two other riders said at the same time "It's out of oil".

Yes, no one makes defective air bags like the Japanese do, but at least when they chrome something the chrome is clear coated and still looks fresh years, or even decades later.

Everyone fucks up. But some at least aim for greatness, while others don't even pretend to.

Junk is junk is junk.

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Bill Dog has been ejected from this topic

I recently did a tune up for a client on a Honda PCX 150. To do the Valve adjustment part, pretty much all of the panels south of the floorboard are have to come off - which took about an hour to avoid breaking tabs. The next time it would probably be 20 minutes or so. Still, what a PIA. On the Yamaha Smax , like the ET/LX 150, there is a small removable service panel. Not perfect, but much easier.

I have owned and worked on many Harleys that did not leak oil. The Pre - EVO engines cases were built like the older air-cooled Porsche engines with no o-rings between the case halves, so unless there was a sealant applied, they leaked. I do know several people with over 100k miles on their EVO Sportsters that have had no serious problems.

The People S was made in China, and so was the Super 8. I'm not sure when they started the Like. I remember removing the big Made In China stickers on the rear fender of the Agility as we put them on the floor, probably 2007 or 2008.

ahh... I'd selectively, with great effort, removed the super 8 from my conscious. thank you for bringing that back, I'll send you my therapy bill.

the people S wasn't a bad bike at all. I'm somewhat certain that the agility was first, followed by the super 8 and when they dropped the people 250 from production and replaced it with the S is when that went to china as well.

the agility and S were very decent for what they were, some stuff was just a tick below usual kymco standards, but the super 8 was straight trash.

Phew! That was close.
Super 8 is the only 'cheap & cheerful' scoot I've ever seriously considered buying.
I liked the sporty looks with some of the colour and sticker combinations. Kind of a poor man's Italjet Dragster. Sort of. Glad I missed the opportunity.

visually it was a really appealing bike, and it rode pretty well. not a world beater but solidly middle of the road.

but the welds on the frames were atrocious. fit and finish was poor and the electronics were definitely sub par for kymco. it's not like they were rolling dumpster fires, it's just that they fell apart like, well, Chinese bikes. I really feel like kymco just phoned it in on that one.

mechanically, they were fine. I only did one engine and a few top ends, nothing crazy. but we almost started doing stators and flywheels as part of the PDI. out of the box they were a lot more fussy than pretty much anything else and just required so much more little rinky-dink, quibbly stuff before sale.

it's almost like kymco either tried to see how low they could go or took a back seat and loosened the iron grip they had on production/manufacturing just to see what the end result would be.

but I'd say you more than likely dodged a bullet on that one.

As a Chinese, I only recommend 3 brands: CF, Zontes, Haojue.

what? Not Dongfang?

I did some research on our BBS, quality seems good, but There are few motor models with a good price, do you have one?

Seen yesterday in Porto, Portugal:

I don't know if zontes have their sport scooters in the EU market, the 150cc and 350cc are fantastic, they also announced their 500cc ADV scooter in Milan

No. It is a brand periodically brought up by another member here who is a fan of Chinese-built scooters.

I would be the "Fan".

I rode strictly motorcycles from 1961 to 2008 when a scooter, which my late wife handed to me when she decided a motorcycle suited her better was handed to me. It was a Chongqing Bashan. The next year I acquired a pair of underbone Bashan 50cc bikes with Honda clone engines. They were much less troublesome than the scooter. That was followed by a brief experience with a 50cc Znen scooter from Lance.

Deciding I wanted to see how a bigger, Japanese scooter was I bought a used Honda Big Ruckus. It was heavy and slow. How slow? My late wife left me in the dust speed shifting away while I twisted and go-ed behind her watching her disappear into the sunset.

There were a boat load of problems with the Honda so I got rid of it and bought a CF Moto Fashion 250 which has served me much better. Next along the way I bought a used Kymco Like 50 with a two stroke engine. It came with a burned piston and barrel from no oil and I fixed it and sold it at a loss. It was blown up a year later by the next owner who ran it out of oil.

After that I bought a Honda 250 Nighthawk which needed a starter motor and carburetor. It serves me now faithfully and is trouble free. Then I purchased a used 1983 Kawasaki 750 Spectre which is breath-takingly powerful despite its age. Also trouble free.

Two years ago I bought the Dong Fang. "They build a lot of bikes" I was told by the representative from SSR, the importers of Benelli and QJ Motors along with their own line of Pit and dirt bikes. The Dong Fang 168cc is built by Tiyen and is much better than the 2008 Bashan in build and detailing, also having a heavier duty engine.

So a fan of "Chinese scooter". I guess. But only as around town machines, a job they are especially suited for. I don't need anything else with ultra reliable Japanese motorcycles ready to carry the heavy loads.

It makes 80 horsepower and 43 ft lbs of torque. You can get that out of a 20 year old little naked Yamaha fz6 for $2,000 on craigslist when a teenager is done with it as his first bike.

Let's not get overdramatic and if we can't keep our standards current with 2023, let's at least keep them in line with the 21st century.

But you own a Vespa, so welcome. Let's see some pics of your scooter.