( I'll keep it brief.
I have spent almost $1000 keeping a Scooter X, Haushang-engine-powered scooter on the road. This scooter--and many like it--sells here on eBay for about $200 - $250. This is the list of repairs:
Day 1 (yes, the day I got it, set it up, and started breaking it in--literally): The fold-down stem simply BROKE. Welds snapped, from normal riding and braking up and down the street. Apparently, the force of my weight going back and forth on the bar as I accellerated and braked simply wore out the welds--in about an hour! FYI, I weight about 155 pounds!
Day 1 (yep, same day): the "high performance pipe" melted itself. The whole "can" of the pipe broke away at the welds, making it a straight-pipe and VERY loud (but higher revving! I didn't mind, but the neighbors hated it.).
Within six months: both brake rotors (warped from braking heat), handlebar (frighteningly loose and wobbly), steering bar (integrated to handlebars, so you're forced to change the whole front end at once), shocks--basically the entire front end.
Within a year: the ENGINE ($100 down the drain) because its mounts snapped off the engine housing (Chinese pot metal garbage), gas tank (cracked and leaked--might be my fault, this time). Tires, but that was normal wear and tear.
In short, the only parts I still have that are stock are the bottom frame, rear triangle, cables and grips, and chain. I have basically bought this scooter three times over, in fixing it. I could have bought a top of the line Goped Sport or Tanaka or Bladez and had about $300 for upgrades. Yes, I am a fool--don't be like me!
DO NOT BUY CHINESE-MADE SCOOTERS. PERIOD. The metal is the weakest on the planet, they can't weld to save their lives (or yours, keep in mind!), the core design is self-destructive (poor load dynamics and NO stiffening), and every part on it is the cheapest available on the market.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
I have spent almost $1000 keeping a Scooter X, Haushang-engine-powered scooter on the road. This scooter--and many like it--sells here on eBay for about $200 - $250. This is the list of repairs:
Day 1 (yes, the day I got it, set it up, and started breaking it in--literally): The fold-down stem simply BROKE. Welds snapped, from normal riding and braking up and down the street. Apparently, the force of my weight going back and forth on the bar as I accellerated and braked simply wore out the welds--in about an hour! FYI, I weight about 155 pounds!
Day 1 (yep, same day): the "high performance pipe" melted itself. The whole "can" of the pipe broke away at the welds, making it a straight-pipe and VERY loud (but higher revving! I didn't mind, but the neighbors hated it.).
Within six months: both brake rotors (warped from braking heat), handlebar (frighteningly loose and wobbly), steering bar (integrated to handlebars, so you're forced to change the whole front end at once), shocks--basically the entire front end.
Within a year: the ENGINE ($100 down the drain) because its mounts snapped off the engine housing (Chinese pot metal garbage), gas tank (cracked and leaked--might be my fault, this time). Tires, but that was normal wear and tear.
In short, the only parts I still have that are stock are the bottom frame, rear triangle, cables and grips, and chain. I have basically bought this scooter three times over, in fixing it. I could have bought a top of the line Goped Sport or Tanaka or Bladez and had about $300 for upgrades. Yes, I am a fool--don't be like me!
DO NOT BUY CHINESE-MADE SCOOTERS. PERIOD. The metal is the weakest on the planet, they can't weld to save their lives (or yours, keep in mind!), the core design is self-destructive (poor load dynamics and NO stiffening), and every part on it is the cheapest available on the market.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
Guide created: 12/22/05 (updated 08/10/08)
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