Chinese scooter quality

[fish]

The quality of a Chinese made scooter has been discussed here some, but here are some pictures of the guts of my Chinese made scooter (Taiwan based KYMCO).
KYMCO made a big price drop ($3200 down to $2600) after the launch of this scooter - some say it was because the assembly was moved from Taiwan to China mainlands. However - no owner of one made in Taiwan has ever come forward, so the current thinking is that all of these were made in China. All I know for certain is that every new owner in the USA quickly peeled off the "Made in China" sticker from the front of the scooter! (yes, I'm embarrassed that I did that - but I'm not looking to put it back on!) Most of us were hoping that our scoots were made in Taiwan (known as "the new Japan" to some - see the very nice SYM scoots made in Taiwan)
Since owning this scooter for nearly 2 yrs and 8000 miles I am generally impressed with it's build quality. I have used the 2yr warranty to replace the throttle body - and quickly installed City Grips & a lighted top case for safety reasons.
Some photos of the guts of this thing....

seat pops out with 4 bolts, 2 screws....

Spark plug hole.....

birth certificate...











But if I want a comfortable ride ....I get on the Honda made in Thailand!
Fish

[Monty1952]

Kymco make engines and transmissions for BMW scoots so .............

[Mel46]

I have heard nothing but good things about KYMCO, aside from them not having enough authorized dealers and repair shops in the USA. I don't consider them to be a Chinese manufacturer. I would buy a scooter built by them if there were close enough authorized repair shops.

[SECoda]

One of my local Powersport dealers who carries Kymco and Kawasaki says they make some of the Kawasaki engines and other parts and even used to make other manufacturers engines. My brother has an Kymco Agility 125 and a 450i UTV and swears by them. His local dealer rents them because they are reliable.

There is quite a difference between mainland China and Taiwan in production quality these days. China can be good if the plant is not owned and controlled by the state.

I may have ended up with the Downtown 300i scooter instead of the Forza if the leg room had been better. A seat change was a requirement for me when I tested it. It is maybe 2" shorter than the Forza. Other than that I liked it a bit better than the Forza.

[gn2]

Honda also sources stuff from China.
Don't remember hearing of a Kymco with the same raft of warranty issues as the Forza.

[DioTiAma]

Check this one out guys: to be released in Easter 2015.

[SECoda]

Oh sure - tease me now that I committed to the Forza. Any pictures of the instrument cluster?

[SECoda]

Fish - how important is it to adjust the valves on your Kymco?

[iceman]

Sure looks nice - and 350i!

[oldbiker]

Plus abs look going on front disc.

[speedandstyle]

Several of the Taiwanese brands and both of the Korean bike brands started life making parts for one of the Japanese brands{or maybe even more}. Both Kymco and SYM started off making parts and then complete bikes for Honda. Kymco has tried to separate from the Honda look but SYM still builds several models that are copies of Hondas{Wolf is a copy of the Honda CB125 and the Symba is a Honda Cub clone}. Both companies' engine designs are obviously Honda influenced. Needless to say all these companies learned about quality and they are still building them with it.

[kcpcx]

In my experience, when someone says made in China, they generally mean mainland China, not Taiwan. Also in my experience, made in Taiwan means better quality by far than made in (mainland) China.

Kymco and Sym are regarded as higher echelon manufacturers (quality-wise) than the no name mainland China scooter producers. At least from what I can tell, there is no comparison, really.

[JohnL]

Chinese mainland products can be every bit as good as any other country, as long as cost is not the dominating factor.

They build and run high speed trains and nuclear reactors, why shouldn't they be able to build quality scooters?

[fish]

Oh sure - tease me now that I committed to the Forza. Any pictures of the instrument cluster?

My KYMCO LIKE200i was drawn by an Italian design house. Which may explain why it has such a following in Asia, the US and Europe.
This Downtown and the MyRoad seem to be drawn by a committee, rather than a team.
Decades ago a designer explained to me why those early Japanese cars had so many little folds, cuts, bumps, ridges, and just plain fiddly bits: "Japan streets are so crowded that one can never get back far enough to view the whole of the design, so they try to impress with the fiddly bits viewed from 1/2 a meter away!"
The design of these big KYMCOs makes me think that the streets in Taiwan must be very crowded indeed!
Their design is too busy , does not flow and the areas seem to conflict....for my taste.
The Italian design houses could use the business.
(My daughter and I stood admiring a new red Fiat soft-top the other day - lovely shapes and color combinations all over that car - plus it had a big green Xmas wreath on the front!) But I like the idea of a 350EFI engine.



Fish

[gn2]

The Myroad is an abortion, the original Downtown was styled by Massimo Zaniboni.
http://www.arkemastudio.it/en/aboutmassimozaniboni.html

The new Downtown was unveiled months ago at EICMA, along with the much beter looking Agility Maxi 300.

http://www.motoblog.it/galleria/kymco-a ... i-abs-2015

http://www.motoblog.it/galleria/kymco-d ... -350i-2015

[DioTiAma]

Kymco Agility Maxi 300i takes after Honda Forza 300, Honda Forza 125 and Yamaha Xmax 250 (my opinion).

[gn2]

Maxi scooters are all built with the same basic layout which tends to make them all look very similar.