Are these scooters worth buying? You hear a lot of stories about Chinese crap. They look pretty smart but how are they for reliability and working on (basic maintenance, I'm not a proper mechanic!). Probably only do about 3000km in a year. Would you get 5 years, with oil changes every 1000kms? Oh yeah would de-restrict, not for hammering around, only for safety, I do use a couple of 40mph stretches of road so don't want to hold up other road users. Most of the time 30mph (I don't speed!!).
There are some issues you might find with parts on some Chinese scooters but what iv found is that if you look after it then it will last. Iv seen banged up lexmoto gladiators with up to 45,000 km on them and the ones iv seen looked like they had been beat up bad. If you keep up maintence on them and protect them from weathering storing inside where possible cover them if not and don't rag the shit out of them then they should last. Finding a place to work on them if something does go wrong can be a problem tho, occasionally you might find a garage that will work on them but chances are they don't know what the fuck they are doing. I don't you will get 40mph out of a derestricted 50cc lexmoto scooter. You'll be red lining it trying. Why not go for a 125?
There are at least 2 main dealers within 10 miles of me so work shouldn't be a problem! Thanks for the info. I ride on my car license (old git!) and don't want to do CBT every couple of years. I only use 2 short stretches of 40mph road and to be honest I'm generally around 35/36 mph. Plenty quick enough for old Jenksy!
From new, the exhaust will rot through within 2 years, the kick-start mechanism is not the best quality, the belt case will show aluminium corrosion blisters at the back. I have also known the rear wheel to start to buckle for no apparent reasons. However, parts are cheap, have a look at Llexeter for spares prices, or CMPO for the full list. It's a 4 stroke lump, and it's not going to be very quick at all, restricted to 45kph as standard, which is about 28mph. Highly dangerous for today's roads (and drivers). And it's only got a 4.6 litre fuel tank. To get that any where near 45mph you will need to fit the 72cc piston and barrel and replace the exhaust. For the price as new that you would pay for it, i would put the money into a runner 50, used, for about half that cost, and bring that up to standard, as in their de-restricted form, they can easily achieve 55mph, more than enough for what you want.
Got a Sym Symply at the mo. Must say I think it's a good scooter so far. Had it from new for about 18 months. Won't change it for a couple of years, but it's not always easy to get bits immediately, although normally ok within a couple of days. Must admit I'd be a bit wary of the "cheaper" chinese scooters but was wondering if they had improved. At the moment I would say I'd be likely to stick with Sym. They are only a bit more expensive but seem very well built! Have noticed my Symply2 engine bears no resemblance to the service manual at all! In fact it looks like the engine they use in the Mio! Trying to figure out how to check the valves. This is my first scooter (at 54 years old). Im doing most of my own basic maintenance (oil, plugs and bits). Still learning as I go, that's the beauty of forums like this, plenty of help for newbies. I'm ok when it comes to learning the basics but I ain't no proper mechanic! No strip downs and re-builds for me. If you take it in to the shop for every service it costs more to maintain in a year than my car! Which defeats the object of having a scooter as cheaper transport. Not only that it's quite good fun as well having a tinker around, like being a boy again! Thanks for the info chaps it's good to have support when learning and gaining confidence. Happy scootering all.
