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Post by arcanum70 on Mar 22, 2013 20:05:56 GMT -5
Just some random musings that I have been having over the past few days while I have been waiting for the foot and a half of "global warming" that we got the other day to finish melting.
One was about classic scooters. The Vespa/Lambretta. I think that I am probably one of the very few people who never has liked the look of these things. I know that a lot of people love them, and that's great. However, I find it frustrating that most of the scooter clubs around where I live only cater to people who own these things, and anyone that dares to not own one is trash and not worthy of being in their presence (literally had someone tell me that out of a club here in New England that is having a rally, but only Vespa's and Lambretta's are allowed).
Along with that is the general disdain that people have for Chinese scooters. There is a scooter club here in Vermont that basically treats anyone that has a Chinese scooter like a leper. That is not to say that they won't let you go on rides with them (I'm not saying that they won't, because honestly I won't ride with them because of another "rule" that they have), but if you go to their website they actually have an article attacking Chinese scooters.
While you can argue that the build quality of your average Chinese scooter is not quite on part with a Japanese built one, I find it amusing the animosity people have towards them. Especially when you consider that most products that these same people have in their homes (including their IPods, IPhones, and Apple computers) were made in China.
It seems to me that the blame for the animosity that many have for the Chinese scooter can and should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the importers/online sellers. I'm not saying that all are bad. However, if you do some checking (and I know that many here have done this, I even did it myself before buying my Hyosung) you will see that the vast majority have a bad reputation. Whether it's from slow shipping, bad packaging, not actually doing a PDI (even though some claim to do so), the hoops you have to jump through to get an MCO, or (and this seems to be an ever increasing issue), selling people bikes that cannot be registered in their states (I've read reports of one seller in California selling bikes to people in California that are not CARB approved). And, with many, even if the sale, delivery, MCO and registration go smoothly, there are issues with warranties.
So, how do we deal with this?
Do we pool our resources and start our own business of importing and selling Chinese bikes? Realizing that if we take the steps on our end to make sure that the customer does come first, and that the customer gets a bike that they don't have to be a mechanic to own, we can show people that for the most part it's not the bikes fault?
Do we become and fight to have others become more inclusive in their clubs? Do we have a club where it is scooter owners and fans of scooters (regardless of country of origin) coming together because of their love of scooters and with a willingness to help each other?
Honestly, I don't know.
I'm just a fat bald ugly guy from Vermont, who apparently has too much time on his hands to think about these things.
Let me close by apologizing for such a long post, and by thanking you for allowing me to vent and muse.
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Post by Rebel on Mar 22, 2013 21:04:41 GMT -5
Yeah, I know how you feel.
I go a 49cc Chinese scooter in 2006 was not able to get it registered in California. I went to a local independent motorcycle shop to ask a question, I was given a very cold shoulder. Then I found help on a Chinese scooter forum. Back then the Chinese scooters were really looked down on, in fact they were worse scooters then as was.
Still today it is a very rare shop that will work on one, so I always suggest that if you can not turn a wrench, don't buy Chinese.
If you want a group to ride with I suggest that you do something like get some business cards made up for your own scooter club and put them on scooters you see parked around, especially any Chinese ones, invite people to ride and see if you can start your own scooter club that is not snobbish.
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Post by terrilee on Mar 22, 2013 21:49:37 GMT -5
LMSAO
WE ALL FEEL. LIKE YOU DO
now i know why guys come talk to me "its about the scooter-Chrissy" yea sure, im 54 yrs old, not to ugly, but im thin. around here , that dont happen much. lol after a few mins, i start braggin' about how she's chinese made and yeppers that 8,000 miles on the speedo. and only been broke down, twice, and yeppers paid $400 4 years ago, had 41 miles on it.
i think i got my money and MORE fun than anything.
BUT ur right, if its a high priced scooter enthusiast they 'look down' at ya. screw 'em all, hell screw anyone who looks down at ya , for w/e reason.
life your own
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Post by bagga on Mar 23, 2013 7:58:52 GMT -5
i bought the honda ruckus' we have because of the parts and service would be easy access. there are used car lots around here selling chinese scooters. as you know they don't stock parts for any cars they sell so i'm pretty sure they won't carry parts for the scooters they sell either. as far as riding with chinese scooters, i don't have a problem with it. i just wouldn't buy one.
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Post by arcanum70 on Mar 23, 2013 13:58:42 GMT -5
Bagga, I understand. Where I live there is a garage that is selling 50cc Chinese scoots (the Tao Tao's). The bad part is that he is selling a lot of them. I know on the surface that may not seem like a bad thing, however this person is known around town as being a rip off artist when it comes to getting your car worked on (for the life of me I don't understand why people that won't trust him to work on their cars, trust him enough to buy a Chinese scooter from him). He refuses to work on the scooters or order parts for them after people buy them, and he marks them up around $500 (he's selling Tao Tao 50's for $1000, the same ones you can get online for $500).
I know that there are around 10 people that I have helped to get and install parts in the last year.
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Post by Rebel on Mar 23, 2013 20:12:57 GMT -5
I certainly did not mean that all riders of name brand scooters were not polite, I know Bagga has put up with me for years, Joe is a great guy too as are who knows how many others, I do know that there still are those out there though that will take ant opportunity to let a Chinese scooter owner know that his scooter is inferior.
But please don't feel like we are complaining about the friendly ones. We already know that finding parts is up to us as individuals for the most part. I do feel sorry for somebody that buys a cheap scooter for more than it is worth and gets it with no real PDI done.
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Post by bagga on Mar 23, 2013 21:30:52 GMT -5
reb, i thought you put up with me. when i'm on my HD and riding with friends, some on HD, others on japanese bikes there are barbs being tossed back and forth about one's choice of bikes. nobody takes it serious because it's been going on for years with us. we're friends first and nobody gets upset about the ribbing everyone gets. when i show up with a scooter at a friends house they're very interested in them and they ask lots of questions about everything. i think, they think, i'm kind of loosing it riding scoots but they accept it.some people take things way too serious.
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Post by arcanum70 on Mar 23, 2013 21:33:07 GMT -5
I'm all for friendly ribbing. It's part of what makes things more fun.
And I apologize if my rant made it sound like all have animosity.
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Post by bagga on Mar 23, 2013 21:38:36 GMT -5
i just might jump on my yamaha morphous tomorrow and ride it to the harley swap meet that's happening here. my close riding friends will be there as well as lots of other casual acquaintances. i'll listen to crap, they'll have fun dishing it out and i'll have fun taking it.
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Post by arcanum70 on Mar 23, 2013 22:45:42 GMT -5
LOL, you just reminded me of something that happened about a month after I got my Zuma. I was at the gas station and about six Harleys pulled in. My first thought was "well, this isn't going to turn out good."
They pulled up and every one of them was asking a million questions about the Zuma...what it was, how much was it, how fast can it go, fuel mileage...etc. One of them kept looking at me kind of sheepishly, and I knew he wanted to ride it, but, there is that "you never ask someone if you can ride their bike" rule. So I asked him if he wanted to give it a test ride. He handed me the keys to his Harley and then took my Zuma for a ride. Ten minutes later he came back gushing about the thing.
About two weeks later I saw him at the grocery store and he told me that he went out and bought one.
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Post by Rebel on Mar 23, 2013 23:06:39 GMT -5
Those Zumas are pretty nice looking scooters for a Japanese scooter.
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Post by bagga on Mar 24, 2013 7:07:38 GMT -5
as of right now i think the morphous ride is out. there could be ice on the roads from the slight thaw yesterday and it's below freezing right now. i'll meet up with my boys at 9am for coffee then to the swap meet to look at parts nobody wants or needs. i usually find something tho.
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Post by arcanum70 on Mar 24, 2013 17:07:16 GMT -5
Awesome about the swap meet. I haven't been to one of those in about four years. I miss that.
Sucks about the cold and ice though, but I can relate. There is still that nasty stuff in my driveway (along with mud). However, I was able to take the Hyosung out for a small ride today (only about a mile). Went to the gas station to fill the tank. Roads were dry, and it was cold, but at least I was out.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2013 15:42:22 GMT -5
Just some random musings that I have been having over the past few days while I have been waiting for the foot and a half of "global warming" that we got the other day to finish melting. One was about classic scooters. The Vespa/Lambretta. I think that I am probably one of the very few people who never has liked the look of these things. I know that a lot of people love them, and that's great. However, I find it frustrating that most of the scooter clubs around where I live only cater to people who own these things, and anyone that dares to not own one is trash and not worthy of being in their presence (literally had someone tell me that out of a club here in New England that is having a rally, but only Vespa's and Lambretta's are allowed). Along with that is the general disdain that people have for Chinese scooters. There is a scooter club here in Vermont that basically treats anyone that has a Chinese scooter like a leper. That is not to say that they won't let you go on rides with them (I'm not saying that they won't, because honestly I won't ride with them because of another "rule" that they have), but if you go to their website they actually have an article attacking Chinese scooters. While you can argue that the build quality of your average Chinese scooter is not quite on part with a Japanese built one, I find it amusing the animosity people have towards them. Especially when you consider that most products that these same people have in their homes (including their IPods, IPhones, and Apple computers) were made in China. It seems to me that the blame for the animosity that many have for the Chinese scooter can and should be placed squarely on the shoulders of the importers/online sellers. I'm not saying that all are bad. However, if you do some checking (and I know that many here have done this, I even did it myself before buying my Hyosung) you will see that the vast majority have a bad reputation. Whether it's from slow shipping, bad packaging, not actually doing a PDI (even though some claim to do so), the hoops you have to jump through to get an MCO, or (and this seems to be an ever increasing issue), selling people bikes that cannot be registered in their states (I've read reports of one seller in California selling bikes to people in California that are not CARB approved). And, with many, even if the sale, delivery, MCO and registration go smoothly, there are issues with warranties. So, how do we deal with this? Do we pool our resources and start our own business of importing and selling Chinese bikes? Realizing that if we take the steps on our end to make sure that the customer does come first, and that the customer gets a bike that they don't have to be a mechanic to own, we can show people that for the most part it's not the bikes fault? Do we become and fight to have others become more inclusive in their clubs? Do we have a club where it is scooter owners and fans of scooters (regardless of country of origin) coming together because of their love of scooters and with a willingness to help each other? Honestly, I don't know. I'm just a fat bald ugly guy from Vermont, who apparently has too much time on his hands to think about these things. Let me close by apologizing for such a long post, and by thanking you for allowing me to vent and muse. Before and After 1928 above and 2004 below
If you put a large bucket of Ice in your living room, the room will temporarily cool, cause the ice is melting and absorbing room heat, like wise the ice melt you see above, caused many such snow storms in your back yard and all over the world. That will stop in about 25 years, so get that suntan lotion ready
Brother never apologize for a long thread, its your forum and your very good ability to speak.
mostly the china bikes do just what the US govt wanted them to do.-
Sell fast and Prop up the treasury note, thats why zero restrictions on selling a device that could kill you if not made properly, the kind of quality control that jap bikes have would have slowed the propping up of the T-notes.
I just had a brand new engine do a total melt down, and there's not a thing i can do about it, but china got their us dollars and the note got propped up
I FEEL THE LOVE.
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Post by Rebel on Mar 26, 2013 1:07:40 GMT -5
Terra,
Thanks for supporting the government debt load.
I really feel for you having to buy yet another motor for your scooter. I hope this one lives up to the standard of your first one.
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