A Chinese 150cc Scooter Saga

China Ruckus made it to KC Kate last night and didn't get shipped on time this morning. Maybe tomorrow.

I have rode a few of these before and yes they are bigger, heavier and a little slower. I am sure this one will get a host of mods but if it will sit at 50 mph I am fine with that. The last two I rode had no problem with that.

Hmm sounds like it will work fine for you then. Just wanted to let you know so you didn't expect 60+ MPH out of it since its 150 cc. Can't wait to see your thread about it! Good luck with it, you may need it!

Thank you. Hopefully it shows up in the morning. As far as the luck goes? He has a Pretty good warrenty and I made sure to get a years coverage worth of it. :)

I couldn't agree more btcn <-----(what the hell does that mean anyway )

Do you think anyone at honda can see the transformer colored scoots all over hell and tarnation. The chances are that if you see a scoot on the road, it's a 150 and chances are even better that it's NOT a honda. Everyday I see tons of MIC scoots all over town. I have seen 1 ch 80 in 6 mos. and the only other passports I see are my friends. And ocasionally I'll see a Sh150.. ya know... the 4k scooter. That's right kids 4k and clayjars only spent 800 on his machine.. WTF Honda...WAKE UP!!! (RANT OVER)

Research links for cross-country experiences with the China GY6 150cc scooter engine:
asperous
newguy

I do agree with you that scooter prices(especially the Japanese brands) are ridiculous. There is no reason an SH150i should have the same MSRP as the CBR250R.

However, The Japanese are known for quality and reliability. There is no way for them to make a scooter that meets those two goals for anywhere near $800. I think they are content to sell what they sell since they know that for the majority of the US population, a scooter is a tool for drunk guys to get around. Kids don't want bikes any more, they want a car. Honda would sell a few more units at that price, but they wouldn't make any money and imagine the law suits if something was wrong with them. It's easy to sue a big corp, try to get damages back from Chong Zhen BlahBlahBlah Manuf. Corp.

I think it would have been really interesting if ClayJars had added up the amount of time he has spent working on issues with the bike. Sure the materials only cost 800, but what about the man hours. Honestly, I can't believe Kymco and Sym don't sell more units, I think if people knew about them, they would sell a ton of units at twice the MIC price just to avoid the constant maintenance.

As you said (Rant Over)

Aidan

How do drunk guys ride scooters without licenses? Are you referring to Mopeds? I'm not familiar with this practice... around these parts, a moped is a moped, and a scooter can be classified as a moped OR a motorcycle depending on the engine size.

Yes, 49cc chinese scooters are everywhere around here. Mostly it's DUI cases that can't get insured or lost their license.

So how's the chinese scoot handling the 110*+ temps?

Mine seems to be handling the 100+ degree temps ok. I Sure am tired of the heat though

With heat index near 115 and high humidity a couple of weeks ago, my Chinese scoot ran just as it always does.

The scooter is doing fine. Someone commented about man hours. It hasn't been much time at all considering it is getting pretty heavy daily use. I check it over once a week, usually on Sundays and that takes about 20-30 minutes. The stupid exhaust manifold bolts could have been over and done with if I had bought the upgrade kit the first time it became an issue. The kit is $30. I believe if the Chinese had just put $100 in quality improvements, these scoots would be pretty dang good.
On the other hand, my Honda XL600R has been a maintenance whore, worse than any bike I have ever owned. But, somethings just come from a learning curve and finding each bikes quirks and setting them straight.
I work with teenagers and some have their own cars/trucks. These kids are literally getting hammered at the pump and spending all their discretionary income on fuel. I would recommend a scooter for most of their driving needs. I could see a modest scooter shop selling these units and doing periodic maintenance. But... it will take time to catch on.
I am sad to see the Chinese scooter prices going up. $888 shipped is a great deal for a scoot that can do 55-60 and easy to wrench on. The starting price now is easily $1100. Oh well.

Just found out today that my buddy rode the China scoot over to the next town and came back, 45 miles each way on the highway for something work related. Pin the throttle and hold it WFO for 45 minutes. I am glad nothing broke or I would have had to go get it. Anybody know how these belts hold up to long distance highway riding? Maybe I shouldn't ask.

I guess it depends on the riders weight and the riding conditions. I am supposed to take my ruck clone in around 2500 miles so the scooter shop can check it.

He says his customers can usually get over 5000 miles out a gates belt. I replaced one on a 125cc gy6 once that had 8000 on it and it needed it..

Heat is what kills these belts. If you don't have a modded cvt cover it might be worth checking the belt just for your piece of mind.

Most CVT covers have an integral cooling system, usually a intake duct and sometimes even a foam airfilter and a forced air exit driven by a small turbine built into the forward pulleys, I've never seen a scooter CVT without one.

You are correct, and the system on there sucks. It pretty much moves zero air. I pulled the foam plug and left the rubber insert in there and it still got ridiculously hot. I noticed that the cvt cover cracked over the clutch when I got hit by a cage so now it has no clutch cover. I haven't ridden it since I removed that section but from other threads I have read, opening that section makes it where you can ride for quite awhile and still be able to touch the cvt cover.

The crappy OE Chinese battery finally died. I put in an AGM unit from Walmart. These were going for $45 earlier but the price has now jumped to $59.

The spark plug cap has started popping off. There is a crack developing near the plug end which is keeping it from sticking on tight. I ordered one of those orange "HP" cap/coil units off of ebay. $13 and free shipping. Lets see how long it lasts.

That new AGM battery works so much better I should have done it from the beginning.

What is your current miles?