Tomos Scooters?

Dealer not far away is selling these, and I see a few up for sale locally.

Not familiar with this brand, as in, where do they come from, and how's their reliability, parts availability, etc.

Any Tomos gurus here that can enlighten me?

Twister 50 is produced by Sym China.

What he said ^^. Tomos is primarily a Slovenian 2-cycle-powered moped and noped maker who also distibute some Taiwan-owned/PRC-made scooters under their own name.

Reportedly, the Taiwanese company SYM contracts with a "better" manufacturer in the PRC (ZNEN?) to manufacture some of the smaller scoots in its line-up, and holds them to a greater degree of quality then most of what comes out of mainland China. Taiwan-built SYM scooters are first rate.

I have put several thousand miles on Slovenian made Tomos mopeds. The oil injection is Junk. It's actually worse than junk, if that's possible. Guaranteed to fail, and will take your engine, or at least your top end with it. With the oil injection disconnected and running 40:1 premix, they run forever, especially the Sprint and ST models. The more expensive models, like the Streetmate and Revival have a lot more issues. For my weight I had to replace the stock shocks with motorcycle shocks. I have never seen a real Tomos scooter, I believe they are made in China, but may be produced by SYM, like the Cali Classic. There are Tomos moped dealers around here, but they don't sell the scooters.

I'd stick with their original moped line (Sprint, Targa, APN, a couple of other
names that I can't think of now, but just looking at the pictures will tell you
if it's the same bike in a different package).

I have not heard about the oil injection problems, but the older Tomos mopeds
supposedly were of higher build quality. I grew up surrounded by hundreds of
them (no big surprise since I'm right next door to Slovenia).

I owned a 'SPRINT' somewhere around 2002-2003.


This was the cheapest/basic model, TARGA had blinkers, oil injection, looked
better, but same basic engine good for 35mph. Fuel consumption is comparable
to 50cc 4 stroke scooters even if this is a 2 stroke.

However.. in just a few hundred miles, the front forks fell apart.
I won't even comment on the brakes.. the levers were plastic (!), and you
could not lock up the wheel even on wet roads.

The handling was great, it's very comfortable (undersprung), and generally
fun to ride.

There's still a bunch of these 1980-1990 year models riding around our
local roads, and some are sold for silly amounts of money.

Not sure about the prices there, but a basic SPRINT was around $1000.
More expensive then virtually all 50cc chinese scooters.

Ah, the TOMOS mopeds...I had an ST, and like Cortez points out, peripheral components were...shaky. The quality of metal used in subsystems can be iffy... suspension? hah!

But I loved the A55 engine, and with a simple re-sprocket to get the rpms down, and a Biturbo exhaust, that thing would fly!

I often dream of getting another...they are commonly kitted wit 65-70cc BBKs, and with an aftemarket pipe, jets, and opened intake, you are soon overriding the brakes (such as those are) and whipping right along. Very amenable to cool customization - check out the action at www.mopedarmy.com

Though I never had a problem with the oil injection system, it is indeed prone to not deliever the goods under certain conditions - at extreme angles, no oil can be pumped. The cognosente would therefore rip the system out and just pre-mix.

Prices have gone up. My new ('08) ST was 1600 USD OTD, IIRC. Like I say, kinda junky, but lotsa good 2T fun. It's probably for the best that I am now far too old for such things.

(Hmmm. The OP's thread has been well and truly hijacked...)

The new models are better, the Sprint (my favorite) now has hydraulic motorcycle forks and a box section swing arm. Yes you can make mopeds faster, but with a drastic decrease in engine life. Stock they run forever. I have built Puch E50 mopeds that would top 55 mph, and had a lifespan of about 500 miles. That was with an 80cc Metra kit, higher compression, Technigas Next exhaust, Larger Dellorto Carb replacing the stock Bing, and a super high flow air filter. If you want information on mopeds, check out mopedarmy.com, mopedriders.org. and tomosmopeds.org. On tomosmopeds.org, look for DonP. He is the best moped guru in the country.

MRP blog link . . Tomos Mopeds Set To Close The Factory

Link there redirects to an Italian trade journal article titled:

"[Thus] Closes the Tomos [factory]. Company of the former Yugoslav motors,manufacturer of the legendary A3 and Hummingbird."

"The Tovarna Motorni Sezana (fabbirca Motorcycle Sesana), known as Tomos, probably will not mean much to the younger riders, but those who lived through the epic of mopeds 80s surely evoke memories. were the years of Yes, of Bravo Hello and Piaggio, the "tuboni" as the Malaguti Fifty , and then there was the Tomos with its A3 "Silver Bullit".
The company, located in Koper, then in the former Yugoslavia, has its roots in the '50s, and slowly he had known how to build its share of admirers in Italy. Many models of success until the '80s, thanks to products that are particularly well chosen, just as the A3 , an economical, easy to drive, robust (as was put to the test by 14 year olds at the time), with frame pressed steel and motor 2t-start "pedaling." For many the first "motor" with which to go to school or show off with friends in the games room. followed later in that same decade, the launch of the Hummingbird , half lines most sought after, signed by Giorgio Giugiaro.
The company now closes its doors, but not because it was in crisis, only to strategic choices, with 60 dipendeti absorbed by the mother. Tomos Hello dear, many of us will miss you"

Well, shoot; wish I'd hung onto my '09 ST.
Sketchy details; sounds like whoever owns the factory decided to make something more profitable.

Not surprising. This has been talked about on various moped forums for years. Tomos refused to replace their 2 stroke engines with 4 strokes, and the 2 strokes no longer met the damned EPA standards. A 4 stroke would not have been a good idea anyway, it would have been slower than a 2 stroke, and a lot more expensive to make and sell. Since most moped enthusiasts are heavy into modding, a 4 stroke just wouldn't work for them. The last few years of Tomos mopeds had catalytic converters in the stock exhausts, which plugged up with 2 stroke oil in under 1000 miles. Most owners immediately replaced the pipe with a performance exhaust anyway.

I gave my '05 Tomos ST to my oldest daughter to ride, as she no longer has a car. I still have my Puch, and my Genuine Stella to satisfy my 2 stroke addiction, but would love to have a much larger 2 stroke motorcycle. My first street bike was a Suzuki GT380.

For those that reside where state statutes stipulate OPERATIONAL moped pedals, and their intentions are to actually comply with the law . . the Lazer 50cc 4-stroke may be an option.

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That might not be completely true, considering the very low power of their
2 stroke engine.

Every cheapo chinese 4 stroke 50cc scooter I've ridden was faster then my
Tomos SPRINT, and the rated power of those 4 strokes is 20-30% higher.

The Sprint won't do over 35mph, and I've seen anywhere from 40 to 45
indicated on various chinese (gy6) scoots.

Hmm. Interesting that it has problems climbing. My former Tomos ST, and my current Puch MaxiSport II have 2 speed automatic transmissions. They shift by themselves with a centrifugal mechanism. In first gear, neither of them has a problem climbing LONG STEEP grades with over 300 pounds on them. They are slow, but first gear was extremely low, on flat level ground, they would shift into second gear at about 10 mph, and in order to climb, you had to keep the speed just below that. But they would climb like a goat. I climbed right up the side of a 10,000 foot mountain with no problem, had to slow down when I got stuck behind a fully loaded 18 wheeler. Looks like first gear on this one is still a bit too high. Both of them would climb grades that my 125cc CVT scooters can't even dream about.

I just talked to my local Tomos dealer, who also sells several scooter brands, and he doesn't know for sure what is going on. Apparently Tomos USA still has plenty of mopeds in stock at this point, with another boatload of them on the way. I suspect they will probably start getting hard to find over the next couple of years. I've already decided to buy a brand new Sprint while I can. I can get a new one OTD for $1000, and I know it will last forever. I took a 1500 mile+ trip on my Puch a few years ago. 1500 miles may not seem like much until you realize it is at a max speed of 30 mph. Fortunately a Tomos moped has a 2 speed transmission (not a CVT) and mountains are no problem. It's slow going, but they do just keep going.


Here is a link to pictures of all the current Tomos mopeds http://www.heeters.com/mopeds.shtml

in 2005 I bought a tomos sprint.

As you say, they lend well to modding.

After a long break in period (wrecked car 3 days after I bought moped) of about 4 months and 2000 miles, I got to work with a friend and insane 2 stroke tuner.

4 porting sessions, a puch polini reedvalve, 16mm sha dellorto carb, lightened clutch shoes, briggs and stratton minibike clutch spring, tecno estoril exhaust, a custom 28 tooth front sprocket, and a 20 tooth rear,

The bike shifted into second at 35mph, and would top 60mph on flat california coast. Tachometer showed 13,500 rpm.

Now, almost 8 years later, that engine is in another bike (pacer top tank) has well over 10k miles, and save for a crankshaft last year and a couple sets of rings, still rips.

Mopeds can be built to 50+ even 60+, and be pretty reliable, but you need to know what you are doing, and sadly most don't and their expensive parts are relegated to the recycle bin. Also mpg suffers.

50cc scooter engines are tuned to go as fast as possible without self destructing. The liquid cooled Honda Met and Ruckus top out at about 40 mph. A moped engine could easily be made to go that fast by the factory, but they would no longer be legal mopeds, which must have a top speed of no more than 30 mph. Unlike some people think, there is no "governor" on a moped engine that makes it slow. It is designed that way, so as to make it difficult and expensive to modify to go faster. But there is a whole moped subculture out there pretty much dedicated to doing just that. A 2 stroke is easily modified, a 4 stroke isn't. And still you have to modify almost every part of a 2 stroke moped engine to make it fast. Unfortunately many people get carried away, and wind up scattering their expensive parts all over the road.

Um, yeah, I know.. I was just stating that the Tomos mopeds are around
2hp while most modern 4 stroke scooter engines are usually more powerful
so going 4 stroke (stock vs stock) on a Tomos would not make it slower.

I for one would buy one in a heart beat with a 4 stroke engine and the
2 speed auto.

The main problem is that probably 90% of Tomos moped buyers modify them, and there is a large aftermarket built around supplying performance parts for 2 stroke mopeds. It is far more difficult to get more power out of a 4 stroke.

Way back in '05 I bought a Yamaha Zuma 50 2 stroke. Yamaha recently went to a 4 stroke with the Zuma. The 2 stroke models are in extremely high demand by "tuners" who want to modify them. The dealer I bought it from called me a few months ago, wanting to know if I still had it, and if I wanted to sell it (I sold it years ago) They are getting a lot of calls from people looking for the 2 stroke Zuma. Used ones on Craigslist sell for more than they sold for new.

I leave bikes stock for reliability, and if I need or want to go faster, I get a bigger bike. I do hot rod older American cars though, so I can see the attraction.

Might also be true.. but you can't ride a modified moped on the streets here
for more then a day or two before you get a nasty fine and in Italy they'll even
take the bike away from you.

The fine here would be 1/3 the price of a basic Tomos moped.
In Slovenia it's even worse.

And we're talking just the exhaust, that's more then enough.

If it'll go over 50km/h (30mph more or less), you're screwed
(and they check the top speed when they think it's a tuned bike).

This is especially painful on 50cc scooters (2 stroke) since all of them
will do at least 35-40mph, and some will do 50mph completely stock.

Cortez, curious about which 50cc will do 50mph (80kph) stock?

Here in Connecticut US, the no registration limit is 5hp, nothing to do with cc's, and no limit on it's speed.

From the CT DMV:
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Geneva]Motor Driven Cycles: If you have a motor scooter, moped or motorbike having a motor that produces 5 brake horsepower or less (or 3.7 kW or less) and a seat height of at least 26 inches, you may operate it on the roadway without registering it. However, you must have a valid motor vehicle operator&#8217;s license to operate it, and you may not operate it on any sidewalk, limited access highway or turnpike. If the maximum speed of your cycle is less than the speed limit of the road that you are on, you must operate in the right hand lane available for traffic or upon a usable shoulder on the right side of the road unless you are making a left turn. As of October 1, 2008, these vehicles are referred to as &#8220;motor driven cycles.&#8221;
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