Copycats??

[carzes]

Chinese scooters are undoubtedly ocan't even imagine how anyone thinks ANY 50cc scooter is worth that kind of money. Are these things gold-plated and garanteed to run FOREVER? No! Sure the chinese disposables have some distance to go in the quality department, but they're not ALL bad either. I bought my son one for $600 new in the box, and he rode it for a couple summers with NO problems, then sold it for $500. I didn't think it a bad deal. If I put $3000 into it he'd have to ride till he's thirty to make it worth it. AND lots of people are buying them just BECAUSE they're cheap. For under a grand they can scoot around town and have some 100 mpg fun with it. But would those same people EVER consider sinking the money in on a Vespa? 'Course not! They'd just get in the car.

Sorry, I have to amend my scooter rant a bit. I checked some new pricing and a basic 50cc honda is only a mere $2000, while a base 50cc Vespa comes in with a thrifty little tag of about $4500. Are they kidding?!?!

 

[RUCRAYZE]

Sorry, I have to amend my scooter rant a bit. I checked some new pricing and a basic 50cc honda is only a mere $2000, while a base 50cc Vespa comes in with a thrifty little tag of about $4500. Are they kidding?!?!

the old apples and oranges comparison - a base honda accord comes in at 28k, a basic Rolls 150k are they kidding?? they both have 4 wheels, engines seats etc. etc.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

The part NOT to overlook with chinese manufacturing is that companies from North America and Europe and Japan are sending their entire production processes to China by the ship-load. With that goes their advanced equipment, technologies, experts, experience, and ALL control over security. The Chinese are producing better quality every day in so far as it suits the bottom line, so don't underestimate. Japan produced complete CRAP for decades after the war, and now we see them as the gold standard for quality and innovation. Korea is in the midst of the same transformation with Hyundai, Kia, Samsung, LG and many other top companies that represent EXELLENT quality on par with most anything else on the market. And that's nothing that China can't do too. All the companies that only want to use China as a source of cheap labor are going to be shocked when they find out they've created their own giant competition with a homeland market of 1.35 billion customers to build capitol from.

Gold standard for quality, but not for innovation. They tend not to innovate much, what they are great at is refinement.

 

[Mike W]

I too agree that China has produced a lot of "junk" copies, and the comparison of scooters is right-on- EXCEPT you failed to mention Italian VESPA and LAMBRETTA. and too Formosa (which is also a China), makes the KIMCO. Consider the potential of China entering the American car market AND produce good quality- or not and they will outsell Elio, just like they outsell Honda Vespa Kimco you could, as we say here frequently buy three throw-away Chinese products- cars/motorcycles/scooters.
I'm old enough to remember when a Japanese product was viewed in the same light as Chinese are today

True! Formosa (I still prefer Taiwan) is Chinese kinda, sorta. That's why products like KIMCO are made there and not the Mainland. You are right, if China gets its pirate industry under control and sets it's goals on quality, it could be the "next Japan". I don't see that happening though, the mindset is and always has been different from Japan and its view on manufacturing. The old Vespa tooling was sold some time ago to the Genuine company (I think India) and now, like you said, Lambretta is coming from Taiwan. But until China is infected with Taiwan's mania for quality manufacturing, I'm not going to worry too much. They are pretty well inoculated against that...

 

[Mike W]

the old apples and oranges comparison - a base honda accord comes in at 28k, a basic Rolls 150k are they kidding?? they both have 4 wheels, engines seats etc. etc.

Yup, Vespa is a really good scooter but, well, Honda is "bullet proof" and has a lot more places for repair. Apples and oranges. Both are really tasty though, I wouldn't mind straddling either one!

 

[Mike W]

I like donuts.

Apples always work better in donuts than beans. When was the last time you had a deep fried bean fritter, with that nice glaze?

 

[Mike W]

It's OK. Apple sucks anyway.

[...closes door...runs away snickering...waiting for boom!...]

I really love that the old Apple vs Microsoft/PC feud still lives on! Now though many see Apple as the big bad bully, what a reversal of 20 years ago!!

 

[carzes]

the old apples and oranges comparison - a base honda accord comes in at 28k, a basic Rolls 150k are they kidding?? they both have 4 wheels, engines seats etc. etc.

I wasn't really comparing ANYTHING. I think they are BOTH overpriced, just one more so than the other. And yes, the Honda Accord is overpriced too. The Rolls ridiculously so.
But the comment was in response to the implication that only the tragicly uninformed would buy a Chinese scooter. I agree that it's not my first choice, but given that I can buy three of them for the price of the cheapest Honda, ( and seven for the price of a Vespa), I remain a fully informed chinese scooter customer. They are poor quality, but they are MUCH cheaper, and I am not afraid to swing a wrench. BTW, crappy chinese scooter PARTS are much cheaper too.

 

[Gas-Powered Awesome]

Funny you mention LG. They called themselves Goldstar under the LG umbrella in the 80's, if you're old enough to remember that (which most of us are.). Wasn't really known for high quality back then. More like, low quality, huge boom boxes with lots of lights.

It was Lucky Goldstar originally after the Lucky and Goldstar companies merged. They started using the "Goldstar" brand in the 80's but the company name was still Lucky Goldstar. They started making decent stuff in the mid 80's. I had an Atari-branded Goldstar computer monitor I bought in 1986 with my Atari ST computer. It was the best monochrome monitor made at the time.

In 1995 Lucky Goldstar changed their name officially to "LG" and dropped the Goldstar brand too.

 

[carzes]

Yup, Vespa is a really good scooter but, well, Honda is "bullet proof" and has a lot more places for repair. Apples and oranges. Both are really tasty though, I wouldn't mind straddling either one!

Places for repair only matter if you take stuff somewhere to be repaired. For me, that place is my garage. My mechanic is ME. Why is it so difficult for so many people to fathom that for lots of us out there it's not a choice. There is no weighing the pros and cons of the various options. There is only enough money for the CHEAPEST option, if it's on sale AND we have a coupon. Triple the cost so we can have "bullet proof" is NOT an option. The money will not suddenly fall from the sky, no matter how much better the quality is for 'only' a couple grand extra. And I don't think Hondas are as eternal as some people think they are.