Chinese scooters...

[Flatcap]

For those of you looking to buy a scoot - you get what you pay for:



Whoops - posted the same time as MisterD....

[Robert Taylor]

For those of you looking to buy a scoot - you get what you pay for:



Whoops - posted the same time as MisterD....

Perception of quality is being ''dumbed down'' in our successive generations by the sheer volume of cheap and nasty Chinese goods ( ''bads'' ) on the market, in turn forcing real wage rates down and lowering the standard of living. A catch 22 because many people can probably only afford these pieces of rubbish. Sorry for such a brutal label, but that is the cold hard reality. Equally bad are the unethical people that have imported small volumes of ''dindongdit'' no name brands, flogged them off and had no strucure in place for full, proper knowledgable backup. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.

Last week I did my own informal and casual survey of the plethora of scooters in Rome. A very low ratio of Japanese scooters and I dont recall seeing anything Chinese ( may be wrong ) But what I was impressed with was the sensible wheel diameter on the Italian made scooters, predominantly Lambretta. Bigger diameter wheels equals much more stability over potholed roads. The 8 and 10 inch wheels we have predominantly seen on smaller asian scooters have been designed by accountants rather than engineers and would have contributed to many accidents on our roads.

[Dave Lobster]

Lambrettas have ten inch wheels.

[Flatcap]

Lambrettas have ten inch wheels.

Well, true Lambrettas have 10 inch wheels.

There are some new "lambrettas" however:

http://www.lambrettausa.com/default.aspx

An absolute travesty

[UberRhys]

Lambrettas have ten inch wheels.

Well, true Lambrettas have 10 inch wheels.

There are some new "lambrettas" however:

http://www.lambrettausa.com/default.aspx

An absolute travesty

And then you these low riders as well: http://www.lambretta.com/

[Dave Lobster]

http://www.lambrettausa.com/default.aspx

An absolute travesty

As much a lambretta as a wooly jumper ever will be.

[Robert Taylor]

Lambrettas have ten inch wheels.

When one is a tourist you dont of course tend to have a tape measure in your pocket, but many of the Lambrettas that I looked at in Italy appeared to have 12, even 14 inch hoops. And I kept thinking to myself ''that is very sensible'' The Japanese have proven at least once that they can be just as sensible with the old Suzuki FZ50 scooter from the late 70s / early 80s.

[Sollyboy]

For those of you looking to buy a scoot - you get what you pay for:



Whoops - posted the same time as MisterD....

Some zx10s and r1s also broke like that

[Dave Lobster]

... and Aprilias.. and Triumphs..

[denill]

When one is a tourist you dont of course tend to have a tape measure in your pocket, but many of the Lambrettas that I looked at in Italy appeared to have 12, even 14 inch hoops. And I kept thinking to myself ''that is very sensible'' The Japanese have proven at least once that they can be just as sensible with the old Suzuki FZ50 scooter from the late 70s / early 80s.

The few days we spent in Rome and seeing the scooter scene in action convinced me that, "I've gotta get one of them when we go home". They just make so much sense.

OK, I know I'm preachin to the converted! But they are SOOOO much fun - without troubling the law TOOO much.