The quality of Chinese-made motor vehicles lags a bit behind many of its other consumer goods that are marketed to the world, but there's another issue. Scooter retailer are also concerned about long-term service, and parts availability. Go ahead, buy a small Chinese-made motorcycle from the auto parts store. Looks just like a Honda, for 1/4 the price. The bike works fine, until the brake shoes need replacing. The auto parts clerk can't get 'em...and hands you the phone number importer, who no longer imports Chondas, and doesn't know where to get a brake shoe. Same thing happened in the moped boom, 25 years ago. Moped shops popped up like, well, Starbucks, selling mopeds from around the world. Three months later, the moped shop WAS a coffee shop, and good luck getting a brake shoe or a carburetor.

Posted by BobbyJim | reply to this comment
June 27, 2008 2:23 pm

Meanwhile, the shopper who bought a Piaggio (Vespa) moped, or a little Honda or Yamaha motorcycle had a better quality vehicle to begin with. And when it broke, there was a source for parts. Cell phones, shoes? Yeah, Chinese made. I own several chinese-made fishing reels. But they are built for, and distributed by established fishing reel companies, with parts and service available here in the U.S. Buy a chinese-made scooter from the same boutique that sells t-shirts and sunglasses at the mall. Who's going to tune it up for you, the 17-year-old cashier? A year from now, when the boutique is replaced by an Orange Julius, where are you going to find a new sprocket for your scooter? To paraphrase the modern philosopher Oprah Winfrey, "Yugo, girl!" Yugo. Get it?

Posted by BobbyJim | reply to this comment
June 27, 2008 2:39 pm

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