You know, I read all the time that Chinese scooters are total junk and from what little information I could find, I also read that the Diamo scooters were the junkiest of the junk!
I bought my Diamo 150cc used with 13,000 miles on it summer before last. I knew nothing about scooters as having owned only motorcycles since 1963 and sold my last one 2 winters ago.
I missed riding and I live very rural so I have limited access to scooters but when I saw an ad for the Diamo on Craig's List for what I thought was a decent price, ($950.00), I had to go check it out.
It was about an hour's drive from me and the owner's house was down a 2 mile super dusty, rut filled dirt road.
When I finally saw it, it looked to be in pretty good shape but needed a thorough cleaning. The battery was dead so the owner had to kick start it and after several kicks it started. I rode it around for a bit and it seemed to run pretty decently.
Now the previous owner was about 6' 2" tall and weighed about 250 lbs. and had driven the scooter to work for the last 1 1/2 years riding it up and down that dusty, rut filled 2 mile road and then another 10 miles one way back and forth to work every day and had been kick starting it all that time as he didn't want to spend the $35.00 for a new battery.
I told him I couldn't give him $950.00 for it and offered $650.00 and after dickering back and forth, he took the $650.00. My wife drove the car home and I rode the scooter the hour's ride back home. It ran great but as you know kick starting these things can be a real bear so I stopped at Walmart on the ride back and picked up a new battery.
When I got it home, I installed the new battery, changed the engine oil, adjusted the valves, cleaned the jets and the carb, adjusted the idle mixture and speed screw, adjusted the brakes and gave it a thorough cleaning. All of that was pretty straight forward but finding everything under all those body panels was a bear!
It ran like a champ until one day on the freeway doing about 60 mph, it just suddenly died and wouldn't start. I thought I may have blown the engine.
I got it trucked home it and tested it for spark and there was none. When I looked at the coil, the green wire's connector had snapped in half and was just dangling free. Some ham fisted mechanic or previous owner had forced the connector back on the coil and bent it.
After I installed a new connector, the scoot started right up and has ran perfectly for many, many enjoyable miles since.
I guess what I'm trying to say with all this is I bought a Chinese Diamo "junk" scooter and the thing has proven to be anything but junk. Just think what it had been through hauling a huge 250 lb. guy back and forth to work down one of the dustiest, rut filled roads you've ever seen and after all those hard miles it still purrs like a kitten and runs like new.
I know Chinese scooters are hit and miss but I sure scored a hit and long live my Diamo scooter!