Motorcycle And Scooter News

[sc00ter]

We had a Keeway dealer when scooters first made a comeback. Genuine was still PGO, that's how long ago it was! Keeway made some good stuff back then. Plastics that weren't brittle, metal didn't corrode after one riding season and the seats had nice thick vinyl. And they were reliable. But no one carries them anymore. Shame as I would like to see that new 300cc in person.

Right now Italica is the new brand being sold in my area. Bintelli as well (remember, I almost bought a Scorch 150cc for a commuter) and obviously Tao Tao and Ice Bear. I don't care for the last 2 brands but if you stay on top of one they are doable. So that's what is dominating my roads right now. It seems most scooter sales are based on lowest price possible around here. Not a bad thing if the quality is there.

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

We had a Keeway dealer when scooters first made a comeback. Genuine was still PGO, that's how long ago it was! Keeway made some good stuff back then. Plastics that weren't brittle, metal didn't corrode after one riding season and the seats had nice thick vinyl. And they were reliable. But no one carries them anymore. Shame as I would like to see that new 300cc in person.

Right now Italica is the new brand being sold in my area. Bintelli as well (remember, I almost bought a Scorch 150cc for a commuter) and obviously Tao Tao and Ice Bear. I don't care for the last 2 brands but if you stay on top of one they are doable. So that's what is dominating my roads right now. It seems most scooter sales are based on lowest price possible around here. Not a bad thing if the quality is there.

I don't understand Keeway becoming the distributor of Benelli at all. Keeway is a subsidiary of Qianjiang, the maker of QJ Motors and Benelli who are distributed by SSR Motors.

And yes, I heard back in the dark ages around 2008 that Keeway builds good stuff. The parent company, Geely, is a huge company with vast resources so they should have a handle on quality.

Read on to see how big.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geely

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

We had a Keeway dealer when scooters first made a comeback. Genuine was still PGO, that's how long ago it was! Keeway made some good stuff back then. Plastics that weren't brittle, metal didn't corrode after one riding season and the seats had nice thick vinyl. And they were reliable. But no one carries them anymore. Shame as I would like to see that new 300cc in person.

And on a personal note sc00ter.

I was told my "credibility fell off a cliff" on that certain Italian scooter forum because I dared to say a QJ Motor LTR 150 was a scooter worth owning. These QJ scooters, like the Hanway Royal Alloy 300, are a different breed than the Tao Tao, Shanghai Shenke's of the past.

Geely is a much bigger company than the dirt floor factory scooters imported before this.

[sc00ter]

Ducati was still building motorcycles on dirt floors before being bought-out in the early 2000's. Those certain Italian owners are the same people who purchase Prada and other fashion icons. Give me a decent pair of Wrangler jeans and cheap t-shirts and I'm fine! Vans shoes did drop in quality over the years and are no longer worth the money but I starting wearing J&M shoes because they're comfy and last a long time.

Concerning that Italian brand its only as good as the mechanics that fix them. My semi-local Piaggio dealer has a terrible service side. They just wanna throw parts at a problem because no one knows how to read the P.A.D.S. diagnostics computer. Then they do sloppy work on top of everything. I still go on that forum and its always "Scooter won't start." because the chip reader for the key dies or "Check engine light is on." for any number of reasons. Vespa scooters have gotten to complicated in my opinion.

I want a Royal Alloy 300. I'm still trying to find out who makes the motor for them. The fact that they have had them in England for awhile, and they flog any and all scooters there, and the RA300 has held up is a good sign. I use my scooters for main transportation. Roughly 35 miles a day in all weather and temps. I do chicken out if it snows though! Reliability is of utmost importance.

[kz1000st]

Originally Posted by sc00ter

Ducati was still building motorcycles on dirt floors before being bought-out in the early 2000's. Those certain Italian owners are the same people who purchase Prada and other fashion icons. Give me a decent pair of Wrangler jeans and cheap t-shirts and I'm fine! Vans shoes did drop in quality over the years and are no longer worth the money but I starting wearing J&M shoes because they're comfy and last a long time.

Concerning that Italian brand its only as good as the mechanics that fix them. My semi-local Piaggio dealer has a terrible service side. They just wanna throw parts at a problem because no one knows how to read the P.A.D.S. diagnostics computer. Then they do sloppy work on top of everything. I still go on that forum and its always "Scooter won't start." because the chip reader for the key dies or "Check engine light is on." for any number of reasons. Vespa scooters have gotten to complicated in my opinion.

I want a Royal Alloy 300. I'm still trying to find out who makes the motor for them. The fact that they have had them in England for awhile, and they flog any and all scooters there, and the RA300 has held up is a good sign. I use my scooters for main transportation. Roughly 35 miles a day in all weather and temps. I do chicken out if it snows though! Reliability is of utmost importance.

I don't know who builds the motor for Royal Alloy 300, maybe Hanway actually does it themselves. All I do know is that it's a Pre HPE Vespa engine built under license from Piaggio.

What I also do know is that a Royal Alloy 300 finished the 2023 Scooter Cannonball while a whole bunch of 300 Vespas didn't. Take from that what you will. I would think a Genuine dealer would be more reliable given the reputation of their scooters.

[kz1000st]

Hey! Let's be careful out there.

https://www.rideapart.com/features/2...torcycle-ride/

[kz1000st]

Or a scooter, ebike or trike.

https://www.rideapart.com/features/7...e-bike-useful/

[kz1000st]

Ambitious for Livewire although the price is shocking.

https://www.rideapart.com/news/71333...motorcycle-ev/