Morning all,
Forgive my ignorance, I’m a new poster on here!
Yes I’ve searched the forums and read a lot of the other posts on here regarding bikes here in Taiwan.
My interest is in locally produced bikes ONLY. I’ve gone through so many discussions on here that talk/ask about local bikes, only to be diverted onto imported motorcycles! It’s very frustrating!
Here’s the deal.
Local bikes only! eg, made in Taiwan FOR Taiwan!
No Scooters!
Engine size above 150cc.
Preference to buy new! I know I can get it cheaper second hand, the reason I want new is due to the ease of locating it. ie second hand means trawling through Ruten or Ocar.
Current bike is an SYM wolf 125, bought nearly new and runs fine, but I’d like to upgrade while I can still sell it for something and not have to leave it burning in a ditch somewhere.
From reading other posts, there are basically 4 Local companies making bikes.
- CPI
- Kymco
- SYM
- Hartford.
My take on each…
- CPI. Everyone seems to badmouth them, but they never give a reason why, or backup with any evidence…
- Kymco. Mixed review depending on the model, one of the ‘big2’.
- SYM. As with kymco, mixed reviews, the other of the ‘big2’.
- Hartford. The young upstart thats ruffling feathers, good and bad.
My knowledge of their models.
- CPI- Zero, never seen one on the street, wouldn’t know one if I did. Google provides a homepage, little else! Your opinions please!
- Kymco- a. 250cc Vennox, if you want a cruiser, your only choice, cheaper to buy in the states than here, fat and underpowered, too big
for city use and parking (sat on one in a dealership).
b. 150cc Quannon, old design wrapping even older engineering, from what other people say about it, it sounds like it’s too
heavy, to underpowered, and too flashy to be heavy and underpowered!
c. 150cc Quannon Naked, sounds like a bad porn/AV film, a little lighter than its sister model (new frame?), maybe the plastic
body panels were what made the sister bike so heavy. But still old engineering and an old design. - SYM- T1, a dressed up version of my wolf 125 apparently (although I think it looks better than the Quannon offerings), kinda expensive
for what it is, not many opinions/review yet from fellow forumosans. - Hartford- A few models, but honestly, to me they all look the same, and I like bikes because they look like bikes, not scooters that have
had their plastic covers fall off. Besides if I tried to ride one, my knees would be beside my ears. But they do seem to get
praise here, so I don’t consider them bad, just not to my liking.
I’m a Taipei dweller, so parking is on the street, and I’m not going to be modifying the bike in ANY way, my Chinese sucks, so I won’t be telling anyone to modify it in any way. Stock is good with me!
I’m not some teenage gangster wannabe, and I don’t want to be attacked by them either, so I prefer a bike thats not too flashy, nice to look at yes, but not something that says ‘mug/stab/hate me now’.
I actually prefer something thats got more attention paid to the engine than the design, ie. I’d rather outrun the teenage gangster wannabe’s rather than trying to outshine them.
So please, your opinions on the makes and models available to the domestic market.
and your opinions on my opinions, am I right, am I wrong, did I misunderstand anything?
Thanks for letting me pick your brains.