[Smaug]

My point is that if the manufacturer doesn't want to be held accountable, then you'd better have a very good dealer with a knowledgeable mechanic nearby.

The Taiwanese scooters have a good reputation. In general, Taiwanese manufacturing has a good reputation. In my knife hobby, for example, the Taiwan-made Spydercos are actually considered slightly better than the American-made ones! (although I think it's just that they make the higher-end models in the Taiwan plant)

Chinese? Not so much. Where they become a good value is when you "got a guy" who knows the ins and outs. Knows which parts tend to be shoddy and which ones cause the problems. Often, it is just a matter of knowing that part, getting to it, and finishing it properly. Filing off mold flashing and such.

My experience on non-Japanese scooters was with my Genuine Buddy 125, probably about 2009 model. I loved that bike. Smooth, quiet, reliable engine. Best hand grips in the business. STRONG brakes. Fairly priced, even without being new old stock.

BUT... There were a couple important areas in which I could tell they were not as careful or experienced as Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki:

Headlight design. The beam was narrow and not too bright. Just a bad optical design. Probably the big Jap companies have specialized engineers working on this, and PGO/Genuine doesn't. I was on a country road one hot summer night doing 50. Suddenly, there was a doe in the middle of the road, just staring at me. By the time I saw her, it was panic braking time. I grabbed the brakes, and the front immediately locked up. Buddy washed out from underneath me and I was tumbling down the highway at 50 mph. It was not a good night for me. If it were a Jap bike, with the lights aimed properly, I would have seen her before it was panic time. This headlight, even though it was their halogen one, was not up to the task, even when aimed properly.

After that, I noted that with the Japanese bikes, the brakes are strong, but only if you squeeze them HARD. The Buddy had relatively large brake discs with small wheels = a lot more stopping power than was needed.

^ This was a Taiwanese scooter with a good reputation and good manufacturing quality. Just not world-class design. I don't even want to think about a Chinese one.

I have a buddy from a former job that has a TaoTao 150. He's an engineer and not afraid to tinker with his cheap bike. He read up on them and learned all about the foibles. Also his expectations aren't too high. After riding an equivalent Honda or Yamaha, that thing was a real rattletrap. Carb was bad, it would hardly start.