[scooter]

Hello. I got the Bali in. For folks that don't know me I've ridden sport bikes most of my life and went to Chinese scooters last year to keep from starting my F350 for short trips, mainly to work and back. So I got a Tao Tao Evo 150 last year. Put 3k miles on it. Love it. But needed something to hold 60 MPH to get to my ranch. This Roketa will be my last "are you sure you're a scooter guy" before I jump into a Burgman 400 or something of that sort...... Here goes.
Uncrated the Bali and left side took a beating. Cracked this, broken that, not too bad though. Spent all weekend stripping it down to frame/ engine. Did very thorough PDI to include all hoses, fluids, tightness and adding loc-tite, etc. Put silicon spray on bolt heads. The usual. PDI was much more complicated than the air cooled Evo. Cooling lines were a real bear.
Riding it compared to my Evo: Let's just say I loved my Evo until I rode this one. About the only thing alike between the 2 is that they're both scooters. The advantages to the Bali is that it's much more comfortable, night and day in fact. The Evo started giving me lower back pains which was another reason to get something else. It's not broken in yet so I can't say much on top end power. Did one stint and it seemed to run out of power at 60 with plenty of gearing left. Low and mid range are good, cruises 50 where my Evo is screaming. I can tune and tinker after it's broken in. The speedo is WAAAAAYYYYY off, it says 80 MPH (Not KPH) when I'm actually doing 42 gps speed. The headlight on the Bali is worthless in that it points 5 feet in front of me. Tried adjusting but they didn't put a stopper inside for the screw to push against the headlight so the screw comes out but doesn't push light up. I'll fix it somehow. The right mirror is worthless; probably need to extend them both up about an inch or 2. I read that the Bali is lighter than the Evo. I thought nah, it's a type O. Well, the Bali is VERY "light" feeling on the road. Almost uncomfortable until I hopefully get used to it. It tracks ruts in the road, is affected by wind, and is almost squirely feeling compared to the Evo. Windshield maybe deflecting wind and causing this? I don't know. Anyway. It does block a lot more wind than the Evo. I rode to work this morning and it was 37. Didn't get too cold at all compared to the Evo in comparable weather. So we'll see how it does in the next year. At that time I'll be convinced I'm a scooter guy for life and probably go with a Burg 400. But this one was $1800 to the door, Evo was about $950. If I go Burg I'm going big with every bell and whistle, probably brand new because I keep my stuff forever once I get what suits me so my thought is I can sell the other 2, recoop a little cash, and not be out a $7000-$9000 machine that I decided I didn't like.
So tips to new guys from a guy that's on his second Chinese scooter in a year. Don't be scared by Chinese if you will do a thorough PDI and like doing maintenance. My Evo has given me ZERO problems. I like it along with most the Chinese scooter guys. However, and this is just me, don't buy less than 250CC if you live in a decent size town. Just my opinion. But I thought I would only ride to work and back on back roads. Then started carrying golf clubs. Then started going across San Antonio to golf, then wanted to get to my ranch with chainsaws and whatnot. Found the 150 to be physically and powerfully not enough to expand on. I also highly suggest buying within your state. I bought the first one in Texas and it was a breeze. Bought this one in Cali, so far a pain in the arse. But we'll see how they treat me. Texas emailed me a paper tag within 2 hours of receiving my Evo. Cali..... Won't send me anything so I'm waiting on the paperwork. Could come in tomorrow, could be a month from now. Once I get that I have to go stand in line at the DMV for 2 hours. I'm learning about the scooter do's and do not's, just a few things I wanted to pass on and hopefully help. Happy motoring.