TOMOS Nitro 50 Review

I am a bit new here but I decided to write the review anyway. I own a TOMOS Nitro 50 scooter and I will tell you of my ownership experience so far.


Introduction

My dealer Zone Moto in Montreal sells primarily Chinese Scooters. I researched these scooters in the Canadian market and concluded that 3 brands would be high enough quality for a non mechanically inclined person. (I cannot even screw in a light bulb!) I boiled down my choice to Linhai, Keeway, and my Tomos. The Tomos was the biggest and heaviest bike of the three. Tomos has a large parts warehouse in Toronto. They have been present in the Canadian market for many years. The Scooter is built by SYM alongside the SYM Simply. SYM makes quality products. How could I go wrong? So I ponied up the $1,500 and purchased the bike.

My TOMOS was delivered at night. I came out of my apartment building and found it running. It was coughing and sputtering and ready to stall. I had the delivery driver adjust the idle to make it idle bit faster. It then revved at 3,000 RPMs when warm 1,000 when cold. I have since readjusted the idle. It now revs at about 1,200 rpm when cold or when warmed up.

There is a dead spot in accelleration when the bike is cold. It can stall if you give it just a bit of gas. I am assuming that this problem is because I am still breaking in the scooter. But you never know.


Ride Quality

I find that accelleration is brisk. The scooter easily gets up to speed and keeps up with traffic. Top speed is 35 mph (GPS checked) but with the wind behind me! The bike is still relatively new so I am sure that after break-in I will get 35mph without a problem. Accelleration when the bike is warm is very smooth. The powerband is predictable and the scooter is responsive.

Ride quality sucks! The scooter has a very harsh ride. I get tossed around a lot. I feel every bump, crack, and pot hole. I swear that the thing gets airborne when it hits big potholes. The center of gravity is VERY high. That makes the bike less stable to ride. Mind you I have been spoiled because I also own a Honda Aero 80 and it rides like a dream. My question is... are all Chinese bikes so harsh? I will certainly be replacing my rear nshock with one that will also lower the center of gravity but I won't do it during the warranty period.

Breaking is fantastic. The breaks are responsive and do their job well. I am surprised by how good they are. The thing stops on a dime. The tires are pretty grippy. The 12 inch wheels help the bike to corner well.

Ergonomics are also good. The dash is well laid out. The analogue guauges are pretty accurate for a Chinese scoot. I clocked 30 on my GPS and the speedometer read 31 mph. No complaint there. The dasboard also includes a tachometer. Nice touch for a low end bike. All of the contolls are exactly where you would expect them to be. They seem to be of good quality.

Underseat storage is ample. I get my 3/4 helmet in with room to spare. I bought a trunk and it was pretty difficult to mount because the rack on the back is stylized and it doesn't have strsight rails for mounting anything to it.

This is a big heavy scooter. It weighs in at 249 pounds. The seat is comfortable with lots of padding. The scooter's deck is large. I can certaily put a bag of groceries between me and the front of the deck. I am only 5'6" but I can imagine that a person over 6' would find that they would be comfortable on the bike.

Quality Fit and Finish

I find that my Nitro seems like its miving even when it is standing still. I love the look of it. I have had probllems mostly with the plastics and mostly because of poor PDI. My dealer Zone Moto should be shot!

One day I was driving down the street feeling the lively harsh ride I have come to expect from the Nitro when suddenly I heard a grinding noise. I then heard a crack and saw my front fender fly off. Apparently what had happened is a screw came undone and fell off. The fender assmbly is mated to the body with a metal bracket that has 2 screws on each side to the fender but only one to the scooter frame! If you lose this screw pow there goes your fender, Now you would think that with only about 30kms on the bike the dealer or the importer would replace the fender under warranty. Nope. A new fender costs $75. Oh well, that is life.

Another plastic part that boke is a triangular piece that surrounds the gas cap. It fastens to a single screw under the seat. This is accomplished by a narrow strip of plastic that attaches to the screw. Now seats on a new bike are usually difficult to close. So I applied pressure to the seat and the narrow part of the triangular piece broke. I will order a new one when I pickup the fender because Zone Moto are french and it was too difficult to explain what part it is.

Okay I have had some issues with the plastics on the bike. They seem very brittal, but I heard that is the case with many Chinese scooters.

The metal parts seem very well done. Welds are neat and the bike showed no signs of rust. The mechanical parts seem durable and well screwed together.

The assembly of the Nitro is pretty good. The paint is beautifully done. There are no squeeks or rattles. The parts seem well integrated. It may be built by SYM but it certainly doesn't have the same quality. It isn't bad and it is certainly one of the best Chinese bikes I have seen, but it isn't up to a Taiwanese or Japanese product either. To be fare it doesn't cost the same as one of those makes either.

Even with the problems I have had, the TOMOS Nitro 50 seems solid and pretty well made. I would bet that it will last many years. I blame the dealer for poor PDI and not the importer or manufacturer for the problems I have had.

Future Modifications

There is one mod that I will do pretty soon. The importer recommended it. If you take off the CVT cover there is a nylon spacer that prevents the belt from going all the way on the drive spindle. If you use a hammer and a chisel you can remove this spacer and you will gain 5 mph or more without damaging the bike in any way.

I will definitely buy a new rear shock with one that is adjustable. I will probably purchase a "nitro" shock (Pun intended.) I don't know if I am capable to change the shock myself. If anybody has advice I will happily welcome it.

I hope you enjoyed my review of my first impressions of my Nitro 50. So far I have only driven it for 50 miles or so. I will update my ownership experience as time goes on.