chinese or japanese motorcycle /what to buy??

Maybe some members can help me with this , looking to buy a automatic or semi automatic motorcyle .
was thinking of a rusi scooter full automatic or similar . is there any one that can recommend me a good chinese one?
It must be some thing very easy to ride , wil be most of the time used by people that hardly ever driven a motorcycle.
Or should I just go for a Honda or Yamaha ..... or maybe a used one?
Chris

 

That is a personal decision. A Rusi will be much cheaper to buy, but they do not hold their value as well as a Honda or Yamaha. There are pros/cons with each;

Rusi cost new say P40,000. One year later if still in good shape it will be worth P20,000.

Similar Honda will cost new about 60,000. One year later if still in good shape it will be worth P40,000.

The Honda will hold up much better to punishment. However, inexperienced riders are not likely to punish it. Properly maintained the Rusi will last 50,000 km. Properly maintained the Honda will last 100,000 or more. Again, an inexperienced rider is unlikely to put 50,000 km on it in 5 years.

My suggestion would be to buy a Rusi, or look for a used Honda that has few km on it (say under 5000). A used Honda will hold it's value if taken care of and not wrecked, a new Rusi will not. A one year old Honda can still be worth about what you paid for it in 5 years time.

There is no one answer that is right for everyone.

Larry

 

There are some decent products out there that don't cost a complete fortune. Most of the small Japanese motorcycles are built in china with better quality control in my opinion. Then there are Kymco products from Taiwan which I would have no worries about which are competitively priced. I want to tell you to buy new because then you aren't inheriting someone elses maintainance problems but if you are a new rider I think you should get something used, because at some point you will probably drop it, dress for the crash and not for the ride. You also might not want to ride it after you have had it awhile and used would limit the loss on resale. I would pick the variety you would most encounter wherever you go and that would be semi-automatic so that if you travel from island to island you could rent a motorcycle elsewhere and not have much to learn. When I was last in the Philippines I could buy a new Kymco Visa R 110 [semi-auto] for 30,000 piso and I think it would have been a good choice. I instead bought a Suzuki HD 110 because it was for heavy farm use and may become a trike at some point and it was a good choice, heavy duty, low maintainance, fuel sipping, relatively large tank capacity, quieter than my mothers sewing machine, only one problem, nobody in my girls family who had been practically riding since they could see over the instrument cluster, was used to a hand clutch, but they learned, lol. If you could get a new Kymco Visa R 110 for 30k to 35k piso I don't think you could go too far wrong. Just be safe.

 

We have a Yamaha Mio 125 and a Honda Beat (I think 100), both automatics and both good bikes. Maybe you can find a repo one at the Yamaha or Honda dealer.

 

I have a RUSI automatic from new July 2012 and l have been very happy with it another thing is service is 100 % and if you buy anything new they fit it for free -oilchange buy the oil same i did get a new automatic caburtor free fitting (l alwayes pay them ) but it is free -- and i drive every day and love my RUSI

 

Yep, and thats if you can get it. In August 2011 I bought a Rusi for 40,000. It was a Yamaha Mia clone. I never got too far from a gas station or a repair place because it needed lots of both. Nice and new, rides ok, can`t sell it for any reasonable amount and its very cheaply build. Never again. I gave that one to the ex and bought a second hand Honda XRM which is more reliable at 3 years old than the Rusi was at new, AND it is easily saleable without much loss (if any).

 

Just be aware fully automatic scooters use a lot more juice than motorbikes , the clutchless model motorbikes with gears are a good halfway choice and are good on fuel , we have a Yamaha , clutchless with gears and it is really good , also have a fully automatic Suzuki scooter , which is good , but thirsty , if you want something reliable go for Japanese , the fella's that have posted before me are offering good advice , stay away from the chinese stuff if you have a couple of extra bucks , because you will probably end up spending the same amount in the long run with repairs and so-on , but have no re-sale value with a china setup opposed to a Japanese model.

Tony

 

I would like to disagree with oztony slightly, a full automatic scooter does not have to be a gas hog and when I see one that is, I would start looking for what is wrong with it, vacuum leak, bad jetting, dirty airfilter, someone changed something ruining the designers equilibrium. Also anything that has a 4 liter fuel tank seems thirsty to me because I have to fill it so often. Oztony is absolutely correct that something with gears is going to generally be more fuel efficient. The full automatic also is forced air cooled [ most watercooled scooters also ] so they have a fan that takes more power from the engine. I would not let fuel economy scare me off though if I really wanted a full automatic because if you can't afford to fill it up at 75 miles per gallon or more, you have greater troubles than fuel economy.

 

I am in agreement with both Robert and oztony. My Honda XRM is a clutchless that one shifts and my Kymco Super 8 is a "twist the throttle and go" scooter. Both are extremely well constructed and seem to be quite robust; however, the Honda is more fuel efficient by far. This is a smalll point for expats (as Robert pointed out) and the comfort and ease of use around town more than compensates for the added fuel expense. One word of caution on scooter vs larger wheeled vehicles: scooters, on unpaved roads are more difficult to control (for me) and more prone to having the smaller front wheel displaced by loose, larger rocks. If "adventurous" riding is in your futurte, please consider a motorbike with larger diameter wheels. BTW---the 2013 kymco is for sale, if anyone has an interest--please PM me.