Viva 250 7,000 km update

[Gary]

My Viva 250 Tourer just rolled over 7,000 km (about 4,300 miles). She's running like a champ now. I did have a number of "start-up" problems that showed up in the first couple of thousand kms. These were pretty easy to fix, and my dealer (allnewsports.com) replaced most of the parts under warranty, so the repairs cost little or nothing other than my labor and some tools. I was concerned that new things might continue to break, but that hasn't been the case. For the last 5,000 km the scoot has just been a reliable little transportation machine, with no failures whatsoever.

Overall I'm pleased as punch with the little sub $2K scoot. It has plenty of power to get to 70mph. (Top speed is about 72mph or so). Even with the 10" rear tire, handling is decent enough for short freeway hops. The engine starts right up first time every time. It idles beautifully. The brakes are strong and reliable and don't squeak. Even the body is pretty solid with no rattles or squeaks, even though the body panels have been removed and reinstalled many times.

About the only complaint I have is that the gas mileage I'm getting - about 58 to 59 mpg - is a bit lower than what others report they get. I've checked the tire pressure (OK) , cleaned the air filter, and modified my riding style, but despite these things the mileage is definitely under 60 mpg. I was getting 61 mpg for a while, so something must have changed.

As I said above a lot of things went wrong with the scoot during the first 2,000kms. Here is a list:

• The battery failed in the first few days - allnew replaced under warranty
  
• A couple of body panels cracked - allnew replaced under warranty
  
• The starter and kill switches failed - allnew replaced under warranty
  
• The resistor heat sink diode was bad causing the charging system to not work - this was a pain to diagnose, but a $10 part (plus a new battery) solved the problem.
  
• The plastic radiator fill neck cracked causing a coolant leak - fixed with marine grade bondo (allnew also sent a replacement part under warranty)
  
• The carb heater fitting cracked - removed from system
  
• A main bolt on the frame was missing - replaced
  
• The welds for the brackets supporting the trunk cracked (maybe due to me overloading the trunk) I still have to have these re-welded
  
• The valve stems were checked and cracked; replaced these.
  

It took a while to sort out these issues, but it wasn't all that tough and I learned a lot in the process. Allnewsports was good about honoring their warranty and providing replacement parts at no cost. I'd gladly do it all over again.

Cheers and good riding,
Gary

[monty57]

Sticking with it paid off. Not only for you but for the many who had similar issues and that followed your post and solutions. I think you halped a lot more people thatn you realized along the way.

[luciano136]

Hey Gary,

Hope to catch up to you as soon as mine is back in commission. Stuck at 4600km now...

One question, when you start yours up, does it idle without any throttle? Mine shuts off when it's completely cold. I have to give it some throttle to keep it running... Once warm, no problem!

[scooterollie]

Gary;
Great post! Gives hope to those who experience problems early on. All two wheeled vehicles are higher maintenance than a cage and it seems the Chinese scoots often need "sorting out". I still have my Bali 250 CFMoto (after purchasing the Linhai 300) and still have to sort out the same type of problem some of the Peg. owners are experiencing. For all 2300 Kms the engine has run well but there is this exhaust leak into the cooling system. Need to diagnose and fix it before putting it up for sale.

[Gary]

Monty, Oliie -
Thanks. This forum has been great; much useful information and many supportive folks. I'm happy to be able to give back.

Luciano - welcome back on the road. Your repair didn't take long at all! That'd great. Yes, my Viva stalls once or twice when its cold, even if I warm it up first. Its kind of like the scooter is remiding you who's boss ....
gary

[12string]

Gary,
I remember when you were having all your electrical problems. It kept me from ordering a Viva until you had it sorted out. It took so long I decided to get a 150 instead. My Strada Eurojet has been great, however I wanted more speed. So now I'm off this morning to pick up a pre-owned Burgman 400. It has been raining here but it looks like it's moving out. It's an 80 mile trip, one way, so I hope the rain stays away, 50% chance of rain here in central Florida.

[rverr]

Gary I don't know if that is a good post or not,scared hell out of me I have 500 mi. on my ROADSTER 250 bought from ALLNEWSPORTS without any problems but the fuel issue I hope this is not what is in my future, its good to hear that ALLNEW is standing behind what they sell . Good luck on the next 7,000 mi. KEEP ON SCOOTIN!!!

[Gary]

With the cheap chinascoots, it all seems to come down to the luck of the draw. My electrical problem boiled down to a dumb $10 part - the diode. A lot of people had the same problem at the time. Now, it seems to be bad fuel pumps people are struggling with. I suspect that the manufacurers buy the parts from the cheapest source with little or no quality contol and sometimes get a bad batch. The good news, I think, is that once you've worked through the issues with the defective 'accessories' if you will, the basic scoot is pretty decent. At least that's how it seems right now (knock on wood).

Anyone considering purchasing a cheap chinascoot needs to be aware of the potential pitfalls. The problems I expereinced and most of the problems I've read about here are pretty easily overcome by the average do-it-yourselfer. But certainly if one doesn't have the aptitude or the desire to do some wrenching, I'd say spend more and go with a quality scoot like Kymco, Honda, Suzuki, etc.

12string: Enjoy the Burgman. I had a 150 for a year and found the jump to the 250 to be huge. With the 150, I always felt like I needed to 'pedal a little harder' to keep from holding up traffic. I never feel that way with the 250, and well, a 400 will be awesome. I could definately see myself on a 400 in a year or two, although I do worry a bit about the added size and weight, so my next scoot might be a People 250, or one of the 300s, if they get CARB approved.

Cheers all -
Gary

[Gary]

And of course the day I post that everything is good with my scoot, the turn signals went South. Argh. Back to debugging.....
Gary
PS: The four-way isn't working either, so I'm guessing its the flasher that went bad??