Buying Scooters Online - What To Expect:

If you're reading this page, you're either considering buying a scooter or motorcycle online, or you've already saved yourself a $1000 or more by buying online. And what you want to know is "how do I get my scooter serviced?" or "what do I do with a big crate in my driveway with a scooter inside?"

Receiving your scooter: First let's talk about the delivery of your online scooter purchase. The YouTube video to the left shows an example of a crated scooter that you will receive. It requires about 30 minutes to an hour of assembly (according to the manufacturer... we recommend a couple hours to give the whole thing a good "once over" which will extend the life of your purchase significantly... more on this below).

The video also shows a customer with a problem. It won't start. Don't be shocked if something is wrong. Take into consideration that your scooter just traveled half way around the world since the last time anyone touched it. In fact at Honda, Suzuki, and Yamaha dealerships, they as well receive scooters with a problem out of the crate. A problem with a scooter out of the crate is not an occurrence mutually exclusive to online purchased scooters. It occurs with every brand. But the local scooter shop isn't going to go on an internet forum and tell the world about a problem they had with a scooter out of the crate, where as customers who buy scooters online do. When you buy from a local dealer you are paying them $1000+ more for the same scooter for their "out of the crate" setup service, as well as their brick and mortar shop overhead.

It's for this reason that you want to make sure when you buy a scooter online that you do it with a reputable online dealer. There's a good chance that you will have to call for a little help. A reputable dealer will be available for most normal business hours, and sometimes more. An eBay seller?... well good luck getting a quick response from him. If you are considering purchasing a scooter online, take into consideration that it's this event right here that is a major reason "Chinese scooters" have gotten a bad name. These fly by night online dealers, especially on eBay, have left the customer high and dry at this point. And of course, any customer with a scooter they can't get working is going to bad mouth the product. If however, you as the customer are willing to call your reputable dealer and get help, the vast majority of problems that occur out of the crate are very easy fixes.

Getting the right help: Now, you might be thinking at this point, "I'm not a mechanic, I can't do this?" If that describes you, consider your options. First, watch this YouTube video from Sunny Side Scooters to get an idea of just how involved setting up your scooter is. If after watching it you still think it's too much for you, consider other options. You could opt to pay $2000 or more with a local dealer for the same scooter you could get for $1000 online, or you can get someone to help you with your online purchased scooter. Most people have a dad, or an uncle, or some other family member or friend who knows engines, who would be more than glad to help their relative or friend save more than $1000 on a scooter purchase by giving them a couple hours of help. Or if you aren't so fortunate to have a relative or friend, it's not difficult to find a paid mechanic who would take $150 to $250 to assemble and inspect the scooter for you when it arrives. In fact, if you are near a college, you could likely post your need on a bulletin board and find a college student who would be more than glad to do it for you for $150. Or you could post your need on www.CollegeHelpers.com. In fact, you might just introduce the person who decides to help you to a small part time business they could do, as more and more college students buy scooters online.

Finishing the scooter setup: So you've got your scooter uncrated, you've got it assembled (or someone helped you assemble it), you received help from the reputable dealer for any problem that occurred getting it running... are you done? Maybe. The dealer will likely tell you that's it (because keeping the process as simple as possible is good for his business). But we're going to recommend that you invest just a little more time and elbow grease to ensure your scooter lasts a long time.


Investing some additional time really pays off: You (or your mechanic help) should take time to ensure every electrical connection is tight. It's not uncommon that after traveling half way around the world these scooters ride for 100 miles and then all the sudden quit. Turns out all that happened was that an electrical connection was loose when it arrived, and the vibration from ridding finally giggled it completely off. Taking a moment to ensure all connections are tight after uncrating the scooter will avoid these unexpected stops.

The same goes for screws. One may be loose coming out of the crate, and 100 miles of ridding will cause it to literally fall off. It's these kind of things that also contribute to the bad name "Chinese scooters" have. If you were 100 miles into your purchase, and it suddenly just stopped, or something randomly fell off, you'd tell your local scooter dealer that they're bad scooters as well. But by taking just a few moments after uncrating your scoot to tighten connections, tighten screws, and go so far as to apply Loctite to the screws, the vast majority of issues that give "Chinese scooters" a bad name could be avoided. This investment of time can result in a great amount of longevity for your purchase.

And for a lot of people, this investment brings a lot of joy. It's why the "do it yourself" types do things themselves. Whether it's building your own deck, making your own beer, or assembling your own scooter, there's a lot of joy to be found in doing something yourself. When you spend $1000 or more for the same scooter from a brick and mortar shop, you've paid someone else to do the assembly and quality control on your scooter (as well as the significant overhead that any retail establishment has). Why pay them to do that when you can get the joy out of doing it yourself, and save a lot of money at the same time?

If you have a few hours to spend, and really want to give your scooter a thorough preparation, this website provides a very detailed and very thorough list of instructions for preparing your online purchased scooter out of the crate. Another resource for prepping and servicing your scooter can be found here. Both are great resources for receiving and maintaining your online purchased scooter.

Getting service for your scooter: So what about servicing your scooter if something does break? Again, a reputable online scooter dealer will be able to get you any part you need. Most scooters sold online come with a parts warranty. It's the labor that you have to cover. Finding labor if you can't replace the part yourself (and a reputable online dealer will be happy to help you over the phone to replace the part yourself) is no different than finding the help you needed to prepare your scooter after delivery. In fact, despite a lot of local scooter dealers claiming they won't work on "Chinese scooters", the reason for their unwillingness to help you is they can't get parts for Chinese scooters. But if you've got the part, and are willing to pay them for their time, they likely won't turn down the billable labor even if they do the work with a frown on their face.

Now, the information above isn't for everyone. There are some people, no matter how easy something might be, just don't want to deal with a little challenge even if it means they save a lot of money. If you're the type of person who reads this page and says "that's just too much", then we don't recommend at all that you buy a scooter online. You should stick with buying a scooter from a Local Dealer. Saving money comes with a price, and if you think the steps above are something you can handle, then buying a scooter online is a great way to save a lot of money!

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