Chinese Scooter Club

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:02 am Viva 150cc Touring scooter

Hey guys. I was planning on buying a Sun-L 150cc, but after hearing all the terrible reviews on the bike, I've changed my mind.

There's a dealer right down the street from me that sells a Viva 150cc Touring bike for a fairly good price. Anyone know about these bikes? I believe it's the same thing as a Tank 150cc Touring. The dealer tells me that the engines are actually made by Honda, but I'm not sure I believe that.

Any input? He's asking $1400, do you guys think that's a fair price?

Fox · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:07 am

Got a link or a pic?

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:27 am

http://www.motortoyshop.com/TANK-VIVA-Touring-Deluxe-150cc-Scooter_p_8-18.html

Fox · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:36 am

It says $1,299.00 Does that include shipping? If so, that seems like a good price to me.

Evade · Wed Apr 30, 2008 1:47 am

With the exception of the side mirrors with blinkers installed it looks nearly like my RM150-16 scooter. Or for that matter Mike/Spanner's Geely 150

I've had no problems with mine (knock on wood of course).

Suthrncomfrt1884 · Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:29 am

I'm actually not buying it from that site. There's a motorsports shop down the street from my house that sells them. I trust the owner, just wanted to get more peoples opinions of them. He's asking 1400+ tax, title, license. I'm sure I'll talk him down to 1400 for everything.

So does anyone know about the Honda engine thing? Is this just something he made a mistake about? He claims he's not supposed to tell customers that it's a honda engine because Honda made a deal with Viva to let them use the motors just not the name. Obviously you don't want people knowing that they can buy a scooter for 1400 that has the same engine as a Honda branded one for 4000.

Evade · Wed Apr 30, 2008 2:40 am

Well if it is a Tank, likely the engine is a GY6 chinese copy.

The chinese copied the GY6 and threw them into their scoots from what I understand.

Doesn't matter much, the parts are interchangable even if they are chinese copies.

They are good engines.

Scootin · Wed Apr 30, 2008 4:47 am

Suthrncomfrt1884 wrote:
So does anyone know about the Honda engine thing?

Its a copy of a Honda engine

Fox · Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:02 am

Suthrncomfrt1884 wrote:

So does anyone know about the Honda engine thing? Is this just something he made a mistake about? He claims he's not supposed to tell customers that it's a honda engine because Honda made a deal with Viva to let them use the motors just not the name. Obviously you don't want people knowing that they can buy a scooter for 1400 that has the same engine as a Honda branded one for 4000.

He's lying or he's mis-informed. The engine is a Chinese copy of a Honda design produced in China through a licensing contract. I think I speak for a lot of people when I say the design is good, but the materials and tolerances are most likely inferior to a Japanese produced GY6 engine. That said, I have a 50cc scoot with over 15,000 on the odometer and it's still running strong due to vigilant oil changes and up-keep. The Chinese scoots need to be looked after carefully to extend their life.

px166bajaj · Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:59 am

Honda don't make GY6 engines anymore. All the work is subbed out to contractors in Taiwan, who sub the work further to China.

So it can't be a Honda engine.

gstraitman · Mon May 05, 2008 6:48 pm

once honda patents ran out ( probably BS but this is what a dealer told me) china started copying gy6's yahama's 250's, and more to come. For such a simple engine I am thinking ( hoping ) the chinese are like the japs 35 years ago and that they are making these with high quality so as not to screw their business.
My scoot looks to me as high a quality as the name brands except for a few detail like handlebars, switches, fuel line materials. etc.
My guess is the engines will hold up. If not for the price, you can buy a new one.
Ferd :o

Spanner · Mon May 05, 2008 7:53 pm

I owned a Geely Roadster, which is the same GY6 powered machine as the Tank, along with many others.
Never experienced any mechanical problems what so ever with my bike, to be honest I’ve regretted selling it, as it was so reliable and nice to ride.
The guy who bought the bike from me has had no problems with the bike either...
These machines are copies of an earlier Honda model, although I can’t remember which model it was :roll: .

JumpSteady555 · Sun May 11, 2008 3:21 am

China has been making scooter engines for many years and they have become rather good at it.

On my third scooter, have never experienced engine failure. I would go as far to say that the most well made component on a chinese bike *is the engine.

I agree with others that the dealer is probably misinformed about the honda engine. One could say that most all scooter have honda based engines, but they're not *made by honda.

Evade · Mon May 12, 2008 5:31 pm

Spanner/Mike,

I can relate to your sorrow LOL. I have contemplated purchasing a CBR600R or FZR600 or something along that lines as a long distance cruiser. After wondering what I would do with my Ricardo 150 I finally settled on keeping it.

For local city driving, the 150 is perfect. I can't complain about its operation, mileage, etc, but if I need to go freeway speeds (60-75mph+) then I need something that won't make me an easy target and that will be a 600R.

I love your new scoot tho and that should make ya happy eh?

;)