New Roketa DB-08-250 in Missouri
 

Well, I just got back from purchasing a new 2016 Storm from a local dealer here in Missouri, St. Louis area. The dealer just received their order after waiting months. I had my pick of color and chose orange....$1895 out-the-door. The bike comes fully assembled and tested with all paperwork for titling. It is being setup now and I'll pick it up first thing tomorrow morning. The price is really not high considering that you get to inspect before you buy; no hassling with shipping; nothing to assemble; all paperwork completed; and the local dealer has a great reputation (good reviews and A+ BBB rating). Time will tell! Pics to follow. :yay:

nice, i love mine ... i did change carb, plug, and jets but everything else is stock and i have good luck so far

Do YOU still have to register the bike? Or does the dealer do that for you? Just wondering if I understood you correctly.

As far as price goes, I remember this past spring that one young lady came to the US to Utah from Israel, bought a Storm from a local dealer for a little less than what you paid, but it was a 2015 model, and she ended up road tripping from Utah to Brooklyn, NY on it with no problems. I do think for under $2k OTD all assembled and prepped (not sure if that includes registration or you have take care of it yourself as I asked above) you can't go wrong as far as China bikes go.

I am leaning towards the Brozz as I have a dealer friend who can get me one of those for slightly more than wholesale (he needs to make his profit). But I will have to assemble it, and take care of all the paperwork.

Yes. I still must register the bike and pay the taxes at the local DMV. So, the total price will be close to $2100. More than I wanted to pay but it's the bike I wanted. Looks like the odometer readings are the same....in Km instead of miles. It is listed on the invoice as a 2016. I've attached a pic of the 5 I had to choose from.

Still can't wait to get a Storm 250 in the kiddos favorite color, will be a great bike for him in a couple years when he is tall enough for it :) , and I will have fun riding and modifying it until the day he takes it over ;)

It's great to hear they have 2016's in stock again, congrats on getting one

Now we know where all the Storms went! ;-)
Congrats! If they were legal here, I'd have one in my rolling stock, no doubt.

Interesting that they let a retailer do that. Even here in AZ, from what I understand, a dealer has to be licensed as a dealer, and all the paperwork is taken care of by them, if an Arizona resident were to buy a vehicle from them, in state. Thanks for clarifying! And like 2LZ mentioned above--that appears to be the 'secret stash' of Storms which is keeping them out of everyone else's hands! :)

Barlow--did you feel you needed to change the carb like most of the Hawk 250 owners, or was it just for the sake of improvement? In other words, was the stock carb fine, or were there shortcomings like the Hawk?

Sorry 2LZ, I messed up that response. The dealer gives me the completed title application, the invoice and the MSO. They do not register it; I will do that at the DMV tomorrow morning.....pay my sales tax (ouch!). Sorry for the confusion.

Still getting the hang of the posting methods here....I'll repost this here...kinda messed up and posted in a wrong thread...Uggg!......

Well, I did not drive it home 35 miles in traffic....I thought I would play it safe and trailer it home. Probably was a good idea. It is now home and have put 10Km on it. Trying to break it in slowly with short rides...allowing it to warm up then cool back down before riding again and slowly lengthing the rides. Don't know if it helps but that is what I've have heard and seems logically; not allowing too much heat to build up while slowly loosening up the motor. Time will tell.

Nice lookin bike!

So, I will be taking this bike to Tucson, Arizona for a couple of months over the winter....the altitude is a lot higher than Missouri, obviously, (about 2400' vs 500'). I don't think I need to worry about rejetting for that....but some rides there take you above 7000 feet. Should I do anything to the carb or just live with the performance impact, if any. Any help would be appreciated.

My dealer said that leaving the stock carb unchanged may allow the bike to perform better since it will be running richer. He argues that the polution controls have the bike leaned out. Any comments?

This response is from what I remember about 10 years ago regarding Chinese bikes. Back then, one could fly in to China, and if you had a friend who lived there (i.e. someone from a motorcycle forum site like Horizons Unlimited) they could register a brand new, $1k bike in their name and loan it to you for a budget adventure. No license, either!

The point is, I remember some of the more adventurous types who bothered to post their road trip as marveling at how well the 150cc or 200cc enduro engine did at high elevation. These were stock bikes. And the reports were from different people on different tours at different times.

If you had a Hawk, I could see the benefit as based on numerous Hawk owners making a carb one of their first modifications seemingly out of necessity. On the Storm, I would wait to see how it does.

Try it as is in Tucson and see how it runs. If you can't get it to idle or you have lean spots in it, buy a Mikuni and install it. Jets are much easier to find for a Mikuni.

Thanks for the quick recommendations. That sounds like the way to go. I put about 80 miles on the bike today. Ran fine but it sure is tight...needing a breakin. The gearing is a little low for me....even for county road use. Ran it mostly at 30 to 40 mph. The vibration really comes in at about 45mph in 5th, 35mph in 4th....I'm guessing around 3000 to 3500 rpm. I suppose this is normal. Don't remember my Honda 200 being quite that buzzy. The engine sounds OK. I can hear the valve tappit tick....don't think the valves are adjusted too tight but will check them later after a few miles. I thought this bike would be less "buzzy" with the counter-balanced engine. Does this seem normal for a Storm?:hmm: