Roketa MC-119-150

[ghcoe]

The welds and tube alignment look pretty darn good to me. Side plastics have a nice even distance from outer frame. There is some weld splatter and welding wire visible here and there, but in general it is pretty light and not at all distracting to the appearance.

The big muffler made me giggle when I looked at the tail pipe. You have this BIG exhaust outlet and then a small little pipe that bends and goes out the bottom. Hey, at least it will be hard for water to get in there.

I like the fact that it has a dual swing arm with the extra shock. Probably good for those rugged roads and it really adds to the support of the exhaust too.

[ghcoe]

The wheels have a nice rough texture to them. Again, nice aggressive tires to compliment the wheels.

The brush guard, although probably not very effective, really sells this scooter to me. Even the bug eyed North American clone has the brush guard that surrounds the headlights. It just lets everybody know that this is not just a everyday scooter. This scooter means business!

The view from the back is just as menacing. It reminds me of old school goggles and some sort of respirator. The lenses look awesome when lit. Rear handle is very solid.

The gas tank is in the front portion of the seat. Not real sure how I will like this yet. I have heard that it is a bit of a pain to get the pump nozzle in and it is at a awkward angle. Time will tell I guess. I do think it looks cool though.

[ghcoe]

The ignition is very nicely done. It has a built in cover that flips in front of the key hole. It could be easily defeated if you know how. I believe it will work great to keep water out of the tumblers if you have to store the scooter outdoors.

Handle bar controls seem to be of good quality and are placed in normal positions. Hand grips are comfortable and throttle is nice and smooth and has a nice return tension to it.

Handle bar is basic. I wish it had a cross bar, but hey for the price I can add that myself and still not cry in my sleep.

So this is the part I find lacking with this unit........storage space. Now I know that I would have to sacrifice cool looks for more storage. But guess what? I like the cool looks so I will have to deal with the lack of storage. No, you can not get a full face helmet in that storage area. You can get the helmet in there, but you cannot get the seat shut. The storage area does have a nice sealing gasket though. Good for keeping the water out of your storage goods while going down the road. So it looks like panners are in the future for this scooter, but hey I think that will make this little scooter look that much cooler.

[ghcoe]

So as it stands I think this scooter is a steal at $1099.99 to the door with a PDI. Like I said I will do another PDI for my own piece of mind.

It was shipped with the idea that you could put the rear view mirrors on and you are ready to ride. It even had the battery installed and charged and enough gas to get to the nearest gas station. The scooter feels exceptionally solid and I could not get any odd sounds hitting the large bumps on my street. I did find that the rear brake did need some adjustment though.

I am 6'1" and I find it to be a great fit and very comfortable to sit on. My wife on the other hand, at 5'6", found the scooter a bit too high for comfort, but doable. It does seem to sit fairly high which I believe is do to it's off road capable look. It also sports 12" wheels.

Only time will tell if this unit will perform as well as the unit it is cloned after. I really hope that it will be. The Yamaha Zuma/BWS 125 is a outstanding scooter, but at $3390.00 MSRP even if this scooter is half as good I am still ahead of the game.

Updates to follow......

[culcune]

I ordered my TMEC 200 and a friend of mine's sister ordered a BWS 50cc (the side by side headlight style) from Excalibur Motorsports. Like you mentioned earlier about your's being a Jonway mystery bike--it is a branded as a Lintex made by Huatian, but cannot be found on Lintex's site. Also, if you look around, TaoTao makes a bike like the Lintex BWS 50 in both 150cc and 50cc according to some online dealers, but only the 150cc BWS replica can be found on TaoTao's site.

Like you, I was initially intimidated by the Lintex scooter's size (I am only 5'7"). I knew what to expect with the TMEC since I already had been riding an older TMEC, but was surprised by the size of the BWS bike. Since I am short and know how to tip toe my way around enduros starting with my Suzuki DR250s from back in the early 90's and my two TMECs, I could balance and hold up the BWS at a stand-still with no problem. The only thing I found weird (okay I found a few others) was the lack of initial power from a standstill which by no means is the scooters 'fault' (what does one expect out of a Chinese 50cc?). However, the 50cc is perfect for someone who wants to buzz around town and/or lost their license via a DUI (like my friend's sister).

I don't know how feasible my friend's BWS is for of-roading, but her tires are agressive and look like they mean business like yours. In fact, her bike looks alot like yours but yours is updated (I assume the dual-headight version is copying the old Yamaha BWS, or if I remember someone mentioning on advrider's scooter forums, your style BWS is a copy of everywhere in the world but the US's version of the Yamaha BWS. Either way, both look agressive and good. I bet your headlights are more useful than the side-by-side version.

[SpudRider]

Thanks for posting the excellent photographs. You got a good deal.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by ghcoe

What is better than one PDI? Why, two PDI's of course..... :-)

Indeed. I have trust issues when it comes to the PDI process for China machines.

At least part of the speedometer mileage would have been from the factory that made the speedometer. They likely would have tested it with a drill.

Excellent write-up and review! I look forward to following your adventures down the road.

[ghcoe]

Just got done doing the oil change and the gear box change. Yup, I am glad I did. There was quite a bit of dust in the oil I dropped from the engine and gear box. Oil did not look like something I would use. Still thin and clear looking. It did smell like petroleum based oil though. New Rotella 15-40w and Valvaline 75-80w. Next change out in 25 miles.

[culcune]

On my friend's Lintex 50, I changed the oil first thing, but Wade Liu who owns Excalibur Motorsports told me that the gear oil is fine for 1000 miles. At about 150 miles, I changed the oil again. At about the 400 mile range, after seeing a few youtube videos on how easy the gear oil is to change, I told my friend it was time to change it. It came out clear like it was new! Not like it hurt anything, of course, but Wade was right (and it wasn't like he gains anything by NOT changing it other than a possible headache for warranty issues if something gave out). I don't know about Jonway, and it is a 150cc. Again, it doesn't hurt or cost anything (except to buy the gear oil and time), so it is good you changed it out first thing.

[Weldangrind]

If the 75W90 is synthetic, it will last a long time. Since there is no adjacent combustion, there is nothing to contaminate the oil, other than dust through the breather. I've had excellent luck with Castrol Syntec 75W90.

[pnw]

Nice! I joined chinariders to see your pictures. A picture it with someone on it for size comparison would be nice. The zuma in the video doesn't have a frame brace that I can see. A nice exampe of what a scooter can handle, not quite what I expected based on some negative experiences of others on CVT scooters posted on the ADV.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by pnw

Nice! I joined chinariders to see your pictures. A picture it with someone on it for size comparison would be nice. The zuma in the video doesn't have a frame brace that I can see. A nice exampe of what a scooter can handle, not quite what I expected based on some negative experiences of others on CVT scooters posted on the ADV.

Welcome!

Are you saying that you can't see pics until you register? I didn't know that.

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by pnw

The zuma in the video doesn't have a frame brace that I can see. A nice exampe of what a scooter can handle, not quite what I expected based on some negative experiences of others on CVT scooters posted on the ADV.

I do not think ADVscoot ever installed a frame brace on his Zuma. I think there is a lot of negativity on other sites because they do not understand the Scooter. Asia and Europe seem to embrace the scooter better.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by ghcoe

I think there is a lot of negativity on other sites because they do not understand the Scooter.

You're not likely to find that here.

[ghcoe]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

You're not likely to find that here.

Yup, some sites are more friendly, less negativity about something they do not understand or are bias towards.