Dissatisfaction with Tao Motor 250 TBR7 Adult Enduro Motorcycle

boygold · 07-16-2021, 03:46 PM

I recently purchased a Chinese Tao Motor 250 TBR7 Adult Enduro Motorcycle from KillerMotorSports in Texas. It finally arrived and I began assembly. First, the side stand was not the proper one and way too long. The neutral light shows neutral, but the rear wheel will not turn. It is locked as if in gear, but I cannot get into Real neutral without taking the chain loose. Now the rear wheel is locked up again. Even more, the cycle is not firing nor getting spark. The replies are few and not too helpful from the seller. 50 years of working on Jap bikes and nothing like this ever came up. I cannot appreciate this cycle nor the company that sold it to me. They should send someone to look at it and fix the problems and bring the proper side stand. It looks as though I may need to report this incident to the BBB before long.

All the first problems mentioned were due to Tao Motors" lack of instructions for assembly. I had no idea that the mono-shock was not fastened until I discovered it on my own. Fastening the bottom of it solved 2 problems. Just the electrical problem remains.

**JerryHawk250** · 07-16-2021, 04:00 PM

First off, Welcome aboard! KillMotorsports years ago was a reputable mom and pop type dealer until a few years ago. I know as i bought my first 4 wheel from them with zero issues on warranty items. They were bought out by some I don't care, I got your money company and are horrible. You may have to deal with Toa Motors direct for help. I think you can contact them through partskit.com.
The kick stand my not be to long. Have you adjusted the forks in the triple tree. forks should be sticking out about 1/8 to 1/4" above the triple tree.
As far as not firing, make sure the kill switch is off. Believe me it's happen to a few on here including myself.
For the wheel being locked up. Proper chain tension is important. Remove the front sprocket cover and make sure nothing is jamming the chain or sprocket.

Bruces · 07-16-2021, 05:54 PM

Some of these bikes require the side stand being up ,the front brake being pulled in,the rear brake being pushed ,and -or a mixture of some such nonsense to get it to fire up .There is also often some confusion on the switches sometimes ,things are not always what they appear ,and if you have a remote start that is another source of grief for many users .The BBB is totally useless unfortunately ,they have no powers other than having a list of retailers to avoid which nobody checks before purchase ,you are proof of that or you would of purchased elsewhere .

boygold · 07-22-2021, 06:55 AM

I did call Tao Motors, and one person replied many times with questions and suggestions, but said he could do nothing. It was up the the seller to honor the warranty. He said they promised to call me that same day and work something out and also said they had called me before. Those were both lies. They still have not communicated with me. The warranty/claims button on their website takes one to a "Whoops, out bad!" page, which is worthless. I had to report them to BBB and Consumer Affairs, as well as proceed with a claim in Texas regarding the Texas Lemon Law. Meanwhile, the cycle is under the carport with zero miles on it, nearly worthless to me. What's even worse is that one one around here will work on it. I did order a new coil and a new CDI from the parts page at Killer Motor Sports, whose name is most appropriate, as they seem to be doing their best to kill interest and future sales of Yao products,

Bruces · 07-22-2021, 08:42 AM

return the bike or start a claim through your credit card company .

Oldenslow · 07-23-2021, 11:10 AM

Not picking on you, but I have to wonder....

Here's Japanese Bike, costs $5500, comes from a dealer with a physical location that includes a mechanic, a shop and a store of parts -- with a long-established manufacturer backing then up with any part or bit of tech advice they might need. Then, here's Chinese Bike, which costs $1400 and comes from a name on the Internet -- no parts, no mechanics, no physical location you can walk in to, not even an owner's manual worth a hoot.

It doesn't seem to me all that crazy to believe a buyer ought to have at least given this situation some thought beforehand...

stewbrash · 07-23-2021, 01:31 PM

The only reason I bought my bike "from the internet" was because of Chinariders.net slowly convincing me that yes, these can come with headaches, and yes some headaches are bigger than others, but at the end of the day I'm riding a $6000 motorcycle, I know most everything about it AND I can repair it. I have learned that parts to repair and modify it are available and have full confidence that any problem or issue can be rectified! I also learned a heck of alot with YouTube videos. For example...member boygold...Motocheez has a video showing that on a this one particular chinese motorcycle, if you had the kickstand down, the bike would not start; or a member was having a similar problem...only after getting advice on Chinariders, it was a kill-switch stuck on. So...just remember this is a great resource for owners of China-bikes...not a complaint department for Taotao Motorcycles!

Plump Kibbles · 07-23-2021, 05:52 PM

Krat - Your comments made just as much sense as wiping before you poop.. I'm sure Facebook still has room for that childish banter.

Boygold: Glad you did get one problem figured out - and on the second issue of electrical; on my bike, I have to have the front brake engaged and of course kill off before I can crank it; same with kick starting.. I'm used to engaging the clutch but, whatever - just that China charm lol.. And I don't actually have a kill switch on the kickstand. That was kind of a relief to me, being only ridden bikes that shut off when you put the stand down... sometimes I wanna keep it going, or need to adjust the idle..

Also.. would be worth taking a look at the fuses, solenoid, and possibly checking the rectifier with a multimeter for any malfunctioning diodes. Should be able to pass current positive bias and negative bias - if you get positive bias to pass as negative bias, that's bad. Do you get power to your peripherals when the ignition is on? I.e. - lights, horn, signals.. My ignition wiring came mucked up and had to repair it before I could get any further - ripped ground wire, assumed from shipping. I also have a single wire poking out from one harness that wasn't used - when it's grounded, I get a magical 6th gear!.. but, that wire isn't used at all for this bike. I pulled it through and isolated it from any ground points / conductive surfaces. Check all of your ground wire points too! My ignition coil had the ground attached on the frame, but the frame is painted! So, no ground!! About 3min and some sandpaper fixed that. Little things like this are easily missed.. Just go over everything a few times, check all the plugs, wiring, fuses, follow all the grounds and take a close look at everything. These aren't Japanese bikes so, sometimes things are reversed

Plump Kibbles · 07-27-2021, 04:03 PM

Hey brother - did you get any closer to a running bike??

The suspense is killing me!

07-16-2021, 03:46 PM	#1
boygold Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Indiana woods Posts: 4	Dissatisfaction with Tao Motor 250 TBR7 Adult Enduro Motorcycle I recently purchased a Chinese Tao Motor 250 TBR7 Adult Enduro Motorcycle from KillerMotorSports in Texas. It finally arrived and I began assembly. First, the side stand was not the proper one and way too long. The neutral light shows neutral, but the rear wheel will not turn. It is locked as if in gear, but I cannot get into Real neutral without taking the chain loose. Now the rear wheel is locked up again. Even more, the cycle is not firing nor getting spark. The replies are few and not too helpful from the seller. 50 years of working on Jap bikes and nothing like this ever came up. I cannot appreciate this cycle nor the company that sold it to me. They should send someone to look at it and fix the problems and bring the proper side stand. It looks as though I may need to report this incident to the BBB before long. All the first problems mentioned were due to Tao Motors" lack of instructions for assembly. I had no idea that the mono-shock was not fastened until I discovered it on my own. Fastening the bottom of it solved 2 problems. Just the electrical problem remains. Last edited by boygold; 07-22-2021 at 07:01 AM. Reason: Discovered more to assemble
	1

07-16-2021, 04:00 PM	#2
JerryHawk250 Moderator Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Houma, La. Posts: 11,717	First off, Welcome aboard! KillMotorsports years ago was a reputable mom and pop type dealer until a few years ago. I know as i bought my first 4 wheel from them with zero issues on warranty items. They were bought out by some I don't care, I got your money company and are horrible. You may have to deal with Toa Motors direct for help. I think you can contact them through partskit.com. The kick stand my not be to long. Have you adjusted the forks in the triple tree. forks should be sticking out about 1/8 to 1/4" above the triple tree. As far as not firing, make sure the kill switch is off. Believe me it's happen to a few on here including myself. For the wheel being locked up. Proper chain tension is important. Remove the front sprocket cover and make sure nothing is jamming the chain or sprocket. __________________ 2024 Linhai 300 ATV 4x4 2023 Lifan Lycan 250 Chopper 2023 Venom Evader 2022 Lifan KPX250 2020 Kawasaki Vulcan S (Sold) 2004 Honda ST 1300 2016 Black Hawk 250 (sold) Keihin PE30 carb,125 main,38 slow.Pod filter,ported & decked head 10:1 CR,Direct Ignition Coil,15/40Sprockets,NGK DPR8EIX-9,De-Cat,Dual Oil Cooler,Digital Cluster 2016 Cazador180 XL 2014 Coolster150 JerryHawk250.com My YouTube Channel Last edited by JerryHawk250; 07-22-2021 at 08:53 AM.
	2

07-22-2021, 06:55 AM	#4
boygold Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Indiana woods Posts: 4	Reported I did call Tao Motors, and one person replied many times with questions and suggestions, but said he could do nothing. It was up the the seller to honor the warranty. He said they promised to call me that same day and work something out and also said they had called me before. Those were both lies. They still have not communicated with me. The warranty/claims button on their website takes one to a "Whoops, out bad!" page, which is worthless. I had to report them to BBB and Consumer Affairs, as well as proceed with a claim in Texas regarding the Texas Lemon Law. Meanwhile, the cycle is under the carport with zero miles on it, nearly worthless to me. What's even worse is that one one around here will work on it. I did order a new coil and a new CDI from the parts page at Killer Motor Sports, whose name is most appropriate, as they seem to be doing their best to kill interest and future sales of Yao products,
	1

07-23-2021, 05:52 PM	#8
Plump Kibbles Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Virginia Posts: 233	Krat - Your comments made just as much sense as wiping before you poop.. I'm sure Facebook still has room for that childish banter. Boygold: Glad you did get one problem figured out - and on the second issue of electrical; on my bike, I have to have the front brake engaged and of course kill off before I can crank it; same with kick starting.. I'm used to engaging the clutch but, whatever - just that China charm lol.. And I don't actually have a kill switch on the kickstand. That was kind of a relief to me, being only ridden bikes that shut off when you put the stand down... sometimes I wanna keep it going, or need to adjust the idle.. Also.. would be worth taking a look at the fuses, solenoid, and possibly checking the rectifier with a multimeter for any malfunctioning diodes. Should be able to pass current positive bias and negative bias - if you get positive bias to pass as negative bias, that's bad. Do you get power to your peripherals when the ignition is on? I.e. - lights, horn, signals.. My ignition wiring came mucked up and had to repair it before I could get any further - ripped ground wire, assumed from shipping. I also have a single wire poking out from one harness that wasn't used - when it's grounded, I get a magical 6th gear!.. but, that wire isn't used at all for this bike. I pulled it through and isolated it from any ground points / conductive surfaces. Check all of your ground wire points too! My ignition coil had the ground attached on the frame, but the frame is painted! So, no ground!! About 3min and some sandpaper fixed that. Little things like this are easily missed.. Just go over everything a few times, check all the plugs, wiring, fuses, follow all the grounds and take a close look at everything. These aren't Japanese bikes so, sometimes things are reversed __________________ \|2020 X-Pro Titan DLX\| <-- FOR SALE!!
	1

07-27-2021, 04:03 PM	#9
Plump Kibbles Join Date: Sep 2020 Location: Virginia Posts: 233	Hey brother - did you get any closer to a running bike?? The suspense is killing me! __________________ \|2020 X-Pro Titan DLX\| <-- FOR SALE!!
	0

07-16-2021, 05:54 PM	#3
Bruces Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 1,650	Some of these bikes require the side stand being up ,the front brake being pulled in,the rear brake being pushed ,and -or a mixture of some such nonsense to get it to fire up .There is also often some confusion on the switches sometimes ,things are not always what they appear ,and if you have a remote start that is another source of grief for many users .The BBB is totally useless unfortunately ,they have no powers other than having a list of retailers to avoid which nobody checks before purchase ,you are proof of that or you would of purchased elsewhere .
	0

07-22-2021, 08:42 AM	#5
Bruces Join Date: May 2018 Posts: 1,650	return the bike or start a claim through your credit card company .
	2

07-23-2021, 11:10 AM	#6
Oldenslow Join Date: Mar 2020 Posts: 153	Not picking on you, but I have to wonder.... Here's Japanese Bike, costs $5500, comes from a dealer with a physical location that includes a mechanic, a shop and a store of parts -- with a long-established manufacturer backing then up with any part or bit of tech advice they might need. Then, here's Chinese Bike, which costs $1400 and comes from a name on the Internet -- no parts, no mechanics, no physical location you can walk in to, not even an owner's manual worth a hoot. It doesn't seem to me all that crazy to believe a buyer ought to have at least given this situation some thought beforehand...
	4