The 3 year warranty that takes 3 months to repair

I was really hoping to have a wonderful summer riding my Strada rx200hp scooter. I had planned to be back up on this blog at the beginning of the season. I had even purchased a video camera and bullet camera to record these rides. The sad truth is I haven’t been on my scooter in over 3 months and have heard no word on when, if ever, I might have it back from the shop.

My plan had to been ride the scooter to 5,000 miles and turn it over to Power Sports Factory for inspection and repair if need be. I figured this would be a good opportunity for them to evaluate their product after being ridden hard for two years and 5,000 miles. I even went so far as to leave the scooter completely stock and only had it serviced at PSF’s retail store. Well unfortunately the scooter only made it to 4,960 miles before I was forced to abandon it for repair. Fortunately Strada’s warranty is for 2 years major parts and 3 years on the engine or 5,000 miles. So the break down couldn’t come at a better time.

I first noticed the issue with the scooter as it became extremely unbalanced to the point that I felt unsafe on it. It turned out that the front fork was leaking oil. This is the same problem that I experience one year earlier which that time resulted in me going down. Evidently the scooters were assembled with a soft fork which was designed for the European market and never changed.

The difficulty then arose in trying to get someone to work on this scooter. I contact PSF about 3 months ago informing them of this issue. They were very nice about it but informed me that the retail store was closing and after several weeks of me patiently waiting I tried to locate another dealer. I contacted Blacktop Motorsport which is an authorized PSF drop shipper and was told they could do the work for me. They don’t have a retail store so the owner was kind enough to come pick it up. He seemed very knowledgeable and had ties to PSF so I figured my scooter was in good hands.

Blacktop Motorsport picked the scooter up over two months ago and at that time I was told I should have it back in less than a week. Well I have now had three empty promises of delivery and no word on when I might expect my scooter back. Each time after the delivery date came and went I had to contact them and even told them that if they needed more time that would be fine but please keep me informed. About weeks ago they were on their way to deliver my scooter and were going to ride it in to double check everything. Well I received a call informing me that it wobbled in the rear and that the rim might be bent internally. I was very glad that they caught this problem however it has been over two weeks since and they have not contacted me with any updates.

I suppose in the past I took it for granted that I was so close to PSF and could always go to them for support. With the retail store now closed I was forced to find another dealer that would work on Chinese scooters. From my experiences I can sympathize with those in a similar situation. I think if considering the purchase of a Chinese scooter it is important to remember that it may be difficult to find dealer willing or able to work on the scooter. Until the Chinese scooter market matures and dealer networks established you may find yourself without the support you need. This is certainly something to consider when purchasing a Chinese scooter.

I am still hopeful to get my scooter back but the downtime has really been difficult. When and if I do get it back I will report it here on this blog. In the meantime I will continue riding my FZ6 on a daily basis and will continue to check in here. Please don’t hold it against me as I consider anyone on two wheels to be ok in my book. So to all my fellow two wheelers all the best wishes and I hope to be back among the ranks of the scooterists soon.