Tao Tao Powermax 150 remaining issues ...

[huflungdung]

600 km on the new Powermax.  Aside from problems corrected during the PDI, the most noteworthy being a valve that had no clearance, and a stuck rear pulley,  I have a couple remaining;

1.  The rear (12") tire is out of round, and at certain speeds, you can feel a weird vibration.

2.  For the last 100 km I've been trying to track down an odd "rattle" that has nothing to do with wheel rotation - finally confirmed the problem running on the stand - an internal muffler weld has given it up, and when hot, rattles with vibration.

3.  The steering is odd - perhaps the wheels are not aligned correctly.  Normally, at, say 30 mph, you can remove both hands, and while coasting, "steer" by shifting your weight.  On this bike, I have to lean to the right a lot to keep straight ...  I'm sure I assembled the front wheel exactly as prescribed by the instructional video ...


Number 2 will hopefully be resolved with a new muffler.   #3 has me bummed.

[stevec]

a lot of taotaos have slightly bent rims in the back, you can see this when you turn the wheel on the center stand.
they also have vibration, the faster you go the worse it gets, i have seen a lot of chinese brands that vibrate and the only real solution is better wheels and bearings.
you could put dyna beads in the tires which will help to balance them, my old motofino was a lot better after putting them in, you can get them on ebay pretty cheap.
#3 can be resolved by keeping hands on grips lol, make sure the triple tree is tight enough and the bearings are ok, check front wheel and make sure it is straight and not bent.
taotao has very little to none when it comes to quality control, they can be good scoots it just takes time and effort to make them reliable and safe.