Hello all. This is my first post here and I'd like to address the distribution system that is keeping Chinese product from being great.

I work as a Store Manager for Vespa Milwaukee, ride a vintage Honda Scrambler and vintage Lambretta, and have been studying the Chinese scooter and motorcycle industy since '03. As a long-time shopkeeper and sales person my predictions for the growth of Chinese product have mostly come to be. But I still am amazed that the manufactures have not fixed the system that is holding them back.

Dealernews, a powersports industry magazine in the US now reports that the Chinese scooter sales have peaked and are headed south. Sales of traditional brands have begun a new upswing. The gas prices have caused a %50+ spike in sales this season and the Chinese manufacturers are not going to get to capitalize on it like they should have. Kymco, Genuine, TGB, Piaggio and many other traditional brands have empty warehouses here in the US. And motorcycles sales, which are in a slight slump, are up for dual-sports and enduros.

Word has spread thoughout the US that all Chinese scoots and bikes are poorly made, poorly supported and horribly distributed. The blogs, BBS's, and websites of those who opposes new brands are steadily convincing more people to stay away from Chinese product. And the cheap,uninformative, terribly outdated websites that middleman distributors use to hawk new brands are proof enough that they will not spend a penny to promote the new brands. In fact, many potential customers can see right through the empty claims and downright lies.

Compounding this issue, the traditional US scooter shops (who have skill and resources) have begun to turn away the Chinese bike owners. Also, the newer shops that sold only chinese bikes (but couldn't fix them) have been closing up in large numbers. The claimed bottleneck in both cases is, quote: "we can't get parts or manuals for those things"

So, can we have this discusion here? I'm not trying to bash anything, I'm just looking for informed and interested people to "think-up" some solutions.

What do you think would help or fix the problem of new brand creation, importation, and distribution?

Thanks, Peej