Reasons for choosing this scooter over CFMoto: curiosity only. Besides, I think the design is OK. As to the problems with the scoot - time will show.
The list of possible problems I accumulated from reading the Chinese reviews and talking to bikerdoc are as follows:
1. Leaky water pump.
2. Faulty ignition.
3. Twitchy clutch.
4. Overall assembly quality.
5. Customer support.
6. Expensive spare parts.

So far, here go my initial impressions about Benelli BJ250T-8 scooter.

Good stuff:
Attention to detail / plastic quality. Sure, it is still QianJiang rather than Benelli, but they are getting there. The touch-feel of the scoot is good. I mean, its pleasant to sit on, all the switches are soft enough yet have that firm positive feedback, etc. Overall, it leaves an impression very similar to that of a decent family sedan. Its not just me who said that. My friends, who rode it have a similar feeling.

Suspension and tires. The scooter feels planted on the road and turns in predictably. The tires are Kenda and they feel good (havent had a chance to try them int he rain though). Theres no dive when braking hard and when riding on the bad road the potholes dont feel that bad. Its not a supersport or a motocross, so I would still avoid riding it over curbs or leaning it kneedown.

Brakes. Brakes have a good feedback and are predictable. That said, the rear wheel is fairly easy to lock up (when not carrying a pillion). Front brakes have good initial bite, are progressive and feel unintimidating.

Disappointing stuff:
Weird noises. I have a strange noise coming from somewhere around the front mudguard, it goes like hrrr - hrrr - hrr when the front suspension is under load (e.g.: braking going down the slope). I have not yet found the source of that sound, it is reggular and still very annoying. My guess is that the wheel might be coming in contact with the mudguard, but Im not sure. Another strange noise is an irregular ding-ding from somewhere behind the front fairing. I do not know if the factory mechanic forgot his chopsticks there or what, but Im removing the front fairing on my day off to see what it is. Another one is the squeaking noise coming from the rear shocks - no idea what causes that, might be the shocks themselves.

Storage space. The underseat storage is there, it LOOKS big, but what it in fact is, is a long and shallow bucket. Fitting a helmet there requires ikebana arrangement skills, level 75 and above.

Topbox possibility. Yes, I have fitted a topbox on my scooter. In order to do that, I dismantled the pillion grabrail and drilled it. Well, the grabrail is plastic rather than steel, and I have a feeling that it wont last long with a topbox on it. I am not putting anything heavier than the rain gear into the topbox, still it feels flimsy. The taobao search for an alternative topbox frame yielded nothing.

Horrible clutch. First, it shakes the bike like crazy under 30 km/h. I mean, it goes dong-dong-dong and is vibrating as hell. This is highly uncomfortable, since those are the city speeds - in my opinion a bike should have been tuned for it. Another (and more dangerous) thing is that quickly blipping the throttle doesnt result in acceleration / deceleration. It results in acceleration - a bit more of acceleration after you let the throttle go - and deceleration after. Well, Im used to the fact that the bike goes slower when I let go of the throttle, not keeps on accelerating. This makes rear-ending a car in front of you a very palpable possibility, especially for an inexperienced rider. Feels like the clutch takes too long a time to disengage when the revs go down, and its not good.

I will see how it behaves after the break-in period, and, should the clutch still be a problem, will upgrade it. That should solve the problem.

Pics follow:
IMG_6997.jpg IMG_6999.jpg

IMG_7001.jpg IMG_7002.jpg