Steve's Benelli BJ250T-8 Scooter

[prince666]

well-done just hope it's just as stable in cross winds as good when you hit a pot hole ? how much Kg do you think is on the bike

[Steve_Halt]

well-done just hope it's just as stable in cross winds as good when you hit a pot hole ? how much Kg do you think is on the bike

Hehe, let's see: food, drinks in the bags; food in the topbox, a (relatively lightweight) tent, a couple of bags of stuff, a quilt. I think it's about 60kg more or less. And then there's me. I'm 79 kg. That's an operational load for sure.

[Steve_Halt]

well-done just hope it's just as stable in cross winds as good when you hit a pot hole ? how much Kg do you think is on the bike

Hehe, let's see: food, drinks in the bags; food in the topbox, a (relatively lightweight) tent, a couple of bags of stuff, a quilt. I think it's about 60kg more or less. And then there's me. I'm 79 kg. That's an operational load for sure.

[kikikillercat]

Well, today I had time, so I took my scoot to the local mechanic and together we removed the clutch assembly and had a good look at it.
This is what we saw:

Attachment 16399
Apparently, the clutch is of pretty low quality, and the clutch shoes are uneven and sloppily attached. The solution was simple: sandpaper them smooth and reinstall the clutch.
The effect has so far been amazing: no shivering and twitching at take off / low speed. The clutch disengages on time and has become very predictable, i.e. it doesn't pull the scoot when you get off throttle.
I'm very happy with the result and am very unhappy with the factory QC.
Will see how it behaves further on, good for now.

This clutch situation is normal, and sanding does help a lot..at least for a while... I have done this few times. I believe when driving at very low speeds, like when Im shopping on the sidewalk for something or searching for an address, it's hard on the clutch and it gets a build up that needs sanding. The Chinese only care about a quick start..so they don't care if it vibrates on a slow take off.

[Steve_Halt]

kikikillercat, I guess you're right. Still, if I were a Chinese engineer, I'd probably think along the following lines: "Well, why do people buy scooters... to run them around... aha... what's the traffic situation in our cities... bad... hmmm... probably most of riding will be done at pretty low speeds, at the brink of clutch engagement... right, especially when people get to work and get off work... aha... so what's under stress here... cl-clu-clutch!!!... eureka!!!... let's make a decent clutch then, customers will love it!"

But alas.

[kikikillercat]

I see you are packed and ready to go.. Where are you headed?

Nanjing plates.. Price is crazy high

[Steve_Halt]

I see you are packed and ready to go.. Where are you headed?

Nanjing plates.. Price is crazy high

That was a trip to BaoHua Mountain, Jurong City. Just a couple of days camping outside, barbecue and stuff.
As for the plates, yes, sure. The price is crazy. Yet Shanghai and Beijing are something about 100,000 yuan. That's beyond good and evil.

[kikikillercat]

That was a trip to BaoHua Mountain, Jurong City. Just a couple of days camping outside, barbecue and stuff.
As for the plates, yes, sure. The price is crazy. Yet Shanghai and Beijing are something about 100,000 yuan. That's beyond good and evil.

Your right...
Small city, a little more than one million people it's about 1000 for the plate plus 8 percent tax...I've bought three motos.. Just did a two year certificate on one,,, about 150 kuai and insurance another 150.
Of course pay scale is less but so is everything else

[Steve_Halt]

OK, 2700 km on the clock and my impressions of the scooter are as follows:

The ride is pretty comfortable. I’d be happier with more legroom though, like, say, on a Honda Silverwing. But it is not unbearable by any means. I will probably have the seat re-fabricated and have a rider backrest installed. There are a couple of shops on taobao that do just that.

The clutch has gotten to me finally and I replaced it with a Dr. Pulley item from taobao: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=..._u=qk0i86ra0d6

The upgrade hasn’t made any specific difference, and the reason for it ... [drumroll]... is that my clutch bell isn’t round at all. It’s, well, oval!!! I can clearly see that when putting the scooter on the center stand and rotating the rear wheel with the transmission cover off. The clutch bell doesn’t go in nice circular rounds, instead it moves up and down (a bit), causing a wheel to get stuck in a certain position. You can feel it when pushing a scooter forward or backward as well.
I think it is pretty sloppy, annoying and overall bad.

I will definitely get a replacement clutch bell from taobao, most likely this one: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...id=40038458606

Yet it’s really frustrating that the manufacturer can’t guarantee the quality of the key mechanical parts.

OK, enough about that.

The engine has been a gem - starts every time, no electrical or fueling problems. The water pump (which has been reported faulty on Chinese forums) hasn’t been a problem either. The fuel consumption is fine with me - a full tank gives me about 300 km in the city (give or take).

The big thing going for the scooter is the amount of space it offers. I moved house this winter and I hauled all the boxes, kid’s toys, dogs’ cages and what not on the scooter. I didn’t need to rent a truck, I didn’t even use my car. That may sound hardcore, but, it fact, the amount of stuff you can load on this scooter is just amazing.

Yeah, one more thing, suspension and tires. Suspension is OK. I’m no racer and no pro in suspension tuning, but I feel it offers adequate feedback and provides for a smooth ride. I will probably be replacing the rear shocks later, since they have quite a harsh recoil feel to them when riding solo. Riding two-up though it happens not.
The scooter is pretty long, so it behaves unpredictably on the wet road markings - I often have a feeling that the rear of the scooter tends to slide out when on a slippery surface. The butt feeling is that the scooter frame twists and bends a bit (kind of like on a Honda Steed 400), but that’s just a feeling.

The tires provide enough grip in dry weather, but suck in the rain. I will probably change them for something European closer to summer. But that’s just a plan.

That’s all for now - stay tuned!

[Jonsims]

The weird noise is under braking? Sounds like the pads going over the holes in the disc brake....
I have friends who have bought these scooters and also the street 650's.. They are not very impressed with them actually. A few of us have bought the CF 250's.. There is plenty of legroom.. Enough room under the seat for two crash helmets and they ride very well. I've put 45,000Km on the clock with nary a problem.. The rear brakes were replaced by the factory as there was a design fault. CF Moto (Hangzhou) Got a world record for distance ridden on their 600 tourer.. Not the ideal bike for China but Hey!!.. They are also in partnership with KTM.. Benelli is not really doint as well as CF.. I'd chose CF over Benelli at the drop of a hat.. The Benelli Scoot is good as it is a short wheelbase and so handy for dashing around town..

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, it’s 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. It’s 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 (haven’t had a chance to try them int he rain though). There’s no dive when braking hard and when riding on the bad road the potholes don’t feel that bad. It’s 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 I’m 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 I’m 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 won’t 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 doesn’t result in acceleration / deceleration. It results in acceleration - a bit more of acceleration after you let the throttle go - and deceleration after. Well, I’m 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 it’s 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:
Attachment 15790 Attachment 15791

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