What's the deal with availability?

[crabjoe]

Anyone with know what the deal is these days with China and shipments to the US?

I've got an Tao Bull 200 on pre--order. Dealer said they hope to have it in stock by the end of this month to ship out.

Today, I called a scooter dealer. They're local, but since they have no website, I didn't know what brands they carried. They stated they only carry Tao scooters. They said nothings landed in the US since December with no idea when to expect more stock. Mind you, this dealer only sells scooters, so it's my assumption that it's the same for Tao ATVs.

Anyone have any info on what's making it to the US and or when still will be landing?

Anyone know where I can get a Trailmaster Turino 50A scooter?

[MeatHammer]

I was told it was because production was shut down in China because of Covid-19. So now all of the factories are playing catch up with orders that should have been done two months ago.

[crabjoe]

I was told it was because production was shut down in China because of Covid-19. So now all of the factories are playing catch up with orders that should have been done two months ago.


That makes sense...

As for the trailmaster, I found out the distributor does have them available. I ended up calling them directly.

Now I need to find a dealer I can trust. I was going to buy from Motobuys but heck, 1st two times I called gave me a bad taste..

1st guy hung up on me, then the second guy told me they were out of stock and I'd have to wait 4 or 5 months.. then he hung up on me. When I called after I spoke with the distributor, the guy gave me some BS about how they would have never hung up on me and they know they're available because they're owned by the distributor. Plus in their description of the scoot, they have all kinds of stuff listed that it doesn't even come with it.

Here's the best part about ordering one. When I called the distributor back to make sure the options Motobuys had listed weren't true, the guy tells me I should hold onto my cash for a couple more months because they've got 2020 models coming in and there are some changes. He said he wasn't sure exactly what the changes were, but said I should be better off waiting. Then went on to tell me that it's hard to make money, but easy to blow it away.

Dude at the distributor was honest for sure! Even told me that I needed to be prepared to own a Chinese scooter and if I weren't mechanically inclined, I'd be better off getting a European, Japanese, or Korean made scooter. The best part was that based on his accent, he had to be Chinese. LOL.. If I lived near by, I'd buy that guy a drink!

[Big Bird]

The dealer I was working with to get a atv is in SoCal and orders directly from Tao. He said the Tao website was showing almost every model number at qty-0. He talked to them and they told him nothing coming in until August. He told me the only remaining stock is in Texas and I believe he was talking about Veloz. They are the only ones I could find that had inventory on the model I wanted.

[MeatHammer]

I just talked with Venom Motorsports Parts guy and he said the same thing I said earlier. Covid-19 has hit some of the factories hard and they are not giving him much info on when parts will start shipping to the United States. They are hoping to start getting them around the end of June.

[pcbisnice]

I have heard anything from "within the next week" to "nothing is arriving till august". So it would seem no one really knows? I want to pre-order a rhino as well, but it seems too risky with no real ETA.

[culcune]

Part of the problem is demand with a capital DEMAND. People received cash, were idle, so had time to research and then buy what more and more owners here on Chinariders, owners on various Facebook groups have been saying, and what numerous YouTube channels are also saying--'These bikes are not all that bad...' Look at what Bikes and Beards did to a Hawk...and it STILL started! What they did to a Lifan KPR200 and did not kill it! Demand, demand and demand combined with what the distributors ordered before all this mess created a surge in buyers and a dwindling supply.

The only good I can forsee is the manufacturers and distributors building and sending too many over which will lead to good deals in months to come when they have a surplus of the bikes. Not guaranteed, though...

[Big Bird]

I wouldn't be surprised if a few of these companies go under if they really have no supply for a few months. They are burning a lot of future business right now with their lack of customer support. They are near impossible to get ahold of they are getting bank/credit disputes by the boat load right now because of it. If they have nothing to ship you would think they would have time to respond to emails and phone calls and update their websites to show no stock. They sure seem to have the 'new sales' team staffed though.

[krat]

You have to understand the nature of the beast.

Most china bike dealers have an internet link, an answering machine and a rented warehouse. Their wife is the receptionist and book keeper and their kid drives the fork lift. They keep their day job in case something like this lock down happens.

This is why there is no parts or service network unless you want to call E-bay a parts supply system.

I know one guy locally that has an internet presence and works out of his basement.

If supply disappears and the warehouse empties they can close it down and reopen when the supply flow starts again. They might even have a new name.

[maicoguy]

This scenario does not just apply to bikes from China.


I'm in the pump sales and repair business. Several of my suppliers get their stuff from China. Past was good quality and timely availability.



Starting late last year, this all changed. Poor to non-existant communication from China, long lead times with no firm ship dates; the list goes on and on.



One of my suppliers just gave up and had all his prints and tooling transferred to Tiawan and is also exploring USA production.


Only time will tell how this all pans out.

[crabjoe]

I emailed Tao Tao USA to see what they had to say.

They're answer was the dealers have more info and that they have no idea when they will get any inventory. And that they have 4 warehouses in the US and they're showing almost everything is at ZERO inventory.

What does that mean? Are they saying to ask the dealers so they can make up dates for us because they, the distributor that brings them into the country, has no idea when something will come in?

Come on.. If they don't know, how in the world are their dealers suppose to know?

[Bruces]

Something tells me with the non existent shipping from China the past few months ,that they will be shipping needs not wants first until they get reasonably caught up .It doesn’t make any sense for them to ship dirtbikes for pennies on the dollar on the first boat out when there is many many items worth more and more necessary .I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t see many bikes until the fall .

[crabjoe]

Something tells me with the non existent shipping from China the past few months ,that they will be shipping needs not wants first until they get reasonably caught up .It doesn’t make any sense for them to ship dirtbikes for pennies on the dollar on the first boat out when there is many many items worth more and more necessary .I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t see many bikes until the fall .

Normally I would agree, but based on PMI numbers and other reports China's manufacturing is up and currently growing. From what I've read, their issue now is finding customers.

Supposedly, by the end of March, their manufacturing was back to 90% of capacity.

Still, this isn't the issue. The issue is why dealers are giving time frames on when they're expecting shipment when Tao USA says they don't know when they're expecting inventory. If the distributor, let's just call them the manufacture since they're the source for us, doesn't know when product will be available, why are dealers taking orders and giving time frames for delivery?

Anyone know what the law is on getting a refund? I don't want to pass a date where the dealer gets to keep my cash and I end up with nothing because they went out of business.

[rmueller]

my bank told me that covid-19 gives sellers a loophold to hold on to peaples money for a while in a despute
tao moters tells you see if dealer has it in stock there at the dealer

[Big Bird]

my bank told me that covid-19 gives sellers a loophold to hold on to peaples money for a while in a despute
tao moters tells you see if dealer has it in stock there at the dealerMy bank doesn't seem to grant that loophole.
I filed dispute on may 21st and they did the chargeback on June 2nd. They even credited my account a few days after I filed it.