Is Kymco Hipster still available in Taiwan ?

[mezziahmac]

I checked the yahoo site. They don't have pricing for HIpster 150cc. The bike looks awesome, and I wonder why it hasn't taken Taiwan by storm.

[sandman]

They don't have pricing for HIpster 150cc. The bike looks awesome, and I wonder why it hasn't taken Taiwan by storm.

It is fat, slow, underpowered, clumsy, ugly, overpriced. It does nothing well apart from taking up kerb-space. People aren't stupid.

[Deuce Dropper]

Yeah, there are a few places to get the Hipster, but you've probably never heard of them.

[Steviebike]

Apparently I'm a hipster because I use Instagram. I deny it and I can prove this because I don't own that bike.

[mezziahmac]

Yeah, there are a few places to get the Hipster, but you've probably never heard of them.

Try me !

[sulavaca]

I actually prefer the Zenox. But then again, that's almost like saying I prefer Herpes to genital warts.

Seriously though, I can appreciate why some people might like this type of design or riding style. I'm not one to throw cold water on such a statement.
I personally quite liked the riding position of the Venox. I would have bought one when they first came out, but for the price of it, which I considered to be quite high at the time.

The thing I dislike most about either of the two, is the absolute worst grade of chrome imaginable. They rust to pieces before your very eyes, and with no decent chroming facilities in Taiwan, then if you like the shiny look of your Kymco, and want to keep it that way, then you are going to have to keep replacing all those shiny parts after almost each time it rains.
That's the cosmetic element.
The next element is the power, and as mentioned the Hipster is slow, heavy and sluggish. The Venox has a lot more power, but that isn't saying much. It still acts very unresponsively, the rear brake pedal wallows up and down and all over the place, due to its cable routing, making braking more of an art than a skill, and there are other alternatives.

I think these bikes are rare because of the alternatives, when considering new prices. I can't comment on used prices, as they are messy. Largely due to the fact that the condition of used examples varies greatly.
Personally, given the options, I'd be saving longer, and forking out more cash, for a better, Japanese ride over this Taiwanese one.

To put it into my own terms:
I'd look at the Hipster, and then want the Venox. I'd look at the Venox, and immediately want a Honda equivalent. If I bought a Venox, then I wouldn't be miserable, but I'd always know it wasn't great in any one area at all. No-matter what bike I may end up with though, I'd always be thinking "I'm glad I didn't get the Hipster!"

The Hipster isn't great on looks, in my opinion, and indeed in the opinion of most. Just ask some folks here. If it's something you want to go posing on, then the opinions of others really count here.
If it's merely for comfort, and if you find the Hipster a comfortable to ride, then disregard everything I've said entirely. Personal comfort I can't argue with.
If its performance, then I think I don't need to argue the point that a small engine in a heavy bike isn't going to get you anywhere relatively quickly.

There are Hipsters available used. New? Well Kymco aren't listing them in their official site.
I'd suspect from just looking around, that they aren't produced for the local market any longer.

[mezziahmac]

What a wonderful write up on Hipster and Venox !

What do you think of the Quannon 150 ?

[sulavaca]

What a wonderful write up on Hipster and Venox !

What do you think of the Quannon 150 ?

I think I get where you're going. It would seem from your examples that you are looking for "a look" for a price, than a good bike necessarily.
I would say that this approach is a bit of a shame, from my own, personal philosophy, which is my "look" doesn't make me who I am.
Just to give you an example of me, the only clothing I have with an obvious logo on it is an Eat-Burger T-shirt, which I was offered for free. Oh, no. I do have my own company Auto Checkers shirt too. I rarely make statements for companies who I don't fully endorse, and I don't need a company logo or an image to tell the world that I'm lacking in self confidence.
I do like vehicle aesthetics though, in some regards. I don't consider these important when I choose a vehicle for my own, personal use however. I think of a vehicle in a more utilitarian perspective. You should understand this about me perhaps, as it will perhaps sway my comments towards this direction, when I'm praising or criticizing vehicles.

The Quannon?
Well, I've never riden one, so I can't say much there. In terms of quality, it's produced by Kymco. Their market is the cheap and cheerful market, and you can see that when you compare the price of a Quannon to that of a Honda of the same look, i.e. the CBR 150, which the Quannon seems to be aping. In terms of build quality, then there is no comparison. A Honda will always be a Honda and will be the definition of reliability and dependability. A Kymco won't be the worst by a long way, but then again, it has no reputation at all for producing small performance bikes, unless it was handed the moulds directly from Honda, which in this case, it certainly wasn't.
The Quannon is a far more basic bike, with a pretty, plastic dress. It wasn't designed from the ground up. It was pieced together with quite a few components from some very old models.
So it isn't a thoroughbred, so what?
Well, again, I haven't riden one, so perhaps I shouldn't comment at all. My typical guess here is that it doesn't ride well at all, when compared with the Honda which it is aping, and this is usually the case with many of these types of Taiwanese bikes, which are often built with little imagination, and usually with bits that resemble the photo copied bikes which they were based upon.
Only based on experience with these things, I would bet that I would probably be happier with spending more money on the real deal. But then, I do appreciate motors which are more pure, in terms of engineering, and exhibit an entire, purpose built feel. Kymco does that, but mainly in their scooters. Scooters is what they do well, and that's the area I'd pay more attention too within their brand.

[mezziahmac]

Look, yes. Price, yes. But that's not all. I want durability too. I'm not too concerned about performance because I'm not a fast driver. Most importantly, since I'm in Taiwan I would like to look for something "made in Taiwan" so as to make more economic sense. It's like getting the Taiwanese version of HONDA CBR or Kawasaki Ninja. But I'm not sure if the Taiwanese QC has crossed the rubicon. I read somewhere that Kymco produced some bikes for Honda.

[sulavaca]

Look, yes. Price, yes. But that's not all. I want durability too. I'm not too concerned about performance because I'm not a fast driver. Most importantly, since I'm in Taiwan I would like to look for something "made in Taiwan" so as to make more economic sense. It's like getting the Taiwanese version of HONDA CBR or Kawasaki Ninja. But I'm not sure if the Taiwanese QC has crossed the rubicon. I read somewhere that Kymco produced some bikes for Honda.

Kymco produced bikes which were once produced by Honda, for a while, after Honda left, but that was many moons ago, and they don't produce anything of Honda any more, or anything for the Japanese any more as far as I'm aware, and that includes Kwak. They distribute Kwaks, and botch their repairs, but that's the limit of their function, as far as I'm aware.

I think you should clearly make the distinction between Taiwanese bikes and Japanese bikes, as at least to most people with experience on them in Taiwan, it's quite a stark difference at times.

I actually have an SYM Wild Wolf commercial version (Chinese name), which has been one of the most dependable bikes around. This one was actually once another Japanese, Honda bike, many moons ago. I believe the first models rolled off the line in the 20's when Honda kicked off production, but of course was slowly modified over and over again with each new release.
I can't knock mine at all, but I can knock the Taiwan government again. They won't let me upgrade my front drum brakes to safer disks and calipers, as..well...perhaps they don't have the brain capacity to understand what that means.
The Wolf was available as a street version, which many young lads like as it does have the lower handle bars, front disks and calipers, and all the stickers.
Again, as with most Taiwanese chromed bikes, you must keep it out of the rain, if you care for it's looks. Aside from that, they are very reliable indeed, parts are cheap, and [the commercial version at least] rides very comfortably.

The main differences between the two model Wolf, aside from cosmetics, are handlebars,number of gears (four on the com' and five on the street vers'.) shocks and springs, gearing ratio, front brakes, tyres and that's about it in terms of what's important. The price is quite a bit different though, and that's why I liked the commercial version. Actually I bought mine, almost new for about 15,000NT, and have used it for around five or six years. I've changed tyres, battery, brake shoes, the chain and front sprocket (higher geared now for fuel economy at speed), and a set of new cables. It's still going well and has been the most reliable bike I've had. It's certainly the cheapest bike to maintain on the market. Parts are ridiculously cheap!

New version street Wolf


New version Commercial Wolf