Are Suzukis really that bad?
Are Suzukis really that bad?
Would appreciate anyone's help with a moto purchase decision.
A while back I asked for advice on buying a moto finally AK87 chipped in (seems he has changed his name on here). He gave high ratings to the Suzuki Smash V. Recently I decided to buy a new moto- Honda Dream seemed overpriced, Honda Wave is Vietnam made (others advised against Vietnam made), which left me to Suzuki. Finally decided on the Smash V over the Smash V Fi after someone told me the Smash V Fis don't resell well.
Apparently a normal person told a friend of mine that Suzukis quickly age or fall apart. Not sure how to take this- I've never had a Honda or a Suzuki so it's hard to decide how to take this. Is this just a common misperception among Khmer people or is it really true that there are problems with Suzuki compared to Honda?
Thanks in advance if you are able to advise.
A while back I asked for advice on buying a moto finally AK87 chipped in (seems he has changed his name on here). He gave high ratings to the Suzuki Smash V. Recently I decided to buy a new moto- Honda Dream seemed overpriced, Honda Wave is Vietnam made (others advised against Vietnam made), which left me to Suzuki. Finally decided on the Smash V over the Smash V Fi after someone told me the Smash V Fis don't resell well.
Apparently a normal person told a friend of mine that Suzukis quickly age or fall apart. Not sure how to take this- I've never had a Honda or a Suzuki so it's hard to decide how to take this. Is this just a common misperception among Khmer people or is it really true that there are problems with Suzuki compared to Honda?
Thanks in advance if you are able to advise.
- KnightBoat
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I'm no expert in this area, but I did chat at length with AK87 about Honda vs Suzuki when he was still living in Phnom Penh. I think there are two things going on in your question.
(1) AK87 had very legitimate reasons to prefer Suzuki over Honda related to the design and build of the bikes. It made sense to me and I bought a Suzuki based off of his advice and have been very happy with the bike. That doesn't mean that AK87 hated Honda, and in fact he worked on and owned Hondas as well when he was here.
(2) Cambodia, like many places in Asia, is very brand conscious. Honda has the better branding regardless of if it is actually a better bike or not. This, I think, accounts a lot for the resale value that Honda has over Suzuki. For whatever reason, Khmers don't get excited about the Suzuki brand like they do for Honda.
Taking that into account, if you want a bike that is very easy to resell (and more likely to be stolen), get a Dream. If you want the better bike according to an experienced Japanese mechanic and to save a few dollars, get a Suzuki. I don't think either would be a bad choice.
(1) AK87 had very legitimate reasons to prefer Suzuki over Honda related to the design and build of the bikes. It made sense to me and I bought a Suzuki based off of his advice and have been very happy with the bike. That doesn't mean that AK87 hated Honda, and in fact he worked on and owned Hondas as well when he was here.
(2) Cambodia, like many places in Asia, is very brand conscious. Honda has the better branding regardless of if it is actually a better bike or not. This, I think, accounts a lot for the resale value that Honda has over Suzuki. For whatever reason, Khmers don't get excited about the Suzuki brand like they do for Honda.
Taking that into account, if you want a bike that is very easy to resell (and more likely to be stolen), get a Dream. If you want the better bike according to an experienced Japanese mechanic and to save a few dollars, get a Suzuki. I don't think either would be a bad choice.
No even close to being an expert, but my 2 cents: AK87 had a very big post on why Suzukis (semiautomatic) are better than Hondas. I'm sure it would be easy to find. All I remember from that post is that suzuki smash is super economic
And my guess would be that Khmers prefer Honda because it is heavily advertised and thus seen cool
And my guess would be that Khmers prefer Honda because it is heavily advertised and thus seen cool
Thanks for your replies. Yeah I thought very clearly that he was keen on the Suzuki, and furthermore, he seemed to really know what he's talking about.
You're right that perception has a lot to do with resale value. If you're looking to resell, Honda would be the better bike.
A number of other commentators (can't remember who), felt that the Honda Dream, because it is so popular here, is way overpriced on the market. (In fact it seems like 50% of motos on the road in PP are Honda Dreams). Given that Honda Wave (which is much cheaper) is also Vietnam made (probably a no-no), I would probably go for the Suzuki.
And KnightBoat, thanks for telling me that your experience with Suzuki worked out ok...
You're right that perception has a lot to do with resale value. If you're looking to resell, Honda would be the better bike.
A number of other commentators (can't remember who), felt that the Honda Dream, because it is so popular here, is way overpriced on the market. (In fact it seems like 50% of motos on the road in PP are Honda Dreams). Given that Honda Wave (which is much cheaper) is also Vietnam made (probably a no-no), I would probably go for the Suzuki.
And KnightBoat, thanks for telling me that your experience with Suzuki worked out ok...
Suzuki Steps have a bad reputation for reliability, but I have not seen evidence of a reliability problem with Suzukis in general.
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I had a Suzuki Smash great bike and never had a problem when i finally found a Vespa I sold it to my brother in law who still drives it to this day, 3 years later.
i'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to
- Falcon Randwick
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I don't think I could ride a bike called "Smash". It would be too much like tempting fate...
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- Petrol Head
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Early on in my time here I rode Mrs PH's Smash Revo a lot - never had a single problem. Most reliable piece of machinery I have (sort of) owned.
I got it up to 100km/h with the missus pillion and some lugguge en route to Kampong Cham - all from 110 cubic centimeters. What a machine.
I got it up to 100km/h with the missus pillion and some lugguge en route to Kampong Cham - all from 110 cubic centimeters. What a machine.
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cover the name with a lexus stickersFalcon Randwick wrote:I don't think I could ride a bike called "Smash". It would be too much like tempting fate...
Last edited by oxbowlarry on Mon Aug 18, 2014 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
i'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to
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- MerkinMaker
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You don't have to go back many years to a time when no one in Cambodia had new, off the forecourt vehicles. All bikes and cars were second hand imports, usually a long way past their best and usually with an extremely questionable history (i.e. stolen in Thailand or wrapped around a tree in Tennessee). Most of these vehicles were from the late 80's and early 90's and fixed up in Cambodia.
For cars and moto's of that vintage Toyota and Honda thanks to their idiot proof design and the ability to share parts across models came out of the Khmer chop shops in a better state than other brands and therefore got their reputation for being "better", which they arguably were back then.
That has stuck and Khmers still actually think when buying a new vehicle, that the robots at Toyota tighten the bolts more than the robots at Nissan. This has resulted in the Toyota/Honda tax which seems to run at about 20% on new vehicles of similar spec from other Japanese manufacturers.
Check the prices back home, the Toyota won't be any more expensive than comparable models from its competitors.
For cars and moto's of that vintage Toyota and Honda thanks to their idiot proof design and the ability to share parts across models came out of the Khmer chop shops in a better state than other brands and therefore got their reputation for being "better", which they arguably were back then.
That has stuck and Khmers still actually think when buying a new vehicle, that the robots at Toyota tighten the bolts more than the robots at Nissan. This has resulted in the Toyota/Honda tax which seems to run at about 20% on new vehicles of similar spec from other Japanese manufacturers.
Check the prices back home, the Toyota won't be any more expensive than comparable models from its competitors.
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- I Have Not Been Outside Today
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the honda cub is the reason for the popularatiy of hondas motor bikes here they are indestructable
i'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to
Step is an absolute piece of shit, but that's why AK was talking about semi-automatic Suzukis being a lot better than semi-automatic hondas.Buscador wrote:Suzuki Steps have a bad reputation for reliability, but I have not seen evidence of a reliability problem with Suzukis in general.
I believe automatic hondas a lot better than automatic suzukis.
All right, so I think the consensus is, no problem with the Suzuki Smash, except of course tempting fate (knock on wood).