Overall I give this latest Rose/zminglu/mingsinternational kit engine a solid 8 out of 10.
I noticed a bit of scratching on the piston from horrible de-burring on the ports which will need to be addressed before this engine ever starts. The cylinder bore also looks almost like it has been honed, which concerns me a bit...never seen that on a HT before and I wonder WHY it was done since they use plated bores.
The piston looks crisp and clean with good machining and properly assembled ringset.
The porting is what you would expect with lots of flash and crappy finishing on the port edges. It would PROBABLY wear in just fine as is, but I simply cannot start any engine in this kind of shape. I'll clean everything up when I reassemble the top end.
The mains are nice and smooth with proper endplay on the crank which is a VERY good sign of better assembly. They seldom come new without a bunch of slop since they don't seem to bother shimming at most factories. I have not split the case so it could be just luck, but regardless it's nice to find none of the usual movement in the crank. Every Rose engine I have seen has the one piece crank halves with no separate counterweights.
The clutch looks nice and tight with properly spaced drive gear and NO damage to the small drive gear screw slot! (VERY unusual!)
The screw holding the primary drive gear on was quite loose. I got another half turn on it with my hand impact driver so Be sure to check your new engine.
Rinsing out the bottom end revealed very little debris, unusual for factory fresh a chinagirl kit so this is a happy sign.
I have been seeing steadily improving quality from Rose since I first ordered from her 7 or 8 years ago and this kit seems to continue the trend. It's one of the nicest cylinder castings I've ever seen on a china engine and the assembly seems to be quite good for factory original.
This is the best bargain I could find and the quality is every bit as good as any Grubee/Stinger/Skyhawk brand costing more. Sometimes MUCH more.
Why pay hard earned cash for a sticker or a crappy website?
Rose has always given me excellent customer service and great value.
That's why I have bought well over 25 kits from this vendor.
Spend your money wisely and use the savings to improve what NEEDS improved. The stock angle plug head and the stock exhaust.