Want advice on 2stroke engines and kits!

In response to your question, I suspect many will tell you to look at vendor reviews. There is some information there but having been in the same situation as you a couple of weeks ago, I can attest that there are not a lot of current vendor reviews.

I bought the first kit from 888-kit-bike also known as Bike to Moped and deverou on ebay. I chose them because although 3 hrs away, they were somewhat local to me in Michigan. I ordered a Grubee GT4 and suspected problems out of the box. I tried to contact prior to installation and they would not return any of the 4 calls or 2 emails. They claim to have a 90 day warranty but what good is it if you can't get in touch with them. I absolutely will never do business there again.

Within a week that one vibrated so much it threw the chain which in turn got stuck and ripped the front motor mounts completely off. Ordered a Grubee Gt5 from Bikeberry and had a clutch issue out of the box. I didn't care for the attitude I was given from the phone rep stating (without looking at the engine) that it was fine, I was wrong and not to bother sending it back. I have to say I PM'ed Bikeberry through here and had much more pleasant communication. Not sure if I would do business with them again. I ended up pulling the clutch and fixing the problem myself just so I didn't have to deal with them.

Frankly, I think all of the engines are a crap shoot. You may get a good one, you may not. I think some places have acceptable customer service but others are simply non existent on that department- even if they claim a warranty. If your looking for the lowest price, ebay and Boy Go Fast are probably the cheapest. Do a search here as there is a fair amount of positive and negative feedback on them. Buyer beware if you do have a problem as there may be poor or lacking after the sale service.

If your looking for outstanding customer service, go with ThatsDax. I wanted to purchase from Dax but unfortunately he was out of stock and I was impatient. Hindsight on both purchases, I wish I would have ordered from him.

Even with a Dax engine, there is a possibility that you could have a bad one but I think Duane would be the first to say send it back, I'll replace it under warranty. While there are several sponsors here, Dax is on the forum almost every day. You know where to find him if you have a quality problem or even the status of your order. FYI Dax engines are the absolute lowest prices but are competitively priced. He does not seem to charge a premium to justify customer service.

I think Dax and Sick Bike Parts have the only reasonable shipping charges for parts orders. Dax is flat $9 on orders or spending over $50 gets you free shipping. SBP is standard USPS charges. I am dumbfounded on how some vendors can rationalize $30 shipping for a $15 CDI.

Lastly, I can't justify the premium for Grubee. Having had 2 kits with issues out box, I can't believe that they are much better than others. If it were a fist kit, I might recommended Grubee simply because you have a better chance of getting a decent kit. As a new buyer you don't necessarily know what to look for. That being said, if you are somewhat experienced and have a build or two under the belt you should be able to pick out subtle differences. Look closely at the ads. What grips does it have, what style carb, hows the tensioner look? Grubee is good for 1st time buyers but if you are an experienced consumer I don't think it is worth all of the hype.

Thats Dax has a very good reputation.
Install it quickly once it arrives .
Ask lots of questions.
Break it in.

If you are going to get a shift kit .
Install it at the same time as the engine .
Get the heavy duty freewheel not the standard one.
Lots more complicated .
I use s shift kit based bicycle and would not go back to a plain non shifted kit.