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 OUT
NOW at Twin
Cities Rider - a review of the new SYM Wolf Classic 150cc motorcycle.
No, it's certainly not a scooter, but it IS small displacement,
light weight, damn cute and a bunch of fun to ride. TC Rider is our
Minneapolis/St. Paul area website and covers scooters, motorcycles &
mopeds.
SYM in USA Situation
May 1st, 2012
 Alliance
Powersports is continuing to work on building a USA SYM dealership
network and to rebuild the SYM name that was so damaged in this market
by Carter Brothers. Alliance has brought the fine
SYM Mio back to the USA, so they now have a 50cc scooter to offer.
GoMoto, the Twin Cities area SYM dealer, has
been seeing increased interest in and sales of SYM scooters and the Wolf
Classic motorcycle. We hope this trend continues and that SYM is able to
gain and hold a position in the USA.
December 9th, 2011
The old Carter Brother
website, SYM-USA.com, has been removed. Kind of a quiet end to a difficult
period for SYM in this country. Mike from Alliance let me know that the
SYM Mio 50cc will be here in January. The plan is
to have more scooter models available going into the 2012 season including
the RV and the CityCom. Three new colours for the
Wolf Classic will be available soon: all black, all white & all red.
October 11th, 2011
 The
website for the new SYM USA distributor,
Alliance
Powersports, is up and running. I've been told by Alliance that the
site is still a work in progress (aren't virtually ALL websites a work
in progress?), but there is a working dealer locator and info about
the currently available models.
October 6th, 2011
To the many people who have
been e-mailing me about SYM, thank you very much for your comments and
questions. This update is in response to many of those e-mails. No, there
is still no website for SYM in the USA. Mike at Alliance Powersports tells
me they are working as hard as they can to get the site completed and
published, but as of today still nothing. I don't know when the site will
be up and running or when the old Carter Brothers site will be taken down.
SYM parts and products are starting to arrive in the USA. We currently
have a new SYM Wolf Classic 150cc motorcycle under review. The review will
be published soon on our Minneapolis/St. Paul regional website:
Twin Cities
Rider.
July, 2011
OK, it's July (about the
middle of July) and still no new website and no new scooters and (as
near as I can tell) nothing much in the lines of a dealer network. I
have spoken with several former SYM dealers and they just laugh when I ask
about SYM in the USA. I am very disappointed with this situation. SYM
makes some wonderful machines and it's a shame that the USA can't enjoy
them.
April, 2011
Announcement
from Lance
The following was sent to
us by Mike Hickman of Lance Powersports in Mira Loma California. No great
surprise as we expected them to be named as the official SYM importer for
the Western USA. Still nothing official on the Eastern USA We're
VERY glad to see that current SYM owners will have a contact for
warranty claims and parts service. SYM scooters are some of the best in
the world and we sincerely hope that SYM is able to rebuild its dealer
network and reputation in this country.
Dear SYM Owners,
This letter is to
announce that Alliance Powersports Inc, sister company to Lance
Powersports, will be the new US West region distributor for SYM effective
April 2011.
Alliance is proud
to have the opportunity to represent SYM in the US and privileged to serve
your needs. Continued customer and dealer support is our top priority and
we are focused and determined to restore immediate support.
During this
transition period, we are working closely with SYM manufacture to expedite
all service related support. Warranty support has resumed and all parts
orders are expedited to dealers nationwide. If you require any warranty
service or parts related support, please contact your local authorized SYM
dealer for assistance.
If you have
difficulty finding a local SYM dealer or need further assistance, please
contact us and we will be more than happy to further assist you:
info@alliancepowersports.com
We have also
initiated construction on our new website:
www.alliancepowersports.com, which
will showcase SYM scooters and provide news and updates. We anticipate
our new website to be completed in or around July 2011.
Moving forward, we
pledge to continue the path in supporting the scooter culture and scooter
enthusiast by building a more focused, stronger and more service oriented
SYM distribution in the US.
Thank you for your
patients, understanding and support in SYM brand.
Sincerely,
Alliance
Powersports Inc.
March, 2011
SYM of Canada?
It's looking like the
eastern US distributor for SYM will be SYM of Canada. Earlier there was
talk that it would be Peirspeed, but this was vehemently denied by Bill
there. I can't get confirmation about SYM of Canada, but the official
announcement is expected in April, so I guess we wait for a while.
January, 2011
It looks like
SYM has two new USA distributors.
We are still waiting for
official word from SYM, but it looks like there will be two distributors
in the US market and neither of them is Carter Brothers. According to
communications from Lance
Scooters, they will be the "western" US distributor for SYM. Reports
had indicated that
Pierspeed would be the "eastern" US distributor, but this
has been denied by Pierspeed. A confidential (but very reliable source)
has passed on that in conversation with Bill Pierce of Pierspeed he said
that they were definately NOT the East Coast distributor for SYM. Lance has a history as
an importer of Chinese scooters. It's too early to say if this is
good move for SYM, but we are glad that current SYM owners may have some
parts support in this country.
July 26th, 2010
At this time, JustGottaScoot is
recommending a temporary moratorium on SYM purchases for consumer
assurance purposes.
We very much regret having to take this action. The SYM
scooters are among the highest quality available. Unfortunately, a set of
circumstances has left the US market in a bad position so far as SYM is
concerned. We do not believe that the USA importer/distributor is capable
of supporting SYM scooters at this time.
On July 12th, 2010, Carter Brothers (the US
importer/distributor for SYM) experienced a catastrophic fire that
completely destroyed their nearly 300,000 square foot facility in Alabama.
Since that time, there has been little or no communication from Carter
Brothers. As of this morning, two weeks later, they had no updated
information on their website. The authorities in Alabama consider the
source of the fire to have been arson. As of today, no arrests have been
made and the investigation continues. Apparently, Carter Brothers had no
plan in effect for a catastrophic event. Dealers, current consumers and
potential buyers have been left to their own devices.
 On
July 23rd, 2010, Carter Brothers released a letter stating that they plan
to rebuild, but asking consumers in the meantime to contact SYM of Canada
for parts needs. For reference, SYM of Canada can be reached at
1-877-463-3940 or by email at
info@symcanada.ca . We consider the lack of communication and failure
to set up their own procedures for addressing concerns to be a sign of
poor business practices. We would suggest that Carter Brothers set up a
telephone hotline HERE in the USA and that they utilize their website to
facilitate parts and warranty support until such time as they are able to
function ordinarily again.
Again, we sincerely hope this is a temporary situation
and look forward to being able to recommend SYM products in the very near
future. SYM makes some outstanding scooters and you, the scooter buyer,
deserve to have support that equals the quality of the product.
May 2010 - SYM Has
Lowered MSRPs on All Their Scooters
 Thursday,
April 22nd, 2010 - Pete McIntosh & Robert Belmont join us to talk about
upcoming events including the scooter cannonball run and a loooooooong
distance rider on a SYMBA. The new models for 2010 are also introduced
including the RV200, RV300 and Classic 150 motorcycle.
 Robert
Belmont of SYM/Carter Brothers joins Bob Hedstrom of Scooterville in
Minneapolis Minnesota to address some questions from listeners. They
discuss liquid-cooled scooters as well as try to classify the SYM Symba (Motorcycle
or Scooter?). They also talk about small displacement motorcycles
including the SYM 150 Classic.
 On
Wednesday, January 28th of 2009, Nate
Dahl was a special guest on the Just Gotta Scoot podcast. Nate is an avid
fan of big-wheeled small displacement bikes like the Honda Cub. Nate is
also one of many who eagerly await the arrival of the SYMBA, a modern
big-wheeled ride with that timeless, classic look.
CLICK HERE to listen to the episode.
 On
Thurdsay, November 6th of 2008, Pete McIntosh and Robert Belmont of
SYM/Carter Brothers brought a very special guest to the Just Gotta Scoot
Podcast - Pete Cervantes. "Pistol Pete" had recently completed the scooter
Cannonball Run, riding from Ocean Beach in California to Ocean City in
Maryland in ten days. Pete was on a SYM HD200 scooter. We also hear
about the new SYM Fiddle II as well as the CityCom 300
scooter from SYM.
CLICK HERE to listen to the episode.
 On
Thursday, March 6th of 2008, Pete McIntosh joined our Just Gotta Scoot
Podcast to talk about SYM scooters. Click on the image to the left, or
CLICK HERE to listen to that episode. Pete was kind enough to share
some upcoming news about SYM, and we will post information, photos, and
other items related to SYM on this page. Pete is also strongly committed
to spreading the word about scooters in general as a great form of urban
transport AND a lot of fun.
CLICK
HERE to email Pete
 On
Thursday, July 24th of 2008, Pete McIntosh and Robert Belmont joined our
Just Gotta Scoot Podcast to talk about new models from SYM scooters. Click
on the image to the left, or
CLICK HERE to listen to that episode. Robert Belmont shared some of
his knowledge about the many elements that make SYM models such fine
scooters, including the fact that SYM uses the same paint as Mercedes!
Pete and Robert go over the new Fiddle 2
scooter (formerly called the Vogue) and the new CityCom 300 - a
fuel-injected, big-wheel scooter that is generating a lot of buzz.
SYM Scooter
Reviews
Twin Cities Area SYM Dealer
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