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I bought a Lance Duke Touring 250 new, and it overheated with only 13 miles on it!! It would appear that the dealer either didn't put enough coolant in it, their was air in the system, or probably both!! Though my northern California dealer has been working hard to get this engine or scooter replaced, Lace Powersports doesn't even seem to be able to support the dealers they have, and it has been three weeks with no engine or replacement scooter in sight!! I believe this system is not adequetly designed, and will cause problems for their owners.

[jkiovsky]

Just started driving my new Lance Duke Touring 250. It is great. I love it. It came with a broken mirror. Skeddale Motorsports immediately sent a new one.

[jggally]

Customer Review Contest Entry by jggally

We bought 2 Lance Duke Touring 250s a couple months ago and they were delivered a few weeks later.

So far, I am reasonably happy with both of them and I am glad we bought them.

With just over 300 miles on both of them now, one of them is getting ~69 MPG, the other ~55 MPG. The latter tends to run hotter and had more engine tailings in the initial oil change, so I presume this engine has tighter tolerances and will require more TLC in the break-in (side note: Lance included an inspection doc that stated I was required to change the crankcase oil, gear oil and coolant prior to initial usage ... good thing too, the coolant looked like grainy watery green crap).

One of the mirrors was cracked upon delivery, but they were quick to replace it. Doesn't matter much, the mirrors are useless for the average American height (I am 5'9" and the mirrors do not at all adjust high enough to see behind me). I will be replacing these with after market mirrors soon.

Also, there was an oil leak at the crankcase cover joint with the oil pipe. They have sent me replacement crush copper washers to fix this.

And, both bikes make a discernible, albeit not worrisome, scraping noise in the front cowl as though something (wiring?) is catching/binding against the plastic when the handlebars are swung through the centerline. The noise is more pronounce when the front end is depressed (like while riding over a bump just as the handles are swung). If you experience this and root cause it please let me know. It does not appear effect the operation of the bike, but I am concerned that I may be, e.g., wearing through wiring over time.

BTW, getting the CVT cover back on was extremely frustrating until I figured out a couple tricks:
- I used masking tape to hold the rubber gasket while remounting the cover (and pulled the tape off readily afterward);
- getting the bolts lined up in their inner threaded holes was impossible with a ratchet. That was until I learned to seat them with a pair of pliers pointed directly straight through the outer hole and start threading them with the pliers. Works every time with absolutely no frustration.

Both scooters hold 3 gallons, but after 90 miles the gas gauge on both hits the top of the empty red zone. The have sent me a replacement for one (not installed yet) and I am expecting them to send another. I do not know if this is just bad installation, wrong part, or bad design. Anyone else notice this ? (I live by the trip odometer now, filling after ~150 miles)

I bought these online through motortoyshop.com in Oregon and I am very pleased with their responsiveness to questions/issues. Let them know I sent you.

http://img375.imageshack.us/my.php?image=duke250fh9.jpg

Admin Says "Thanks for your review. It can be improved with pictures and a follow-up covering maintenance or any modifications you might make. You are entered into the customer review contest to win a $100 gift certificate from PartsForScooters.com'

[New2Scoot]

All I haven't had the issues that you all have had or are having with the Lance Duke Touring 250. I was one of the lucky ones that there is actually a local dealer that is about a mile away from me. I have been talking with their Tech who puts the scooters together and gets it ready before it is picked up. Here are some of the things we discussed and what was done to correct the issue. I hope this provides some insight and help.

1. Starting problem: Test to see if you have a bad carburetor by putting a little gas in the carburetor and see if it starts then. If that works then it's a bad carburetor.

2. Overheating problem: Make sure you are using the right kind of coolant first off. Second, you have to make sure that all the air pockets are out of the system. From the way it was explained to me, the hose goes up and over the engine instead of a level shot. That will be where the Air Pocket would be. The way they were doing it at the shop that I bought mine from. He was filling it, then running it for a short period, and then filling it again. He had to do this a few times.

I think that if you can lift the front wheel off the ground and then fill the coolant that should get all the air pockets out of the system.

As I hear more idea's or information I will be glad to post those suggestions.

I recently bought a Lance Duke Touring 250 and so far it has had some of the issues that are mentioned in the posts. Notably the mirrors and the cooling system.

I replaced the mirrors after discovering that there was no way I would be able to see anything behind me.

For the cooling system. Any body know the approximate amount of coolant that the scooter holds? Just want to make sure I don't over fill.

[jggally]

As I understand it, you cannot overfill the radiator on the Lance Duke Touring 250 via the pressure cap under the seat (it should be completely full), but you should endeavor to get a proper amount into the overflow tank next to the gas tank, however I cannot actually see what the proper amount is in that tank due to the opaqueness of the plastic. I inadvertently overfilled it and then sucked ~ half back out with a turkey baster.

With respect to the actual radiator, rumor has it that it is very important to get all of the air pockets out of the tank, and that appears to be most commonly done by idling the engine with the pressure cap off until the fan comes on, shutting off the engine, and topping off the tank, repeating this cycle until no more topping off is needed. Other folks have also suggested squeezing the upper radiator hose, but I would imagine that may require removing stuff to get good access to the hose (perhaps panels, seat).

[New2Scoot]

I have another way to solve the Mirror Issue. Over the weekend we discovered how to handle the issue with the Mirrors and how you can solve the issue without spending any extra cash. Here's what you will need :

• 8 mm socket
• 10 mm socket
• Ratchet
• 6mm hex key
• Phillips Screwdriver (power or hand)
• Dremel tool (cutter blade & sander wheel)

Take apart the assembly around the mirrors. We took the windshield off and took apart the assembly to reveal the Mirror Mounts. What we figured out is that the right hand side mirror was turned towards you more and should be rotated back. The plastic opening around the brake reservoir is not wide/deep enough to allow you to roll the mirrors farther up. So we used the Dremel to cut more of the plastic away. Doing this allowed us to adjust the Mirror mounts (8 metric socket) and move them back so the mirrors are rolled up some. Once we did this you were able to see behind you. We did this to both mirrors to make sure that both are working the way you wanted without spending extra money to replace the mirrors.

If anyone needs further explanation on this or even pictures let me know and I’ll do what I can to explain further. The first scooter we did we didn’t take pictures.. But I have 2 other scooters to do next..

[jggally]

This is a Chinese clone of the Honda CN250 engine manual. It is the most informative I have found free on the web, albeit the translation to English is humorous in places.

http://www.trirunner.citymax.com/f/CFMOTO.pdf

I purchased a Lance Duke Touring 250 down in Tucson because it was the best price I found. I drove down from Phoenix to pick it up. After driving it home and getting it off my truck, I started it and filled it with gas. It wouldn't start again after that. I took it back down to Tucson, after them having it for FOUR weeks, going back and forth about them ordering a new one or trying to fix that bike I finally gave up on them. I found Arizona Discount ATV's, they were awesome! They ordered my new Lance Duke Touring 250 and set it up for me. As part of the set-up they replaced ALL fluids, heavier weight oil, better coolant, etc. Plus they hard wired the fan so it runs all the time to help with the over heating problem. I have been told that the motor is modeled after a Honda's motor.

I have to say I was extremely nervous when my scooter stopped working as soon as I got it home and then reading people's posts on-line but my boyfriend purchased a Lance Milan 150 and his has been running just fine, he has put about 200 miles on it so far.

I have less than 50 miles on my Duke, but so far it has been great. I am excited to complete my motorcycle class so I can start riding it more.

[JimSLC]

The Lance Duke Touring 250 has several serious liabilities that should give a comparison shopper pause ( I got mine (2008) barely used at a price I couldn't turn down).

1. As noted elsewhere, the stock mirrors are unsafe for anybody over a certain height (I'm 5'9" and change), even if they hold their adjustment, which one of mine doesn't. This would be a fatal error to anybody concerned about safety who didn't have the ability to deal with it.

2. The documentation with the scooter is insufficient to maintain it properly, leaving you to hunt and guess for essential fittings. Lance Powersports has posted some nice protocols on their website, but some of those don't match my scooter.

3. Support from the dealer (motorxtremes.com) is useless so far - no response to phone and irrelevant form response to email. Also a policy of "send in the part to get a replacement", which may be necessitated by the poor standardization already noted, but still leaves one with taking things apart twice or not riding during the interim.

Fit and finish is about what you'd expect from full Chinese production - some thin plastics and poor fit (access doors under seat and foot bed for instance, respectively). Most of what actually shows or is touched is pretty well done tho' and the overall look is sharp. Engine response is strong and adequate for two adult riders. I have two rattles that I haven't found yet. I also find that my fuel gauge runs to empty in the first 1.5 gallons. On the bright side that represented 82 miles and I assume it will get better with wear-in.

Conclusion: a scooter to consider for those with access to a local dealer or mechanically confident.

Good riding,
Jim

[bighart256]

Bought the Lance Duke Touring 250 about 3 months ago. Worked out some bugs and the mirror issue and I am getting about 60-65mpg. Much better then my car. Any who I have ~850 miles on it now and I know I need to change my gear oil and I can not figure out how... Any one have any pictures of the gear oil plug and basic directions on how to fill it?

I can change the engine oil with out any issues, but I don't want to screw up the rest

[jggally]

Originally Posted by bighart256

Bought the Duke about 3 months ago. Worked out some bugs and the mirror issue and I am getting about 60-65mpg. Much better then my car. Any who I have ~850 miles on it now and I know I need to change my gear oil and I can not figure out how... Any one have any pictures of the gear oil plug and basic directions on how to fill it?

I can change the engine oil with out any issues, but I don't want to screw up the rest

See http://www.oregonvintage.com/250cvt.pdf.

Tips:
1- use masking tape on the outside of the cover to hold on rubber gasket during installation.
2 - use pliers to align and start threading the cvt cover bolts into their holes (a ratchet socket won't hold the bolts straight/up for the initial alignment/threading).

NOTE!!!: the 172MM CF-MOTO engine manual (the Duke 250 engine) and the Honda Helix 250CN manual (what the 172MM engine was cloned from), and the Duke 250 owners manual say to use 10/w30 oil in the gearbox, not the heavier 70w90 oil mentioned in the link!!!

I have the Lance Duke Touring 250, and I am seeing a substantial coolant leak coming out of the right side of my engine. I am not sure if it is just a seal that isn't sealed, of it it is a water pump. I don't have any working diagrams of the engine and the connections. If anyone has a picture of where the water pump would be or a good link to detail engine diagram that would be much appreciated. Also has anyone else seen a leak like this, and how did you fix it?

My Lance Duke Touring 250 has got a Bluetooth light on it for a phone. Does anyone know anything about this? How does it work?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My Lance Duke Touring 250 has got a Bluetooth light on it for a phone. Does anyone know anything about this? How does it work?

Yep, just there to let you know that your phone is ringing, other than that..................nada

[edvariz]

I bought a Lance Duke Touring 250cc last week, for 2 reasons; the price and the look of it. I am very happy with it. I bought it from Delta Power Sports in Lathrop, CA just pass Tracy, CA.

I first looked at this scooter about a month or so ago. I never heard of this brand before so I decided to think about it for a while. I'm building a new home just a few blocks from the dealership, therefore I was going to wait and buy it when I moved into my new home (since I currently live approx. 1 hour away from Delta Power Sports). The store Manager was very helpful and answered all of my questions and concerns. In fact, he said if we bought one from him he would deliver it an hour away to my current apartment for free. I took him up on his offer. The next day first thing in the morning my scooter was delivered.
I love It!! It drives smooth and all of my family thinks it looks sharp. They have no idea it cost me so little compare to other 250cc scooters.

I highly suggest checking this scooter out, but try and find a dealership in your area that sells them. I have read on the internet horror stories about this scooter but I think it's because most of them bought them on-line. I think having a dealership you trust to perform regular maintenance and to give you advise is very important.

Now the plug for Delta Power Sports, once again they were Great, Great, Great. Anyone in the SF bay area, Sacramento, Tracy, Modesto, or Stockton please check them out!!! They will answer all of your questions with no sales pressure. They also have a large selection of motorcycles!

Of hope my comments help!!