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

August 15th, 2013

It’s been a little over a year since our last update of the SYM situation in the USA. Alliance Powersports continues to do a good job of cleaning up the mess left by Carter Brothers (the prior US distributor) and re-building the SYM brand in this country. There are currently about 90 dealers up and running with more being added on a regular basis. We’d like to see Alliance bring more of the fuel injected versions of SYM’s fine scooters into the USA, but certainly can’t fault them for being careful in expending their model line. They’ve added several models over the past few years and  we hope that coming years will see continued growth for SYM in this market. At this time JustGottaScoot.com is pleased to recommend SYM products and encourages you to visit your local SYM dealer. 

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: [email protected]

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 [email protected] . 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



SYM Scooter Reviews


 

Twin Cities Area SYM Dealer