whats the deal with knock off bajas??

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Save yourself the time and money. My buddy bought one of these thinking he was going to save some money. He keeps breaking or bending part after part. Everything is the same for the most part, just made of cheaper quality materials. Especially if your looking for spare parts. This is the last place to go for spares. Not to sure about the other items on the site. I just know that buggy is cheapola.
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ya i am aware of the poor quality, i will probably stay away. however my dumb friend is not taking everyones advice, were can you get one at?? he wants to stay away from oversizerc.com me and him have heard nothing but bad things
 
King motor cars

i have one that i bought and it is costing a lot moor money to make th e car reliable. the car was used but in good shape. The control arms are very weak as well as other plastic parts. bearing fit loosely all over the car. it is much cheaper to get the best at first HPI
 
there are a few good sites that have Classified sections. Tell him to buy a good used HPI rather than a junk new King. He'll thank you later I'm sure!
 
the deal is, they are cheap imitations. the only DEAL is that company gets to put your hard earned cash in their bank account end of the week when they have done NOTHING USEFULL to earn it. and thats the ONLY Deal you ll see with the clones imho.
 
There are plenty of clone haters out here and they all have their opinions. By and large they are about useless and rarely if ever based on firsthand experience. Generally speaking they are based on second or third hand stories, bad assumptions, anecdotal evidence and outright prejudice. I am not speaking with any of these faults. I have a HPI SS and a clone that is an “SS” spec. The price was too good to pass up and small enough to take the risk. I will tell you FIRST hand that they are the same quality in every aspect. In fact, the engine runs better and stronger out of the box than the HPI ever has…no kidding. The tires are visually the same but appear to be made of a more durable compound than the ones that came with the HPI SS...took them to the asphalt hard and they took it like champs. Apart from a few cosmetic differences I would bet them both that even the most diehard HPI fanboy could not tell them apart!
Lets not forget, even the HPI branded ones are made in China just like the clones. Hell, the CY engine is a clone of another design and nothing about it was engineered by HPI. They built around it in their design just like whomever’s name is on the computer most of you are reading this on built their design around a proc from Intel, AMD in the PC side (and unless your box says IBM…IT’S A CLONE!)
In some instances there are some defective units from the clones because the QC is not great but there are several folks selling the KM and others around the states that do their own QC and send back anything not up to standards. Some clones are better than others as well. You get bad units from HPI too…you just have an easier time working that out yourself on the phone. And warranty is BS beyond the first few tanks because after that…you broke it!
For the life of me I wish this clone hatred would stop. There is rarely an instance where copies of the first to the party has not been better for the industry in question as a whole.
The one that really, REALLY gets me is the completely illogical anti clone sentiment from those on two particular forums that are “sponsors to the left”. If the clones were such junk that would surely benefit them since they all make and/or sell “hop-ups” and replacement parts!

Im just sayin...
 
-Your PC analogy is incorrect, the clones weren't built "around" the HPI Baja, they blatantly ripped it off.

-You actually admit that purchasing a clone is a "risk" due to poor quality control.

-"Let's not forget that HPI branded ones are made in China"...not sure what that means, HPI designed, and put the R&D into it. Where it is made is irrelevant. It's the material it is made of and the support you receive by aftermarket manufacturers and by the manufacturers themselves. I see HPI sponsoring race events all over the world. I haven't seen any of these "clone" companies sponsoring a thing except sending trolls out to forums to "talk up" their shoddy products.

-You get a poor unit from HPI, it is supported, warrantied for a year.

-Who sells parts for these? Aside from HPI supposedly working on every piece on the clones. Just curious, never have seen any of these parts on any site that sells these aside from clone pipes.

-The sponsors are SPONSORS, meaning, they help out the forum, they pay for a good chunk of money each month to keep this forum and HBF going. They have a true interest in the hobby. They can hate clones, many of them have had their parts copied from Integy. If I was able to make parts as they do, it would be specifically for the HPI Baja. If someone that owned a clone asked me if it would work, I'd tell them to buy it at their own risk. Why? because there are many versions out there, each with possibly different and subtle changes from HPI. Who would know what is accurate and what is not?

Honestly who cares if there are clone haters? I hate them myself. If someone wants one, they can buy it. But please, don't come whining on here because an aftermarket part does not fit or an HPI part doesn't fit or there is no good support.

And yes, I have a clone, it's a Firehammer MT/Smartech clone. Do I like it? I think it could be loads better. In retrospect, I should have gone with an FG with all the money I have sunk into it thus far. So please, anyone that is thinking about buying some sort of knock-off, save a little more and go with the real McCoy, be it an FG or HPI. You'll be a lot happier down the road.

I have also have an HPI Baja, I wouldn't buy a clone version or let a friend purchase one. I'd suggest that they save longer or buy a great used one from one of the two forums (LSF or HBF).
 
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Your PC analogy is incorrect, the clones weren't built "around" the HPI Baja, they blatantly ripped it off.
Your reading of my analogy is what is incorrect. I did not say that the Baja clones were built around the HPI…they are copies, never suggested anything to contradict that. What I was saying is that just like PC makers build their systems around chipsets from Intel/AMD…HPI built their Baja around the engines from CY. Engines which HPI had nothing to do with designing and in many ways the CY engines are clones of another company’s original design.

-You actually admit that purchasing a clone is a "risk" due to poor quality control.
Thank you for pointing out that I admitted something I admitted to...that was helpful to all, really. Good catch!

Sure it was a risk…the only information I had to form my opinion was the written words of folks like you…the risk was you were right and I would have a inferior product. In FACT you were wrong. This is a blatant copy…exact from top to bottom, end to end. Even the font on the tires is a dupe.

-"Let's not forget that HPI branded ones are made in China"...not sure what that means, HPI designed, and put the R&D into it. What that means is HPI contract the manufacturing of their products in the same area that the clones are made and so often the negative comments against clones is that they come from China.

Where it is made is irrelevant. It's the material it is made of and the support you receive by aftermarket manufacturers and by the manufacturers themselves. Support is provided by a few of the quality importers of these clones…by from an individual on eBay or direct from the cloner in China and you should not expect support. If you need “support” other than sorting out a mfg defect then you are in the wrong hobby.

I see HPI sponsoring race events all over the world. I haven't seen any of these "clone" companies sponsoring a thing except sending trolls out to forums to "talk up" their shoddy products.
So you are inferring I am a contracted troll…to that I say you must be an HPI troll sent out to counter any other positions…what I really want to say would get edited out. I have absolutely no interest in anything but the truth. No benefit to me in any way is involved. I have no entity of any sort driving my comments. The troll comment is further out of place because I have not mentioned any one particular clone “brand” so who is paying me? I have intentionally left that out for this very reason.

-You get a poor unit from HPI, it is supported, warrantied for a year.
Buy a used HPI and you have no warranty so I don’t know why that one keeps coming up, the point is moot. Anyway, be honest..most of what goes wrong is operator error, seriously!

-Who sells parts for these? Aside from HPI supposedly working on every piece on the clones. Just curious, never have seen any of these parts on any site that sells these aside from clone pipes. No one sells the spares from the cloners because the demand is just not there and often a broken stock part is replaced by aftermarket. I could not wait to break some parts so I could get some RPM arms to dye to a custom color or get some CNC aluminum parts. There is no “supposedly” involved…these are “CLONES”. A clone is an exact copy. If you don’t own one, have never laid your hands on one then you really don’t know this so bring your happy ass down to Texas and if you can find one mechanical part other than internal engine parts( I am not tearing down my engine and besides…CY is not HPI) that does not interchange exactly with the HPI part then I will give you both my rides, buy you a nice steak dinner and send you back to MO with a case of Shiner in your trunk and $1000 in your wallet.

-The sponsors are SPONSORS, meaning, they help out the forum, they pay for a good chunk of money each month to keep this forum and HBF going. They have a true interest in the hobby. They can hate clones, many of them have had their parts copied from Integy. Last I checked we were talking about the Baja and not aftermarket parts? To my knowledge Integy does not make a clone Baja.

Honestly who cares if there are clone haters? I hate them myself. If someone wants one, they can buy it. But please, don't come whining on here because an aftermarket part does not fit or an HPI part doesn't fit or there is no good support.

We all should care if they or anyone is spewing inaccurate information. People visit these forums to get advice and getting biased advice based on prejudices and in many cases outright false information does not serve anyone well. I don’t recall seeing anyone whining about a part not fitting their clone…could it be because that’s not a problem? I have seen some people talking on another board about how some of the aftermarket parts, specifically some CNC’ed wide arms from a “sponsor”, don’t fit the HPI Baja right.


Seriously, spend your money however you want. Folks come here for advice, take it or leave it but lets all base our advice on actual experience and not hearsay. I could care less what you buy but if you want info on one of the clones, talk to people that have them, not folks that don’t. If you want to actually have a full duplex, real time conversation then PM me and we can trade phone numbers. I will tell you my opinions based on FIRST HAND experience with both a real HPI and one of the clones.
 
My comments were based on first hand experience. Not second/third as you suggest. I've had to pull alloy parts off the clone and straighten them out myself. Very, Very poor quality when compared to the stock HPI parts.

If you really want to be safe... buy an FG!!! HA!
 
MrZ2: We won't agree, like it or not. I have my opinion, you have yours. I think we could go back and forth until the end of time...of which I don't have a lot of.

I will still suggest people get HPI....and yes for support, parts, aftermarket, etc (yes it can be helpful if no one is around and you do have an issue, it does not mean you are in the wrong hobby). Clones have their place now, but I would really rather not purchase one again, even though mine isn't an HPI clone.

I am certain you are a great guy and we would hit it off like frick and frack, but a long distance friendship proposal I'll have to decline....although a Texas steak dinner is tempting. :)
 
There is nothing to agree on or disagree on ... if it was your opinion that the moon was made of cheese then it would be your opinion and valid as such but it would still be factually wrong. None of this is directed at you in particular but those in general who present their opinions as fact regardless of them being that or not. Opinions are just that and facts are facts. When someone asserts their opinion as a fact that does not make it so.
I am sure there are some Baja copies out there that are junk but the haters out here paint all clones with the same brush. There are exceptions…that is not my opinion, that is a fact.
The point of the steak dinner thing was to invite anyone who maintains all clones are inferior to lay their hands on one and point out those short comings. Its not a put up or shut up thing either. I don’t care if anyone wants to continue life ignorant of the truth in these matters or not…they just don’t amount to enough, this topic that is, not the person.
What matters is the overall attitude of too many in society these days. Every Tom, peepee and Harry has their opinion, thinks they are right and acts on them right or wrong. It’s crossed over to many lines via technology and suddenly the only opinions that matter are ones own...the inconvenient truth of matters need not apply.

Anyone who still takes this personally in regards to the HPI clone issue can save the keystrokes cause CSP1971 is right about one thing…you and I wont agree on the issue at hand because you don’t have the evidence needed. I will continue to refute those opinions when and where I see fit and I will always have that invitation out to anyone that wants to see the evidence in person.
 
. Most discussions aren't about the quality of the clone, its the idea of them directly copying someone elses design.

I really don’t see it that way, I see more quality conversations than anything else...it could be that those are the only ones that stand out to me.

I have no problems with discussions of the type to which you refer. Those are truly subjective and opinions are completely valid in those discussions. I would, in a different tone, love to point out hypocrisies in some of those folks but I prefer to do that in person and when I am drunk! I love the first stone conversations!
 
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Kingmotor's Baja

Hello everyone, I’m new here and this is my first post. I see allot of people asking about the KM Baja's, Well I bought 1 off of eBay for $499 shipped to my door and I have run 1 gallon of gas thru it and this is what I have had to replace so far: 1st the arm on the throttle servo was cracked right out of the box, I used the steering arm from the servo in my T-Maxx to replace it and the guy I bought it from did send me a new 1, then I tried to start it and the pull start broke, I was able to get it working again till I got a replacement for $30, OK I got it running and it actually runs great, the only thing that’s bad about the engine is the kill switch, it does not have the rubber cover over it and it can get stuck in if its dirty when you shut it off, other then that I have no problems with the engine. after running a couple tanks thru it the throttle servo died, I used the steering servo from my T-maxx to get it running again and ordered another servo for $40 and the lower body panels were broken, they were very brittle and would snap if you bent them and I wore out the rear tires so I replaced them, body panels $17 and rear proline bow tie tires $45, then after another tank or 2 the front tires started tearing at the bead, replaced them for $17 then the roll cage broke $24 to replace that, then the axle boots ripped and the differential tore up so I got a whole new alloy 1 for $80 and axle boots for $7 and fixed that and on the last tank of gas I broke a lower rear a-arm the center of it was hollow, I replaced all rear a-arms for $24. lets hope the second gallon isn't so expensive.
buggy $499
pull start $30
servo $40
side panels $17
tires $62
roll cage $24
differential $80
axle boots $7
a-arms $24
my time $priceless
TOTAL $783
For another $100 or so I could have bought an HPI Baja.
What are your 1st gallon repairs??
 
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