I am interested in a 2,000 watt portable generator and clearly Honda is the leader in the market. I can get an EU2000I for $949 plus tax and I am tempted, but then I read more and more about Kipor. Anyone familiar with them? Word on the street is that former Honda employees, Engineers??, left Honda to start their own firm using copied technology with much thinner margins, HOnda even sued them for infringement allegedly. I can get these new from a dealer for $600 each. I have one friend who has owned two for about three years and has had no issues. The warranty is only two years vs Honda's three. I have become a believer in getting what you pay for, but if the hype is true...makes it hard to ignore. Please share your experiences with them, if you don't mind. Here is the ad http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=24222675&cat=231&lpid=&search=honda&ad_cid=10
A few reviews are here:
http://www.amazon.com/Kipor-IG2000-2000-Watt-Inverter-Generator/dp/B000RUOXYW
http://reviews.cabelas.com/8815/523429/kipor-sinemaster-ig2000-gasoline-inverter-generator-reviews/reviews.htm
http://www.casitaclub.com/forums/topic/9769-honda-2000i-kipor-2000-inverter-clone-for-249/
Looks like a nice alternative to Honda/ Yamaha. Some of the problems noted are related to jetting for altitude, and improper usage, i.e. running equipment that has higher amperage requirements than the generator can support, especially on startup.
The biggest point of failure would be leaving gas/ethanol in the carburetor for any length of time. That will quickly kill any of these. Locate some ethanol free fuel source if possible, or at least stabilize the fuel and run monthly.
Look into where you would get local warranty service should things go wrong. With the Hondas, warranty service and parts are easy to find and that is a good reason to buy. I had a Champion clone for awhile and was surprised at how good their warranty and parts replacement service was though it was phone/ mail based. Had an on-shore engineer from Champion walk me through a repair on the phone.
One other thing that occurred to me is that Honda/ Yamaha dealers will (or at least should) start up, run, and tune/ jet the generator prior to the sale. Problems are corrected at that point presumably. That is worth something. That would not be the case for an in-the-box mail order, so you may get a dud and have to return, which adds to cost and hassle.
We have the Honda Companion 2000. Draining the fuel is critical. I unscrew the carb drain after every trip. I use Seafoam also.
I've seen the knock offs. For occasional use they might be a better value. The first camping trip we took, it cost us $500 per hour to run!