The registry
Transnational Registry: Models, Builds & Photos
Transnational is one of the importer badges that put Chinese-built scooters into the US market during the wave that peaked in 2008, when record fuel prices pushed buyers toward cheap 50cc and 150cc machines. The company built nothing itself; a distributor contracted with Chinese factories for the machines and handled the DOT and EPA import paperwork. The Firestar 150CC is the model most owners associate with the badge, built on the GY6 platform: an air-cooled 149.6cc four-stroke single in the 157QMJ casing with a CV carburetor and CVT drive. Brand support is effectively gone, so owners lean on the generic GY6 aftermarket, where wear parts are cheap commodity items stocked by every scooter parts house.
Pick your model
What Transnational Is
Transnational belongs to the wave of importer brands that put Chinese-built scooters and small powersports machines into the US market. That wave built through the mid 2000s and peaked in 2008, when record fuel prices pushed buyers toward cheap 50cc and 150cc scooters; US scooter sales jumped 41 percent in 2008, then fell 59 percent in 2009, and many importer badges vanished in the bust. These brands typically did not manufacture anything. A distributor contracted with one or more factories in China, specified trim and badging, and handled DOT and EPA paperwork for import. The Transnational name follows that pattern. There is little published corporate documentation on the company itself, no widely cited founding date, and no clear public record of when the badge stopped appearing on new units, so treat any specific corporate claim you read elsewhere with suspicion until you can trace it to a primary source.
The Firestar 150CC
The Firestar 150CC is the model most owners associate with the badge. It sits in the standard Chinese 150 scooter class, and machines in this class are overwhelmingly built around the GY6 engine family: an air-cooled single-cylinder four-stroke displacing 149.6cc in the 157QMJ casing (57.4mm bore, 57.8mm stroke), fed by a CV carburetor and driving through a CVT with a centrifugal clutch. That architecture is the single most useful fact a Firestar owner can know, because GY6 parts are cheap, interchangeable across dozens of badges, and stocked by every generic scooter parts house.
- Engine identification: check the code stamped into the lower left side of the crankcase. A 157QMJ or 157QMI stamp confirms GY6 architecture and opens up the whole aftermarket.
- Wear items: CVT belts, rollers, and carburetors for this class are commodity parts. Match dimensions, not the badge on the legshield.
Living With One
Owner support for Transnational as a brand is effectively gone, so the practical community is the generic Chinese-scooter community. Manuals, wiring diagrams, and troubleshooting written for any GY6-based 150 apply almost directly. The usual class-wide advice holds: re-torque fasteners when new to you, replace the factory battery and vacuum lines early, and keep the valve lash checked, since the air-cooled GY6 top end is sensitive to tight valves.
Asked all the time
What years were Transnational Firestar 150CC scooters sold?
There is no reliable published production record for Transnational. Chinese-built 150cc import scooters like the Transnational Firestar mostly entered the US market between roughly 2004 and 2009, with the import wave peaking in 2008, and the tenth digit of the VIN encodes the model year, which is the most trustworthy way to date any individual Transnational machine.
Who actually built Transnational scooters?
Transnational is an importer badge, not a factory. The scooters were built by mainland Chinese plants and badged for the distributor, which was standard practice for this class. The engine casing stamp, not the Transnational badge, tells you what you actually have.
Can I still get parts for a Transnational Firestar 150CC?
Yes, in practice. Most Transnational Firestar 150s use the GY6 engine platform (look for a 157QMJ stamp on the lower left crankcase), and GY6 belts, rollers, carburetors, ignition parts, and top-end kits are commodity items sold by every generic scooter parts supplier. Body plastics and badge-specific trim are the hard parts to find.
Is there an owner community for Transnational scooters?
Not a brand-specific one of any size. Transnational owners lean on the general Chinese GY6 scooter community, whose manuals, wiring diagrams, and fixes apply almost directly to a Firestar 150.
What should I check first on a used Transnational Firestar 150CC?
Confirm the engine stamp (157QMJ/157QMI means standard GY6), check valve lash since tight valves are the common killer on air-cooled GY6 tops, inspect the CVT belt and rollers, and replace aged vacuum lines to the petcock and carburetor. Title and VIN paperwork is worth verifying too, since import-era scooters often have registration gaps.
The wall
The most-documented Transnational vehicles in the registry, every photo by the owner.
