cheers Spud
Chinese bike anyone
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[email protected]
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Re: Chinese bike anyone
Zongshen make the 250 liquid cooled lump used in the AJP PR5 and Gas Gas Cami to name a couple.
I think it's based on a Honda design.
I think it's based on a Honda design.
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WesleyDRZ400
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Re: Chinese bike anyone
Not the same but Chinese still.
I think they are really like consumable motorbikes, maybe good for a few thousand light riding miles and after that's when the problems start.
I would never take one on a trip again
I brought a new but very cheap Chinese bike in Kazakhstan last year with the plan to ride it down to my wife's family home in the Tajik Pamir via Kyrgyzstan.
Problem is all the fittings, nuts & bolts which are the lowest quality just snap constantly
In the end i ditched the bike and gave it away to a young boy in a Kyrgz village as there was noway it was going to make it.
I think they are really like consumable motorbikes, maybe good for a few thousand light riding miles and after that's when the problems start.
I would never take one on a trip again
I brought a new but very cheap Chinese bike in Kazakhstan last year with the plan to ride it down to my wife's family home in the Tajik Pamir via Kyrgyzstan.
Problem is all the fittings, nuts & bolts which are the lowest quality just snap constantly
In the end i ditched the bike and gave it away to a young boy in a Kyrgz village as there was noway it was going to make it.
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WesleyDRZ400
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Re: Chinese bike anyone
Its all the cheap nuts & studs they use which are low quality and brittle which cause the problems, even cheap Chinese bike frames snap when off roading[email protected] wrote:Zongshen make the 250 liquid cooled lump used in the AJP PR5 and Gas Gas Cami to name a couple.
I think it's based on a Honda design.
a few other travelers who brought other model Chinese bikes all had these problems
Re: Chinese bike anyone
I put nearly 6000 miles on my little Chinese bike when I had her and she never skipped a beat once.
They are getting better and better with each new one that comes out.
If it wasn't for the fact I got my full licence and moved to a bigger bike I'd still be on my little Chinese one.
They are getting better and better with each new one that comes out.
If it wasn't for the fact I got my full licence and moved to a bigger bike I'd still be on my little Chinese one.
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WesleyDRZ400
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- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2013 6:01 pm
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Re: Chinese bike anyone
I take it that was on sealed roads only? i know these bikes are not designed for any off road but even on dry dirt it fell apart. if i was to ever buy another i would change out all the bolts/studs for better quality ones. I think that is where they cut cornersNicoli wrote:I put nearly 6000 miles on my little Chinese bike when I had her and she never skipped a beat once.
They are getting better and better with each new one that comes out.
If it wasn't for the fact I got my full licence and moved to a bigger bike I'd still be on my little Chinese one.
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scubabiker
- Posts: 679
- Joined: Mon Jun 09, 2014 5:53 pm
Re: Chinese bike anyone
maybe a little input from someone in the know here...
i worked the past years for a main dealer (honda yamaha derbi/piaggio and peugeot)
all of these companies make bikes in china now, every single one. some have good quality, some have really bad quality (cough-derbi-cough)....
anyway, due to bad health, i cannot work there anymore, so I have decided to go solo (so to speak)
and start up my own business, importing and selling cheap bikes.
but here is the difference, i am in direct contact with the manufacturer, i have my first 2 bikes, which are trial models. they are ok, most bike companies would approve them and just set them on sale. however im not happy with the shit quality the companies are spewing out these days.
the bikes i have WILL need changes before i sell them.
there is no way they will last more than 8 months before they get problems, the chrome has surface rust, the engine has some painted cast iron parts, the bolts have a very poor finish (a light zink coating) etc etc....
because i am in contact with the manufacturer, i am getting these problems fixed before i put my name on the bikes. this is something NO other bike company has done, im riding these bikes through all sorts of crap to test them to the max, again, something the other companies dont do, they wont take a peugeot speedfight up a mountain through the forest... my bikes will.....
anyway back to the subject.....
ive seen some really good china made bikes, sinnis are pretty good quality, as are the honda ones really.
it all comes down to maintainance, if the bike doesnt get a good PDI and good services, then it will fall apart, but bear this in mind, china bikes last much better than italian bikes ever do....
i worked the past years for a main dealer (honda yamaha derbi/piaggio and peugeot)
all of these companies make bikes in china now, every single one. some have good quality, some have really bad quality (cough-derbi-cough)....
anyway, due to bad health, i cannot work there anymore, so I have decided to go solo (so to speak)
and start up my own business, importing and selling cheap bikes.
but here is the difference, i am in direct contact with the manufacturer, i have my first 2 bikes, which are trial models. they are ok, most bike companies would approve them and just set them on sale. however im not happy with the shit quality the companies are spewing out these days.
the bikes i have WILL need changes before i sell them.
there is no way they will last more than 8 months before they get problems, the chrome has surface rust, the engine has some painted cast iron parts, the bolts have a very poor finish (a light zink coating) etc etc....
because i am in contact with the manufacturer, i am getting these problems fixed before i put my name on the bikes. this is something NO other bike company has done, im riding these bikes through all sorts of crap to test them to the max, again, something the other companies dont do, they wont take a peugeot speedfight up a mountain through the forest... my bikes will.....
anyway back to the subject.....
ive seen some really good china made bikes, sinnis are pretty good quality, as are the honda ones really.
it all comes down to maintainance, if the bike doesnt get a good PDI and good services, then it will fall apart, but bear this in mind, china bikes last much better than italian bikes ever do....
Re: Chinese bike anyone
I used to take it Greenlaning as well as it being my daily commuter. Managed perfectly fine on/off road.WesleyDRZ400 wrote:I take it that was on sealed roads only? i know these bikes are not designed for any off road but even on dry dirt it fell apart. if i was to ever buy another i would change out all the bolts/studs for better quality ones. I think that is where they cut cornersNicoli wrote:I put nearly 6000 miles on my little Chinese bike when I had her and she never skipped a beat once.
They are getting better and better with each new one that comes out.
If it wasn't for the fact I got my full licence and moved to a bigger bike I'd still be on my little Chinese one.
I didn't take it on a trip like yours but she held up for Greenlaning.
As mentioned above, sinnis have better quality than some of the others it seems. Mine was a Sinnis apache. Would happily have another as a small bike for trails.
Re: Chinese bike anyone
I've got to butt in and say that the idea that a Chinese bike will last better than an Italian one is very hard to accept.
The build quality on Ducatis is far better than anything I've seen come out of China, especially now that Audi have their fingers in there and the offerings from Moto Guzzi, MV and Aprilia are either very close to the same level if not already there.
We've got 2 Italian bikes that are very close to 20 years old (a Ducati 916 and an Aprilia RS250) and both are in very good condition for their age if you exclude a few spots of surface rust on the frame of the Ducati along with a couple of corroded bolt heads but that kind of thing says more about the previous owners than the original build.
Older Italian bikes fetch very good money and the reason for that isn't because the buyers want to spend hours working on them, it's because they're genuinely good bikes.
Chinese manufactured bikes may well end up the equal of anything coming out of the Japan or Europe in another 20 years but right now they're a long way behind and I wouldn't buy one unless it was from a mainstream manufacturer that had set up a plant over there and was controlling quality right down to the last nut and bolt.
The build quality on Ducatis is far better than anything I've seen come out of China, especially now that Audi have their fingers in there and the offerings from Moto Guzzi, MV and Aprilia are either very close to the same level if not already there.
We've got 2 Italian bikes that are very close to 20 years old (a Ducati 916 and an Aprilia RS250) and both are in very good condition for their age if you exclude a few spots of surface rust on the frame of the Ducati along with a couple of corroded bolt heads but that kind of thing says more about the previous owners than the original build.
Older Italian bikes fetch very good money and the reason for that isn't because the buyers want to spend hours working on them, it's because they're genuinely good bikes.
Chinese manufactured bikes may well end up the equal of anything coming out of the Japan or Europe in another 20 years but right now they're a long way behind and I wouldn't buy one unless it was from a mainstream manufacturer that had set up a plant over there and was controlling quality right down to the last nut and bolt.
Re: Chinese bike anyone
What I want to know is how do all these bikes survive that you see in these third world type countries. You see them loaded with dad,mum and a couple of kids and a rack full of goods and they are being ridden over dirt roads some of which can barely be called roads. So surely they must be basically reliable to put up with that kind of abuse.
