When did you look last at Enduro / MX / Dual Sport bikes, in the 70's?
Here comes the new Minsk Adventure Bike, nice!
- Thread starter Phil TK
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Thump
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Actually the seals aren't that much lower; less unsprung weight is more important.
Forest
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Price in China for the "luxury" model is RMB20.800 or about US$ 3.400.
Tried to find a Zongshen garage here in Qingtian (Zhejiang) today but no luck, I will be in Shanghai from next Wednesday.
My customer arranged a visit to a Shanghai Zongshen dealer next Thursday or Friday, they have the RX3 in stock so I can have a preview.
Tried to find a Zongshen garage here in Qingtian (Zhejiang) today but no luck, I will be in Shanghai from next Wednesday.
My customer arranged a visit to a Shanghai Zongshen dealer next Thursday or Friday, they have the RX3 in stock so I can have a preview.
Well, we went to see the Zongshen dealer last week, it was also a dealer of Shineray, CF Moto and some other Chinese brands.
He was also stocking a few MV Augusta's, a Victory and some Japanese motorcycles.
Had a look around the Zongshen RX3 and I still believe the bike offers a great deal for a decent price, so I await the introduction by Ryuka in Thailand.
It was raining and as it was full with bikes inside the shop it was hard to move around.
So after a while we consider going back until my eye catches something:
This is my bike of choice if I was living in China, a Jialing JH600B, featured in TB-Racing's thread travelling China.
It was a customer bike, costs 50.000 RMB or around THB 260.000 without plates, delivery time is 2 weeks.
Was allowed to sit on it, again a bit cramped as low roof there, but the bike feels very solid and comfortable.
He was also stocking a few MV Augusta's, a Victory and some Japanese motorcycles.
Had a look around the Zongshen RX3 and I still believe the bike offers a great deal for a decent price, so I await the introduction by Ryuka in Thailand.
It was raining and as it was full with bikes inside the shop it was hard to move around.
So after a while we consider going back until my eye catches something:
This is my bike of choice if I was living in China, a Jialing JH600B, featured in TB-Racing's thread travelling China.
It was a customer bike, costs 50.000 RMB or around THB 260.000 without plates, delivery time is 2 weeks.
Was allowed to sit on it, again a bit cramped as low roof there, but the bike feels very solid and comfortable.
Forest
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- Vstrom650,CRF250 , Ducati 900ss ,Yamaha YZ250, Virago 400 etc..
Forest
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- Feb 28, 2014
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- Vstrom650,CRF250 , Ducati 900ss ,Yamaha YZ250, Virago 400 etc..
Forest
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so after the show will be more then a CRF and nearly the KLX price..mm..oh u get free mini panniers.wondering how is it gona do on a longer trip, and off road with 175kg dry weight
Forest
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hehe..ye how can we live without the free jacket? anyway it can't be even compared to the other 2 beloved vehicles (CRF& KLX) ,simply because they are from so well established brands,are of different nature and have being tested re/tested and upgraded in so many years they've been around..RX3 is for those kids that may like the 'captivating' design,stick to mostly tarmac n want to get a cheap 'adv' bike 
Thump
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The only good thing about Chinese bikes is that they are significantly cheaper than Japanese bikes, that's why people buy them.
Who in his right mind would pay more for a Chinese bike than for a proven CRF or a KLX??!
Who in his right mind would pay more for a Chinese bike than for a proven CRF or a KLX??!
prince666
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- Shandong (China)
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- CF 250 Jetlux. CFmoto 650 MT Honda CRF 1000 DCT Yamaha 125 YBR KG
Got 3 Chinese bikes all are a load of shit 2 are from one off the best Chinese manufacturing company in China "CFMoto"and 1 is a Yamaha YBR made in China , the YBR come to a sudden end here in Thailand a few weeks ago and I was forced to buy a new Honda CRF 250l to use until arrangement could be made to get a new engine over from China.
How nice it has been the last few weeks to ride a bike which is well made and does what it says on the tin!
please guy stay away from Chinese made bikes pay a bit more and get a bike that lasts this advise is free hehehe but has cost me many 1000s $ to find out the hard way ! Don't make the same mistake as me !
P.S. Sorry to say Thump you can't "polish a turd" even with a cheap price
How nice it has been the last few weeks to ride a bike which is well made and does what it says on the tin!
please guy stay away from Chinese made bikes pay a bit more and get a bike that lasts this advise is free hehehe but has cost me many 1000s $ to find out the hard way ! Don't make the same mistake as me !
P.S. Sorry to say Thump you can't "polish a turd" even with a cheap price
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
No need to be sorry, I agree with you! As I said, the only good thing is the low price, but as so often, down the road you would have saved $$ if you'd have bought a decent product for a bit more.
But again and again I hear from people who are tempted by a low price. If a CRF is around 135K, a KLX is 155K, and a Chinese bike is 99K - people are attracted!
I told my buddy to stay away from Platinum, but since he couldn't find another bike that compared he bought a Platinum 175 for 65K or so.
Now if Honda or Kawasaki had an enduro or supermoto with 150cc for 85K he would've bought that and gotten his money's worth, but there wasn't anything. He needed a bike to go to work which included some back roads with gravel. He had a MTX125, Honda's trusty little 2 stroke, for years and loved it, but there was no Japanese replacement.
Kawasaki's overpriced and underpowered KLR140 enduro is just too small, even if you get bigger wheels, it's just a Mickey Mouse bike.
So he went with Platinum which looked good on the sales floor and 175cc sounded just right. They all look good on the sales floor! And they told him that this one was built in a new factory because Platinum already had a bad reputation. But he (and obviously lots of other owners) had to get it fixed so many times in the first six months that the dealer closed doors overnight and disappeared before he even got a license plate! No help from the main BKK dealer who had no access to the closed branch.
Now he was throwing money after it at repair shops which couldn't fix the bike any better than the Platinum dealer and had trouble with the Kojaks because he had no plates.
Some say that the Chinese are getting better, that some brands actually hold up, and as I posted earlier, another friend owning a Ryuka 125 is still riding his bike. But then again, would he really tell me how often it broke down?
I had a JRD made in Malaysia which looked great when new, 125cc, electric start, disc brakes, the works, cost 2/3 the price of a Honda Wave 125. But after a year the plastic was faded, the spokes were rusty, the chrome was flaking off, the speedo wasn't legible because the sun had blurred the plastic, the bike stank of gas and didn't start until I replaced all the hoses - they were so cheap that the fuel dissolved them! The carb was okay, just the hoses. One experienced rider hurt himself when he laid it down, blamed the front disc brake. The thing was "grabby" at slow speeds, I had trouble with it, too. Fortunately I got my money back after renting it out for one year; I bought all new plastic parts and new spokes and sold it quickly for a low price - good riddance!
I will only buy Japanese bikes; other brands like BMW, KTM or Triumph are of course decent products, but too expensive. I had ten Beemers in the US but I'm fine with Honda in Thailand, there's a dealer on every other corner! But I still have to wait for ten days to get parts, even ordering a tube takes that long.
My buddy then asked me to sell the Platipus for him. The bike had been sitting, looked like crap, had no plate. Less than 6,000 km on the clock. I advertised it for 10K as an offroad bike on bahtsold but nobody wanted it! Not one call. So he had lots of trouble and lost more $$ than if he'd bought a Jap bike, but there was, and still is, none available. There's no real size 125/150cc full size enduro/supermoto available form the Japanese. Heck, even I would buy a CRF150M for 85K!
Personally I try to save money when I buy washing machines, fridges or laptops; I don't care how they look as long as they work. But a motorcycle has to be reliable and more important, riding it has to be fun. And I am willing to spend a bit more on a bike that lasts for ten years/100,000 km without breaking down. Any Taiwanese, Korean or Russian company could offer a 300cc supermoto for 100K - I would always buy a 250 Honda for 145K again!
But again and again I hear from people who are tempted by a low price. If a CRF is around 135K, a KLX is 155K, and a Chinese bike is 99K - people are attracted!
I told my buddy to stay away from Platinum, but since he couldn't find another bike that compared he bought a Platinum 175 for 65K or so.
Now if Honda or Kawasaki had an enduro or supermoto with 150cc for 85K he would've bought that and gotten his money's worth, but there wasn't anything. He needed a bike to go to work which included some back roads with gravel. He had a MTX125, Honda's trusty little 2 stroke, for years and loved it, but there was no Japanese replacement.
Kawasaki's overpriced and underpowered KLR140 enduro is just too small, even if you get bigger wheels, it's just a Mickey Mouse bike.
So he went with Platinum which looked good on the sales floor and 175cc sounded just right. They all look good on the sales floor! And they told him that this one was built in a new factory because Platinum already had a bad reputation. But he (and obviously lots of other owners) had to get it fixed so many times in the first six months that the dealer closed doors overnight and disappeared before he even got a license plate! No help from the main BKK dealer who had no access to the closed branch.
Now he was throwing money after it at repair shops which couldn't fix the bike any better than the Platinum dealer and had trouble with the Kojaks because he had no plates.
Some say that the Chinese are getting better, that some brands actually hold up, and as I posted earlier, another friend owning a Ryuka 125 is still riding his bike. But then again, would he really tell me how often it broke down?
I had a JRD made in Malaysia which looked great when new, 125cc, electric start, disc brakes, the works, cost 2/3 the price of a Honda Wave 125. But after a year the plastic was faded, the spokes were rusty, the chrome was flaking off, the speedo wasn't legible because the sun had blurred the plastic, the bike stank of gas and didn't start until I replaced all the hoses - they were so cheap that the fuel dissolved them! The carb was okay, just the hoses. One experienced rider hurt himself when he laid it down, blamed the front disc brake. The thing was "grabby" at slow speeds, I had trouble with it, too. Fortunately I got my money back after renting it out for one year; I bought all new plastic parts and new spokes and sold it quickly for a low price - good riddance!
I will only buy Japanese bikes; other brands like BMW, KTM or Triumph are of course decent products, but too expensive. I had ten Beemers in the US but I'm fine with Honda in Thailand, there's a dealer on every other corner! But I still have to wait for ten days to get parts, even ordering a tube takes that long.
My buddy then asked me to sell the Platipus for him. The bike had been sitting, looked like crap, had no plate. Less than 6,000 km on the clock. I advertised it for 10K as an offroad bike on bahtsold but nobody wanted it! Not one call. So he had lots of trouble and lost more $$ than if he'd bought a Jap bike, but there was, and still is, none available. There's no real size 125/150cc full size enduro/supermoto available form the Japanese. Heck, even I would buy a CRF150M for 85K!
Personally I try to save money when I buy washing machines, fridges or laptops; I don't care how they look as long as they work. But a motorcycle has to be reliable and more important, riding it has to be fun. And I am willing to spend a bit more on a bike that lasts for ten years/100,000 km without breaking down. Any Taiwanese, Korean or Russian company could offer a 300cc supermoto for 100K - I would always buy a 250 Honda for 145K again!
Captain_Slash
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- BMW 310GS Honda Wave 125 Honda MSX 125
I am more than happy with my 75,000 Baht Kawasaki KLX 150, it does everything that I require from it.
I also would never consider buying a Chinese bike, Japanese bikes made in Thailand are all I will buy
I also would never consider buying a Chinese bike, Japanese bikes made in Thailand are all I will buy
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
The KLX150 is a good bike for the money, I didn't want to make it look bad. It's if you want to putter around the countryside by yourself.
But I remember my buddy picking me up from the bus station with his old MTX125, we both could sit on the big seat in comfort and the bike felt size wise like a 250.
I can't imagine riding a KLX150 two up, like two farang, almost 6 feet, with a bag on my back!
I wonder why there was a full size 125 available in the 90s but there's none now.
Why isn't Honda doing more with its brilliant little water cooled, DOHC, 4 valve, 18hp 150cc engine?
But I remember my buddy picking me up from the bus station with his old MTX125, we both could sit on the big seat in comfort and the bike felt size wise like a 250.
I can't imagine riding a KLX150 two up, like two farang, almost 6 feet, with a bag on my back!
I wonder why there was a full size 125 available in the 90s but there's none now.
Why isn't Honda doing more with its brilliant little water cooled, DOHC, 4 valve, 18hp 150cc engine?
Forest
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I second Colin/Captain Slash u better off with a real bike of any kind.The 150 is perfect for solo exploration.extremely handy in harsh terrain conditions.
although To 'ADV' a CRF/KLX isn't that difficult or expensive .At least u have a proper vehicle,very well known and parts easily avail...
although To 'ADV' a CRF/KLX isn't that difficult or expensive .At least u have a proper vehicle,very well known and parts easily avail...
As of today still wishful thinking among all MIC = Made In China bike brands and if you say or write it often enough some people might believe it....
Spot on ~ would personally never consider a MIC = Made In China bike outside of Mainland China.
On another note, besides other bikes, own two Jialing JH600 (solo / sidecar) for some years and they get used and abused as daily runners in Shanghai (sidecar) and Sanya (solo) and no complaints at all, reliable no frills motorbikes....
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
^ So there are some Chinese bikes that are reliable?
That's what I meant; some years ago anything made in China was crap, parts falling off on the first ride home, major problems within six months.
People would get rid of them as soon as possible.
But some brands like Ryuka seem to hold up and you're saying that Jialing 600 don't cause any problems.
That's what I meant; some years ago anything made in China was crap, parts falling off on the first ride home, major problems within six months.
People would get rid of them as soon as possible.
But some brands like Ryuka seem to hold up and you're saying that Jialing 600 don't cause any problems.
Well ~ currently got no interest in other MIC bikes besides the Jialing JH600's and pretty happy with both versions (solo / sidecar) and enjoy riding them.
Knock on wood, burned out battery (Jialing JH600 solo) so far the only problem in three+ years ownership (heavy duty usage) and parts are easily to get almost everywhere around the Mainland as the Jialing JH600 sidecars are used by the Chinese military.
They are not the most beautiful motorbikes but reliable daily runners and prefer the sidecar over the solo as easy to shift people and gear around.
In the old days had a fleet of Chang-Jiang 750 (China 1938 BMW R71 copy similar to the Ural / Dnepr bikes in former Russia) going besides various HD and BMW bikes but lets not talk about them (CJ's) as they are good looking only and not very reliable for extended cruising.
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
If the only problem in three years is a burned out battery that's quite impressive. Most Chinese products disintegrate within the first year.
What are the JH600 copies of?
What are the JH600 copies of?
Have a look and internet search for the Cagiva Grand Canyon, they look pretty similar to the Jialing Jh600 in my opinion.
Yes, besides consumables like oil, filter, tyres / tubes, chain and sprockets no dramas or complaints (just the battery burned out Jialing solo bike) during my Shanghai > Sanya ride).
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
How many km total?
Shanghai based sidecar 45000km and Sanya beach cruiser (solo) around 30000km in the moment.
Borrowing the Sanya beach cruiser to good known mates visiting Hainan Island but the Shanghai sidecar gets only used by myself and our son as long it's not raining....
Side-note: mate riding around Sanya for a week mention this morning he will have the solo Jialing checked and going through oil / filter change / brake pads changes just to hand the bike back in tiptop condition, no dramas during the island riding he mention as well....
Thump
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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45,000 trouble-free km with a Chinese made bike - that's not what I expected...
From now on I won't say that they're all crap.
From now on I won't say that they're all crap.
45,000 trouble-free km with a Chinese made bike - that's not what I expected...From now on I won't say that they're all crap.
Remember, the Jialing JH600 bikes are not the most beautiful motorbikes....
Guess a lot has to do with "uber" regular and preventive maintenance and leaving the vital components (engine / exhaust) untouched and not to follow the common practice among MIC bike owner (Chinese + Foreigners alike) to try to change engine performance output with crappy el-chepo bolt-on parts like exhaust / carb... etc...
Using high quality fluids (oil / clutch / brake /coolant), decent tyres / tubes / brake pads + discs, etc..etc. and a proper premium drive chain, your all set to roll in my opinion.
Coming to think about MIC full-size road registered bikes during my China time, actually only owned Jialing's and Chang-Jiang's, had around 30 of them CJ sidecars at the same time during the very late 90's to detach the Shanghai "A" motorbike plates / rego of them but thats another story for another time or my book.....
***A bikers work is never done and just love to tinker with and maintain vehicles***
Searching a bit and found another interesting project in China, through Mash in France: Moto Mash Adventure 400cc - Motos 400cc - Motos
If Stallions Thailand would do this bike.......
If Stallions Thailand would do this bike.......
Which is the Shineray Kougar 400R: http://www.shineray-atv.com/dir_xilie.asp?id=403
....hope they got a proper set of wheels installed as a few Shineray X5/X2 bike owners had serious spoke trouble (rear wheel).
For whats it worth the X5 engine is a copy of the old Honda XR400 engine and in China two versions gong around (with and without engine oil cooler).
SORRY, no idea as absolute no interest in them Shineray bikes…
Motorbikes, on the road cost varies on China district / city / province as rego & license plate between run between 500 > 135000 RMB just for the plate and as of today a Shanghai A / B registration and license plate tops the list around approx. 1350000 RMB…..
The panniers look like Tourfella but might come from another MIC pannier / topcase supplier as a few are around now, got a set of Tourfella panniers on my Jailing 600 solo and they last as of today even in very humid South China climate on Hainan Island….
Thump
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- Aug 14, 2013
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- Nakhon Si, Thailand
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- '14 CBR500R; '13 CRF250M; '14 MXS125; '09 Nouvo 135
I wouldn't touch those Chinese products but I have to give them one thing - they build what I'd like to buy!
A 400cc enduro or supermoto is what my doctor ordered...
But I don't expect the Japanese to build one.
A 400cc enduro or supermoto is what my doctor ordered...
But I don't expect the Japanese to build one.
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