Buy Apollo 250cc on the internet, or from a local dealer that sells only china bikes.

[nguyenfh]

Hello forum, i was wondering if i should by my Apollo 250 dirt bike online and have it shipped to me and set it up myself, or buy it from a local dealer already assembled for the same price. Im asking because i do not have the much mechanical experience but I'm willing to learn, however I'm worried about assembling the clutch cable and throttle cable. But I'm also worried that if i buy one from the dealer they might have messed up something in the bike. Ive read all the forums on maintenance and upgrades to keep the bike running smoothly. Any advice??

[NzBrakelathes]

You’ll need to learn repairs n maintenance as they do need a fair amount etc

[wedooit]

Hmmmm, we have a dealer in Salt Lake, couple of hours from us, that sells the Storm, etc. We went and looked at them, I think it was a couple of years ago. The Storm as selling for 1999.00 plus tax. If I remember right, could have bought one off the net and saved 600 -700.00. What I know today, those bikes we looked at, at that dealer were just thrown together.I have been out of the motorcycle maintenance, on my own bikes, for maybe 30 some years. Last couple of years have been getting back into a huge interest into them. In fact, I found a carburetion manual written years ago, by an old sled friend by the name of Olav Aaen. The principles written years ago in the sled industry, applies to these bikes as well. Amazing. These bikes are actually fairly simple, and there is a couple of months reading on this site. For example, I have been working on a ttr225 Yamaha, and a CRF450r Honda, as I have the desire to learn again, and it becomes fun. Another example, I just purchased a BMS250, for my wife, and we want to do our own work, assemble it ourselves, and service it ourselves. It is really a simple machine, as compared to the SkiDoo sleds we ride, which are really high tech, but we still do the common maintenance. A month ago, had to install a new starter in a four wheeler. found the service manual online, and videos of where and how. The net is amazing. I encourage you to get your hands dirty, and enjoy, have fun learning, and have pride in your purchase. Read the posts on this forum, and if you get stuck ask questions. There are many on this site, that are new riders, and new purchasers. Save a few dollars and have some fun! Welcome aboard!!!!

[Bruces]

I say buy it locally for the same money so you can inspect it for damage ,there are dozens of threads on this site detailing shipping damage or countless other issues ,why would you poke the bear if you don’t have to ? It would be advisable to go over the bike when you get it home either way .

[Ski_rush]

Buy it online and save the money. Here’s why...there is hardly anything to do in terms of assembly with the Apollo. You mentioned the clutch cable etc, all of that is already preassembled. All of the controls (e.g., clutch, brake, choke, starter, etc) are already installed on the handlebar. All you need to do there is install 4 bolts to clamp the handlebar down.

The Apollo is different than the Hawk bikes in that regard. It comes about 95% done. The only thing you need to do is put the bolt in for the rear shock, mount the front wheel, bolt the handlebar in place, and then install the plastics.

When I got my Hawk/Bashan, I remember that it came with a big bag of bolts and loose hardware and you had to figure out where it all went. Not the case with the Apollo. In fact, when I got the bike, I assumed the bag of bolts was missing. The only bag of bolt for the bike was the 4 bolts that mount the handlebar. When I actually started building the bike, I found out how little there was to do. I mean, I would still recommend taking your time and putting thread locker on all the bolts you should, but you would be recommended to do that even if you bought an assembled bike from that dealer.

If you were buying a Hawk, I might recommend to you to buy it from the dealer. However, the Apollo is a very different story and requires significantly less assembly. You should buy it online.

The shipping of this bike is actually better than the Hawk too. I found that it was packaged better than my previous bike. The plastics and seat were heavily wrapped in bubble wrap. That wasn’t the case with my previous bike. I have read about other bikes arriving damaged, but I have not read about Apollo bikes arriving that way. I don’t recall any stories of the like. There is always risk with these shipping companies. I remember recently a guy on a Facebook page posted a pic showing that the shipper had not only laid the crate on its side, but had stacked things on top of it...genius. If that had been my bike, I would have refused delivery. There is some gamble with the shipping companies. That’s definitely true. Most times they are fine, but there are bad stories out there.

If you don’t have it shipped to you, then you won’t experience the feeling of waiting for your new motorcycle to arrive at you door, in a crate. It’s a cool feeling. You won’t get that from buying at a store.

You didn’t mention how much the dealer is charging for the bike at their store. That can make a big difference. I’ve seen Apollo 250’s sell for anywhere from 1600-1999 assembled. So, it depends on how much your store is charging for it. If they are selling it for $1600 assembled, then it’ll be easier and less hassle to just buy it local. However, I’m guessing they want closer to the $1999 mark. If so, buy online.

When I got the Hawk/Bashan, I was pretty intimidated. I had never worked on a bike before, let alone installed a front wheel! However, you will need to get over that and very quickly with these bikes. You’re the only one who is going to really work on it. Better off assembling it yourself and force yourself to learn more about the bike as you’re assembling it, rather than when/if something needs repair. Plus, like I said, there’s not much that needs to be done as for as assembling it goes.

[wedooit]

Nice write up ski rush! I like the part of waiting for the crate to arrive!

[nguyenfh]

thanks for the replies guys, the local dealer sells the apollo 250cc for 1689 assembled, with tax maybe 1750. however, i think i want the experience of setting up the bike. if i ordered it online, it would be 1500 will they actually wheel the bike into my garage? i don't have any ate ramps or anything. i also want to instill the mikuni carb, better air filter and ngk spark plug right away. Is there any websites that you guys recommond. i was looking at killer motorsports.com are they reliable? i want a website where they include a free spoke wrench or something like that. thank you guys

[wedooit]

You can buy spoke wrenches any where, don't let that be a deal breaker. I use rocky mountain atv parts as they are close to me. There are many on the net, including amazon. I don't know much about killermotosports.

[Ski_rush]

thanks for the replies guys, the local dealer sells the apollo 250cc for 1689 assembled, with tax maybe 1750. however, i think i want the experience of setting up the bike. if i ordered it online, it would be 1500 will they actually wheel the bike into my garage? i don't have any ate ramps or anything. i also want to instill the mikuni carb, better air filter and ngk spark plug right away. Is there any websites that you guys recommond. i was looking at killer motorsports.com are they reliable? i want a website where they include a free spoke wrench or something like that. thank you guys

So, to me...it's not worth $250 to have a guy slap on my front wheel and handlebar. Not to mention, I wouldn't trust the guy as far as I could throw him. I'd want to make sure that I was the one who did the work so I knew it was properly installed with loctite and a torque wrench. You don't know when someone else does it.

As far as the delivery driver wheeling it into my garage; that's what happened when mine got delivered, and I was very thankful since my driveway has a steep incline. He had a motorized "truck" or cart to move the freight pallets around. I'm sure it's pretty common on a freight truck. I asked if he wouldn't mind taking it into my garage and he said that was fine. Technically, I don't think the driver "had" to do that. I think he's only supposed to drop it off curbside.

As a backup plan (if you're alone and don't have help), I'd go to Harbor Freight or Home Depot and get a furniture dolly like this. (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-000-lb-Capacity-Furniture-Dolly-33700/100057209) They are pretty inexpensive at $20 and can handle 1000lbs. The bike is not that heavy. It's only like 250lbs. You should be able to push that around pretty easy on a wheeled dolly. The box/crate will probably come strapped to the pallet with metal straps, so you could even drag the pallet into your garage with a hand truck/cart without worrying about tipping it over.

As far as where to order from, there are several vendors. Avoid Manny's several business names if you can...which shortens the list some. If I did buy from him, I'd buy it through Walmart. You can return it to them. There's still a fee for a return, but you wouldn't have to worry about crating it back up if there is a problem.

If/when you do get the bike, post pics and ask questions. There are plenty of guys on here who would love to help if there is an issue. Case in point...I couldn't figure out why mine wouldn't start. Jerry and Douglass spent hours on the phone with me trying to diagnose the problem. It was awesome. It turned out to be something really dumb (kickstand kill switch was bent). You don't have one on that bike, so no worries about that.

About the spoke wrench...forget about it. I guarantee the one they send you will not fit the bike. They will probably send you a rather cheap and generic one. I had a decent spoke wrench left over from when I bought my Hawk/Bashan. It didn't fit. One side was too small, and the other was too big. I needed something in between like Goldilocks. I bought this wrench from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004MSPZME/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It's a little pricey at $28 (compared to others you find), but I wanted the exact fit. I believe it ended up being either the 5.4 or 5.6 size. I can check for you later. And, this is for the Apollo deluxe that I'm talking about. Someone else with the dirtbike version can confirm if theirs is the same size. I'm pretty sure mine is a 5.4.


Best,
Ski

[Douglass]

Hello forum, i was wondering if i should by my Apollo 250 dirt bike online and have it shipped to me and set it up myself, or buy it from a local dealer already assembled for the same price. Im asking because i do not have the much mechanical experience but I'm willing to learn, however I'm worried about assembling the clutch cable and throttle cable. But I'm also worried that if i buy one from the dealer they might have messed up something in the bike. Ive read all the forums on maintenance and upgrades to keep the bike running smoothly. Any advice??

Plan on checking bolts, fluids, assembly regardless of where you buy it from (dealer/internet). If you end up buying from a dealer, assume some things were missed. Watch some youtube videos about bike maintenance too.