Most Reliable China Dual Sport?
 

Hello,

I picked up an Apollo X18 125 a little over a year ago to see what the China bikes are like first hand. I'm impressed with the bang for your buck and the durability.

For the spring, I'd like something street legal. We have some dirt roads and power line trails that I'd like to explore. No jumps or racing, just a relaxing enjoy the view, trail ride. No need for highways or high speed.

For a dual sport, the most important thing for me is reliability. At the top of my list right now is the Lifan Xpect, but I'd like to see what everyone else thinks. I'd prefer an EFI bike.

Thanks in advance,
David

Well, my '07 ZongShen LZX200 GY-2 is third-hand, obviously not provided the best of care by its previous owners, but still works and, in one and a half-odd years that I have it and put 5000 km on it, has never left me stranded (other than the occasional drained battery). Then again it's a very simple carbureted bike with an overbuilt Yamaha TW200-like engine.

A vote for X-pect
 

I own and I am a big fan of the Lifan X-pect from EFI to the Lithium battery, I think they represent a solid value in this market.

Lifan Xpect best bang for your buck!
 

I’m a new rider, and recently spent countless hours figuring out which dual sport to order. Lifan Xpect after shipping fees equal in cost to the Hawk DLX But the difference for me is the companies from which each is made. So chose Lifan based on their history of quality. So I love my bike so far honestly no complaints also not racing or doing jumps just trail and commuting. The efi option really narrows it down on the Chinese dual sport options

I think the carbed Brozz 250 really does deserve careful consideration, but if it just "has to be " an EFI Bike, i'd go with the LiFan, their quality of fit and finish is among the best of the Chinese offerings no question about it .

I don't mind toying with a carb, but I already have a carb'd ATV and pit bike. For this round, I want something with less maintenance. Looking like it will be the Lifan. I'll be sure to post once I've made up my mind.

I think one of the biggest factors that should be considered after knowing what i have learned is that all of these CG250 are severely underpowered and need every bit of help that can be had in m opinion. And an EFI bike, until someone develops the tuning capability will limit you to pretty much living with stock power. For some, maybe that is fine, but i couldn't imagine giving the 5hp back and living with stock power. At times i felt like i was riding a scooter with knobby tires.
With respect to reliability, i think they will all be reliable contingent on maintenance being performed

Well, practically all of these chinabikes, regardless of actual cc or heritage (Honda CG or Yamaha TW), seem to hover around the 14-15 HP or 11 -11.5 kW mark , regardless of carb or EFI fueling. They are also all relatively low compression, 2-valve engine designs dating back to the 1980s or even 1970s.


This latter figure (11 kW) is not unimportant, as that is (incidentally?) the legal power limit for an A1* license in the EU and possibly elsewhere, even if the original engine design (e.g. an original Honda CG250) was actually -marginally- more powerful. So in practice you get 4-stroke 125 cc performance (many 4-stroke 125cc bikes, including underbones and scooters can produce the same amount of power), but with more low-end torque and better long-term reliability from increased ccs.

So even if they could squeeze out a bit more power out of these engines or sell "performance-tuned" versions of them , they probably choose not to for marketing reasons.

Some boring notes about the euro A1 license:

The EU A1 license actually places an absolute upper cc limit as well at 125 cc, besides a maximum power (11 kw) and a power/weight (0.1 kW per kg) limit. Most of these chinabikes would be OK as far as power and power/weight ratio are concerned, but not as far as actual ccs are concerned, so you'd need an A2 license for most of them, even if that means being at the very bottom of it, or really, at the limit between A1 and A2.

If the engine has 'ZS' serial number it was made my Zongshen.
the China manufactures will just license out and build there own brand from outsourced parts.

Heck even the American brand Janus motorcycles us the CG250. mostly due to cost and the EPA emissions criteria.

The reliability after that comes down to the rest of the bike qualities or lack thereof.

The triangle of performance/reliability/cost will factor each other try to excel in any 1 and you typically impact the other 2 detrimentally.

Some of these bikes come a little better quality out of the box than others. At the end of the day though, they all still need attention and regular servicing from the owner to keep them on the road. Spoke checks, valve checks, proper jetting for carbs, lubrication of pivot points like the swing arm and shock bolts, etc. will keep the bike on the road longer. Take care of it and it will take care of you.

The most reliable bike is one owned by an experienced mechanic.


They're all about the same build quality. You have to fix the issues and repair what breaks.



Make it better yourself. Basically all china bikes are project bikes.