[Az4x4Taco]

Originally Posted by winwun

I tried to do business through AL, but quickly got frustrated for a number of reasons and wound up buying my bike from a west coast importer and so far, am happy with the deal..

Just wondering if you've had to ask your west coast Lifan importer for parts or warranty service so far, and if so how did that work out?

After reading a lot of posts concerning AL and their practices, I have reached the opinion that they tried through PR, instead of customer service, to establish their position as the primary Lifan source..

Actually American Lifan is/was a wholly owned subsidiary of China Lifan, and as the discussion thread at http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=380 so clearly demonstrates, a major problem Chinese corporations have is not understanding what it takes to promote and market their products here in the States as well as in other western countries. Mainly Chinese bike manufacturers are about pushing product by the container load, and servicing what they sell doesn't register with them in the same way it does for example with Japanese or European motorcycle companies.

..as has been said, BS talks and action walks, and it didn't take long for people to realize that AL's promises were more style than substance.

And this is not just a problem with American Lifan, but with essentially all the present crop of Chinese motorcycle exporters. Once again, the discussion thread at http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=380 illustrates these problems in a clear and concise manner, and is well worth the read time.

..I think they closed down their forum 'cause they were embarrassed to be taking so much flak on their own site . . .

100% in agreement. American Lifan simply has no real capacity for dealing with issues that resonate with US consumers, and their forum was quickly becoming a major embarrassment for that very reason.