January Issue of China Motorcycle News

[jbfla]

There is a story/editorial (p9) by Joe Gresh (CSC Joe Berk's good buddy) on Moto Racism, featuring many photos of RX3s.

http://www.chinese-motorcycle.com/issue7/index.html

Later in the magazine is a story about the UK television series Guy in China, featuring one of my favorites, Guy Martin......wish I could understand what he says.....

jb

[2LZ]

Awesome read and so true.

[madsocial]

JB, thanks for sharing.

Racism in the moto world is ridiculous. I agree, everyone just looks like China's made bikes as pieces of crap. You know what, they have been using these bikes for over a decade in their country just fine. The stereotypes are unreal and sad. The lack of education, or the lack of interest for education is a huge problem. Really with anything in the world that we deal with, but I don't want to focus on anything else except bikes for the sake of this forum.

I think Joe did a wonderful write up. I wish some of the US writers would talk about a subject like that. However, like most news even the stories on the US mags that we love the most are biased. Free press seems to be a thing of the past. Thank God for Blogs! I will share this mag on Twitter and other forums. That's what we need to do to spread awareness.

On another note, I was working for the now largest moto online retailer. I would get frustrated listening to co-workers always recommending the most expensive stuff. As if everyone has a budget of $1000 USD to spend all the time. It irritated me that people would take smack on Shinko or call Joe Rocket or FirstGear crap brands. That is no different than saying the RX sucks and you should buy a BMW. Moto Gear racism!

Anyways...thanks again for sharing! Everyone should read it. We as Zongshen owners find ourselves defending the brand and preaching education to death ears sometimes.

[AdventureDad]

Most of the time, stereotypes have a basis in truth, that has been exaggerated. China has built cheap stuff. They continue to build cheap stuff. There, I said it. They can and DO, however, also build mediocre stuff, quality stuff, and top quality stuff. So do a lot of other countries. Does anyone remember the "quality" of US built cars of the early 80's as a single example? Every microwave I've owned that has failed early over the past few years has been a "made in USA" brand.

They build because we buy it. We wanted cheaper, so they built cheaper products. Not because that's all they could do, but it was because that's what the consumers called for. I believe that Zongshen/Cyclone (also as a single example) builds quality products. I bought one, I ride it, it's a really good bike. China takes a hit while India made bikes aren't as polarizing. I don't see riders on forums freaking out that the new BMW 310 or the KTM's are being made in India the way they do with a Chinese made bike. It almost seems that Chinese manufacturers have painted themselves into a corner. They are known for making cheap stuff that consumers wanted, now that they are making better quality items in several areas, the stereotype is hard to escape from.

The best thing that can happen is the example that CSC has set. They believe wholeheartedly in the product, stand behind it. Arrange tours, group rides, give good customer service (great service, actually). As a small group of owners, we have mostly been pleased to very pleased in our purchase. We just keep doing what we've been doing, and as long as Zongshen is on board and continuously builds quality products, the paradigm will shift, just like it did with Japanese bikes in the 60's and cars in the 70's, and how Kia and Hyundai did in the 90's. Now, no one thinks twice about buying them.

[2LZ]

As Joe stated in the article, this is nothing new. Back when I was a kid and got my first 1964 Yamaha 80, and then a early 60's Honda 90 from my uncle, there was some older generation that insisted on making comments. Mind you, I was 9 at the time so I'm sure it wasn't pointed directly at me. More a blanket statement. I didn't care, I was a kid and had wheels. After all, some of these guys just got done fighting the war (or had dad's who did) and Pearl Harbor was still fresh in their minds. Now? Everyone drives a Toyota without batting an eye.

This same "wave" will eventually happen with the CB's and it will go away. Back then it was "Japanese Junk", now it's "Cheap Chinese". It's all the same and will fade.

Fact is, the Chinese have had the engines down for well over a decade and they have computers like everyone else. They can build whatever they want, as good or bad as they want.

It's all about economics. Yes, Kawasaki has the Versys 300 now....@ 5399 (non-abs)....but is also has no bags or crash bars. Will it probably be an awesome bike? Of course.....but again, it's about the economics. I bet you can pour an additional grand into dressing a Versys. You add to that many of us (lifelong) riders don't want or need the "latest greatest" in what's essentially a toy for most of us, and it's no wonder that we found the China Bike, especially those of us who love to tinker. To me, the CB was the perfect solution for the working class dude (or dude-ette). I get my bike....and I don't have to spend a ton....and it does exactly what I want. Get's me in the wind.

This will eventually all go away, just like it did in the 70's.

[AdventureDad]

Amen 2LZ....also, I was watching a MotoGeo clip on YouTube (I like that guy Jamie Robinson) and on one of his trips, he went through Volcano. What a cool town. I'm from SoCal, and explored all the deserts in my youth and college years, but had never heard of it.

Now, stuck in Mississippi, we have no Volcano, but I did ride to the town of Hot Coffee, Mississippi yesterday.

That's a thread idea.... funky names of cool places we all ride to...

[madsocial]

Originally Posted by AdventureDad

Amen 2LZ....

Now, stuck in Mississippi, we have no Volcano, but I did ride to the town of Hot Coffee, Mississippi yesterday.

That's a thread idea.... funky names of cool places we all ride to...

Now that would be a cool yearly challenge. Try to ride to at least 5 cities with funky names a year in our state.

[AdventureDad]

Being in the south, there are no shortage of weird places, and weird place names. I don't have a pic from Hot Coffee...but I pass through Kola to get to Hot Coffee. 2LZ already is one up...he lives in Volcano.

[fjmartin]

Living in Washington State a lot of our towns have native American names so we can always tell when someone isn't local because of how they pronounce names like puyallup or sequim. puyallup is pronounced as phew-all-up and sequim is pronounced like sqim. We also have the towns of George and Martha here.

[AdventureDad]

I lived half my life in Northern New Mexico...I TOTALLY understand how people mispronounce Native American names and places, especially near the Navajo reservation or the northern pueblo villages. It can be pretty funny. Here too in MS we have plenty of local names that people just don't get.

[BlackBike]

Originally Posted by AdventureDad

I lived half my life in Northern New Mexico...I TOTALLY understand how people mispronounce Native American names and places, especially near the Navajo reservation or the northern pueblo villages. It can be pretty funny. Here too in MS we have plenty of local names that people just don't get.

Hence, Truth or Consequences New Mexico and Pie Town New Mexico . Great names

[rjmorel]

Originally Posted by madsocial

Now that would be a cool yearly challenge. Try to ride to at least 5 cities with funky names a year in our state.

So how many should I expect this year coming to Walla Walla ? rj

[madsocial]

Now being in the Southern Tier of NY there are a lot of Reservations here as well. Many Indian city names. I am slowly learning how to pronounce them all.

So maybe we need to bump up the challenge to 50 cities or 100?

[rtking]

Originally Posted by madsocial

Now being in the Southern Tier of NY there are a lot of Reservations here as well. Many Indian city names. I am slowly learning how to pronounce them all.

You guys are lucky to have Native American named cities where there's a lineage to the beginning history of the city or township! In Southern California, we have names like "Riverside" (where there is no river), or "Fountain Valley" (where there is neither a fountain, nor a valley.)

[culcune]

Originally Posted by AdventureDad

I lived half my life in Northern New Mexico...I TOTALLY understand how people mispronounce Native American names and places, especially near the Navajo reservation or the northern pueblo villages. It can be pretty funny. Here too in MS we have plenty of local names that people just don't get.

I lived in Pinon, AZ for two years where I worked as a teacher at the local school district. I learned how to pronounce names of places, but never learned how to speak the language. Then again, I lived in L.A. and was surrounded by Spanish-speakers and live in Yuma, AZ, again, surrounded by Spanish-speakers and still don't understand much of any of what they are saying (probably about me ).

On topic--Chinese bikes, overall, are so-so, with some not much better than they were 10 years ago. But, they are cheap, AND people have sorted them out, something we didn't have 10 years ago when I first joined a new site called Chinariders.net. This site was an extension from founder 'Frostbite' of another guy's Yahoo! group (remember those??) which was primarily for Lifan GY-5 enduros (remember those?? ). More indirectly, I had a group called 'Jetmotogroup' which was based around my 200cc enduro from a now-defunct importer/brand called Jetmoto, but I encouraged any brand of Chinese enduros of the time (2005 ish if I recall). Both the Lifan GY-5 guy (don't remember his real name or nickname here--he was/is from Michigan if anyone else recalls) and myself encouraged any and all members to join this fledgling site because it was easier to 'speak' to each other.

Again, some of the enduros are about the same quality, but they are no longer throw-away bikes once we all realized they are not only repairable, but reliable if one knows how to take care of them (i.e. the multiple oil changes from new at break-in).

Qingqi selling rebadged 200cc enduros through Qlink was arguably the first high-quality Chinese bike, and the bonus was the engine was near-identical to the Suzuki DR200. Yes, the Zongshen GY-2 that Spud made famous was a good bike, but it seemed to have fatal flaws for many members, which I am guessing would not be an issue today thanks to this site. There have been a few high-quality bikes since then, a few enduros from Pitster Pro for example, and more recently the SSR 250/450 MX bikes, as well as SSR's Quingqi-based 250cc enduro, but the ultimate bike as far as quality goes is obviously the RX3. Yes, imbeciles like NeverRide bashed his bike for not being an MX bike (??), but he never stated it had anything to do with quality, only that it couldn't do certain things (which at the same price-point, my guess is he couldn't do with the SAME PRICE DR200 which he never has tested).

I have been reading good things about even the cheap enduros on international sites, like Horizonsunlimited; a few people on different thread remarked how, with them being on large, 'exotic' bikes while touring places like Morocco, they were having trouble getting through rough places, while getting passed by 'locals on 150cc bikes' and wishing they had small bikes, too. One guy from Horizons and ADVrider with a long thread about riding around Africa to find surf spots, had a friend meet him in S. Africa. His friend bought a 229cc Bashan 'Explode' (yes, that was the name ) enduro, and the two rode from S. Africa, and ended up 6000 kms later in Tanzania in a few weeks (his friend was on vacation) and the only issue his friend had was the chain stretched beyond use, and they had no idea where they could source one (which they probably could have, but were on remote roads, away from major cities along their 6000 km route. Once in the major city, his friend found a chain, sold the bike to a local dealer, and flew back to England.

There is one ex-pat American guy in Peru who teaches motorcycle mechanics at the local college who offers to sell tourists cheap Chinese enduros as an alternative to shipping one's own bike in and out of Central and South America. He states he assembles them with improvements which probably means a few key nuts and bolts as well as locktite. And the people who have taken advantage of this love the bikes. In fact, many minimalist riders are flying down to one of the countries, and buying 150cc or so Chinese bikes (not just enduros, but street bikes, which in my opinion limit one to paved roads), and riding all over. Of course, since those bikes are mainstream, it is easy and affordable to have them repaired anywhere and everywhere.

Anyway, enough memory lane and proof of the relative quality to price of these bikes...just ride and enjoy what you ride!