New to everything, looking at a few bikes. . .

[Daeouse]

Good info, steve, I will do more research on them!

culcune, I don't care how nice his stickers are, if he costs more to buy than direct from the factory, I'll avoid him. If he's good, and just marking up, I won't feel as bad knocking the price down a bit.

[steve_newbie]

Originally Posted by Daeouse

Good info, steve, I will do more research on them!

culcune, I don't care how nice his stickers are, if he costs more to buy than direct from the factory, I'll avoid him. If he's good, and just marking up, I won't feel as bad knocking the price down a bit.

I could be wrong here, so forgive me if I am... but he is selling a bike for $1899 plus shipping when I could purchase it for $1600 which includes shipping to my front door.

$299 for a couple stickers he puts on the bike is craziness to me

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by steve_newbie

I could be wrong here, so forgive me if I am... but he is selling a bike for $1899 plus shipping when I could purchase it for $1600 which includes shipping to my front door.

$299 for a couple stickers he puts on the bike is craziness to me

Sadly, he wants $299 plus shipping for his stickers.

[Daeouse]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

Sadly, he wants $299 plus shipping for his stickers.

Those stickers better be gold-plated! The hell is wrong with that guy?

[culcune]

Originally Posted by steve_newbie

I could be wrong here, so forgive me if I am... but he is selling a bike for $1899 plus shipping when I could purchase it for $1600 which includes shipping to my front door.

$299 for a couple stickers he puts on the bike is craziness to me

I believe he probably doesn't ship--he seems to be a physical dealer rather than a mail-order outfit, although he will travel...if you pay for the bike first?!

I just think it would be worth it if someone is in his craigslist zone to drop by and see the bike in person; unless he charges for the 'privilege' LOL. No one is forced to pay anything (usually) before setting foot in most any dealership, nor are forced to actually purchase anything, so that is why I thought it would be worth a stop.

There is a guy here in Yuma who purchased a couple TMECs and a couple scooters from Excalibur and sells them out of his house. However, he doesn't have a website, but rather uses craigslist. He was asking $2200 for the 200! However, he hi-balls the price, and expects haggling. He has sold a few bikes mostly to snowbirds. I called him and we compared notes.

The good thing about Excalibur, at least for the past few years, is they have connections and contact with the manufacturers out of China, and stock parts for their bikes. I just ordered a new ignition module and spoke with Alan, the sales manager, and it sounds like they are going to order another container of the TMEC 200. He was asking advice as far as anything I could think of, including the color of the wheels, and I told him to keep the silver, neutral color (I have a red front wheel, and gold rear wheel mismatch when I needed a new wheel from my rear sprocket debacle [my fault]). I told him to get 48 tooth rear sprockets for the bikes, stock, but I have a feeling that we will be stuck with 56 tooth rears based on their chain size.

[Daeouse]

Originally Posted by culcune

I believe he probably doesn't ship--he seems to be a physical dealer rather than a mail-order outfit, although he will travel...if you pay for the bike first?!

I just think it would be worth it if someone is in his craigslist zone to drop by and see the bike in person; unless he charges for the 'privilege' LOL. No one is forced to pay anything (usually) before setting foot in most any dealership, nor are forced to actually purchase anything, so that is why I thought it would be worth a stop.

There is a guy here in Yuma who purchased a couple TMECs and a couple scooters from Excalibur and sells them out of his house. However, he doesn't have a website, but rather uses craigslist. He was asking $2200 for the 200! However, he hi-balls the price, and expects haggling. He has sold a few bikes mostly to snowbirds. I called him and we compared notes.

The good thing about Excalibur, at least for the past few years, is they have connections and contact with the manufacturers out of China, and stock parts for their bikes. I just ordered a new ignition module and spoke with Alan, the sales manager, and it sounds like they are going to order another container of the TMEC 200. He was asking advice as far as anything I could think of, including the color of the wheels, and I told him to keep the silver, neutral color (I have a red front wheel, and gold rear wheel mismatch when I needed a new wheel from my rear sprocket debacle [my fault]). I told him to get 48 tooth rear sprockets for the bikes, stock, but I have a feeling that we will be stuck with 56 tooth rears based on their chain size.

I'm glad to hear so much good info coming from Excalibur, I will definitely work at getting a TMEC from them if possible! I looked at the Ocala dealer recently and I wasn't impressed by what I saw. It looked like it was a backwoods dirt lot instead of a professional dealership. I'm very discriminating on where I spend my dollar, and if the dealership doesn't look presentable and professional, I will not go there. I've had too many bad experiences to waste my time otherwise.

How's the build quality of the TMEC? I know you spoke of it's general "goodness", but how sturdy is it? How does it hold up to the road? Are the frame members sturdy? Any other info?

[steve_newbie]

Not to complicate things guys...

By pure chance, I just now found the Denali version at a dealer in Georgia

http://www.lakelanierpowersports.com...82&used=1&vin=

Thoughts???

[Daeouse]

Originally Posted by steve_newbie

Not to complicate things guys...

By pure chance, I just now found the Denali version at a dealer in Georgia

http://www.lakelanierpowersports.com...82&used=1&vin=

Thoughts???

Oooh. . . Very nice!
This certainly has my attention. . .

[culcune]

Originally Posted by steve_newbie

Not to complicate things guys...

By pure chance, I just now found the Denali version at a dealer in Georgia

http://www.lakelanierpowersports.com...82&used=1&vin=

Thoughts???

I would check it out in person, if I were you. That price is much better, than the 'backwoods' dealer!

I think that one has to keep an open mind with most any Chinese bike. These things tend to be 'delicate' vs. their much higher priced mainstream counterparts. They seem to have at least one of the specs wrong if these are the same bikes that Excalibur distributes--the tank is 3.1 gallons, not 1.3 gallons. A plus--it is metal.

The plastics are much better attached than an old Chinabike I used to have in 2006, a Jetmoto GY-200. They are fairly brittle, however (mine are still in good shape).

I will try to find out more about these Denalis. Excalibur is supposed to be the official US distributor for TMEC, but they sell them to a distributor out of Alabama (I had mistakenly thought they were out of Georgia) called mefast. Mefast distributes TMECs scooters (Excalibur, ironically, does not carry TMEC scooters anymore due to quality issues) as well as a few others. Alan, the head of sales, believes these Denalis are from mefast since he has not heard of Denali (i.e. no one has bought several from him at Excalibur to rebrand them). I doubt anyone imports these around Excalibur, but stranger things have happened (I am guessing that none of you recall the big 'American Lifan' vs. "gray" Lifan controversy of 2007 or thereabouts on Chinariders?). Make sure these are EPA/DOT legal for street registration although Florida and/or Georgia might be as lax as Arizona is where one could register a motorized bar stool provided it has a minimum of street legal equipment. Like I said, these TMECs are EPA/DOT legal for 49 states, and could be registered in 50 (California) if the owner owned it prior, and physically moved to California from another state where it was registered.

Again, if they are in physical proximity to either of you, check them out to see up close and in person if you think they are worth buying. I would buy another (and plan to do so) but know what I am getting into. Plus, I only ride it to and from work (32 miles roundtrip), so it is essentially a cheap form of year-round transportation for me on 50 mph or less roads and streets. I do have a 'fantasy' trip down the Baja peninsula to Cabo San Lucas thought of one of these months/years, but you will all hear and read about that one...

[Daeouse]

Originally Posted by culcune

I would check it out in person, if I were you. That price is much better, than the 'backwoods' dealer!

I think that one has to keep an open mind with most any Chinese bike. These things tend to be 'delicate' vs. their much higher priced mainstream counterparts. They seem to have at least one of the specs wrong if these are the same bikes that Excalibur distributes--the tank is 3.1 gallons, not 1.3 gallons. A plus--it is metal.

The plastics are much better attached than an old Chinabike I used to have in 2006, a Jetmoto GY-200. They are fairly brittle, however (mine are still in good shape).

Thanks for the info! More to keep in mind. . .

Originally Posted by culcune

(I am guessing that none of you recall the big 'American Lifan' vs. "gray" Lifan controversy of 2007 or thereabouts on Chinariders?).

What happened? I'd love to have the extra reading.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by steve_newbie

Not to complicate things guys...

By pure chance, I just now found the Denali version at a dealer in Georgia

http://www.lakelanierpowersports.com...82&used=1&vin=

Thoughts???

I think they made a mistake listing the tires sizes. It appears this version of the motorcycle has a 21-inch front tire, and an 18-inch rear tire. These tire sizes are far better for riding off road than either two 17-inch, or two 18-inch tires.

After tax, and any other 'fees' the dealer might add, you are talking about a final price of at least $1,700 for that bike. Then you must add either the cost of shipping, or the cost of making the round trip to pick up the bike.

Whenever the price approaches $2,000, I think one is wise to start looking for good deals on slightly used, Japanese motorcycles. For example, I bought my 2005 Honda XR650L for $2,000; it had 7,800 miles on the odometer. I also bought my 2004 Honda CRF250X for $2,100, with about 150 hours on the clock.

Nevertheless, I understand the appeal of buying a new motorcycle. You might enjoy reading my review of the TMEC 200, starting at post #60 in the following thread.

http://chinariders.net/showthread.ph...pitster&page=4

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Daeouse

...What happened? I'd love to have the extra reading.

Do a search for 'grey lifan,' and you will find a lot of threads. However, here's the short version of the story.

American Lifan refused to honor any warranties, or even sell parts to anyone who had bought a Lifan motorcycle from an unauthorized Lifan vendor. Most owners of 'Lifan' motorcycles fell into this category. Therefore, American Lifan made it much more difficult for these owners to maintain their motorcycles. However, American Lifan subsequently went out of business, so they aren't around any more to support any owners of Lifan motorcycles.

[Daeouse]

That's terrible. Its similar (but a bit different) to the debacle with a French company "Softair" and other Airsoft recreational guns in the US. They bought up all the rights to produce likenesses of guns from the manufacturers, and tried to sue the American distributors of other products than theirs in order to cut out the competition. Long and short, they lost. Thank goodness. It was a huge issue with the Airsoft community.

Thanks for the info. Looking at going to the salvage yard this weekend, so more info when I get it.

[Daeouse]

Found something!
http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/mcy/4269044021.html
your thoughts?
When my phone is back on I may call him. . .

[culcune]

Great find for the price. I would buy it and work on it, using chinariders for reference...if it looked as good as it did in the photo. These were supposed to be one of the better Chinese cruisers. Someone just recently had a thread in the ‘streets' section of buying Chinese cruisers for 'cheap' and getting them running. If it is close, have a look, haggle on the price, and you have beginnings of a theoretical project. I'd say offer $200 and see what he says. Make sure there is a title, however, unless you wanted a parts bike, which I doubt you do.