#Everide is going to review the rx-3

[detours]

Good point, 2LZ, and I hope everide takes that into account.

On the other hand, there's not much comparable to the RX3 right now. You could compare it to other 250s on road. But I don't know any 250s in the US designed for touring. And you could compare it with the 250 offroad bikes, but that's more inline with the TT250, not the RX3.

I would love to see a head to head comparison between the RX3 and the Honda CB500x ... with comparable equipment (bars, bags, etc). That's the closest matchup in the US market that I can think of.

[rjmorel]

Be interesting to see a shootout with the RX3, RX4 450 and the Himalian, KTM 390 DS, CB500x ? rj
http://www.cycleworld.com/sites/cycl...4JS61&fc=50,50

[BlackBike]

2LZ.. good point. I think the comparison (to which there is really none) is due to the physiological factors in play. Hang on for this one people...

The nasty word is chinese. We Americans want to see our selfs as the innovators in quality and production in every thing . Unfortunately this has long passed. I remember in the mid 2000's looking for a laptop computer that was not assembled in China. I was never able to find one and chose an acer. I began to realize that everything in our society was manufactured in China. Was this bad...of course as far as domestic manufacturing jobs go, a big yes. But should we demonize the Chinese for playing a game which we invented? And whole heartedly participated in ? No... (harbor freight #1).

This leads me back to the video blog dude who, if he is trying to make a comparison of a klr and a rx3 , he is only being Patriotic in a sense. Now I understand there are Japanese bikes and German bikes etc but those have long since been considered under the Patriotic wing of the United States and her allied sphere and will naturally get favor. But a CHINESE adv motorcycle...oh pleeessse.

Thank you and good nite...please step away from the pitchforks and torches.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

2LZ.. good point. I think the comparison (to which there is really none) is due to the physiological factors in play. Hang on for this one people...

The nasty word is chinese. We Americans want to see our selfs as the innovators in quality and production in every thing . Unfortunately this has long passed. I remember in the mid 2000's looking for a laptop computer that was not assembled in China. I was never able to find one and chose an acer. I began to realize that everything in our society was manufactured in China. Was this bad...of course as far as domestic manufacturing jobs go, a big yes. But should we demonize the Chinese for playing a game which we invented? And whole heartedly participated in ? No... (harbor freight #1).

This leads me back to the video blog dude who, if he is trying to make a comparison of a klr and a rx3 , he is only being Patriotic in a sense. Now I understand there are Japanese bikes and German bikes etc but those have long since been considered under the Patriotic wing of the United States and her allied sphere and will naturally get favor. But a CHINESE adv motorcycle...oh pleeessse.

Thank you and good nite...please step away from the pitchforks and torches.

LOL! You crack me up sometimes....

I get into that with people about the China Bikes and China in general, as well. On my old Victory site, I took HUGE FLACK for not buying American when I bought Q. I said, "If there was a "Milwaukee 200cc Dual Sport or a "Michigan 250 ADV bike", I'd be happy to go get one....BUT WE DON'T BUILD ANYTHING HERE ANYMORE!....and no one can blame China or anyone else, for taking advantage of the open and free market that we are not. (speaking of pitch forks).

In my mind, buying Japanese isn't buying American. It's buying Japanese and I don't owe them squat. The question is "which foreign country is going to give me the best bang for my buck?". Obviously, not Columbus Ohio or Bangor Maine.....or anyone else here. The smallest bike the U.S. builds is the Sporty and they suck on trails.

Bottom line, we don't have a ton of choices out there for small displacement get-arounds.

[Dualsport Chic]

I'm really looking forward to Everide's review. He's a tremendous rider and v-logger. Yes, while he may be skeptical, this is good - he will test the machine at its limits - which is important for all of us to know. His favorite ride is the DRZ which has gobs more power so its a given he'll be missing that low end grunt. But, as a very good rider, he'll also be able to hone in to the finer points of handling, suspension, durability and fun factor. I don't blame him for buying pre-owned either - he knows the bike is not in his 'strike zone' and he's not going to keep it so why waste the 'off the lot' funds when he found one still under 'break-in'.

I am looking to publish my own comparison review will be against a Yamaha XT250 (18 hp) which may be more of an even match. And I will also be putting the bike through its paces while tooling down dirt and gravel at high speeds. The RX3 is not meant for woods riding or gnarly off-road and it would be unfair to take it there. Hopefully Everide will level his review to an environment that suits the machine so we can see how it holds up under conditions the bike was designed for.

I'll be watching closely for his final review summary.

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by Dualsport Chic

I am looking to publish my own comparison review will be against a Yamaha XT250 (18 hp) which may be more of an even match. And I will also be putting the bike through its paces while tooling down dirt and gravel at high speeds. The RX3 is not meant for woods riding or gnarly off-road and it would be unfair to take it there. Hopefully Everide will level his review to an environment that suits the machine so we can see how it holds up under conditions the bike was designed for.

Just by how you're explaining your review and what you're comparing it to, I'm looking forward to your end result far more than everrides. My personal feeling is he's just out to thrash it beyond its means and its designated purpose, just to see if it can make it with a minimum of broken parts. Serious boulder bashing and comparing it to a big bore bike is absurd. Pure entertainment only.

Like many here, I've owned a ton of bikes over the decades and to me, the RX3 is what we used to call a "scrambler". It may look like an ADV bike but it's not made for the serious open road of the Great Plains like the big bore stuff out there.

The scrambler was a nimble bike basically designed for mostly pavement, a commuter, some trails and gravel roads to get you to your camp ground or fishin' hole. It had a longish seat to toss a set of saddle bags over to haul school books or some gear. This is what the RX3 really shines at, minus the need for a toss-over set of bags. It's a modern day scrambler and fills the void perfectly....and man is it fun on the twisties. ;-)

[rojo_grande]

New vid on utube. He does walk back on some of somewhat negative comments made on the first vid. Looks like some pretty rough trails for the RX-3



Rojo

[2LZ]

Thanks for posting the new vid rojo. We'll see what happens.....
I think he may end up like many of us with China bikes and especially the RX3. Your somewhat surprised for how much it gives you, as compared to how much you were expecting....and it grows on you.

[detours]

Some of those trails were pretty rough. I wonder if he has the 13T sprocket. I commented on his youtube channel and recommended it.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of his thrash sessions.

[detours]

That was some pretty serious trail for a stock RX3. I wish he had equipped it to match the conditions of the test ... Lower gearing, better tires, lighter weight ... But maybe he's just establishing a baseline for now and will test accessories later.

[AdventureDad]

I thought it was pretty juvenile of a "test". Its like watching the guys on the Top Gear show destroy the cars doing things far outside the design parameters. Everyone gets a big laugh out of it. The problem is there seem to be a lot of viewers interested in the bike and if it fails on purpose due to silly abuse, than that is misleading. Its like watching idiots rock crawl their Subaru's. Can the car do some off roading? Of course (I've had 4 of them and lived most of my life out West, so I know the desert and mountains) will it do as well as my Jeep 4 door Wrangler ? On fire roads, they do better, on rough stuff or deep mud/sand/snow, Hell no it won't. Analogy being the RX3 is more of a Subaru Outback. Use them for what they're intend for and you'll have a nice machine both before and after the trip. I don't want the dude to baby the thing, but there is a reason he's never ridden his precious KLR on that trail. Now all of a sudden he rides the RX3 on it? He has an actual dirt bike (WR250) and a highly modded DRZ...how can he even really compare? Right now, people are getting a kick out of how much abuse the bike can take. Long term, I fear it's setting the RX3 up to fail. Just one guy's .02

[Lee R]

Yeah I'll be surprised if he doesn't break something doing those trails. The RX3 is definitely not a dirt bike. The Subaru Outback comparison is spot on. It gets pretty far into nasty places but so will a Honda Ruckus if you don't mind abusing it.

[2LZ]

It does seem as though he's doing to the RX3 what I used to do to rental cars back in the day. Abuse it well beyond its means all for fun and laughs.

I can only speak for where I live and how I ride but to me, the RX3 is great for dirt roads and some light trails to find yer favorite fishin' hole...but really, really shines on paved tight twisties. I can easily drag my toe on the road (from the peg) without any hint of it becoming sketchy...and that's with the stock tires! In stock form this bike handles amazingly well. It's a shame but he's missing out on its true characteristics.

Too bad he wasn't around a generation ago when my grandfathers crew was giving my heavy flack about riding a Japanese bike.

[Juanro]

But another way of seeing it... if the RX3 survives that kind of abuse, then more so will keep up with its intended use. It's clear for him and for his viewers that that's not what the RX3 is for. It's just for fun. One commenter asked "how many missing bolts after that?". None, you naysayer. So I'll keep racking miles (well ok, kilometers) in mine. By the way: although there's a lot of better choice of bikes to tackle terrain like that... I've been on travels where you have to do five hundred kilometers of two lane asphalt, then two hundred kilometers of packed dirt... and then a few kilometers like that. All in one day. And then I don't know if there's a bike more apt than the RX3 for -that-

[detours]

Originally Posted by Juanro

... I've been on travels where you have to do five hundred kilometers of two lane asphalt, then two hundred kilometers of packed dirt... and then a few kilometers like that. All in one day. And then I don't know if there's a bike more apt than the RX3 for -that-

Yeah like my Webster Pass trip. About 130 miles of pavement and 15 or so miles of trail. But I also setup the RX3 for the off-road portion ... wheels, tires, gearing, shock, fork oil, handlebar riser. It did awesome because I wanted it to succeed, not fail.