Would Lifan 250 have enough power??

[carlN]

I am wanting to get a lifan KPX 250 for me to ride and at times have wife on back on some trails or going to NP's etc..

I weigh around 200 and she is 170... I will be on mostly flat to some incline stuff around yuma, quartzite, Hurricane type areas.. We full time in RV and this will be our low impact form of transportation..

I understand a lot of folks are changing sprockets to get more speed but wondering if the stock stuff will work ok with decent speed and good all round power especially with another person on back..

[Mikd]

I use a Templar X for the same situation and it has the same motor. It takes my wife and I from the campground to the grocery store or sightseeing without any issue. It is not powerful, it is not fast but it is enough. It will cruise happily at 55 to 60, gets great mileage and best of all I don't worry about it when it's left sitting at a campsite like I would one of my more expensive bikes. I use a hitch carrier on the back of our rv and loading and unloading is relatively simple.

[JerryHawk250]

The stock gearing will work for you. It will have enough power for two up.

[Aussie_in_MO]

My 15yo son and I are around the same combined weight as you and your wife. We run around town on my Templar X just fine. As has been mentioned you should be fine with the true 250 and standard gearing especially with the EFI.

[Bill Hilly]

You can adjust more preload into the rear, but the front will need done with spacers, which I personally would like to do on mine, but from what I have seen if the guy taking the Hawk DLX shocks apart, it's kinda a pain in the neck, PLUS, I don't know for sure if everything would be the same on the KPX. There are videos on my of people in poor regions of the world using little motorcycles, and a lot are Chinese, as their source of income. I have seen them used on railroad tracks, powering platforms with benches for seats, and hauling many people at a time. I've also seen them with platforms built into the bikes up high on the bike, and wide. They were taking several passengers to the bigger towns, and then picking up loads of heavy looking things like several full sacks of animal feed, and all the weight is riding on the bikes two wheels, because they don't run on tracks.
This is a pretty good video. The guy does have BIG springs on his rear shocks. I enjoy these types of videos.

[carlN]

OMMGG.. the motorcycles with all the people on them.. LOL..

How hard/easy is the adjustment to preload on rear mono shock? I have seen some it look like ou turn a threaded stop to push the spring a bit tighter.. not sure that is something to worry about on a full time bases.. mainly from say campground or boondocking spot to town close by or like here in Zion we are boondocking outside the park on a long road with lots of BLM camping spots and the park is some 20's miles out..

I plan to carry MC on front of what will be new to me ram 3500 6.7 diesel truck on rack.. any good racks to look at.. I have been looking at these guys.

https://www.discountramps.com/motorc...BoCH8cQAvD_BwE

and there is this at harbor freight that gets good reviews..
https://www.harborfreight.com/400-lb...hoCi1AQAvD_BwE

[carlN]

With the recent price increase it starting to be, to me, a better deal to look at a used yamaha, honda for the same or couple hundred more bucks. I have seen several of these in the "wild" when boondocking on the back and sometimes front of motorhomes.

One couple I chatted with I had seen them on the XT when we were out at White Sand NP had gotten a 2010 used and were loving it.. think he paid right around 3500 with 5K miles in perfect condition from what i could see..

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...6826221724397/

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by carlN

With the recent price increase it starting to be, to me, a better deal to look at a used yamaha, honda for the same or couple hundred more bucks. I have seen several of these in the "wild" when boondocking on the back and sometimes front of motorhomes.

One couple I chatted with I had seen them on the XT when we were out at White Sand NP had gotten a 2010 used and were loving it.. think he paid right around 3500 with 5K miles in perfect condition from what i could see..

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...6826221724397/

Used bikes will often come with used bike problems if they are more than a few years old so be prepared for that, and most used bikes less than 5 years old are still more expensive. The rare times a used KLX300 or CRF300L comes up for sale, usually only a couple of years old, they are asking over $5000 for them. Even used KLX230S (air cooled) bikes are around $4000 and rated at less power than the 250 engine in the Lifan.

Lifan bikes are built to a quality standard above the typical China bikes. They are still cheaper, but they don't need as much attention and "upgrading" as bikes like the Hawk.

[carlN]

While that theory sound good in practice it many time is not the case.. If you have a decent amount of MC knowledge and some mechanical abilities and after a test ride can figure out if this is a rough diamond or a block of stone looking for a sucker.. In my opinion a 10 yr old yamaha, honda, KLM are as good as a 2024 chonda all day long. they, used bikes, start at such a higher level and with decent care and 7500 or so miles, not looking like they have been beat to hell will cost 35-4K which is some 800 above the current list price..

Now if LIfan is going to be making some deals.. I was offered a 2600 deal in oct the Jerry deal as it was called but I am not able, and I let them know as much,
I was not able to do the deal at that time.. I figured the price would actually go down as they got more sales not up.. but you know corp greed as we see today all over the place.

Still in the fence about this but my time frame is still oct, nov, dec time frame when we get back to east coast for winter. maybe thing will change a bit by then one way or the other.. plus end of season is when a lot of folks like to sell bike they did not get a lot of use during the year is what I am seeing on ads.

thanks for you thoughts as always they help..

Originally Posted by Megadan

Used bikes will often come with used bike problems if they are more than a few years old so be prepared for that, and most used bikes less than 5 years old are still more expensive. The rare times a used KLX300 or CRF300L comes up for sale, usually only a couple of years old, they are asking over $5000 for them. Even used KLX230S (air cooled) bikes are around $4000 and rated at less power than the 250 engine in the Lifan.

Lifan bikes are built to a quality standard above the typical China bikes. They are still cheaper, but they don't need as much attention and "upgrading" as bikes like the Hawk.