Are you an early adopter of Chinese bikes?

[Mudflap]

When did you buy your first Chinese motorcycle, and why?

In 2006 my daughter claimed my Trail 90 as her own so I needed another small dual sport to replace it. A friend had bought an unbranded 200cc (probably Lifan GY5) which I looked over and took for a ride. Having no idea what it was I searched the internet and ordered one drop shipped from an American Lifan dealer back east (2007). Figured I'd have gotten my money's worth if it lasted 10,000 miles, and being an old motorcycle mechanic I figured I could fix anything that went wrong. I used the bike for commuting to work 28 miles per day and trail riding. Pretty soon I started getting attached to the bike. It was very reliable and fit me well so it became my bike of choice for everything except highway touring. Never imagined it would still be my everyday bike 9 years and 50,000+ miles later.

Now I'm a big fan of the CG engine powered Chinese bikes and will have at least one in the garage as long as I'm able to ride.

[2LZ]

I'd wrenched on a few back in I think '06 or'07 for a couple friends and then my father in law bought a Hensim ranch quad in I think '07 that I got straightened out for him.

Then, we bought a pair of Hensim DB150's in I think it was '08. I just wanted a couple of 3/4 sized bikes for camping that we'd use 2 or 3 times a years and I couldn't cost justify the Japanese stuff for that purpose. Those were really good little bikes and got me turned onto the Chinese stuff full time. Like Mudflap just said, you get attached to them. The rest is history........

What really made a huge difference in the CB experience was finding this website and all the info that people were discovering and sharing.

[ktm jeff]

My "Chinese" bike ownership goes back to 2000 for the Mini-Motos i raced along with a more expensive Blata model. The first ( and so far , only ) Chinese bike bought is a 2013 Platinum PX 250 Motard. I stay in Thailand during the English winter , and needed a town run-a-round that wasnt a scooter. This bike is assembled in Thailand but the engine is a Zongshen 253 FML OHC unit. Tappets have been set , carb kept clean , oil changed and its great.The tires have been changed and it performs superb off road. The no name suspension is much better than the Lifan 200 GY Explore i hired the previous year. Great value and FUN.

[culcune]

I was an early adopter of a Jetmoto 200cc enduro. Technically, Jetmoto had a side company called Alpine, which they explained as being 'like Ford and Mercury' (when Mercury was still being sold, LOL), and my guess is Alpine was their Ebay seller as Ebay was pretty much the only way to get a Chinese bike in '05, '06, so I had a Jetmoto badged with a few stickers that branded it as 'Alpine.'

I was not very mechanically inclined, and neither were other Chinariders members, so I lost one stock engine (Zongshen) that maybe wasn't dead, and had a guy across the border in Mexico install a crate Lifan 200cc engine I bought on Ebay. The clutch cable was too long, so it seemed like it had a transmission problem, and I ended up parting out the bike and made a few hundred bucks.

I later got a TMEC 200 enduro which I bought used and a new TMEC 200 which I still own, but has been through an accident and is not ridden.

[cheesy]

Not early in the great scheme of things. I got my sisters' 07 Hi-Bird in 2010 because she was scared of it. It was your basic GY5. I spent some bucks civilizing it, mostly so I get get across an intersection without shifting three times. It had some starting issues that I could have dealt with if I knew then what I know now. I was not able to get it titled in Ilannoy, even though it had a Wisconsin title, and ended up giving it to friend in Colorado.

Now I'm told the bike no longer runs so I might get it back and use it for the base of my diesel project.

[FastDoc]

I have owned about 7, and ridden about another 7.

I bought my first Hondoid when they were $850 shipped. I guess that made me an early adopter.

[BlackBike]

I remember sitting on one in a pep boys years ago thinking how cool it would be to have it . Back in the day when I took the calculator to the grocery store. When did they first start selling them at pep boys?

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by BlackBike

I remember sitting on one in a pep boys years ago thinking how cool it would be to have it . Back in the day when I took the calculator to the grocery store. When did they first start selling them at pep boys?

Our Pep Boys never had any full sized stuff. Just the Baja mini bikes and some go karts. Probably CARB hard at work.

[Mudflap]

We don't have Pep Boys here but a local sporting good store called GI Joes sold some China bikes including a Hensim branded as a Baja 250 in 2007/2008. It had a very smooth running but very low power L2 engine. I bought one with 6 original miles for $500 on a lark then sold it for $900 a few months later.

[Huck369]

I bought a Marshin CRF230 Clone back in 07 or 08, liked it enough I bought a 125 and 150 CRF100 Clones for my wife and daughter......then the RX-3 in the "Don't miss the boat" Deal

[Weldangrind]

My Dad bought Son of Weldangrind a ridiculous two-stroke 50cc chopper more than ten years ago, and there was literally nowhere to ride it. We gave it back to him and he then bought my son a Baja 50 dirt bike. It was absolute garbage in stock form, but intake, exhaust and suspension mods made it more civilized.


He quickly outgrew it, so we picked up a brand new Gio 125 pit bike. It wasn't long before I had to change the 12/14 wheels to 14/17 to add some seat height, but it was all over when he hit six feet. He now rides an '83 XR200R with a CG230 in it.


Meanwhile, I bought my wife a new Gio 150cc quad in 2007, and then bought myself a new Gio 200 in 2008. My daughter got some generic China 50 four stroke quad around the same time.


I've since purchased two GY5 bikes, one is a Lifan and the other is a Roketa. Still have those and the 150 and 200 quads.


I guess I've been messing with China stuff since about 2005/06.

[BlackBike]

Sound like the Chinese import started about 10 years ago. Good thread!

[katoranger]

I bought my 2006 Lifan GY in 2007 from a used Harley dealer that sold new Lifans. I put about 12000 miles on it. I remember seeing the bikes around at different places starting about 2003.

[Sport Rider]

I got mine in February of this year. February is early in the year. does that make me an early adopter?

[b44]

Im relitvely new to the china bike feb this year , my $300 cg230, initially wasn't to happy with it after comple rebuild she just wasn't performing %100 ,so i got a wrecked spare engine for $75 rebuilt that,and the difference was amazing, which leads me to believe their was something seriously wrong with original engine,
More than happy with my cg230, so much so I've gone off the hondas a bit,i have got hell of a lot of bike for $300,
My previous bikes have been xr100,200,250,500,600 (race)
And the more i ride it more attached i get,no where near the power of my xr6 but the older i get im moving away from the high powered stuff,
My little brucelee bike is awesome on the tight trails, the only let down is the rear suspension,no gas loaded adjustment, kinda like a simple crude canterlever, and you really feel it when im getting hell sideways, it bucks like a horse
I actually like the fact that these china bikes have a bad stigma it makes them dirt cheap, im picking up a crossfire watercooled one tomorrow for $50 %80 complete
I also follow with interest is the CFMOTO 650nk,i believe this is the breakthrough bike for china bikes, reviews are good,got 4th in Isle of man, build bikes for ktm & are well priced
Also interesting that gasgas use zong250 in thier enduro race bikes,aswell as ajp230cc using the cg
Knowing the cost of maintaining a new ktm (bro) im happy with sticking to my zongs they are cheap,reliable, simple and can take a thrashing