The EPA plate says the bike was certified to the off-road emission standard (which just so happens to be less demanding than the on-road emission standard). It is in violation of US federal regulations for a licensed motor vehicle dealer to sell that bike for use on the street - or in fact for the manufacturer to even equip it with only-needed-on-the-street features like turn signals and a license holder. That, my friend, is a black market bike.

But could you license it and ride it on the street? In most places in the USA you sure can, because the local county tax offices aren't paid or trained to enforce federal regulations.

HTH,
tcs

BTW, I seem to remember that on the "Lifan Dealerships in Texas, DFW area" thread you mentioned how much less expensive your 'net ordered bike was going to be than one another poster had purchased at an authorized, brick&mortar American Lifan dealer.

tcs

Not a good way to start out..Good luck geting it resolved man.

I can just about promise you what they will tell you in the end. They will tell you to ship the bike back to them (at your expense, $300 +/-) and they will ship you the correct bike (also at your expense). Then, "Oops, looks like the bike you want is temperarily out of stock. But, if you don't mind waiting for the next shipment to come in from mainland China (6 - 10 weeks), they will ship you the correct bike when it arrives. OR, you can just keep that one". You, my friend, just got the shaft (dry, I might add)! If you used PayPal, file a grievance and get your money back. Then the ball is in their court to prove you DID NOT get screwed.

yea according to them they are an authorized American Lifan dealer.

well, we will have to wait untill monday to see if I got horsef*cked won't we?

PS: It's also strange instead of a 14F and 46R sprocket it has a 14F and 56R. That seems like a really big difference. That means its geared lower for less top end speed? Maybe because it's an older model.. I know it sounds stupid but im really picky and I don't like the older styling of the bike or the color and I don't like the idea of the older motor especially with all the vibration issues I hear of.

Can they get away with this!?? I did not use paypal. In fact they actually filed a non payment strike against me on ebay because they made a mistake because I called and used my cc instead because my paypal was not working that day. I now regret not using it. Perhaps thats why they did it because they thought they could get away with it since I dident use paypal? Maybe im overreacting and it was just a mistake and they will fix it but I hate waiting to find out my destiny.

Porter,

If you DID pay by credit card or PayPal, if they aren't willing to do anything for you at all, you should definitely file a claim with the credit card or PayPal.

Hell, I might do it even if they say they'll fix the problem just to be on the safe side.

If you paid by PayPal and they say they are taking care of it, filing the dispute with PayPal may help th "hurry" the situation along...

Looks like monday will only be the start of it for porterz.
The worst thing is he got an overpriced, outdated, non-counter balanced bike(with acid damage).

I myself will most likely never do another mail order bike and I'm seriously thinking of just selling our bikes and getting my wife a tw200 and me a drz400s.

Looks like I'll be riding my bike before porterz, now mind you it is still in the 40's here for high temps and snow on the ground and I wont ride on the streets untill a good thunderstorm washes all that nasty salt off the roads so it could be a month or so for me.
This michigan winter stinks but april 1st means new ORV tags and we can take the quads up north and ride.

Add an "M" to the end of that DRZ-400S...

Drooooooolllll....DRZ-400SM....DROOOOOOLLLL!!!!!!

looks like they are trying to screw you bro..

I had this same thing happen to me with another dealer on an ATV.They told me that the owner was out of town in meetings and when he got back he could make the decission on what to do.You can read the full account in dealer review forum.
It took a month for them to make it rite.If I were you I would start the ball rolling on filing a claim with the credit card company.Be prepared to hear every excuse known to man and everything they offer you will be to the benifit of them not you.
At least by filing a dispute they know your seriouse and that may give you some leverage.
I went to their web site and I couln't find anything about Lifan?
http://www.atvdiscounter.com/

Wheres the link to the actual page you bought your bike from?
edit, found it on page 1

anyways,

Looking here, http://www.atvdiscounter.com/Dirt-Bi...oductInfo.aspx

You will see pictures of the balanced engine, but it does not say it has it, in fact it says
# Engine Type:Single-cylinder,air-cooled,four-stroke
# Engine model: 163FML-2

Which is the non-balanced version...

Of course, I don't know what the ad you got it from actually said, and either way they are trying to screw you...



edit 2:

looking at the ad more closely (your ebay ad)

It also states the same details about the engine
# Engine Type:Single-cylinder,air-cooled,four-stroke
# Engine model: 163FML-2

Which is non balanced, however they are using pictures of the balanced engine...

Also they said you were getting a gy5 and you got a gy2,
smaller gas tank
lower seat height

I'm not sure what else

I highly doubt they are an "authorized american lifan dealer" like you said you saw somewhere though... I don't know where they told you that, but I bet if you check with american lifan you will soon find out it was a lie, I think they might be interested to find out that they were claiming to be... Unless you just got that impression from the swing arm decal or something, I believe all the US lifans will say american lifan on them if they came from Chingqing, I believe it has to do with how C.L. exports them...

Yes you are correct on that too, if you click to see additional images, you see the bike he got...

However the ad was actually for a GY-5, but maybe not the balanced one...

"# Year:
2008
# Make:
Lifan
# Model:
LF200GY-5"


About the sprockets, I believe the 2's usually had the different sprockets from the 5's, but I also think it is up to the importer to specify...

I think your best arguments are the damage (battery), and the wrong model, you should have got a # Motorcycle model: LF200GY-5 , but you got a LF200GY-2. The engine is listed as unbalanced, but pictured as balanced... If they told you in an email or something that it was balanced you may have a stronger argument there.

For a while EBAY was even tight on the color of the item being correct and that the stated color in the auction is what they had to send you or something to that effect but anyway.
That auction is very misleading if they have all those pictures of the one bike and then a cheesy tiny link to pictures of what they will be sending.

I really dont see much of a leg for "ATVdeceivers" to stand on. :lol:

I say hit them fast, hard and often until you win.

Take this for what it's worth, Porterz...

...but I sent an e-mail yesterday to the guy at MotoXtreme (because I'm still not 100% sure if I want the Hi-Bird or the Lifan) and asked him if he was selling only American Lifan bikes. He told me that ALL of the bikes that are actually American Lifan bikes come with the sprockets setup for highway driving. He said taht I may be getting confused and that some of the Lifan bikes from China will have the 56t rear sprockets.

I also found out by researching that American Lifan is pretty strict with who can and can't ship their products. MotoXtreme is one of the FEW dealers I've found that is actually allowed to drop ship American Lifan bikes.

I think that you got screwed, bro. I think you got a bike that is a Lifan, but not an American Lifan. I don't think that makes a very big deal, but it's a crappy thing to not get what you're paying for.

And trust me...since you used your credit card instead of PayPal you are in good hands. Call your credit card company and tell them you got shafted. They WILL get you your money back.

Also, in a really crappy way, thanks for posting about this. I was thinking about purchasing the Lifan from ATVDiscounters because they were cheaper than MotoXtreme...but after reading this, I will now be getting my Lifan from MotoX or the Hi-Bird from VBikes.