I don't know about the quality control difference, but I would think that the old Japanese bikes probably had better rims, but they would have also had drum brakes, and mostly 2 stroke motors, and probably even shorter rear suspension travel. I don't know what size 2 stroke bike would be comparable to a 229cc CG , but probably a 175, or so. I think that a modern Chinese TT250, or similar would be a lot less expensive, and less PIA to operate, and rack up a lot more miles under common sense operation than a "brand new "early 70s, Yamaha, or Kawasaki, or Suzuki 2 stroke Enduro, but I don't know how they would compare against a similar Honda 4 stroke from the period.
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