Of these two bike...

[gloomhound]

Hi-Bird 250cc or Lifan gy-5 200cc.

I want to spend some tax money and I cannot make up my mind.

[ejcycles]

Hi gloomhound
Go with an American Lifan LF200GY-5, the parts support and warranty are much better. Just be careful if you are buying a Lifan from e~Bay or from some on~line sellers.

[gloomhound]

I was hoping to deal with http://www.motoxtreme.net if I can get his price down a little. Good guy to deal with?

[mrhyak]

Originally Posted by ejcycles

Hi gloomhound
Go with an American Lifan LF200GY-5, the parts support and warranty are much better. Just be careful if you are buying a Lifan from e~Bay or from some on~line sellers.

Anyone can buy parts from an AF dealer, correct? So you don't need to have an AF bike to buy parts from the AF dealers. I'd imagine many parts would even fit on my non-lifan bike.

[katoranger]

Originally Posted by gloomhound

I was hoping to deal with http://www.motoxtreme.net if I can get his price down a little. Good guy to deal with?

Brian is a good seller. I am not sure if you can get him down much more than he lists his listed price.

Allen

[ejcycles]

Originally Posted by mrhyak

Anyone can buy parts from an AF dealer, correct? So you don't need to have an AF bike to buy parts from the AF dealers. I'd imagine many parts would even fit on my non-lifan bike.

Hi mrhyak
FYI: A. Lifan Dealers can not buy parts from A. Lifan for other makes & models. We have to submit a VIN number for the bike in order to purchase parts. And No, not all parts from Lifan bikes fit other bikes, I know I have looked into it and I know for a Fact that they don't.

Tell me something... If you know so much about these bikes why don't you Join The Ranks and start a dealership. It seems to me that all you like doing is ragging on other people on this Forum, and I for one am getting sick & tired of seeing it.

[mrhyak]

Originally Posted by ejcycles

Hi mrhyak
FYI: A. Lifan Dealers can not buy parts from A. Lifan for other makes & models. We have to submit a VIN number for the bike in order to purchase parts. And No, not all parts from Lifan bikes fit other bikes, I know I have looked into it and I know for a Fact that they don't.

Tell me something... If you know so much about these bikes why don't you Join The Ranks and start a dealership. It seems to me that all you like doing is ragging on other people on this Forum, and I for one am getting sick & tired of seeing it.

I didn't think my email was "ragging", I just asked a question . I didn't expect AF to have specific parts for other brands, but these China bikes no matter what make/model/brand are pretty much the same and you could retrofit if needed, or bolt up depending on part.

Your an AF dealer and your answering questions with answers such as "Go with Americn Lifan because you can't trust any other China bike" (not an exact quote, but pretty much what you are saying). You can give suggestions here w/o trashing others bikes or dealers. These forums are called Chinariders, not AMERICAN LIFAN riders. You should support ALL China Riders not just your own brand your trying to peddle.

[ejcycles]

Hi mrhyak

Ok, I'm Sorry... I took that the wrong way, and had to re-read it. There was not a question mark after the second sentence and that is what I took the wrong way.
{Yes I make mistakes, I'm A.D.H.D. & I'm Human.}

FYI: So you know, I'm not ragging on you. I deal in quite a few Chinese Brands, but the guys that sell stuff that Will Not support their products are no good and you know this. I know it's not an American Lifan Forum, I answer as the question is asked. If the guy would have asked about United Motors vs. HiBird, I would have said the same thing and told him about UM. I post facts, no bs, I have studied these Chinese bikes since Trac & Panda brought them into this country over 20 years ago. There are good & bad distributors, as we all that are on this forum know and the newbies that come on learn, in time. I have dealt with distributors that Do Not support their product. I do support the ones that do 100%, even if I don't deal with them. If anyone wants to know all they need to do is ask.
I hope this helps and makes sense.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by gloomhound

Hi-Bird 250cc or Lifan gy-5 200cc.

I want to spend some tax money and I cannot make up my mind.

Hi-Birds are not too well known. Are you planning to mail order or buy from a dealer? I would steer you to the Lifan GY-5 either way--there is not enough feedback on the 250 Hi-Birds, and they have been out several months already--few people seem to be buying them, but a big segment of this site seem to be buying the Lifan with good results.

To tell you the truth, if you are REALLY confident with your motorcycle mechanical abilities, I would want you to buy the Hi-Bird for selfish reasons; there are not too many 250 Chinese enduros out there, and I would like to hear of someone's experiences with one. Otherwise, go with the more proven bike and buy the LIfan

[mrhyak]

Originally Posted by ejcycles

Hi mrhyak

Ok, I'm Sorry... I took that the wrong way, and had to re-read it. There was not a question mark after the second sentence and that is what I took the wrong way.
{Yes I make mistakes, I'm A.D.H.D. & I'm Human.}

FYI: So you know, I'm not ragging on you. I deal in quite a few Chinese Brands, but the guys that sell stuff that Will Not support their products are no good and you know this. I know it's not an American Lifan Forum, I answer as the question is asked. If the guy would have asked about United Motors vs. HiBird, I would have said the same thing and told him about UM. I post facts, no bs, I have studied these Chinese bikes since Trac & Panda brought them into this country over 20 years ago. There are good & bad distributors, as we all that are on this forum know and the newbies that come on learn, in time. I have dealt with distributors that Do Not support their product. I do support the ones that do 100%, even if I don't deal with them. If anyone wants to know all they need to do is ask.
I hope this helps and makes sense.

I didn't major in english so my posts sometimes come across not quite as I intend.. Sorry to you and Jim if my posts don't come across as friendly as they should, but I don't mean any ill will. Just here to talk bikes.

Jack

[zundapp2]

Hi gloomhound,

If possible you should ride both bikes before buying either one. Although the LiFan may be a good bike I found the 200cc engine to be lacking in power. (I'm afraid that statement will enrage the true believers but it's just my opinion). The smaller engine must be flogged to keep up with traffic running at 70mph and it didn't do especially well even in city traffic. Perhaps it was geared a bit high but lowering the gearing to improve acceleration would only make hiway travel more taxing for the engine.

I bought the Hi-Bird 250 from Vbikesusa and so far I am pleased. The difference in performance is significant. It has ample acceleration and can easily maintain 65-70 mph.

Whichever bike you choose parts and service are crucial considerations unless you are mechanically inclined and resourceful. No matter how good the product it will in time require something to keep it going.

zundapp2

[gloomhound]

As to my mechanical abilities, fair to middling. But I do know a bit about the old Honda XR's and that Hi-Bird does look like an XR clone.
I want to buy via the internet and have it delivered.
I agree it would be great to have a detailed review with extensive photos of the bike from crate thru setup and ride. And I would be more than willing to do that and have my wife a professional photographer take the pic, if someone wants to send me a free bike to review.

[culcune]

Zundapp, you need to keep us informed as time goes on. BTW, how many tooth sprockets do you have? (front and rear)

Your comment about the 200's power was right on--these 200's really don't have as much power as we would like them to have. It took Hi-Bird to introduce the 250 to the US in larger numbers, and to keep them coming unlike the past ones where it seemed like one container load and no more. There were a few (now unheard of) bikes a few years back, but not any more

Gloomhound, I would steer you to a Lifan, simply based on warranty issues.

[kczukiman]

gloomhound

I have delt with Tim at vbike on several occasions and purchased 7 bikes total off of him.I can tell you he is a very good dealer.I made an atempt to sell some atv's and dual sports locally but had too much compotition.So I kept 2 and sold the rest.I wish I would have kept the hibird 250 duelsport as well it had awsome power for a 250 as well as a beefy look to it.I plan on purchasing another this spring for myself.I am 6' 250 lbs and it is plenty stout to hull my but.
Service after the sale is a concern for all that purchases chinese bike and Tim has prooven to be top notch.
I don't mean to sound like a sales rep for him but in the world of Chinese bikes word of mouth and proven experience with a dealer can save a lot of troubles for another.

[zundapp2]

Gloomhound:

Culcune's recommendation of the LiFan for warranty reasons has considerable merit. To that I would add the LiFan's parts availability. The Hi-Bird has (I think) a 90 day warranty which is probably less than the LiFan. LiFan (at least one dealer) has parts advertised; there is no dealer (that I have found) with Hi Bird parts.

On a more positive note the price of the Hi Bird was in my estimation reasonable ($1200 delivered to my garage); the service, including registration documents, was first-class; and the bike was received without damage.

Hi Bird should hire you to prepare both a set-up instruction sheet and an owner's manual. The Hi Bird 250 comes with a manual for the 200GY and the reference photos for the set-up are nearly worthless. A parts list would also be most welcome.

Culcune,

Will keep everyone informed as to the performance, reliability, etc. of the Hi Bird. I can report the engine is smoother than I had anticipated. That's not to imply it might not lose parts due to vibration but the shaking is nothing like a old Triumph twin or a Suzuki TS 400. (I won't mention Sportsters because I am ashamed of ever having owned one).

The rear sprocket is 46T and I haven't yet counted the front sprocket. (There are no meanigful specs provided for the bike. In fact there was absolutely nothing to even indicate the crankcase oil capacity. Fortunately I drained the original oil into a clean container and was able to measure the volume).

And now a question. The carb is a PZ 30. Any idea where one might find replacement jets?

zundapp2