Warning: Buyminibikes.com and Apollo/Orion crap

[thunga]

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT buy anything from Buyminibikes.com! These are the types of mother#%*#&$s who are giving Chinabikes a bad name. And the Apollo/Orion dirt bikes they sell are just junk (although the Zongshen engine ain't bad).

[culcune]

What's up with these bikes? I have seen the Apollo on Ebay for real, real cheap. (Ironically, that makes me suspect when these bikes are too cheap).

[Penguini66]

Originally Posted by thunga

These are the types of mother#%*#&$s who are giving Chinabikes a bad name.

Care to give some more details as to exactly what they did to you?

[thunga]

Originally Posted by Penguini66

Care to give some more details as to exactly what they did to you?

OK. Actually, this stuff shouldn't be in the dual-sport area. But since buyminibikes.com does sell Terminator 200s, I wanted to warn anybody who might find their site and buy from them.

As I've mentioned in other forums, I purchased a 125 dirt bike from them for my son.
Online, it looks great. Just like a motocrosser, with inverted forks, dual disk brakes, gas shock, etc. It was $875 delivered. The perfect starter bike, I figured.

When it arrived, the cardboard crate was ripped. But with the deliver driver standing there, I couldn't do a full inspection. As it turned out, the shifter must have fallen through one of the holes. Maybe that's where the owner's manual and one of the front axle bolts also went.

And maybe the crack in one of the round engine side plates happened when the box was ripped. But _ aside from the fact that a bike without a shift lever is useless _ these were minor problems.

As I began assembling it, I noticed more serious issues. Just a general shoddy, ultra-cheapness. Too many things to mention and far beyond just the loose bolts. Like it was designed by morons. Maybe it was.
Try tightening the rear axle bolt and the swingarm squeezes together freezing the wheel. Speaking of swingarm, no bushings to be found anywhere.

But the true test came in riding the bike. It was fast and the engine ran well. But then the footpeg snapped due to a casting flaw, the clutch and brake levers broke at the slightest impact, the rear shock stopped working after a month, the brakes dragged and required me to rig spacers to align them. On and on.

And don't expect "Jay" at buyminibikes to be much help. Typical drop-ship mentality. If you happen to get him on the phone, you're lucky. Emails go unanswered. I ended up dealing with the importer (China Sporting Products in LA) who was a little better and did, eventually, ship some of the stuff I needed.

The two Roketas I also bought (directly from Goldenvale/Roketa) seem much better built, but I fear the day I'll need parts. I had to go directly to them cause there's no local dealers. I had to become a pseudo dealer to get the bikes, but in NJ you can't sell street bikes without a real shop and state inspection.

What we need are a few aggressive, competent, knowledgeable, honest true-to-life dealers for these bikes who can and will get parts and take responsibility for things that break during warranty.

[culcune]

I am sorry to hear about your issues. You got some relief from the importer probably because they are based in California. It is more difficult (not impossible) to get away with pulling shenanigans without incurring the wrath of THE STATE OF KALIFORNIA. One area that the state is good for is consumer law, and the importer figured it would be better to work with you than the STATE.

My two cents: I have only dealt with him through email inquiries, but Larry Hooper at Hooper Imports seems to have his sh%t together when it comes to Lifans. His site seems very comprehensive and offers lots of product, not just shiny bikes. It could be just image, but if I had a starter go out on a Lifan, it seems that Hooper would be The place to go.

The direction that Chinese bikes will go is the way of more brick and mortar dealers. This will help eliminate many of the mail order issues, but will increase the costs to us. I really don't see these bikes getting too expensive anytime soon, but it will happen.