Has anyone else wound up with a lemon?

[CreekWalker]

There are enough people on these forums who are riding these bikes and enough people giving them 5-star reviews in the marketplace that most people are obviously having good experiences, but I gotta tell ya, my experience with the X-Pro Hawk 250 DLX has been nothing but a headache ... to the point that I don't think I'd ever buy a China bike again.

My experience started back in late spring. I bought an assembled version of the 250 DLX. So when it was delivered, I changed the oil and fired it up. Kept it on the highway for a few hundred miles to break it in. Changed the oil at 200 miles and 500 miles. Then the troubles began.

First the clutch burnt out. I could've understood if I'd been riding the bike hard, but I hadn't. I had been very gentle with it. RPS shipped a new clutch because it was still under warranty (and that's the one plus...RPS has been very easy to work with) but while waiting for their response I actually went ahead and purchased a new clutch. So now I have a spare.

Replaced the clutch, got the bike back on the road, and after just a couple hundred miles I started hearing a ticking sound. Before I could get it off the road, it was obvious something broke. Opened it up and the centrifugal oil filter had sheared off, throwing metal shavings everywhere.

Contacted RPS again, and they offered to send a refurbished motor if I paid shipping. When the motor arrived, it was actually for the carb 250 version rather than the DLX. I decided to make it work by switching over the head and the stator assembly (the EFI version has a temp sensor screwed into the head that the carb version isn't tapped for, and the wiring coming out of the stator is also different). Got it back on the bike, tried to fire it up and nothing. Put a compression gauge on it and it was getting no compression at all.

Contacted RPS a third time. After sending pics and video, they shipped a rebuilt DLX motor and I shipped the carb motor back to them. Got the newest motor on the bike and it fired right up. Rode less than 100 miles and it started blowing fuses. Trailered it home, parked it and was sitting and staring at it, contemplating where to start going through the wiring for a short when the wiring harness caught started smoking and then flamed up right beneath the fuel tank. I guess if I'm looking at it from a glass-half-full perspective, at least I know where the short is at without having to look too hard.

I haven't yet got the wiring harness rewired so I can see if it caused any more damage to the electrical components but this bike has seriously been nothing but one headache after another. It's never been ridden hard; I've treated it as if it's still in the break-in phase. Now I'm ready to push it over a hill somewhere!

[Sport Rider]

Wow. not sure I've read any comments on here this bad. :o

[JerryHawk250]

That really sucks. I think the newer Hawks aren't built like the older Hawks like my 2016. I've been reading a lot of post on broken valves, bad clutches and so on on the Hawk FB group.

[tknj99]

I'm thinking the hierarchy of worst to best still has the Hawk in the lowly bottom rung of Chinese bikes, despite having modern amenities like FI

[Sport Rider]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

That really sucks. I think the newer Hawks are built like the older Hawks like my 2016. I've been reading a lot of post on broken valves, bad clutches and so on on the Hawk FB group.

my buddy lost a valve when riding in Colorado. He wasn't really happy I suggested chinabikes to him. the problem is that workmanship and quality are all over the place on these bikes. We used to always talk about this with cars. don't buy one that was made on Friday or Monday.

[Emerikol]

Where are you located? These are problems that should have been caught by what is euphemistically called QA. So far, my 2015 Hawk has been great. I upgraded to the digital dash, and I'm starting to have problems with that, but that's an aftermarket part, not the the bike itself. I do know that the clutches that came from the factory in the later bikes might as well be leftover rounds of cardboard. It really sucks to hear someone having these problems.

[Thumper]

Really sorry about your experience. EFI is a crap shoot since any faulty part can send it into a tail spin, and as Emerikol mentions, Quality Control is a random game on these bikes.

I have had cracked cast wheel hub on a Templar X -PSM sent me a new wheel!
No intake manifold gasket on a Templar X (fixed with 600F RTV)
Other less serious issues. Shipping damage has been the most serious problem, but I think I have had an average experience. Fortunately, PowerSportsMax was responsive and excellent while working through these issues. Zuumav seems to have good welders and are following (cloning) an excellent design (KTM and Honda!)

Multiple issues with a TBR7, including bad welds (the footpeg fell off when I put my foot on it), BADLY twisted intake manifold gluing, battery compartment didn't fit the tall battery sent with the bike, wrong hardware for rear brakelight switch, and more). What a steaming pile that thing was. I patched it up and sold it. The bad welding was the most serious problem-think about it... the entire frame depends on welded unions! Scary!

When EFI issues happen, they can be real headscratchers. I will NEVER buy an EFI aspirated Chinese bike! I know, EFI is like the gold ring for those that want altitude change and no choke performance. To me, that is just NOT worth the risk. Carbs are so easy to work on, and I like having the choke to monitor the engines fuel/air "happiness". And I can jet a carb where I want to, not the onboard computer (and EPA!).

Just to fend off the EFI fans, I will restate... I know, EFI is like gold for those that want altitude change and no choke performance. A carburetor CANNOT do that.

[Oldenslow]

Had I not been older and wiser when I got my DF 250RTG I believe I would be classifying it as a lemon. When assembling it I realized all the bolts were crap, so I bought decent ones. Then, a loose spoke caused a rapid rear-tire deflation at 55 mph, which only God above kept from being real bad news. Both wheels were gone over, trued and tightened. Within about 6 weeks every light bulb had burned out -- no wonder, the bulbs looked blacksmith-made. Now, the engine has been fine, but you can bet I was real careful with the break-in and tend to it like a fussy mother hen.

[JoeKahno]

Originally Posted by Sport Rider

my buddy lost a valve when riding in Colorado. He wasn't really happy I suggested chinabikes to him. the problem is that workmanship and quality are all over the place on these bikes. We used to always talk about this with cars. don't buy one that was made on Friday or Monday.

I've known several people who sourced products from China for resale. You can work it either way, give them a list of features and let them compete on price or give them a price point to hit and let them compete on features. One thing you have to nail down is the acceptable scrap count, what percentage of unmarketable crap you can tolerate. If you're trying to establish a brand you can't allow your customer to get saddled with a lemon. You have to decide if you are willing to pay a little more to make sure it never gets in the shipping container, or if you would rather eat the cost of an occasional unit after the customer has a bad experience. It can be really tough to strike the proper balance.

[TominMO]

This is gonna happen when people choose low price over high quality. Doesn't matter what the type of product is. If the demand is high for low price, the manufacturers are not incentivized to make better products. You are effectively your own low bidder.

Next time buy a Lifan or other known-good brand. No brand of anything has a perfect record, but you are greatly improving your odds by spending a bit more.

[JFOlivier]

I was just going to say, EFI or whatever you shouda got a Lifan.

[bigdano711]

I'm not sure I'm buying the OP's story. He starts out saying it was X-Pro, then the first mention of warranty stuff and it switches to RPS. Am I the only one to catch that? Those ARE two separate companies, are they not?


The warranty service seemed to be rock solid if the story is true...

[Gh426]

Moto cheez got the same reaction there's too long a screw that grounds out on a wire and he only got smoke you unfortunately got a fire but if you track down that screw right in that area you can cut it or get a shorter one.

[Gabbiano88]

I have had 3 break downs with 23 RX4.... one at 450, 1700 and 2300 miles.... max sadness..... Currently at 2745 miles

Burnt clutch(no warranty), bad O2 sensor(warrantied) and a bad Fuel injector(warrantied)...

Also been having issues with my valves being difficult to adjust....

CSC has been pretty good with customer support

Wont buy another China bike after this experience

[oouthere]

Was your clutch handle adjusted properly for the 1st problem? I saw someone on youtube adjusting the clutch cable with no slack, you should be able to insert a quarter between the mount and handle while loose. If tight, it will slip and burn. If you use energy efficient oil (5W anything or synthetic) it can cause the clutch to slip. I've also had them slip from 15W40 as well, 10W30 and 10W40 seems to work best.

If I'm thinking correctly the part you are referring to causing the shavings had to be removed in order to install the clutch (3:00 minute point, CRF230 clone engine), it may not have been tightened properly.

I've screwed up so much stuff over the years lol