Hawk or Bashan? Help me decide!

[olds_cool63]

Oh, yeah..I like this Dong Fang DF250RTE-B, too.

http://df-motor.com/product_show.asp?id=696

I've been looking at these for a looong while now.

Anyone out there with experience on Dong Fang bikes?

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by olds_cool63

Is APSCUSA reliable and honest to deal with?

Who else is good when it comes to ordering a bike? I don't want any BS when it comes to getting the bike and paperwork.

Thanks!

Nuff said and I can dig it.

olds_cool63

I bought my enforcer a few Mondays ago from them. It was in my garage in 7 days. Had the terminal been open on weekends, I could have had it that Saturday. I had my MSO paperwork 4 days later. I registered the bike the following Monday without any issue. In summary, my turn around time and transaction went very smoothly.

After that, however, it all fell to crap. My brother ordered one last week and was caught up in that alleged credit card "issue". Personally, I don't believe a word of that. I think they just didn't have the stock to fulfill the orders, so they cancelled the orders. My brother is still waiting for his refund...

Not really sure what to say about them. My personal experience was good, but things turned ugly for people after that. I would say their reputation had been tarnished a bit from this... We will never know the truth about what happened... But, I highly doubt it was what Don is claiming.

There was another guy on here​ before who got an enforcer the same time I did... The difference being that he ordered his 3 weeks prior to that! He was given some crazy story about how the green one that he originally​ wanted was stuck on a freight train somewhere in Cali. Rather than calling him, they let him wait 3 weeks with no update. When he heard I had ordered the enforcer, he changed his order to match mine, that is, red shipped from Texas. He ended up with his bike the exact same day as me.

The stories​ that I've heard lately about them would make me try a different dealer next time. Don is nice on the phone, but I was vicariously left with a bad feeling about them based on these half truths.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by olds_cool63

Oh, yeah..I like this Dong Fang DF250RTE-B, too.

http://df-motor.com/product_show.asp?id=696

I've been looking at these for a looong while now.

Anyone out there with experience on Dong Fang bikes?

I have always liked the Dong Fang lineup, including the enduros. The same engine (manufactured by Zongshen) is certified in several of their models, including their bobbers, their sharp-looking sport bike, and their rare (but I am a sucker for them) standard (based on the sport bike), as well as their enduros. The best thread, at least regarding the engine itself, is 'Barnone's' thread here on Chinariders (street) or on mychinamoto (street). These threads concentrate on the bobbers, but since the engines are the same, that would be the most important thing anyway. Some of the members had bad luck with the engines, or so it seems, but not Barnone. Looking back, it seemed that some of the members tried to modify the engines, rather than not touching the internals and concentrating on gearing, carb, and exhaust like these Chinese bikes seem to prefer.

My only issues with Dong Fang, that I can think of, is that we have very little data about them, and their prices. I would suggest one of the Bashan models or the Hawk, unless you have some money to play with being the 'pioneer.' That would not be a bad thing, and look at Barnone's thread--nearly 600 pages and 1 million views (based on the popularity of the bobber at the time--when CCW's bobber came out, back in 2010 I think) shows that the engine is decent.

[olds_cool63]

So, I called Advanti Auto to see when they'd get some more Bashan's in, or any brand dual sport bikes.

The operator couldn't get a sales person on the phone. I left a message and my phone number. That was about 1300 PST on Friday. Never heard back from them.

I noticed Honda has a new CRF250L Rally, Suzuki has a new V Strom 250 and Kawasaki has a new Versys 300!

Hmmmmm...may head over to the local dealer in Mesa, AZ for a look see.

Anyway, if I picked up one of those, I won't do any mods and that's the reason why I started buying China bikes. I like to mod the crap out of them! Hahahaha!

My Bandit is mostly stock and will stay that way.

Anyway, I'm still in the hunt. Ideal bike would have 19/17 inch tires, digital gauges, fuel indicator and rear disk brake, but I can be flexible. What the bike doesn't have, I can replace.

So, a China bike for me is kind of a blank canvas to mod out my way (paint job, engine mods or swap, etc..).

For now, Bahsan is leading the pack. If I don't hear from Advanti Auto, I'll start doing more research on who to order from that won't be a hassle.

In the meantime, the ol' Bandit was getting some love this afternoon. Spent time in the garage changing hoses, replacing air filter, cleaning the bike, etc. May need to replace the choke cable, so I'll get it all back together Saturday or next weekend.

I'll keep y'all posted on what I find out there and if I order soon.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by olds_cool63

So, I called Advanti Auto to see when they'd get some more Bashan's in, or any brand dual sport bikes.

The operator couldn't get a sales person on the phone. I left a message and my phone number. That was about 1300 PST on Friday. Never heard back from them.

I noticed Honda has a new CRF250L Rally, Suzuki has a new V Strom 250 and Kawasaki has a new Versys 300!

Hmmmmm...may head over to the local dealer in Mesa, AZ for a look see.

Anyway, if I picked up one of those, I won't do any mods and that's the reason why I started buying China bikes. I like to mod the crap out of them! Hahahaha!

My Bandit is mostly stock and will stay that way.

Anyway, I'm still in the hunt. Ideal bike would have 19/17 inch tires, digital gauges, fuel indicator and rear disk brake, but I can be flexible. What the bike doesn't have, I can replace.

So, a China bike for me is kind of a blank canvas to mod out my way (paint job, engine mods or swap, etc..).

For now, Bahsan is leading the pack. If I don't hear from Advanti Auto, I'll start doing more research on who to order from that won't be a hassle.

In the meantime, the ol' Bandit was getting some love this afternoon. Spent time in the garage changing hoses, replacing air filter, cleaning the bike, etc. May need to replace the choke cable, so I'll get it all back together Saturday or next weekend.

I'll keep y'all posted on what I find out there and if I order soon.

What you just said explains the reason why I purchased the Hawk you are right on the money.I am constantly looking for the next mod or tweak.At the end it's probably going to cost me a bunch but that's not the point,it keeps me looking forward for something to do.Enough with my rambling..

[manny]

Originally Posted by Ski_rush

I bought my enforcer a few Mondays ago from them. It was in my garage in 7 days. Had the terminal been open on weekends, I could have had it that Saturday. I had my MSO paperwork 4 days later. I registered the bike the following Monday without any issue. In summary, my turn around time and transaction went very smoothly.

After that, however, it all fell to crap. My brother ordered one last week and was caught up in that alleged credit card "issue". Personally, I don't believe a word of that. I think they just didn't have the stock to fulfill the orders, so they cancelled the orders. My brother is still waiting for his refund...

Not really sure what to say about them. My personal experience was good, but things turned ugly for people after that. I would say their reputation had been tarnished a bit from this... We will never know the truth about what happened... But, I highly doubt it was what Don is claiming.

There was another guy on here​ before who got an enforcer the same time I did... The difference being that he ordered his 3 weeks prior to that! He was given some crazy story about how the green one that he originally​ wanted was stuck on a freight train somewhere in Cali. Rather than calling him, they let him wait 3 weeks with no update. When he heard I had ordered the enforcer, he changed his order to match mine, that is, red shipped from Texas. He ended up with his bike the exact same day as me.

The stories​ that I've heard lately about them would make me try a different dealer next time. Don is nice on the phone, but I was vicariously left with a bad feeling about them based on these half truths.

Lets see....1st Don was telling everyone the Enforcer has a counterbalanced engine, different tires than it does and a few other things...Turns out he had never even seen one and he was dead wrong.

Then the credit card "issue". Personally I think Don just wanted to use a different, cheaper CC processor, because they certainly could have re-submitted our purchases. I verified with Chase there were no issues on my end and he had been paid.

Then he is still advertising these as 2017 models...They aren't, they are 2016 models.

Yeah, they seem like nice guys, but are they honest? It doesn't seem that way. If you read through the reviews here, there are lots of bad experiences....Mostly with big delays.

They are drop shippers...They make a quick buck and move onto the next sale. If you look at their BBB rating, it's not good, like most of these guys.

I have tried re-ordering 3 times this week, and he's not getting back to me. When i originally placed the order, he got back to me pronto, at 8 pm in the eve and took my order.

Not really sure what's going on, but it's not good, whatever it is! You might get lucky and have things go smooth, but if they don't, don't expect any customer service.

[Ski_rush]

Originally Posted by manny

Lets see....1st Don was telling everyone the Enforcer has a counterbalanced engine, different tires than it does and a few other things...Turns out he had never even seen one and he was dead wrong.

Then the credit card "issue". Personally I think Don just wanted to use a different, cheaper CC processor, because they certainly could have re-submitted our purchases. I verified with Chase there were no issues on my end and he had been paid.

Then he is still advertising these as 2017 models...They aren't, they are 2016 models.

Yeah, they seem like nice guys, but are they honest? It doesn't seem that way. If you read through the reviews here, there are lots of bad experiences....Mostly with big delays.

They are drop shippers...They make a quick buck and move onto the next sale. If you look at their BBB rating, it's not good, like most of these guys.

I have tried re-ordering 3 times this week, and he's not getting back to me. When i originally placed the order, he got back to me pronto, at 8 pm in the eve and took my order.

Not really sure what's going on, but it's not good, whatever it is! You might get lucky and have things go smooth, but if they don't, don't expect any customer service.

Manny, in the end, people will still buy from them because you cannot come close to this much bike for this kind of money from any other bike brand.

Don was not "dead wrong" about the Enforcer. He said: 1) it was basically a Hawk (check), 2) easier to register (check), 3) have the improved carb (check), and 4) have a higher gear ratio (check). So, it seems like he was mostly correct about the bike. I never asked him about the counter balanced engine because I assumed that he had no idea what that even is. Yes, he did mention that it would have less aggressive tires than the Hawk to me, but I knew he was wrong about that because the pictures showed the more aggressive knobbies. So, for me, the only thing he was "wrong" about was the tire type, but I knew that when I ordered it (from the pics).

You can complain about their business practices, and you're 100% right. It doesn't really matter in the end, because people are still going to buy these bikes from them. And, as for the shipping, that's completely out of Don's hands. Take that up with the jokers working in the warehouses. I encountered 4 of them when I went to pick up my bike. Let's just say I was not impressed. My prediction is that these guys getting bikes with damaged plastic are not going to see new plastics arrive to their homes. The reasons being that these dealers probably cannot get these parts, and the parts will probably cost them too much money in relation to the price of the bike.

My brother should NOT have refused delivery of this bike. The metal cage around the bike was bent in one spot, and this did cause a scratch on the bike; but who cares. It's a $1000 bike that he probably would have sold in 6 months anyway, not to mention it would have been easily covered up with plasti-dip. He tends to be like that; he's the "return king". He once bought a dog, and then called the breeder the very same evening and wanted to return it! So, I was not surprised one bit that he refused delivery. Actually, I would have been more surprised if he kept it. I even told him on the phone the bike was fine and that he should just keep it.

And, Don not getting back to you to take your money actually lends support to my theory... That they just don't have the stock. Thinking about things further, it seems that these recent bikes arriving with damage might all be shipped from California. I picked up on something fishy about the Cali warehouse when I talked to Don on the phone...after all, I am a psychologist and spent a couple years working as a drug counselor; I have heard every story in the book. I had Don switch mine to come from the Texas warehouse, as did the other guy (i.e., Enforcer17) who got his on the same day as me. Both our enforcers arrived without any damage and both of us had smooth, problem free transactions.

The mystery is what happened after that....and we probably will never know.

[BigWeld]

Originally Posted by Ski_rush

Thinking about things further, it seems that these recent bikes arriving with damage might all be shipped from California. I picked up on something fishy about the Cali warehouse when I talked to Don on the phone...after all, I am a psychologist and spent a couple years working as a drug counselor; I have heard every story in the book. I had Don switch mine to come from the Texas warehouse, as did the other guy (i.e., Enforcer17) who got his on the same day as me. Both our enforcers arrived without any damage and both of us had smooth, problem free transactions.

The mystery is what happened after that....and we probably will never know.

I had that same train of thought myself, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my Brozz arrives in decent shape. The only kind of cosmetic damages that would piss me off are on the tank, headlight lens, or the seat. Cracked plastics, scratches? Bring it on....If it's bolt-on, it's replaceable and/or paintable.

[culcune]

I was just rewatching this video--Shark is worth a look, if the Storms are not available and the Brozz sells out--heck worth a look on its own!

[culcune]

But of course--The Brozz looks good, too (but you better like green). Alan did say, out of the three colors that Kandi carries of the Brozz, he liked green the most; the one no one seems to like or want, or is reluctantly getting. The Bashan Storm in green always looked good, in my opinion, maybe even as Alan said--my favorite (I think they had a couple more colors for the Storm??).

[BigWeld]

That video is one of the reasons I fell in love with the Brozz....trouble is, the guy doing the videos has VERY little knowledge about those bikes, making buyers like myself pretty skeptical about buying from them. That bike IS sexy though.

[mjs91882]

Originally Posted by culcune

I was just rewatching this video--Shark is worth a look, if the Storms are not available and the Brozz sells out--heck worth a look on its own!

I'm seeing the Shark on there website for $2500?? That seems way over priced. Not worth a TT price.

[culcune]

That place is closed, at least temporarily, according to members here--no one answers the phone or returns emails. Weeks ago, someone mentioned that they calculated that the price appears to be double what it should be (half of their price is about $100 less than a Brozz)--someone messed up with the ad, and no one ever fixed it.

[mjs91882]

Originally Posted by culcune

That place is closed, at least temporarily, according to members here--no one answers the phone or returns emails. Weeks ago, someone mentioned that they calculated that the price appears to be double what it should be (half of their price is about $100 less than a Brozz)--someone messed up with the ad, and no one ever fixed it.

Oh damn. Ok well I guess maybe I'll try to call and hopefully get an answer and see and let everyone know. Thank you

[olds_cool63]

So, I finally heard back from Advanti Auto in Mesa, AZ (6 days after I called them).

Sales guy left a voicemail stating they don't know when or IF they will get any Bashan's or other dual sports in.

Oh, well.

Guess I'll just have to order online.

Still looking, tho.