Best Chinese Bike So Far!

[RevItUp]

I had a 2017 HAWK 2 250, an SSR Razkull clone and now the 2019 Lifan X-Pect 200 EFI and I have to say this is by far of better build quality and performance!!

I am so impressed with this bike both on and off road. I will post some videos soon showing what this thing can do. I am honestly embarrassed for people who drop 6k on Hondas and the like... and I own a 2017 Kawasaki Z650, i’m all for the big 4 but damn, this thing is amazing.

I’m 215 + a 7lb pack and I can cruise at 65 mph and top out at 67 (gps verified - 2) with stock gearing and I haven’t bottomed out once on gnarly terrain!!

[culcune]

The two complaints people here on Chinariders had (without seeing one in person, riding one, or owning one) were the spaghetti noodle thin forks and the rear drum. I am planning what to get for my 4th Chinese dual-sport, and am heavily leaning to this one due to Lifan stepping up the quality control, not to mention I will be primarily commuting 33 miles a day round trip year round (southwest desert--very HOT summers), so don't want anything too fancy. Forks and drum brake do not really bother me for my intentions, although I will desire to explore Arizona trails here and there now that I moved back here for good. I will probably throw on a 17 countersprocket to maximize my road capabilities. I know that Caesar of Small Engine Velocity has gotten a higher top speed out of the 3 Lifans he has. He bought his own KP Mini 150 and was able to get about 70 mph stock out of it, 82 top speed on the KPR 200, and if I recall over 80 on the Lycan 250. All are above what Lifan claims. They claim 70 for the X-Pect, and I am guessing yours is not even fully broken in. Caesar has not done a top speed run on the X-Pect as of yet, as far as I can tell. Disclaimer--Caesar is something like 130 pounds, so that might have something to do with his top speeds. Anyway, I look forward to video and reports of your experience with this bike.

[pete]

From what I have seen the GPX bikes are pretty dam good..
far the best build quality I have seen in a Chinese bike by
a long way...

A few pics I took at the Suzuki dealership in Khon Kaen , Thailand
earlier this year...

Would like to turn the Legend into a scrambler..
Even has the fitting for the higher handle bars mounts...

.

[NzBrakelathes]

Plenty better in China
Loads bigger better bikes etc

[culcune]

Originally Posted by NzBrakelathes

Plenty better in China
Loads bigger better bikes etc

Lifan has a good engine in their 198cc liquid-cooled/fuel-injected KPR 200 and KP200 they sell in the US. They will soon be selling their KPM 200, a café-style bike with this same engine, and also sell a KPT 200 adventure style bike that they chose NOT to sell in the US, sadly for many of us. If they wanted to make a true game changer, rather than simply throwing on fuel-injection to their venerable air-cooled 163FML engine, they SHOULD have thrown their above mentioned 200 with fuel-injection/liquid-cooled (did I mention a 6 speed?) into a dual-sport. Of course, upside down forks and a rear disc would have rounded out the package. Keep in mind that their 200 engine in their street bikes is California certified, whereas the X-Pect 200 dual-sport is not. Like you said about bigger bikes, they are planning on larger engines for the US, but should continue with the 200 liquid-cooled/FI in a California-legal dual-sport when they release their larger bikes.

[RevItUp]

Originally Posted by pete

From what I have seen the GPX bikes are pretty dam good..
far the best build quality I have seen in a Chinese bike by
a long way...

A few pics I took at the Suzuki dealership in Khon Kaen , Thailand
earlier this year...

I was referring to dual sports but yea they look pretty sweet

[RevItUp]

Originally Posted by culcune

Lifan has a good engine in their 198cc liquid-cooled/fuel-injected KPR 200 and KP200 they sell in the US. They will soon be selling their KPM 200, a café-style bike with this same engine, and also sell a KPT 200 adventure style bike that they chose NOT to sell in the US, sadly for many of us. If they wanted to make a true game changer, rather than simply throwing on fuel-injection to their venerable air-cooled 163FML engine, they SHOULD have thrown their above mentioned 200 with fuel-injection/liquid-cooled (did I mention a 6 speed?) into a dual-sport. Of course, upside down forks and a rear disc would have rounded out the package. Keep in mind that their 200 engine in their street bikes is California certified, whereas the X-Pect 200 dual-sport is not. Like you said about bigger bikes, they are planning on larger engines for the US, but should continue with the 200 liquid-cooled/FI in a California-legal dual-sport when they release their larger bikes.

This is Cali legal.. 50 States

[culcune]

Originally Posted by pete

From what I have seen the GPX bikes are pretty dam good..
far the best build quality I have seen in a Chinese bike by
a long way...

Right now, we have Pitster Pro enduros and dual-sports made by Kayo (they have a GPX lineup in the US which used to be a separate line of bikes, but on their website the Pitsters and the GPX bikes are now mixed together; heck, their Kayo-mfg. XTR 250 has GPX graphics) and soon, the US distributor for Kayo (not affiliated with Pitster, so this will be interesting) will release 3 dirt bikes/enduros here in the US under the Kayo name, including one called the XTR 250! The problem with Pitster is they are generally off-road oriented--too off-road oriented according to one member who does not post here but still posts videos on youtube. He said he would not commute on his bike because of the twitchy suspension as well as the seat is very uncomfortable. He has thrown on a cushion on his seat which has helped, and has said his bike is rock-solid quality and starts everytime (Chinese engines in general tend to do this), so there is a plus, but his bike is too off-road according to him, which he considers a negative. He rides with sponsored semi-pros on top dollar bikes, so I am sure he feels inferior and wants to move up to a name brand bike, but he has proven the Pitster as a solid bike.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by RevItUp

This is Cali legal.. 50 States

Sadly it is not. I just moved from the L.A. area, and called American Lifan directly who confirmed the X-Pect is not. They were originally trying to go that route, so a lot of online dealers ran with it and put it in their ads. However, Turbopowersports out of Orange County also confirmed this with me and said they would take out the CARB legal print in their ads when I spoke with them several months ago.

[RevItUp]

Originally Posted by culcune

Sadly it is not. I just moved from the L.A. area, and called American Lifan directly who confirmed the X-Pect is not. They were originally trying to go that route, so a lot of online dealers ran with it and put it in their ads. However, Turbopowersports out of Orange County also confirmed this with me and said they would take out the CARB legal print in their ads when I spoke with them several months ago.

Ill take your word for it but its hard to believe that an EFI bike would be CARB compliant. I’ve never heard of an EFI vehicle NOT making the list but hey, Cali is nuts so who knows

[culcune]

Originally Posted by RevItUp

Ill take your word for it but its hard to believe that an EFI bike would be CARB compliant. I’ve never heard of an EFI vehicle NOT making the list but hey, Cali is nuts so who knows

Believe it or not, but most of Pitster Pro's lineup is California legal, only Red Sticker (which limits one's riding on state OHV parks to certain times of year, but member 2LZ believes these restrictions do not apply to federal land such as national forest OHV trails). California has long shut the loophole of plating off-road bikes for the street, so even a Green Sticker (year round off-road vehicle) could never get plated. The Apollo '36' dirt bike and street legal dual-sport up to model year 2018 are California Green Sticker, for instance (I would prefer the street-legal bike simply for the headlight and taillight). However, I have not seen the X-Pect on ANY California certification list (on-road, Green Sticker, Red Sticker) on the CARB site, and I have been looking. Interestingly, I know some batches of the KP Mini were CARB certified for a while, but I have not been able to find it anywhere. Lifan really needs to toss in their KPR/KP 200 engine into a dual-sport (could sell it side by side with the X-Pect so as to not disrupt their flow of dual-sports, as well as to satisfy those of us who like simple air-cooled Chinese engines) since the engine is CARB certified. Throw on USD forks and a rear disc brake to round out the package!

[landshark]

[QUOTE=RevItUp;320990]I had a 2017 HAWK 2 250, an SSR Razkull clone and now the 2019 Lifan X-Pect 200 EFI and I have to say this is by far of better build quality and performance!!

I am so impressed with this bike both on and off road. I will post some videos soon showing what this thing can do. I am honestly embarrassed for people who drop 6k on Hondas and the like... and I own a 2017 Kawasaki Z650, i’m all for the big 4 but damn, this thing is amazing.

I’m 215 + a 7lb pack and I can cruise at 65 mph and top out at 67 (gps verified - 2) with stock gearing and I haven’t bottomed out once on gnarly terrain!!

I am also very impressed with my x-pect as well. Only Chinese bike I have owned, but it has greatly exceeded my "x-pectations." No issues, no complaints whatsoever. More fun to ride than any bike I have owned.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by culcune

He said he would not commute on his bike because of the twitchy suspension

A bit of time adjusting the front and rear suspension to optimize the chassis under load (rider weight) would likely solve that. Both damping, rider sag, and then minor adjustments in the height of the forks to optimize the trail on the front. If I had to guess the rear probably needs more rebound damping and either the rear shock or forks need a change in spring rate and/or preload.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by Megadan

A bit of time adjusting the front and rear suspension to optimize the chassis under load (rider weight) would likely solve that. Both damping, rider sag, and then minor adjustments in the height of the forks to optimize the trail on the front. If I had to guess the rear probably needs more rebound damping and either the rear shock or forks need a change in spring rate and/or preload.

I think he feels inferior riding with his pro and/or semi-pro buddies on high $ machines. The last video he posted the other day was making me tired just watching him. Not that he was doing anything wrong, just the way the New England trails are. Plus, his two buddies riding with him made it look easy. I think he feels that he doesn't want to hold them back, which I can totally understand. For me, since I 'discovered' that the AZ Peace Trail exists, I am going back and forth between the XTR and the X-Pect. I am willing to abuse myself commuting the daily 16.5 miles each way for being able to ride with some confidence on what is a fairly rough trail on the weekends. Not that I plan on doing the loop in 5 or 6 days, but rather do some weekend rides from Yuma to wherever and back. I understand the overall trail is more for 4 wheelers, so that kind of makes me think I would be better off on a more serious off-roader.

[Wild Dog]

Originally Posted by culcune

I think he feels inferior riding with his pro and/or semi-pro buddies on high $ machines. The last video he posted the other day was making me tired just watching him. Not that he was doing anything wrong, just the way the New England trails are. Plus, his two buddies riding with him made it look easy. I think he feels that he doesn't want to hold them back, which I can totally understand. For me, since I 'discovered' that the AZ Peace Trail exists, I am going back and forth between the XTR and the X-Pect. I am willing to abuse myself commuting the daily 16.5 miles each way for being able to ride with some confidence on what is a fairly rough trail on the weekends. Not that I plan on doing the loop in 5 or 6 days, but rather do some weekend rides from Yuma to wherever and back. I understand the overall trail is more for 4 wheelers, so that kind of makes me think I would be better off on a more serious off-roader.

The problem is that people sometimes don't understand that tools like car, motorcycle are made for different purposes.

So you have a Chinese 223cc 4T made engine and you want to race a Japanese 125 2T with a nice expansion chamber?? Of course they are going to be ahead of you.
Those motorcycle were made to be used in races. The chinese 223 4T was not.
The choices are simple, you either understand the drawbacks of your engine and you ride it for what it is.. Or you save money and get a machine that will be able to compete with your friends.


About the serious stuff, these chinese motorcycle can take the challenge but at their own pace..
My Toyota Hilux 2.8 with a nice set of 700x16 could take you everywhere you wanted of course at a slow pace...