Chinese Bikes

[tomkapsalis]

Hey guys, this is my first post so be gentle. I have to decided to sod getting a car and do the biking route like some family members of mine did. Thing is I am on a bit of a budget and need to get a 125cc in october when I am 17. Is there anything wrong with bike companies like Lifan. The bike I want is exactly like a cg125 but is about a grand cheaper. Considering I am gonna need some form of transport in a rush do ya reckon its better for me to get a new lifan city x (same as cg) or a used cg? Any Ideas?
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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...

[Mark_petty]

used cg, much much better and you will be able to sell it for the amount you paid for it.
The chinese bike will just fall apart

go for CG trust me
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[Rides: Suzuki GSF600sx]
[CBT: Passed] [Theory: Passed] [DAS: Passed]

[tomkapsalis]

Yeah I have been told the cg is bulletproof and I am only going to use it for commuting and pottering around town. How reliable are they?
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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...

[Chris_northants]

well, Ive got a chinese bike, a Skyjet F5 Sprort (125cc), and I haven't had any problems with it so far, bought it from a nearby 125cc dealer brand new for £1250.

Came with a years parts and labour warrenty and although initialy I was a little worried by the 'it will fall apart' line, I can't see anything wrong with it. Obviously Id prefer an NSR or RS as a first learner bike, but as a first bike which is likely to get treated a little roughly, Im happy with it.

Im sure the quality of manufactures does varry tho, so be cautious I suppose.

[tomkapsalis]

Obviously I would love an rs or nsr but I am just gonna need a cheap bike for a year until I can get a bandit that has been restricted.
I have heard about those Skyjets but every single chinese bike/copy always gives you that 'will it fall apart' line in the back of your head.
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Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...

[simon1221]

Thats because it will, and even if it doesnt no one is going to pay a real amount of money when you sell it, youd be lucky to get £500 a year after you brought it for £1250, plus anybody who knows anything about bikes will laugh at you.

Add to that the fact that where do you get parts from?

Get a CG
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DNA50 (sorry) ->> TZR125l >> GPZ500S

[instigator]

Get a Kymco.

Korean I think and use the same kind of reliable engine as the CG.

Reliable, aprts are cheap and available and they cost next to nothing to buy second hand. Kymco Pulsar. Just DO look after the finish on ANY bike you buy.

[satellite]

You might want to join this Yahoo! group and read what existing owners think of their bikes -

https://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/import125s/
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09 Ninja & some four wheeled rotary goodness.

[thx1138]

I had a chinese CG-125. The build quality and overall finish was lacking. The chrome rusted up horribly in the winter.

The bike itself was fine to ride, and the engine was good. I did some quite long haul trips on it, 200mile+ one way, and it was fine to ride.

After buying a brand new one, on the road for £1,300. I'd have to agree with everyone else about a used Honda being a better buy though.

[Mark_petty]

I paid about £850 (I think) for a Honda City Fly 125 with only 7k on the clock, 1999 reg. I kept it a year and had no problems at all and sold it a couple of months ago for £750

The time I had it I did my own services on it and it passed the mot needing nothing
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[Rides: Suzuki GSF600sx]
[CBT: Passed] [Theory: Passed] [DAS: Passed]

[Dragonfly]

i have the lifan . they ok there like the cg. i have no prob with it anyway apart from not being fast enough lol.

https://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1/bikergirl666/00000001.jpg
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All the breast.
Muzza on Binge:
He's too busy beating the everloving shit out of Lizzie to notice this thread has taken a turn down Drama Avenue and stopped off at the popcorn shop.

[tribal_tiger]

I had a Baimo RSR125, again, copy of a CG. I don't think in the year and a half I had it there was a week where something didn't fall off or break. That said it never stopped going either.

I'd go for a CG anyday, much easier to get parts and stuff for and easier to sell on when the time comes
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How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?

All of it.

[instigator]

If you can use a bottle of wd40 then finish won't be a problem on a Kymco. I stand by this. I think the "honda are the best" thought is a load of cobblers, people jsut generally don't know how to look after a bikes finish.

[thx1138]

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v616/THXII38/Bikes/bike007.jpg


On the left, the Chinese bike, not 6 months old. On the right, the 29 year old Honda.

I rode both bikes through all weathers, and both started first time, and never let me down.

Can't quite see the Chinese bike still running in 29 years though.....

[bushido]

Im totally new to this and plan to do my CBT in the next month or so, after this I was looking at buying a 125 to practice on while I learn the big bike stuff.

I must be honest and say that I will be looking for something that wont break the bank and after looking on ebay etc I am really tempted by one of those chinese skyjet bikes at under a grand.
In my novice opinion they look the part and it would be a first bike for me.

Stu

[Mudskipper]

[Polarbear]

If your going to buy a chinese bike, go for a second hand on about a year old. I got one for my son on ebay, a Hyong Prince I think it was It looked like the bike in dragonflys piccy.

I bought it for £500 so it's already lost that big depreciation you get from new. It starts and runs fine. The engine is an exact copy of CG125 and seems pretty bulletproof. Finish quality is poor, but as long as you keep on top of it, it should last OK.

If you plan to keep the bike for a while, I would probably recommend one of the 'big four's bikes' but if it's just for learning, falling off and passing you test it should be fine

Oh, one other thing, if you need engine spares, don't expect Honda dealers to be helpful, I don't think any of these CG copies have been built under licence, they are just that - copies.
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Triumph Trophy Launch Edition

[sandino]

I did hear something on these forums about the frames just plain snapping in half.
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YBR125 - My bike's current land speed record - 74MPH (indicated)

[Polarbear]

[Mudskipper]

[XR125]

I wouldn't ride one, I'd be paranoid that my brakes would fail or something lol.

Go for a decent one by honda or something, you can get used cgs for the price of a new chinese bike and you'd have less trouble.

Plus, if you get a CG new for 1250 - you come to sell it down the line you could get around 1000 for it, try seling a chinese bike 1 week down the line

There was also someone in this forum whos piston head bent within 700 miles, thats not a cheap repair.. you could end up paying the price for a new CG/XR after a year.

[terryhs]

I have just bought a Kiasar 125cc its the same as the skyjet F5. I PAID £600.00 on a 07, the guy bought it for £1250 in feb this year the build quality seems fine and sit at 55mph no problem and tops out at 75mph. look for second hand mine had 300k on it. seems reliable i only bought it to get experiance riding for my test. look for second hand bargins.

[GodzGift]

[Zenarchy]

I've got a Jinlun JL125-11. Bought it just under a year old, and have had it almost a year. Hasn't let me down once. Does 60 to 70mph (depending upon the road surface and incline) without too much of a problem.

Starts first time, hasn't broken down once, and nothing has fallen off it yet. Also very little rust on it at all despite being ridden in all weathers by both myself and the previous owner (though it has been looked after and you need to keep on top of cleaning it because I'm sure the chrome isn't as good as on a Japanese bike).

You can pick these up new for a bit over a grand, and they seem to hold their value fairly well. Parts are plentiful and cheap from a number of dealers.

It's a big cruiser style bike though, so might not be exactly what you're looking for and if you're planning to use it to get through your restricted test then you might find uturns a bit harder on it (though on the plus side - if you can do a uturn on one of these it'll probably mean that you'll find handling a bigger bike a bit easier - or so I'm told).

Go and have a look at: www.jinlun-owners.co.uk . You need to log in there to see the forum but you'll find lots of happy owners there and both good and bad reports (most bad reports have been fairly minor teething problems or the odd unlucky case it seems).

There's a couple of people selling their bikes on there at the moment also, one guy who's just posted a year old bike that's done virtually zero miles and just sat in his garage unused for the last year. Might be worth a look anyway.

I've found mine so far to be way better than what I was expecting (though I did have quite limited expectations considering the price of it). Only thing I'm unhappy about is that it's a 125 and I really want to get through my test and get a tourer with more power to go on holiday with.

[Zenarchy]

Some reviews of the Jinlun:

https://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews-all-92198.html