Aprilia idea out of the window, what about this?

[AlexD1990]

https://www.zontes.com/Products/ProductShow.aspx?ProId=6

I have a dealer about 10 miles away from me who said he could get this bike in for me for £1450 otr

and for piece of mind it will have a 24 months unlimited mileage parts & labour warranty!

Read a thread on MCN and they speak very highly of the quality, fit and finish of the bike

tell me what you think

[P.addy]

I think you are a frigging idiot if you even contemplate that.

Japanese 125...stick with them.

Stay away from chinese. It wont last 24 months, probably wont last 12, you'll have to be Lady Luck to have it last 6 months.

[AlexD1990]

Emphasis on the warranty and the other thread

https://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/community/Forums/Categories/Topic/?topic-id=420794

[AlexD1990]

They are handled by the Baotian Scooter Importer

[nowhere.elysium]

[P.addy]

For £1450 I could get a fantastic japanese bike, yes it will be a few years old, but it shows it will last a few years.
Warranty is shit on a chinese bike

[J.M.]

At the price it's showing me, I'd have a hundred

But the general consensus is to usually stay away from Chinese bikes; their build/part quality is a low lower which is represented by their price.

I believe some of the bikes even use plastic nuts/bolts instead of metal ones in places. I've also read several reports of very questionable electronics, at best.

I still recommend buying something second hand, Japanese, "shit" looking, just to pass your test. Then buy something good looking You'll find a lot more nice big bikes for the price of a rubbish looking 125.
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2004 R1 & 2018 XSR900

[AlexD1990]

I'm handy with the spanners for all of the minor quibbles as long as it doesn't decide to explode into a million pieces

[AlexD1990]

also i have a couple of mates who have bought chinese bikes from this guy, on has a Giantco and the other a Kaisar xtr 125, the Giantco is alive and kicking the Kaisar is well and truly dead courtesy of a wall haha

[nowhere.elysium]

If you've convinced yourself already, why bother asking us?
Good luck with the resale value.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[AlexD1990]

@nowhere i'll probably keep it tbh commute on it til it dies

[.....]

[AlexD1990]

i got shot down for saying this before but i dont want a cg or a ybr i dont like the look of them

[AlexD1990]

Actually i'm going to take a different stance altogether.
Does anyone have suggestions for a bike under £2000 that looks good and does 65mph+

I loooked at an MZ SM 125 apparently they perform pretty well just stick some road tyres on because i dont like the knobbly tyres really

[P.addy]

[nowhere.elysium]

[AlexD1990]

Money tree you say! I'll take them

[AlexD1990]

YZF a bit pricey, CBR a bit skinny so neither of them

[nowhere.elysium]

[AlexD1990]

The whole point in a 125 was to make my commute to work cheap so when i do get my full license i'll be keeping the bike anyway solely for that purpose so it is hardly money wasted

[Ichy]

My own personal experience is that not all Chinese bikes self destruct at the first sign of bad weather. At the training school there were 3 CG clones, I think Jinlun or something similar. They did take a lot of abuse in the three or four years that I remember them for, although the mileage would of been fairly low, and coped very well. One important part is that they were serviced and maintained regularly by knowledgable people, something that most purchasers would possibly neglect.

Don't be surprised if the £1400 bike is worth half that in a year, nobody really wants them second hand due to the reputation. Remember, a bike isn't for life. At best I suggest that most people will want to upgrade within a year or so. Get something that will sell.
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https://www.metacafe.com/watch/1972097/how_to_behave_on_a_forum/

[_Troy_]

If you've got £2k why are you even considering chinese? Surely they are there for people who want the ultimate in cheap transport.

There are so many japanese 125s out there, and so many that look half decent, hold their value, and will actually see 65mph.

I bought a 125 to commute on, it was a Honda CityFly. It was excellent, comfy, didn't look much like a small bike. But, and it's a big but, it was slow and boring. Judging by your attitude you're more than likely going to want to go silly speeds very soon. So why not cut out the middle man and get a big bike? A cheap 500 twin will cost half of that and will go all day long, oh and will probably cost less to insure than a 125 as you'll have a full license.

Or just do what i did, get bored of the 500 twin and get a Ninja to commute on!
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Current bike: ZX6R J1
Previous bikes: CLR 125 | GS500 | ZX6R G2 | SV650

[Rogerborg]

[Alpha-9]

Arggggh


I've not been here long and i'm already sick of this
No-one here will encourage you to buy a Chinese bike, as much as you may want one, just buy it and do it because you've already made your mind up.

I love my YBR personally and i'm very glad I didnt follow my greed and spend less on a crappy chinky bike that i'd inevitably have to spend more money on.


You have 2 choices:
A. Follow the advice of all the experienced people who know what they're talking about (Not including me, i r nub)
B. Ignore them and do what you are going to do anyway

Either way it's your choice, if you do get a chinese bike i'd love for you to come back in a year and say how we're all wrong and how you've had no problems. But good luck with that
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Fzr-600 1999

[dungbug]

Honda Varadero, Yamaha XT125R any good? I've currently got an 09 plate Chinese bike (loosely based on a Honda XL using a clone CG engine) & I'm currently riding a 1999 Suzuki GN125 with carb issues.......Go figure.

As others have said the reliability is very questionable, if you're after a commuter then I can say (from experience) it's a PITA pushing your bike home on the way to work because it's let you down.
Also remember that 'budget' new bike has 'budget' parts, important stuff like tyres, brakes etc will be the cheapest they can be to warrant the cheap pricetag otherwise they'd be no margin on the sale.
with a budget of £1450 I'd be able to find a descent Japanese machine that wasn't overly old nor have alot of miles. Sure it wouldn't be a 'new' bike but I'd be alot more confident that it wasn't going to break when I really didn't need it to......i.e when it's peeing with rain & I'm half way up the dual carriageway going to work on a Monday morning.

Entirely you're call, I can see how the idea of a long warranty has it's plus points.....However when it breaks you're without a bike while it's being fixed so alternative transport will be needed, although you're thinking of using it until it dies realistically when the warranty runs out will you want to be paying out for new parts? Maybe sell it after 2 years, the resale value will be poor and won't give you much back to buy another bike with if you choose to stick with a bike.

Just did a quick search on fleabay & found this;

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-YAMAHA-XT-125-X-ORANGE-/250994299187?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item3a706d1133

Low miles, MOT'd & will outlast any Chinese bike for sure.