Herald Motor Co. Brute 500

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

What's everyone's take on the Herald Brute 500?

https://heraldmotorcompany.com/our-bikes/brute-500/


I quite like it, there's something appealing of a bike designed and made here in the UK for me and I'm toying with the idea of putting down a deposit on it. The only thing scaring me off is how little information there's been on it's manufacturing progress. It may well end up one of those bikes that just never happen and even if it does then you're stuck and fucked getting spares because it was a boutique build in the first place...

Hesitant to throw £700 as a deposit on something but the company looks solvent enough (latest accounts, and they make a whopping gross margin) that if they can't ultimately deliver then at least punters will get their deposits back:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/01944904/filing-history

Also just noticed that in their About Us section they literally only have one "Motorcycle Design Engineer":

https://heraldmotorcompany.com/about/

Someone more sane please talk me out of it.
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PRESENT: 2018 BMW S1000XR SE Sport.
PAST: 2009 Kawasaki ER-6F. 2021 Zontes ZT-125U.

[xX-Alex-Xx]

Can you pay the deposit on credit card? At least then you're protected if things go arse-over.

"Hard hitting Torque" on an A2 bike though? hmmm...
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DILLIGAF

[ThunderGuts]

Are they actually made in the UK?
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TG.

[Bhud]

The old-school enduro bike feeling is lots of fun on the road, e.g. Yamaha XT. The marketing blurb says, "There’s nothing quite like a large single for hard hitting torque that brings a smile to your face at any speed."

Of course, everything looks good on paper and in photos, but sometimes, as in this case, the general marketing blurb can lend some insight into certain other things. If you click around their website you can figure out who the target market is. I am interested in what they mean when they say it's built here. I thought Herald were Chinese bikes. Anyway, some amount of assembly (probably very minimal) probably happens here, even if it's just taking it out of the crate and fitting the wheels and handlebars. This is something to enquire about. I wouldn't write it off as junk, but I would need to be sold on the quality, and I would take nothing at face value.

I think you need to see it for yourself, in the flesh. The main issue would be the quality. Is the quality there or will you regret it? I don't know, but all I know is that for significantly less than the asking price you could get a very good XT660 with plenty left over, and that's really a good quality bike and lots of fun.

https://motorcycles-for-sale.biz/sale.php?id=20254

[Evil Hans]

Call 'em up, ask for a factory tour.
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Ayrton]

I thought you wanted something with panniers and shit for touring? This wouldn't be my choice for that. The 42bhp would be enough to put me off.

Also isn't this their first bike they actually designed themselves? I would wait and see how things pan out first.

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[A100man]

[A100man]

[c_dug]

Did you not learn a lesson with your Zontes, or are you some sort of sadist who keeps willingly coming back for more?

Do yourself a favour and buy something from a known manufacturer. If you want British buy a Triumph. If you want British and lesser known, buy a CCM.
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I am a bellend, I am a man of constant sorrow, I am a gummy bear, I am a rock.

[A100man]

OK so they have engineering credentials via the parent company, so are above most Chinese clone/badged 'importers'..

https://www.encocam.com/brands/

Motor though is sourced through 'Asian partners'
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Now: A100, GT250A, XJ598, FZ750

Then: Fizz, RS200, KL250, XJ550, Laverda Alpina, XJ600, FZS600

[Fat Angry Scotsman]

[Ayrton]

[GSTEEL32]

The cafe 400 looks good.

And £4500 for a new bike is actually quite *good* value.

Honda designed engine. So far so good.

Built in Taiwan. Better than Bulgaria, I suppose.

Weight 165k, so 20kg lighter than say, a ducati 900ss.

So far, so *ok*.

Power. 27 bhp.

27.

27 ?. let me check again..... yup 27.

400 cc.

27?

let me think.... a 25 year old Honda CB1 400cc is a reliable bugger. great bike. low stressed engine.... and its got .....55hp. Bloody great little bike to mess around on, with enough grunt to get you about.... even at 180 kg

I think the "engineer" did bl00dy well to actually manage to get so little from a 400cc engine in 2021 .....

Mental. we've gone backwards. 27 bhp used to equate to a solid tzr125cc back in my day ........ and that was 125kg wet !!

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I'm seeing a figure of 42.9bhp there.

It looks good! I'd like a go. Would I ever buy one? No f***ing way. Six grand will get you all kinds of used bikes - my usual budget is half that, and in most cases, a third. £2k will get you a Blackbird, a zx9r, a viffer (maybe), and who knows what else. Some really excellent Japanese machines, albeit probably w/ cycle parts that need a bit of fettling (some braided lines adding here, some suspension linkage greasing there, and fresh fork oil, etc.). But once refreshed, a lot of those early 2000s Japanese bikes will go like stink, ride well generally, and do miles into six figures.

Kind of biker bangernomics - but they're not bangers because unless you're unlucky or unsavvy, a lot of those machines generally haven't done a lot of work. They're sunny day toys for most of the owners they'll have had.

So, as much as I like the looks of that Herald, I'd actually be plumping for a half-decent '90s cb500 for £1500 and spending the change on petrol - at least if I was looking for a bike making power in the 50bhp region, and placing reliability high on my list of criteria.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Seven grand? Does it come with 3 years happy endings?
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[Easy-X]

[xX-Alex-Xx]

[mentalboy]

[Bhud]

[quote="mentalboy"]

[DJP]

Seven grand is more than a lot of established manufacturers offerings.

It's MT07/Honda CB650R type money. It's quite a bit more than a CB500.

For a piece of unknown quality chinesery?

I think not.
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Suzuki Bandit 1250
https://deejayp999.atwebpages.com/index.html
That's http not https

[WD Forte]

Uk made my arse
assembled from made to order Chinese parts possibly
jut like Lexmoto AJS and so many others

the Zongshen RX4 engine has some similarities
https://autowise.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Chinese-Motorcycles-Zongshen-RX4.jpg

It may be decent bike for all I know, Honda etc get bikes made in China after all.

but the 'British bike' bullshit makes me instantly suspect them
the web site is the typical self laudatory superficial crap to be expected nowadays
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bikers smell of wee

[Robby]

Unless new bike prices have gone up a lot in the last 2 years, 7 grand is the entry level price, or price after discounts, for a lot of middleweight stuff from people you've heard of. People who have a dealer near you, and will continue to have a dealer near you for the whole warranty period of the bike.

Also, typically a second bike is not brand new, and is quite fundamentally different from your first bike. Generally a classic, something for dirt, or something for track.

[xX-Alex-Xx]

[BenR]

Personally whilst it looks nice 7k for what is essentially a low powered Chinese bike is way over priced! I'm still waiting for the bullit hero 450 to come out which uses the same engine, I bet that'll be overpriced too.
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Current bikes: suzuki RG125UN wolf. Yamaha MT-07