hongdou reliability

ts50x0 · Spanner Monkey Joined: 16 May 2004 Karma :

how reliable is the hongdou cg125 copy. it looks good for the price but are they really as reliable as the sellers claim????

The Tot · World Chat Champion Joined: 11 Jun 2004 Karma :

I did my CBT on one of those - utter shits - the tach was all over the place and not reading correctly - i musta been doing warp speed Razz

. It does however have a gear indicator - but useless when you have the sun shining on it. It produces a tad less than a genuine Honda, but chinese bikes are cheap and cheerful, until they break - my advice - stick with HON-DA! They'll be bulletproof!
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mchaggis · World Chat Champion Joined: 10 May 2004 Karma :

Well... I've had no problems with a Hongdou (see my profile for the pic), apart from a few key things. The rev counter went crazy, all the way around the clock, and eventually the needle managed to fall off after I'd fixed it... Rolling Eyes

The speedo drive is sticking and hopping, it was stuck not going over 42 for a while last week, eventually I managed to unstick it doing 60 on a dual carriageway for a few minutes.

A bulb blew after 150 miles. It was an obscure Chinese type which I could not get here. They are also less powerful than the Honda CG125, mine does 55-60 wringing it's neck, and geared up.

Resell value? Laughing

Assuming it stays alive long enough I imagine it'll get passed down the family for my siblings to learn to ride on. Maybe after that if the frame and things have rusted to pieces, I'll take the engine and build me a dune buggy or something. Very Happy

On the plus side, it's extremely crashproof. I've crashed it (to various degrees) four times, once seriously, twice binned it (gravel and wet roundabout), and once caught the footpeg in the verge as I was coming to a standstill. Not an item has been damaged. Scrapes and a couple of dents, and that's your lot. I accidentally dropped it moving it when I slipped on moss the other day; the clutch lever was ever so slightly bent, after effectively dropping onto it from perhaps 4 feet. Having said all that, a CG is very probably just as crashproof, though said CG snapped a mirror at 0mph.

Mine's really really comfortable with much better suspension than (the 11 year old CG I am comparing it with) though.

Still, I'd just get a CG125 for less than £800, and sell it when you do your test, perhaps losing maybe £100 max.
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pipnet11 · Brolly Dolly Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Karma :

According to reviews Iv read they arnt too bad, but for not very much money you can have a honda CG or a Suzuki GS. This is a much better option as parts are more standard and a lot more available. Also they are both almost bomb proof!!

personaly I would get a well known brand.
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Full Bananas · Renault 5 Driver Joined: 02 Nov 2004 Karma :

Maybe I got a Friday afternoon bike, but my experience of the Hongdou CG125 was pretty terrible. To be fair, the engine and transmission seemed solid enough but the build quality on the rest of the bike wasn't good. The brakes were shocking - no stopping power at all, even for drum brakes. The clutch cable just snapped after about 500 miles. The silver paint on the front drum brake and the chain guard was very thin and bubbled up and flaked in no time. Also there was a design problem with the electric starter system, which meant that if you tried to start it when the battery was dead (which happened quite soon if you rode around with the lights on all the time) then it would shag the solenoid. The battery was held in place by a large rubber band, which perished very quickly and resulted in me having to tape it up. The lugs on the plastic panel on the side broke on the second time I removed it. And several of the spokes on the rear wheel broke for no apparent reason.

As far as resale goes, I didn't do too badly but I think I was quite lucky. I bought the bike brand new for £950 and sold it a year later for £760 on ebay.

As others have said, get a second hand Honda instead. I reckon you'll be much happier in the long run.