Chinese Enduro bikes?

[booblinker]

I have been contemplating buying one of those chinese dirtbikes, there like 1100-1200 shipped. They have a 200cc Lifan motor, I have been told this is suppose to be a copy of a honda motor, and they are nice. I would like to hear any of your experiences with them. I had a steet bike a while back with that motor in it, seemed to be pretty decent, but i had to sell it with only like 100 miles because i needed moneys.

 

[Crashtest84]

I would stay away from them you gotta remember you get what you pay for most the time. I worked the parts counter in a honda shop for a few yrs and we had people coming in there to try and get parts for them and most the time they didn't fit right

What the deal is on these things is honda sold prints to who ever makes them and they altered the design a lil bit and use cheap alloys on the things but the biggest thing that we had people trying to get was the chain side cover or stator cover same thing and the casting from honda was diff on where some of the things mounted if it was me I would just spend the extra for a honda saves a lil hassle when is comes to fixing the thing if the need comes hope this helps some if you have anymore questions feel free to ask or pm me

 

[Will]

I bought a pair of little Chinese ATVs for my kids. They have been really good. They already wore the tread off the back tires and it's been only a few months. These have a thumper of a 110cc motor and a centrifugal clutch with only one gear it will haul my 200# up any hill. My father followed me across the field on his road bike and clocked me at 25mph. The kids go quite a bit faster. Scary fast.

It's pretty good, it seems well built, but it isn't that well engineered. Nothing has broken but it needs the chain tightened quite a bit and bolts sometimes come loose inexplicably. It's a great toy, but that's as far as it goes. I wouldn't want to have to depend on them.

 

[JohnnyO]

Probably like most things made in China, you don't worry about fixing it. When it breaks you just throw it out and buy another.

 

[linuxman2003]

I would just look for a decent older used yamaha XT225~350 or maybe a suzuki DR350... You can find those for about the same price that are in pretty decent shape, and are MUCH better machines, even used.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I have heard the knockoff chinese Honda wannabe power units (like for a lawn mower) look like a Honda but very few parts actually interchange. For something like a kid that will outgrow it I would say that wouldn't be a huge deal, but if you plan on keeping it for awhile it doen't hurt to get a name brand machine. At least then you can hope they still make parts for it in a couple years.

 

[Martinnyc]

i bought a sach's madass clone made in china, and it had that honda copy motor in it. When the chineese copy czechoslovakian design, no good can come of it. The motor leaked like hell from the time it was brand new. The clutch always slipped, and the bike was generally very underpowered. As for the rest of it, same poor engineering, to the point that i had to make new brackets here and there to even get parts to sit right. The rear brakes NEVER worked, once again, poor design of the calpier, that would NOT seal. None of the lights worked, all the connectors worked themselves loose, and so on.
And that's the way it came brand new shipped.

further down the line if you wanted to get parts (brake pads, air cleaner, piston rings, chain, sprockets, etc.), you might as well look for unicorns, you have a better chance of finding those. The real jap bikes (honda, yamaha, suzuki, kawasaki) are much nicer because the parts for them are generally readily available.

 

[milje]

Check the Dual Sport forum on www.thumpertalk.com, there's a few people with them on there. I know some people have had luck, some haven't.

Personally I'd look for a jap bike, something like a late 80's-early 90's Honda XR250L (if you want street legal, 250R if you just want a cheap dirt bike). Nice bikes, extremely reliable, can be had pretty cheap.

If you want to spend around $2000-2500 and want something a bit bigger, an XR400 can be had in that price range.

 

[v-8power]

I was told the biggest problem with them is the carb. There is a place here in Huntington that sells them. Anytime somebody wants to check one out they have to get a can of starting fluid to get it started.

Personally i would find a used name brand. Better money spent. just my .02 though.

 

[Will]

The funny thing is--when I was a kid, people were rolling over belly laughing about buying Jap crap. We had little metal cars with the axles pinched onto them and other little sheet metal toys the were "Made in Japan" shit and it was funny.

Now the stuff made in Japan is the state of the art.