Who says these bikes dont do dual-sport!

[pullin-gs]

This 200cc Lifan-powered GY200 completed the AMA-organized Shennandoah 500 dual-sport ride last weekend. I beat the sh=t out of it, no other way to describe it. I made the ride with about 200 other riders, all of them on Japanese and Euro bikes. Not a single other china bike. All I had to do was ride it within it's limitations (about half of the suspension travel as most other bikes there) and keep it slow on the rocks. No problems at all in the gravel, mud, and trails....kept up good with the other bikes there. Just those damn rocks is where I kept it slow (2nd gear mostly, sometimes 3rd, sometimes 1st).


NOT ONE THING BROKE, bent, cracked, fell off, or quit working on the bike the entire weekend. Nothing. All I had to do was tighten my chain between Sat/Sun runs, and one other time mid-ride when the chain flipped off at the end of one of the stream crossings.
Bike has about 2000 miles on it now.

http://members.verizon.net/~vze3sdb7/s5001a.jpg
http://members.verizon.net/~vze3sdb7/s5002a.jpg
http://members.verizon.net/~vze3sdb7/s5003a.jpg
http://members.verizon.net/~vze3sdb7/s5004a.jpg
http://members.verizon.net/~vze3sdb7/s5005a.jpg


http://www.nvtr.org/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=83&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=4378
http://www.nvtr.org/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=83&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=4219
http://www.nvtr.org/index.php?option=com_gallery2&Itemid=83&g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=4757

[sonofSunl]

GOOD JOB !!!!!

[frostbite]

All I had to do was tighten my chain between Sat/Sun runs, and one other time mid-ride when the chain flipped off at the end of one of the stream crossings.

Same thing happened to me on this ride (http://www.chinariders.net/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=420) right after a water crossing. The 428 chains are just too flimsy for a bike this size.

[ob1]

How about that "Danger - Danger - Danger" followed by Accelerate Hard.....onto I-40!!!

I know some folks who made that ride, judging by their reports, that your China bike made it is really impressive, especially Day 1.

Congrats!!

[blimpman]

This 200cc Lifan-powered GY200 completed the AMA-organized Shennandoah 500 dual-sport ride last weekend. I beat the sh=t out of it, no other way to describe it. I made the ride with about 200 other riders, all of them on Japanese and Euro bikes. Not a single other china bike. All I had to do was ride it within it's limitations (about half of the suspension travel as most other bikes there) and keep it slow on the rocks. No problems at all in the gravel, mud, and trails....kept up good with the other bikes there. Just those damn rocks is where I kept it slow (2nd gear mostly, sometimes 3rd, sometimes 1st).


NOT ONE THING BROKE, bent, cracked, fell off, or quit working on the bike the entire weekend. Nothing. All I had to do was tighten my chain between Sat/Sun runs, and one other time mid-ride when the chain flipped off at the end of one of the stream crossings.
Bike has about 2000 miles on it now.


Way to go!! This is how I am going to ride the Lifan that is soon to be in my garage. Working on the bike is 1/2 the fun! I have ridden those kind of Dual Sport events on a KLR650 and it just worked me to death. Sure alot of fun tho!

[amc31b]

I just got out of an experienced rider course with my roketa DB-05. We practiced snap turns, stop and goes, figure 8's, and the like. Even though I was one of the more experineced in the class, I ran circles around all the other riders, even though they had more expensive bikes :twisted: . There were several GSXR's, a few R6's, a harley and a massive goldwing. I was able to complete the manuevers faster and easy than all of them. I had people asking all day what kind of bike it was and where It came from. And to think that they paid all that money for "superior handling" 8)

[dlunt]

There were several GSXR's, a few R6's, a harley and a massive goldwing. I was able to complete the manuevers faster and easy than all of them. I had people asking all day what kind of bike it was and where It came from. And to think that they paid all that money for "superior handling" 8)

Personally I wouldn't mind a GSXR or R6 (or a few dozen other bikes) in my garage right next to my GY-5. :D
The high speed handling would run circles around my Lifan...oops did I just mention high speed and Lifan in the same sentence? :twisted:

[deputygene]

Great job Pullin G's! Those river crossings looked kinda deep. Did you do anything in particular to prep your bike for this event? I have never rode in an organized enduro event, what is the entry fee to one of those?

[blimpman]

Great job Pullin G's! Those river crossings looked kinda deep. Did you do anything in particular to prep your bike for this event? I have never rode in an organized enduro event, what is the entry fee to one of those?

Enduro's can be REAL tough...... If you want to start on organised AMA events I'd suggest a Dual Sport Ride. Generally they are two day events with the first day usually being the tougher ride. The second day is usually easier and in my opinion much more fun! The DS events I have been to in Ohio tend to be attended by alot of ex-enduro & harescrambler riders riding 450cc or less MX & offroad bikes that are barely street legal. Many ride very hard even though it is not a race of any kind. A 200cc Enduro bike like the Roketa or Lifan would make all the ride sections with no problem though. For a new rider they always have the tougher sections as optional with go-around routes clearly labeled. Entry fees for both days at a Dual Sport Event have averaged 75-80 bucks and a single day is 50-70.

Prep for your bike... Locktite... Blue Locktite. Always carry tools with you and always have water with ya... for the rider of course. Good DS tires or Street Legal knobbies ( like the Dunlop 606) would really be helpful. Practice beforehand if you can and have some fun!

These are very fun events and I would reccommend them to anyone. I am gonna ride 4 or 5 next year.

Brian

[pullin-gs]

My prep:

Riding gear.....most important upgrade you can make. Get some MX boots, nice gloves, riding jacket, a chest-protector, eye protection, and riding pants. I cant stress this enough. The S500 had several broken bones (not mine), two involving collisions or near-collisions with other vehicles.

Built the bike right (locktite all fasteners) when I got it new 18 months ago.
Before race I went over it again....found a few nuts that needed to be torqued. Changed oil, and adjusted valves and chain.

I also had to get an after-market pipe. The rules of the ride stipulated that the exaust MUST have a USFS (US Forrest Service) approved spark arrestor. The Lifan does not have a USFS approved arrestor (it would be stamped on it if it was).

I also upgraded my chain.

I ran fast gearing (17T x 43T).

Everything else is stock.

Very important that bike is locktighted everywhere.

Also important to respect the bike for what it is. If you try to keep up with the other riders (most are riding dirt conversions and heavy DS bikes) on the rocky sections or the jumps you will break the bike. Everywhere else (most of the miles) on the gravel and smooth trails it goes as fast as your skills will allow. On several sections I had it over 60MPH. Day one took 7 hours. Day 2 took 7 hours also.

Great experience....I will do it again, with this bike.

Cheers!

Pullin'

[tzrider]

Found this like that shows some of what the little China bike had to go through. I think I'd be siliconing electrics before this ride, LOL. :lol:

http://www.familyriders.org/S500_2006.wmv

[John22j]

Also important to respect the bike for what it is. If you try to keep up with the other riders (most are riding dirt conversions and heavy DS bikes) on the rocky sections or the jumps you will break the bike.

A statement like that has me concerned about buying a China bike -- I'm looking at a full dirt one to just ride on trails. I'm an experienced rider (with woods and MX background), so what level of abuse is too much for a China bike? Are they just not built right? shotty supsension? The trails I ride on entail much of what are shown in the pics/video of this DS ride -- rocks, fallen trees that you ride over, water crossings... maybe a little rougher in some sections... and jumps - are you saying you can't jump these bikes? (I don't mean 10'+ MX style, but going off a 3' drop off is like a jump)

should I just buy an older Jap bike instead? I figured for the same money why not try one of these. Obviously I know the Honda's run forever, but a 5 year old one is in the same price range as the new Hensim I've been looking at.

I was planning on ordering a Hensim DB150-2 Monday -- now I'm not sure.

[ob1]

I cant speak for the bike themselves, at least from personal experience. From what I've seen, heard and read, I would not call them THE bike for full-on aggressive dirt riding.

But, for the money, the engines ARE pretty sweet. I dropped one into an XR200 chassis for my daughter to race enduros with. She presently holds 2nd place in the series standings. The motor has been absolutely flawless.

[blimpman]

[quote="John22j The trails I ride on entail much of what are shown in the pics/video of this DS ride -- rocks, fallen trees that you ride over, water crossings... maybe a little rougher in some sections... and jumps - are you saying you can't jump these bikes? (I don't mean 10'+ MX style, but going off a 3' drop off is like a jump)

should I just buy an older Jap bike instead? I figured for the same money why not try one of these. Obviously I know the Honda's run forever, but a 5 year old one is in the same price range as the new Hensim I've been looking at.

I was planning on ordering a Hensim DB150-2 Monday -- now I'm not sure.[/quote]

Get the DB150...
I would say 3' jumps would not be a problem. Riding these bike like a MX bike would not be a great idea because they are NOT a true MX bike. Used as a trail bike for most DS, mild adventure and family type rides, you would be fine. You have to keep up on the maintenance a little more ( check bolts, fasteners, etc..) but knowing that on the frontside will help make every ride a pleasure. The more feedback the Chinese manuf get on how their bikes are used and perform will help in making them better. ( my opinion). The last few years the bikes coming out of PRC have gotten much better. Look at what the Japenese bikes were like when they first got to the States. The Chinese will catch up very fast....

One more thing... get some thick skin because you'll hear the jokes about Chinese bikes from your riding buddies.... ( make sure to laugh at them when you pass them on the trail though... :twisted: )

[NewEnglandTrails]

John and ob1,

Okay, I might betray my age here. But the same things your saying about Chinese bikes are the same things they said about Japanese bikes and products when I was growing up. There was a point when Japanese products were so cheap, and inexpensive that "Made In Japan" was a detriment to the product. Obviously that is not the case in the year 2006.

Considering that the Japanese manufacturers of bikes are outsourcing to China might mean that even if you buy a suzuki, honda or kawasaki you may end up with a China bike anyway, probably built in one of the plants that you would end up buying a china bike from.

Capitalism is taking hold in China... as well.. Which means that there are incentives now in place for quality.. supply and demand. The workers in a Chinese factory from Research and Development down to the assembly line worker are all now evaluated on performance and pride in craftmanship. The better they do the more the more Yens they bring home.

I have two china bikes so far, Im far from an expert, but I can say that for the price I paid. The product I recieved was well worth the bucks I spent. If I spent 4 times the money on a Japanese branded bike I would probably pay as close attention as I do to loctiting bolts. changing oil and have fun pushing it to the limits..

If you are worried about parts and service, these bikes are so inexpensive you can buy two and still pay less than one japanese branded bike for spare parts. As well there are a growing number of dealers supporting the product.. See RPM, ejcycles and Mule3010 who are active members here. There are many more to mention and will edit this post later.

Hang tuff keep riding,...... New England Trails

[ob1]

NET, no doubt the Chinese will improve their bikes, and much quicker than the Japs did {my first bike was a '72 Honda XL125}

They want to sell bikes as badly as anyone else, and they have the advantage of observing past mistakes in other make's bikes. Sure, they are making a few mistakes of their own, comes with the industry. They also have the advantage of copying other makes {directly or indirectly}, at least to outward appearance.

The sooner the various brands of Chinabikes are whittled down to the best, the sooner they will improve in quality as they absorb the competition.

I am impressed with the engines, the rest of the bike will follow, bet on it!

[tzrider]

Actually, a good number of Yamaha's small displacement four strokes are Chinese built, now, starting with the PW50.

[John22j]

One more thing... get some thick skin because you'll hear the jokes about Chinese bikes from your riding buddies.... ( make sure to laugh at them when you pass them on the trail though... :twisted: )

No problem there -- I've always been the kind to let insults just roll off my back. Actually, I'm a pretty respected rider among my friends -- so who knows, I might even help get the China bikes a following (unless I happen to get a "Friday bike")

I have a jap race MX bike that I take out on the tracks, this little 150 is just to tool around on trails with my brother and his utility 4 wheeler gang - I think it will work just fine. (and I guess I'm willing to risk $1k to find out) :)

[pullin-gs]

Got my slot reserved for the S500 this October 6/7.
Running the same bike.

I'd hate to be the only china-bike running again this year....anybody else going to run it with me?

There are still a few slots left...but act quick (like now)...I expect it to sell out in the next few days.

www.nvtr.org for details. The NVTR puts up a class-act of a ride.

[Savage]

I'm going on a DS ride this month. I would assume I will be the only CRider as well. I'm sure some of the guys will look at it funny, but I bet others will be glad to see one in person because they've thought about going over to the Darkside. LOL (as a spare bike)

[katoranger]

Pullin, its about time you made the escape from the wrath of TT.

How many miles you up to now?

Allen

[pullin-gs]

Currently pushing 5000 miles.
TT (Thumper-Tards :roll: ) is a GREAT place for DS information.
If you ride a china-bike though you have to have a flame-suite made of steel though. :lol:
The regulars leave me alone for the most part now. They give me crap, I throw it back at them 10x worse.
One guy (Kiethco?) questioned my bike's quality when I re-threaded my factory cross-threaded rear axle. I did a little digging and discovered he toasted two clutches, grenaged two top-ends, and blendered his tranny. I had a blast posting that to the group. The thread got all quiet after I did that. :twisted:

I love it when a newb posts trash about my bike and has a history of problems with his own (most of the time this IS INDEED the case). I have no mercy rubbing it in their faces for all to see when. The others dont dare to jump in to defend, knowing that I WILL CALL their hand everytime if they do.

To TT's benifit I have gotten a wealth of information, such as after-market pipe ideas, bike computer ideas, tires, maintanance, and GPS info. Even got some advice on broken ribs in thier health forum.

Cheers

Pullin'

[liverchip]

Yeah Keithco is a winner isn't he? He's one of the regular China bashers.
The guys I know over there don't seem to hold him in high regards either.

[katoranger]

TT is not all that bad. Just some some real jerks that bash anything that's not their style.

There is alot of great universal tech write-ups and other info.

Allen

[culcune]

Pullin', glad to see you back here. I know it sounds corny, but whenever an "old" member comes back, it just feels "right" (not that the site is that old).

TT was ok for info, but everyone seemed to doubt these bikes, and most everyone wanted them to fail, just to prove their point.

I still want to ride one of these enduros in the Baja 250, not so much for competition, but just to finish. (I still have to convince one of the manufacturers to sponsor me with a bike :wink: )

Anyway, I hope someone near you can attend the race either as a competitor, or can help you out in the "pit." Good luck, and of course, let us know how you did, and lots of pictures, too.

[pullin-gs]

When I road the S500 last year, I got lots of questions, and not a single snide remark in earshot about my ride.
There were five or six people at the event who came to my camp (when nobody was looking) asking specific questions about where to get one. These were people who were ready to buy right then and there. I'm suprised nobody has approached me from Yamoto or Lifan looking for ideas on running somebody, or even asking about acquiring some sticker realestate on the side of my bike for a website touting the bikes.

Cheers

Pullin'

[AZ200cc]

People can hate my bike if they want, Not sure why they would care though. I spent My Money on MY bike...They are not out anything if it fails me. Look slike a hell fo a ride Pullin.gs These bikes can do more than they get credit for.

[ambassador]

Pullin,
I would just like to say that your posts on TT are what made up my mind to buy a China Bike and I thank you for that... I appreciate the extensive amount of info that you provided from day one and the fact that your posts got me back into riding after a 6 year hiatus... Glad to see you on this site again and if it were up to me I'd make you an Honorary Elder...
Thanks again bro... Ambassador...

P.S. Keithco is an A$$...

[TeamCheap]

I've ridden our bikes very hard at times offroad and they will hold up just fine.
The 200cc's is a bit weak but does work well enough to get out and have a blast in the woods for me at least.
These bikes are even a bit more fun than the dr650 I had since they are smaller and geared a bit more for the offroad and just easier to handle in the woods plus the cost is so low that I dont worry to much about the bike itself.

I started out on TT but after seeing the mentality over there decided it is of no use to me and never went back.It's not just the china bashing it's just the whole board and yes there may be a few good people over there but to me the whole site stinks.

[culcune]

TeamCheap, aka Mike, I remember when you took the plunge and bought your two non-American Lifan Lifans, and set up the LF200GY group. I went on TT yesterday after months of not frequenting that site, and had to laugh out loud. The same stupidity exists when it comes to Chinese bikes, and not one of the posters actually owned a Chinese bike. All were "my friend had one and it...." As Pullin pointed out a few posts up, he could research many of the "haters" on TT, and find that their big brand bike had major work done to it, and yes, out of repair necessity, not upgrades, including 'Keithco.' My bike took a dump, but in its defense, I never put the time into finding out what was wrong with the engine, and I finally got around to ordering a replacement which will arrive today. ( :!: :!: :!: :lol: :lol: :roll: ) I will be back on it by next week as riding one's bicycle and taking the bus is getting old quickly, especially in 110 degree Yuma heat!

[katoranger]

Pullins' bike along with many others here has outlasted my 83 xt200. It only had 4900miles and broke the main transmission shaft.

Allen

[liverchip]

Culcune, what did you do with the old motor? Is it a pushrod type?

[culcune]

Its a Zongshen-built/Jetmoto badged 163 FML-2. The new engine is not in yet, so it is still in the bike as of now.

[TeamCheap]

yeah I get along just fine without TT.

Glad to hear you'll have your bike back up and running soon.
that heat has got to be brutal on machinery (and man- :) ).

[culcune]

We are supposed to get some remnants of Hurricane Henrietta (was that the name?) tomorrow and Friday. ( :lol: :lol: :D bringing some relief from this endless summer). We actually had a freak storm, not hurricane related about 12:30 am Sunday morning that knocked power poles over, blew car ports away, and tore several homes roofs off, and left nearly 2 inches of rain in about 2 hours. (Our yearly average is about 3 inches!!)

I am hoping to start commuting this coming Monday on the Lifan-powered Jetmoto, and will post pics of the engine swap and all that other good stuff, but only if the bike cooperates. I am expecting about a week's delay, just to be realistic, however.

[AZ200cc]

That's why You need to come up to the cool mountains to ride around :lol: Just don;t act like a flatlander :lol: :D

[SamM]

I had my share of battles with Keithco also. Finally, I just decided to leave the site for my own sanity. I won't go back to TT and post about chinabikes anymore. These bikes are great and it's their loss! I've gone back to lurk for Yamaha TT-R250 information but that's about it. I just don't like or need the elitist attitudes that some of these so called motorcyclists spew. It's bad enough that one of my riding buddies seems to enjoy bashing my new Zongshen built QLink X-Ranger 200. Especially, in light of the recent problems, I have had with this bike. He is constantly trying to talk me into selling it. I have NO desire to sell it. It's broken right now, so I'd have to fix it in order to sell it anyway. If it's fixed, why would I sell it? I don't get it! I think what it all boils down to is that if these people see these bikes as successful, they will come to the reality that they spent way more money than they really had to. That's why they bash what they don't know!

I like the X-Ranger and I enjoy fiddling with these bikes. Hopefully, this one can be sorted out this week. I'll be delivering it to the local dealer sometime tomorrow. Why would anyone care how we spend OUR hard earned money? My bike has only cost me around $500 to date, as I parted out another chinabike to buy this one. If I put money into it, that's my business. It's nobody elses! I think the bike is worth the trouble and I really enjoy riding it. Can't wait to get back on it!

Welcome back, pullin'! Always enjoyed your chinabike posts! Checkout my Gallery on the last page to see pictures of my new chinabike.

SamM

[culcune]

AZ200, I still have my big city "smarts" which really throws these desert "rats" for a loop. I used to live in the middle of the Navajo Nation, so I think I could get by with you mountain folk! 8)

Sam and all other TT "survivors"--since most of the posts are "friends of friends..." we could all use fellow Chinariders here, such as Pullin and Liverchip as our friends to show the haters up. I had once used Freud as my theory of why many of the TT negative posters are so negative towards Chinese bikes, in a post on TT. I had said something along the lines of these guys manhood being threatened by the emergence of Chinese bikes. There is some truth to that, I believe, in that they don't want to feel like they got ripped off, as you said, Sam.

Liverchip is one of the perfect examples of this. He bought a very low-cost pure bike that has given him much riding pleasure with minimal problems; either that or he has been lying to us :wink: all this time!

Pullin-gs is another great example from the enduro side--he has modified his bike along the lines of what your typical enduro owner would do.

There are many others here, too, but it all comes down to ego, and manhood, issues for these guys, I believe. I almost feel sorry for Keithco :lol: :lol: :roll: !

[katoranger]

I hope to never bash anyone's ride. I took alot of good info from TT, but haven't visited there much in the last 6 months.

I guess I have the perfect bike since I could care less want someone thinks of it. It's mine, it does what I want it to do.

Pullin also inspired me to check out the china bikes after reading his posts on TT. Also where I found the link to chinariders.

Allen

[AZ200cc]

x-ACTLY right Kato, Don't bash my ride and I won't bash Yours. PLenty of jap bikes have died and early death..And don;t get me started on Hardleys.
Culcune, You should be okay dealing with us mountain folk than :lol:

[SamM]

Excellent thread everyone! You guys make some great points. For the most point, I don't bash other peoples rides and I could careless what someone else rides! I will admit to having a slight problem with the Harley-Davidson crowd, but I don't bash the bikes to their owners. My prejudices towards them are based on my ownership experiences of said bikes and the attitudes projected towards me by the owners of H-D products. We call them, The Faithful! True blue Harley through and through! You may have seen these people from time to time in your local riding area. Disclaimer: You may or may not see a slightly or not so slightly negative comment periodically from me, that may or may not be directed towards this general demographic. Overall, I see Harley bikes as not being very practical for ME, for the amount money spent (that may change). But hey, if it's your cup-of-tea, knock yourself out. Personally, I'd rather ride a chinabike. See there may or may not be a slightly negative comment right there! :wink: As I said, it's not so much the bikes as it is the attitude of some of the riders. I used to try to hangout with this crowd and I have friends that did and do ride these motorcycles. I have in the past and probably would ride a Harley again. I just don't need the required wardrobe, body mutilation and lifestyle change that comes with the purchase of these products, not to mention the required attitude change!

I will also have to admit that Pullin was the guy that got me thinking more about the chinabikes after reading about his experiences on TT. Keithco had me laughing and shaking my head, most of the time, at his obviously unfounded distain for them. As I pointed out before, I don't like unfounded and negative elitist attitudes that are directed towards these chinabikes and their owners. It's like you've done something wrong and are somehow un-American because you have purchased a bike from China. And for some reason, it doesn't matter one bit that the guy saying this to you is riding a bike from another country himself. The American economy is driven by cheap consumer goods from China that everyone purchases but that fact, for some reason doesn't seem to ever be mentioned!

What I can hardly wait to see, is the outcome of the deal that H-D has just signed with Zongshen to produce Harley bikes for the Asian markets. Right now, Harley-Davidson has to do what is called a CKD (Complete Knock Down) in Singapore to bring a motorcycle into the Asian market. The bike is completely disassembled in Singapore to avoid the high tariffs and then rebuilt later in the country it is being imported into. Just think of the overhead costs an operation like this would generate. And as you may imagine, this drives the price to upwards of $45,000 for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle imported into the Asian market. At these inflated prices H-D can't afford to really break into the Asian market as they would like to. The deal with Zongshen will rectify this problem and bring the prices back inline and probably much less than even the US market bikes. This is where it gets VERY interesting! The offshoot of these lower priced motorcycles is that Harley will then have a VERY cheap source (think of the much lower labor costs in China) of Harley-Davidson parts and even complete assemblies of H-D parts. Not to mention complete motorcycles! How long do you think it will take them to say, "....hey Willie, what if we imported a few bikes into the US market from our Asian Harley brothers (Zongshen) in China to increase our sales and bring less expensive models to the masses! They keep telling us the want lower prices!" As spoiled US consumers we want cheaper prices and higher volume! Trust me, I'm not the first person to consider this possibility! Willie G. has already been in meetings about this very subject. I'd bet my Zongshen on it! :D I'll be laughing my, ...you know what off, when "The Faithful" are riding Chinese Harleys. What an ironic twist of fate! All of their Genuine H-D accessories are already made in China. Go to a H-D dealership and check it out yourselves. All the packages the accessories come in are marked Made in China. One little shove and they will be on chinabikes!

OK, that's enough of my ranting this morning. What we will see in the next few years is a product and quality control of that product, that is on par with Japanese, European and even American motorcycles. :wink: All of these new motorcycles will be coming from China. Benelli has already been purchased by the Chinese and I would imagine that other brands will also fall to the larger more well funded Chinese manufacturers. Based on consumer input the Chinese are willing to change and modify there products to better suit the buyer and market. My thought is that we may actually see more capable bikes coming out of China in the near future. Most of their bikes are based on cloned Japanese designs but in time they will come up with (this is already starting to happen) their own designs and products. Stay tuned!

Hey Chinese motorcycle dudes, if you guys are listening! I'd like a lightweight dualsport Adventure type motorcycle with the following specs. Water-cooled, oil-cooled 600cc to 750cc parallel-twin counter-balanced engine, w/EFI, 6-speed trans stacked transmission, long travel inverted front forks and rear shock, triple disc brakes, optional switchable ABS, full frame w/skidplate, short wheelbase, full gauges, 5 gal fueltank, body protection, aluminum wheels in 19/17" sizes, and rear panniers. Read the spec sheet from this bike and use it as a pattern. It's almost perfect!

http://www.svendura.de/pic/poster_Kawasaki-Versys_eng.jpg

[AZ200cc]

I agree Sam, I found this site a while back while doing some research

http://harleys-suck.redztread.com/whs.html

Sections four-five and six are the ones that made me chuckle a little.
I know a few Harley riders who are pretty cool, But most have thier noses
in the air for some reason.

[SamM]

AZ200cc,
That's funny and at the same time very sad! A few years ago, when I was riding Buell motorcycles, I had 2 of them. The Harley riders I knew and the people I was dealing with at the dealerships for parts gave me grief about my motorcycling choice on a daily basis. And the Buells are owned and made by Harley. :roll: These people can't see past their faces at times.

When I was at the MountainFest motorcycle rally in Morgantown this past July, (yes, we have our own rally here where I live) you wouldn't believe the bad attitudes shown towards the group of guys I was with. None of us own a Harley at this time. Drunken bikers were saying things like, "get a real bike!" and "put some rice in it!" I just don't have much use for that. As I have said the bikes are OK, just OK not great but the attitudes are terrible! I'll probably never go back to the rally again! It was basically just a beer bash and drunk tank pick up point. The Police were arresting drunken Harley riding bikers left and right. Why would you get drunk right in front of the Police, throw your beer cans on the ground and then get on your bike and ride past the Police on your way off the property? How stupid can people be? They took away a bus load every few hours!

[katoranger]

I went to Bike Week in Daytona last year. Same experience. Fortunately we decided to leave before dark. It was the last day and I got cheap T-shirts. Definately not something to bring the family too.

On the plus side it seems that more of the harley riders have been waving at me.

Allen

[SamM]

Honestly, if I see the approaching rider is on a Harley I probably won't even bother to wave unless I see them waving first. Most won't wave at me on the KTM.

[katoranger]

I wave and if they don't wave back I don't think anything of it.

Allen

[AZ200cc]

I know I get sick of that Get a real bike line I saw thrown around at TT :roll: .....What's real to one is not to another....People should just ride and shut up 8) ....You ride the bike You want..I'll ride mine :wink: .....And that's it. They should not care about other peoples bikes...BECAUSE THEY DON"T OWN THEM. Worry about Your own ride.

Reminds me of a joke....95% of all Harleys are still on the road.

The other 5% made it home.... :lol:

Kinda sounds like what those people say about our bikes 8O :D :lol:

[MOTO]

i also have to chime in that Pullin' was the absolute reason i bought my Roketa about a year ago

i had never owned a motorcycle, and was thinking about getting an old/used Jap bike...while doing some research on what bikes to look for i wound up on TT, and eventually stumbled onto Pullin's original "From Day One" thread...buying a brand new "street legal" bike online & then having to put it together sounded like a fun challenge

the rest is history :lol:

[TeamCheap]

LOL I have to laugh.

We finally got the new enclosed trailer up north with the bikes and went for a nice looonnnnngggg ride (OK we got lost- :lol:) but still a nice ride thru some wicked trails.

Anyway we make it back to the trailer and the guys next to us are loading up their quads and we start chatting and one asks "hows that KTM out on the trails"
I smile and tell them "its a china bike, just a little 200cc china bike and after the engine rebolt I had to do it does just fine out their and that I do beat it hard at times".

I told them it came stock with a push-rod engine but I wanted to try the OHC engine so I put one in and added "parts are cheap for it, in fact the whole bike was inexpensive".

They were very cool to talk to.
They may have just assumed KTM when they heard me ride up (that pipe sounds awesome)
It will take many many more encounters like this to get people used to the china bikes but it will happen.

I'm still a bit down on the china bikes, well china products in general probably because I see whats really going on with china products but anyway in a few more years the china bikes will be even better than they are today.
Improvements are already evident.

[srreynolds2003]

culcune I still want to ride one of these enduros in the Baja 250, not so much for competition, but just to finish. (I still have to convince one of the manufacturers to sponsor me with a bike )


Or If we could get enough people on here to pitch in a few bucks each...Maybe China Rider members could Sponsor you.

[TeamCheap]

I think for a manufacturer to sponsor you they'd have to have noticed you winning or placing well in a few competitions but maybe not.

A ChinaRiders sponsorship might be the way to go but most everyone here would want to compete also, I know I would.
(let me drive it, NO LET ME DRIVE IT, no let me :lol: )

I would think one of the new fancy 250cc china dirt bikes would be useable.

[srreynolds2003]

True, there are a lot of Drivers out there.

[Savage]

As a general rule, it seems that most harley riders don't wave at ANY dual sport rider, not just china DS bikes. I think they just consider them cheap dirt bikes, ie not a "real" bike. Some of them will waive to me though. No biggie - doesn't bother me any.
I would like to get a harley someday, just so I could have one and see if I like it.

[Q]

The vast majority of HD riders are what they call posers. Guys who put them in a trailer and tow them to a rally. Guys who know nothing about motorcycles and just want to look "cool". HDs are junk compared to Japanese and European bikes.

Back in the 70s I had a chopped HD but couldn't use it to go anywhere since it kept breaking down. I used my Honda when I really needed to get somewhere.

Q

[TeamCheap]

I had a harley when I was 18.(sort of)





It was a 72-73(I think) 125, 2-sroke enduro/dualsport type bike that would barely get up to 55 with my then puny little butt.It would have done a little better with a fresh rebuild I'm sure but I just rode it.I think it was made in the AMF years and they were not built very well.

I'd like to find another one, restore it and ride it around just so I can hear "get a harley" and I can tell them STHU it is a harley you moron. :lol:

It looked a lot like this harley 125 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Harley-Davidson-Aermacchi-1976-Harley-Davidson-SXT-125_W0QQitemZ180161669124QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item1 80161669124)

[ambassador]

Owned a Sportster and loved it, not what I'm into anymore... Didn't get the "wave" all the time either, depends on the rider...
Now I wave to everyone, not a huge wave just a hand or a nod if I'm in a turn and get most in return, the ones that don't are probably not paying attention or from Thumper Talk...