Reliability? Maintenance?

[jleonhardi]

Hi I am looking into getting a Lifan 200GY and turning it into my daily driver. I am a college student and also have a car, but I have been looking at getting one of these to save on gas and money, but also because I have always wanted one. How would this bike work as a semi-daily driver? Is the gas mileage really 80-100? I don't have a lot of time would this require daily maintenance? I would need to get to 60mph for about 5 minutes every other day and would be putting a lot of miles on it. How many miles could it handle I don't want to buy it and have it die on me after 10,000 miles. Any answers or experience would be greatly appreciated.

[fatboy250]

My first one is driven daily (not Lifan however). 75mpg. Currently over 13k miles. Not sure how many it will handle. It's kinda of like "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop?" You will know when you get there.

Jason

[red2003]

Hey Jason! Long time, no talk. That's awesome you got 13K on that sucker. I fired up the Roketa yesterday. Sat in the barn all winter. Threw in the battery, 2 seconds and running. The first trip out for the season will be this Wed. Supposed to be 60! Ride on.........

[mrhyak]

Hi I am looking into getting a Lifan 200GY and turning it into my daily driver. I am a college student and also have a car, but I have been looking at getting one of these to save on gas and money, but also because I have always wanted one. How would this bike work as a semi-daily driver? Is the gas mileage really 80-100? I don't have a lot of time would this require daily maintenance? I would need to get to 60mph for about 5 minutes every other day and would be putting a lot of miles on it. How many miles could it handle I don't want to buy it and have it die on me after 10,000 miles. Any answers or experience would be greatly appreciated.

If you want to do 60mph you'll need to change sprockets. For reliability, it all depends on how you break it in, and making sure your nuts and bolts stay tight. When I was going to tech school I purchased a 1973 Honda CT-90 for $55 and rode that for 2 yrs. That bike worked good for me, would only top out at 45-50mph, but was reliable. If you have a China bike dealer near you, go check them out.... There are never guarantee's with these or any other bike. These bikes are cheap and can be reliable, but sometimes you end up with headaches (many times self-inflicted). It is always a gamble, just like buying a used car.

Good luck.

[fatboy250]

Hey Jason! Long time, no talk. That's awesome you got 13K on that sucker. I fired up the Roketa yesterday. Sat in the barn all winter. Threw in the battery, 2 seconds and running. The first trip out for the season will be this Wed. Supposed to be 60! Ride on.........

Yeah man still truckin' along. I'm more impressed with these everyday they're still running. Dad can't get off his :lol: I think he told me over 9k on his the other day. AND he doesn't even ride his to work everyday like I do!! So I'm assuming all is healed and you are ready to get back at it?

Jason

[PorterzCustomz]

From what I understand they are sorta cheaply made but can be semi reliable because the engine is a honda clone and we all know about honda, slow, generally low performance but reliable. That's really the key to reliability having a humble basis and nothing thats way built up. You will need to work on it from time to time but it wont be anything big.

If you have a little time to set aside and are willing to tweak it now and then go for it. If you want to get on ride and never have to work on it or adjust anything its not for you.

[culcune]

I would think that it not being your daily driver, you should have some extended reliability built in. If you get the Lifan GY-5 model, that bike comes with the best stock sprocket setup, and would not need to be changed, IMO. However, the GY-2 model is widely available, and usually comes with a very off-road sprocket size, which needs to be changed right away (you didn't specify which Lifan model you are interested in).

[red2003]

Hey Jason! Long time, no talk. That's awesome you got 13K on that sucker. I fired up the Roketa yesterday. Sat in the barn all winter. Threw in the battery, 2 seconds and running. The first trip out for the season will be this Wed. Supposed to be 60! Ride on.........

Yeah man still truckin' along. I'm more impressed with these everyday they're still running. Dad can't get off his :lol: I think he told me over 9k on his the other day. AND he doesn't even ride his to work everyday like I do!! So I'm assuming all is healed and you are ready to get back at it?

Jason

Heck ya! All healed up. Shoulder is 100%, thumb has some limited mobility, but doesn't hurt much anymore. Got about 1300 miles on the snowmobile this winter, and I am ready to get back on the Roketa. It's sunny and mid 50's here right now and I can hear the bike calling me...

[fatboy250]

Awesome! Glad to hear.

Keep the rubber side down :D

Jason

[red2003]

Awesome! Glad to hear.

Keep the rubber side down :D

Jason

Will do (knock on wood!!!) I got home, 55 and sunny and I couldn't resist. I went on a little 25 mile jaunt and gassed her up. Bike ran flawlessly. Every time I fire this thing up, I smile from ear to ear, and all the way to the bank.

i have about 1850 kilometers on mine at this point. nothing major has gone wrong, just stupid nuisance things. I've gotten as high as 70 miles per gallon and all things considered...I am happy with it. One thing is for sure, you will enjoy riding it.