I'm noticing a massive spike of forum users/visits

[XLsior]

Most users online ever hit 11k+ last weekend no?


Is it a sign of the times..?
Are people are looking for cheaper forms of transport and the China bikes are meeting that market need/ interest enough where people are doing research and hitting the forums...


Considering that the web forum is almost archaic compared to other media access points its actually interesting to see the user uplift.


Would be interesting to know if sellers are making more sales...I recall reading the templars were getting long listed and sold out at times...


So would you call it a sign of the times perhaps...a barometer of a stifling economy it seems.


Just something I noticed looking on the main page and thought I'd make mention of it

[Bruces]

Tax season and spring time boosts motorcycle sales .

[ProDigit]

I'm one of them. Couldn't afford a Grom, so a Vader 150 it became for me.

[XLsior]

Am I reading that right the in the adventure section (8000+ viewers) under RX3 there is a post with over 14million views...


Is that legit?

[ProDigit]

Am I reading that right the in the adventure section (8000+ viewers) under RX3 there is a post with over 14million views...


Is that legit?

I saw a YouTube video on it, from a chap in the UK.
It seems to be a genuinely good bike, with few flaws. Like, near to Korean quality, using high quality parts from Bosch and brembo.

Not my cup of tea. I had bikes like this from Japanese brands, but they're too heavy for me. Besides, the Chinese bikes aren't as refined as the Japanese bikes, and weigh a lot more, due to using regularly paint coated steel frames instead of more expensive, but more durable and rigid alloy metals.

I keep it at the lightweight 100-200cc bikes, and hope the Chinese will start using more aluminum. I want to see more sub 200lbs bikes coming out in the near future.

[tknj99]

I think the word has gotten out, as witnessed by the Templar X and Storm DLX (and i'm sure others) selling out like hot cakes...

[jsumd]

It's probably because it's tax season and it's spring. I would love to see how hawk or grom clone sales are fairing against other bike brands in terms of sales.

[XLsior]

its not really a specific bike topic...


just the amount of page visits and views.


14million+ views seems like a lot, almost disproportionate to the actual number of bikes and riders of that RX3.


I think the forum peak views has capped higher again in less than a week.


Seems like the 2 wheel transport is becoming less of hobby for some and more of a only viable alternative transport option...


"Bidenomics" perhaps

[buzz]

just way cheaper to ride a bike.

[Megadan]

Combination of all of the things already discussed. Smaller/cheaper bike sales are climbing very rapidly, more so than usual even for 'tax season." With the economy being ravaged by inflation and interest rates so high, people are looking for any way they can cut costs. New car voluntary and forced repossessions are at a record high level that hasn't been seen in over 30 years. The payments for these cars are too high for the average person to afford.

A small cheap motorcycle to use for commuter duty that gets 60-100mpg and can ride on cheap motorcycle tires that costs only a few thousand or less is very appealing.

I can even support my theory with some personal experience, because I have 3 different friends/acquaintences that have all started asking me questions about my bikes, how to get the endorsement, etc. One of them even said that they (his family) needs a second vehicle for the summer but they can't afford a car, so he is looking at cheaper new bikes to help fill their need so he can get to work and his family can have the car to use.

I think that is one of the big reasons the Royal Enfield bikes in particular have become so popular. Also why we are seeing more 300-500cc range bikes not only come on the market but in such variety.

In particular, I have noticed an increase in the number of scooter riders out on the streets in the last year or so.

[Zapkin]

redundant

[Zapkin]

I think the word has gotten out, as witnessed by the Templar X and Storm DLX (and i'm sure others) selling out like hot cakes...

People are catching on to the value of these dirt bikes. For example, my son-in-law could have dropped 3K to find out if his kids like dirt bikes. Instead, he drops half that much and gains a hobby. I know I am simplifying it, but bargain hunters are going to love Chinabikes. Maybe not so much in the past (although my '07 Lifan wasn't junk), but now they are a value. If you need reliable, fuel-efficient transportation that can also handle off-road adventures, these dual-sport and dirt bikes from China are an excellent choice.

[jsumd]

Combination of all of the things already discussed. Smaller/cheaper bike sales are climbing very rapidly, more so than usual even for 'tax season." With the economy being ravaged by inflation and interest rates so high, people are looking for any way they can cut costs. New car voluntary and forced repossessions are at a record high level that hasn't been seen in over 30 years. The payments for these cars are too high for the average person to afford.

A small cheap motorcycle to use for commuter duty that gets 60-100mpg and can ride on cheap motorcycle tires that costs only a few thousand or less is very appealing.

I can even support my theory with some personal experience, because I have 3 different friends/acquaintences that have all started asking me questions about my bikes, how to get the endorsement, etc. One of them even said that they (his family) needs a second vehicle for the summer but they can't afford a car, so he is looking at cheaper new bikes to help fill their need so he can get to work and his family can have the car to use.

I think that is one of the big reasons the Royal Enfield bikes in particular have become so popular. Also why we are seeing more 300-500cc range bikes not only come on the market but in such variety.

In particular, I have noticed an increase in the number of scooter riders out on the streets in the last year or so.

The royal enfield bikes def seem to be very popular as well. Great looking bikes with plenty of power for a low price. I've also noticed a lot more scooter riders in my area. I passed two today on a gravel road I was exploring. Everyone was grinning from ear to ear.

[riderjoe]

It's interesting to observe the surge in forum activity. This uptick could indeed reflect a growing interest in more affordable transportation options like China bikes. The fact that forums, considered somewhat old-fashioned, are experiencing such engagement is noteworthy. It would be intriguing to see if this trend correlates with increased sales for sellers, especially with certain models being in high demand. This rise in forum activity could potentially serve as a barometer for economic conditions and changing consumer preferences.

[Bruces]

I just thought of something .Cheesy recently posted a picture of his knee and fruity socks ,it certainly could have caused the sticky keyboard porn watchers to come for a visit !

[TominMO]

I just thought of something .Cheesy recently posted a picture of his knee and fruity socks ,it certainly could have caused the sticky keyboard porn watchers to come for a visit !
That would be a way to boost viewership. But my knobby knees would likely have the opposite effect, so I will not post a pic of them. Kinda like my singing voice would make people avoid church.....

[Megadan]

It's interesting to observe the surge in forum activity. This uptick could indeed reflect a growing interest in more affordable transportation options like China bikes. The fact that forums, considered somewhat old-fashioned, are experiencing such engagement is noteworthy. It would be intriguing to see if this trend correlates with increased sales for sellers, especially with certain models being in high demand. This rise in forum activity could potentially serve as a barometer for economic conditions and changing consumer preferences.

The forum resurgence was bound to happen. They offer something unique that no social media site can match - organized, archived information with a collected knowledge base to draw from. Facebook, Instagram, X, etc are all great for immediate information, but you also open yourself up to a plethora of "experts" all giving out false information and bad advice. Forums are just better places to learn and gather information. Forums are better for build logs that people can follow, better for trouble shooting and problem solving in a more controlled manner, and allow for much MUCH greater detail than the limited text counts and weird formats that can make things hard to follow with disjointed conversation.

The only reason they were seen as "old fashioned" is because every generation views how people did things in the previous generation and find them "archaic" and believe that old must be worse. The smart people in those generations figure out that things were done a way for a reason, and that those reasons have real value. I can use guns as an example. Iron sights are about as old school as it gets, and most younger people want red dots, holo sights, etc. because they are "high tech" and offer some advantages. All of those same younger people also figured out that iron sights are hard to break/damage and don't run out of battery.

[Do©Hawk]

I bought my Hawk with zero motorcycle experience or interest. I did it because I was desperately in need of supplemental transportation and I cannot and will not spend a mortgage payment on a car or truck, especially one full of mandated nanny crap features that kill the durability, longevity, and fixability of the vehicle.

I don't think I'm alone. As more and more are seen on the streets, I think more and more people are looking into them as an option.

[2LZ]

I bought my Hawk with zero motorcycle experience or interest. I did it because I was desperately in need of supplemental transportation and I cannot and will not spend a mortgage payment on a car or truck, especially one full of mandated nanny crap features that kill the durability, longevity, and fixability of the vehicle.

The more I talk to my auto body buddy, the more it makes me want to keep and rebuild my 2001 Ranger when the time comes, instead of buying something newer. Replacement parts for new cars have gone through the ceiling. He showed us a small clip for a Chevy truck front bumper trim piece. "There's 8(?) of them to hold on the trim piece. They're 125.00(?) each."
I don't have the exact figures stored in my mellon, but it's not far off.

[TominMO]

Rebuilds have always been cheaper than buying new. And far more so in the last few years, with new vehicle prices going insane.

[2LZ]

Rebuilds have always been cheaper than buying new. And far more so in the last few years, with new vehicle prices going insane.
Indeed, but at one time being a rebuilder, people are confused. Just because we gave you four new cylinders, doesn't mean you have a new car. It was an issue many times. "You rebuilt my car, how come the transmission doesn't feel right?"

Well, maybe because you told us not to replace it with the new, more powerful engine? The snowball effect.

[Aussie_in_MO]

I joined the board to get info on my Templar X, but I stick around for Cheesy's knees and socks. I'm not ashamed

[Do©Hawk]

The more I talk to my auto body buddy, the more it makes me want to keep and rebuild my 2001 Ranger when the time comes.....
I live in the rust belt. That a big part of the problem. I've had to retire several vehicles that weren't ready to quit, mechanically, but had corrosion that failed the annually required safety inspection. The real kicker is my taxes pay for the winter road treatments that dissolve my vehicles.

I did just buy a truck in January, but it was priced pretty low comparatively speaking. It's used and 7 years old, but very clean (rust free) so I hope to make it last. It's also a simple work truck with very little gadgetry. Now, my Hawk serves as a fuel saving alternative to the V8 and a recreational vehicle

[TominMO]

I joined the board to get info on my Templar X, but I stick around for Cheesy's knees and socks. I'm not ashamed
It is stunning and brave for you to come out like that.

[TominMO]

I live in the rust belt. That a big part of the problem. I've had to retire several vehicles that weren't ready to quit, mechanically, but had corrosion that failed the annually required safety inspection. The real kicker is my taxes pay for the winter road treatments that dissolve my vehicles.

I did just buy a truck in January, but it was priced pretty low comparatively speaking. It's used and 7 years old, but very clean (rust free) so I hope to make it last. It's also a simple work truck with very little gadgetry. Now, my Hawk serves as a fuel saving alternative to the V8 and a recreational vehicle
The irony is overwhelming here.

Do some preventative treatment for it with spray-on undercoating.

[Do©Hawk]

Do some preventative treatment for it with spray-on undercoating.

I fully intend to. It's not that I never thought about it or neglect my vehicles, but the last few that I've had were already beyond the benefits of undercoating by the time they came into my possession.

[superjocko]

I would have almost automatically bought a Japanese DS bike if they didn't cost more than three times what I paid for my TT250. That price shock is what lead me to alternatives and ultimately to this site. A few mods and some enjoyable (for me at least) tinkering later I have a bike that fits my current needs just about ideally. And for still way less than half of just the MSRP for a Japanese DS.

[Megadan]

The funny thing is, I bought my Hawk because I was looking for a simple cheap alternative to get to work. I ran across an advertisement for a local powersports dealer that sells these bikes, saw the Hawk 250 and the price (at the time) of $1499 assembled and ready to go. I went down the rabbit hole, watched what few videos there were at the time, in particular Motocheez, who was hard into the Hawk and adventures with it.

I didn't need it, mind you. I already owned a motorcycle and I had a truck already. There was no particular reason, but I was sold. I am sure I will have the Hawk for years to come. It's just too hard to get rid of, and the ultimate backup vehicle.

[TominMO]

It's one of those vehicles that you would get so little for when selling it, that you might as well keep it around.

[XLsior]

most users online doubled from 11k last week to 22k now...

[GypsyR]

Word about the knees is getting out.

[vividpixel]

The more I talk to my auto body buddy, the more it makes me want to keep and rebuild my 2001 Ranger when the time comes, instead of buying something newer.
I've got a 2002 Ranger 2.3l cylinder with a manual transmission and I also don't know if I could let it go, but it has been quite the problem-child for a vehicle with only 65,000 miles. This is compared to a 2004 BMW Z4 3.0i with a stick shift that I've had almost a decade, going from 62,000 to 125,000 miles and only ever needing simple repairs, and not a single clutch replacement. The Ranger...well it's at least on clutch #3 that I know about, and there's this intermittent cylinder 1 misfire that has not resolved with plugs, wires, coils, or sensors. The BMW, in fairness, was over double the MSRP when it was new, but that Z4 has been the most reliable car I've ever owned.

Back on the topic of the forum and user spike: I really do like forums but this vBulletin software is really showing its age as far as usability is concerned. Would love to see it updated, or converted to XenForo, or something free like MyBB. It majorly sucks having to ever use this forum with a web browser on one's mobile phone. Additionally, the "VigLink vBulletin Plugin v2.0.6" that you can find at the end of the page's source code, well that plugin often changes links without users' knowledge, and sometimes it sends people to a completely different website than the poster actually intended. Would be great for that to go away, at least.

[2LZ]

I would have almost automatically bought a Japanese DS bike if they didn't cost more than three times what I paid for my TT250. That price shock is what lead me to alternatives and ultimately to this site.
Same here. We were looking for a couple smallish camping bikes to haul in the truck bed with the trailer behind us. I was STUNNED when we walked out of the Kawasaki/Yamaha dealer. Why on Earth would I pay all that money for a couple 125's we may ride three times a season?

I was bitching to Mrs. 2LZ dad about it and he showed me his Hensim quad he just bought from a local China bike dealer (Doug on this site). Next thing I know, we had a pair of Hensim DB150's. Bikes, helmets, gloves, trickle chargers, and other schmise......1500.00 OTD. More than worth it. We had a blast on those little bikes.

[Mikd]

I was looking for a small dualsport to keep on the back of my RV and use for light dualsport exploring and grocery runs and figured a Honda CRF300L at $5300 would be great. I've been riding dualsport for decades (ugh). Well that 5300 turned into almost 9 grand with dealer fees and market adjustments so I came home quite dismayed (as a 4 decade Honda guy) and found the Templar X which seemed to fit the bill and had some decent utube reviews so I clicked buy. Damn happy I did as it has turned out to be exactly what I wanted at a price that didn't hurt. I was so impressed I ordered a scooter as well and that has also been fantastic. The big name manufacturers really need to get ahold of their dealers actions and greed before China cleans their clock. The CFMOTO 450 MT and Kove models should be a real wakeup call for the big boys that China has arrived and is quite serious.

[Megadan]

I was looking for a small dualsport to keep on the back of my RV and use for light dualsport exploring and grocery runs and figured a Honda CRF300L at $5300 would be great. I've been riding dualsport for decades (ugh). Well that 5300 turned into almost 9 grand with dealer fees and market adjustments so I came home quite dismayed (as a 4 decade Honda guy) and found the Templar X which seemed to fit the bill and had some decent utube reviews so I clicked buy. Damn happy I did as it has turned out to be exactly what I wanted at a price that didn't hurt. I was so impressed I ordered a scooter as well and that has also been fantastic. The big name manufacturers really need to get ahold of their dealers actions and greed before China cleans their clock. The CFMOTO 450 MT and Kove models should be a real wakeup call for the big boys that China has arrived and is quite serious.

If the Chinese bikes take enough money away from them, they will change their tune. Same thing happened when the Japanese brands came on the scene in the 50's and 60's. Cheap and reliable enough transportation. It's the "market adjustment" stuff that I hate, as do many others. It's biting a lot of dealerships in the butt now too, especially Ford dealers. They have 2 year old trucks they can't sell and are STILL trying to get over MSRP for them.

[Mikd]

I consider new truck pricing as a "stupid test" at this point. I refuse to purchase a new truck as I don't want to support this madness.

[XLsior]

its somewhat ironic that the Japanese brands are being overtaken by essentially their own 30 year old engineering and technology. Though that seems to be a case of history repeating.

[2LZ]

its somewhat ironic that the Japanese brands are being overtaken by essentially their own 30 year old engineering and technology. Though that seems to be a case of history repeating.
That....and everyone now has computers. 30 year old designs, being built more accurately than they were 30 years ago.

[ProDigit]

That....and everyone now has computers. 30 year old designs, being built more accurately than they were 30 years ago.

And cheaper too.
Maybe the same price as 30 years ago, but without inflation.

[Thumper]

Maybe "everyone" had computers ten years ago, but that trend is over. Now, smart phones that have high resolution 5" and bigger screens loaded with text, and apps for email, streaming video, and all sorts of social media, all of these things are migrating to mobile devices!

I wonder how many of these new users browse oldgeezer bikes, I mean China Riders on a desktop?

My 73 year old older sister is a luddite, and when her laptop volume was too low suddenly, she didn't look for volume control, she started watching videos on her 3" flip phone. Gee

Not me :ohno: I have an i7 6 core with 32Gb ram, noice 6Gb video card, and twin 32" monitors, and a Klipsche Promedia sat/sub. :tup:

We are lucky to have access to hardware that would be considered supercomputers a couple of decades ago for barely over $1000 !!! :wtf:

[Aussie_in_MO]

I'm running a retired CAD workstation tower from my former workplace as my main PC these days.
Thinkstation S20 case, W3550 CPU, 32GB of RAM, 6TB of storage, dual Quadro 600 graphics cards running a quad 24" monitor setup.
Total investment? $0.00 (ignoring the 5 years of soul-sucking that job did to me)

[XLsior]

My mother told me stories of how she worked in a punch card compute room.



Moore's law though is effectively dead now. the number of transistors are hitting a limit on the silcon wafer. Which is why there is an incentive towards light and quantum computing.


I think that's why there is such a push towards 'AI' becuase basically there is a hard wall conventional PC hardware and the 'upgrade' path is not offering a lot in terms of value over the last couple of generations of domestic hardware.


Yes advances are being made...But I seem to be playing more games from 10years ago and don't need a $5000k PC to ray trace graphics when I can just step out side and not deal with DLC and microtrasactions.


All these stories of EVs on autopilot racking up kills. Then the sociopaths in places of power wanting to switch off your tracked vehicle remotely because you violated your carbon credits...


That's why I am grateful for being 1 of the last analogues in a the smarter the phone, the dumber the person seems to be world ...