My response to the everide RX3 review
 

Here is what I posted on a few groups, the youtube video and everide's Facebook page. Yes it's probably petty and comes across butt hurt. Oh well, I have an opinion too and and 6000 more miles than him on my RX3...:grr:

As an RX3 owner I was curious as to what the review would entail and I will say it was exactly what I expected. It was accurate and honest but no surprise, disparaging as expected. Came across as the bike is ok but it can’t do x, y, z, etc… It reminded me of pandering to “purists” because if you said the Chinese bike is a good deal for what it is, your primary fan base would call you a sellout, tell you all the places and things this bike CANT do that they can on their KTM, KLR, BMW, etc. I felt the point you were trying to make, and I’m paraphrasing, “CSC markets the bike as a true Dual Sport Adventure bike and it can’t do what the other true Adventure bikes can do”. Really? Adventure is a subjective term. You ran that bike, stock configuration, through some pretty rough shit. As you showed, it made it, can do it but not as good as heavier duty established dual sport bikes. Muffler bolts came out, screws loose, bent rim, crash bars bent, I get it, really do. Bike ran great didn’t it? No engine issues? You might have mentioned that, but where is the laugh in that? You thought it’d be cute to have your wife beat you in a drag race with her Prius, great for a laugh but dude, it’s a 350lb 250cc. Of course the bike will beat it off the line but the top speed is 70-80mph. It’s not marketed as a fast bike, it can’t be and never will be. But you got your laugh from the primary fan base of “true” Adventure riders.

Here’s my point. Im 5’5 145 lbs. I wanted a small bike that had crash bars, luggage, bucket/passenger seat, large fuel tank, water cooled, fuel injection. I had a budget of around 6000. I looked a TONS of used and new bikes. I keep reading peoples comments about “for 4000 bucks you can buy a used dual sport from an established manufacturer”. Really? Where is this small used dual sport with all the things I mentioned I wanted for under $6000. Sure, lots of bikes out there for that price but not with the options I’m looking for. I don’t want a dirt bike with addons. I don’t want an 800cc (smallest I could find) BMW that I have to squash the suspension on so I can ride it. I wanted a small adventure type bike and low and behold there’s the RX3. I researched CSC and Zongshen for 2 months before pulling the trigger. Why? Because like everyone else I was skeptical of the Chinese and price too good to be true thing. I will say after reading tons of material, talking to CSC and other owners of the RX3 and Zongshen powered motorcycles I was surprised at the overwhelming positive info. Long story short I bought it.
It’s my belief that the RX3 fits a niche. Not everyone wants to be Ewen McGregor and Charley Boorman doing an around the world adventure on gigantic $25000+ motorcycles. I live in the PNW. I can ride an hour any direction and get semi desert, mountains, ocean, multiple state and national forest parks. I just needed a bike to get me to work and do some gravel road exploring. I only have 7000 miles on the bike and owned for just over 7 months. I’ve had ZERO mechanical issues. I’ve wrecked it on some pretty wicked clay/mud/rocky trails that I really probably shouldn’t have been on but was able to get back home no problem, able to get parts and get my bike back together VERY inexpensively.

My concern is your review will further stigmatize this small reliable dual sport as a novelty. It is not by any means in my opinion. There are thousands of these bikes all over the world, traveling across China, Russia, Europe, South America under different brand names and mostly carburated versions. You could have totally reviewed it as a good bike for what it is, instead you focus on what it is not because you think it’s being marketed that way? In reality more of an entertainment piece. Get a good laugh trying to beat the shit out of the bike and make the “purists” feel good about spending a ton on their bikes that most will never even take on trails like what you did on the RX3. Again, “Adventure” is subjective. I hope that people who are thinking of the RX3 as an option for a small, reliable inexpensive dual sport bike will not be swayed by your review. In reality you beat the shit out of it but it’s still going and you’re able to auction it off. Most people who would by this bike ain’t gonna subject it to that degree of “offroad” riding.
I do agree with your comparison to Hyundai, Kia, etc. I appreciate you trying to put the positive in but obviously came across as not to disappoint your fan base for the sake of entertainment.

I just hope CSC continues on and are successful. They believe in their product and back it 100%. The warranty is great and their customer service cannot be beat. Parts have been super easy to get. It’s a good looking bike with cool options, easy to maintain, reliable, fun to ride and inexpensive. I could go on and on.

Im the type of guy you addressed in the beginning of your review, so hope I didn’t disappoint…

Not petty at all--you nailed it on the entertainment front and pandering to people with small, you know whats, who have to compensate with massive sized 'adventure' bikes. This bike has never, in my opinion (and this is from WELL before CSC was even considering bringing it in as we discussed it here on the hallowed chinariders site years ago when it was coming up in the world) been a dual sport. It is an adventure bike-lite.

Funny, too, that as a member of Horizonsunlimited I read posts from people who have been to exotic lands on their BMW 1200 something or another who were very impressed with the 'locals' on Chinese 150's taking terrain like African desert much better than the member on said BMW. A few have mentioned similar things about S. and Central America, too.

Having been a member here on Chinariders for 10 years now, and seeing many a Chinese 'dual' sport come and go, but still excellent deals when compared to name brand dual sports, the RX3 was king of the hill. I don't think any of us pre-U.S. RX3 days thought of this bike as being on par with name brands, but rather a superior adventure bike over the common Chinese dual sports.

I would love to see him take a stock CB500X or VeeStrom 650 through the same paces he put the RX3 through...

We got that wee storm 650 though the scree slides... had deep water channels
running down it.... these slides are a couple 100 metres across....
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/.../V%20Storm.jpg

So, are you suggesting the guy being helped in the forefront of the photo is on a Zongshen??

:) :) :) :) :)

So the review turned out exactly as we'd suspected? Not a surprise at all.

Out of ALL of the riders I've known through my life, only ONE had that "I'm going to scale Everest on my dual sport" mentality. The rest road mostly on pavement, gravel roads and some basic trails while camping.

If Everride is pandering to the ONE rider I knew, he's missing a lot of audience....but I feel most of his audience is like the 99% I knew. Bought expensive gear and use it to commute to work most of the time but talk big with the "choir" to feel cool.

Oh well, what did we really expect? We know the truth of the RX3 and CSC and since we own them, that's all that matters to us. We'll keep it our little secret.........

I just hate to see reviews like this hurt an awesome business like CSC. Im afraid too many prospective buyers would be swayed coming across this review in their researching the RX3. No, it's not cool but I know there will be sales lost because of the stigma and this review perpetuates that perception.

I'm not so sure Everride has that big an audience. Every bike I have ever owned has been reviewed by someone who dissed it...as well as others who loved it. I'm talking about 20+ motorcycles over the years. The mainstream rags have all had positive things to say about the Zong. Yes, they did point out what they did not like but the overall view was positive. This guy has his own niche and his own motivation. I'm still happy with mine so his opinion does not matter to me.

Peter Y.

50,000+ people (his current number of subscribers) potentially watching the videos is a decent audience IMO

Sure it's not as much as 6foot4honda or C2W, DoItWithDan, Walterrific, etc... but still... 50,000+ people who may be swayed one way or another by his reviews

2 or 3 people in the comments stated that they were thinking of this bike but not after Everide's "honest" review.

William
'15 Mustard

There are not quite 7,000 views of his review video as of this posting... And of the 100 or so comments, only a couple people who let his review change their mind. Since most of us owners will be grouped into the category he starts off with (we have one and we like it) he isn't changing our minds on anything. I doubt his review will cause any significant drop in interest of the RX3. If someone is on the fence, there are plenty more positive reviews out there than his.


I feel as though he went out of his way to be brutal in his "Brutally Honest" review and played up all of the "bad" and just glossed over all the good. He said the thing I hear most often: telling people they can get a used KLR for the same price, but doesn't mention that the KLR won't have crash guards, panniers, top boxes, aux. wiring, etc. :doh: He bashes on the bone stock RX3 harder than most people would with any other stock bike, and then complains it can't handle the abuse even though it seems to be running and driving just fine after it was all said and done. He loads it up well beyond it's stated capacity, with two full grown men, and then tells us how it's under-powered...

But like he said... This owner is happy with their bike. I have not, and don't plan on taking my bike anywhere like that rocky trail he beat his up on. I commute back and forth every day just fine with no problem. So he can keep his opinion, and I will keep my bike!

Here's a guy who gets it:

http://rbrhsv.wixsite.com/travel-blo...SC-RX3-Cyclone

This is the review Everide should have done.

Peter Y.

I read this and was impressed ... not just because it was favorable to the RX3, but because he judged it based on what it was designed to be and to do ... not on what it's not.

His progression from bike to bike was also an interesting aside. It helped demonstrate what he learned from each bike and about himself as a rider. Very interesting read.

I know what it is with this guy and what I found wrong with Everride--he did not sound ignorant! Everride's on-camera personality, with him being very confident, masks that he is somewhat ignorant, in all that he ripped on the RX3.

This guy KNOWS his stuff and what does what!

Not sure if I should weigh in on this.. but what the heck, the water is warm.

Everyone has an opinion and Everride is entitled to his. But like many opinions, I don't have to agree with him. And having his friends provide their opinions does not validate is opinion or theirs. If the bike works for you, that's fine. If it does not, that's fine also. There is no perfect bike. Just like there is no perfect flavor of ice cream. Vanilla? Strawberry? Chocolate? Neapolitan for the indecisive or those that want it all? It's all good.

The RX3 hits so many points for me. Sure, it's not perfect and I'll freely admit it. I would like another 10-20 horsepower, I would like a more comfy seat, I would like slightly larger panniers and top case without going to the Tourfella cases. All of these things can be fixed with enough money. But that's not the point of the bike. It's a tremendous value for what it is, and quite frankly, that the bike survived the rough riding Everride put it through without a failure is probably a much higher testament to the bike than Everride really gives it credit for.

Would I ride my RX3 on roads like that? Maybe. But not at those speeds. I'm old enough that speed isn't what works for me. What does work for me is a bike that can do it all, and do it reasonably well. The RX3 is great at that. Besides, if you're looking at a 250cc bike (any 250cc bike) you're really not looking for speed anyway.

Now the review that Peter linked... that's a solid review. It was fair and balanced, and really showed the thought process to arriving at the conclusion that the RX3 worked for him. I liked that review quite well.

At any rate, I agree that this bike isn't for everyone. But for those that find it agreeable, it's a fantastic ride. My $0.02...

I saw the video after I saw it mentioned on Facebook. I never heard of Everide before. I drove down to Azusa on Saturday and bought one with the 10% discount they were offering I ended up getting a few farkles for it. It is unfair to compare oranges to apples and there is no other bike in this category. Reviews are supposed to be objective not comparisons to other similar bikes in theme only. The Rx3 could be compared to the Africa Twin since both are "Adventure" bikes, it is not a fair comparison. I wiould do my review of the bike but only after I put on 3k miles on a nice trip and it would only be my opinion. If not ask me about my 2013 Drz400 with 40k miles and over 5k in upgrades.