Chinese bike price sensitivity? $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 ?
 

During some research into alternatives I wondered how popular apparently attractive alternatives were. I found relatively little activity/discussion (owners?), regarding:

• TrailMaster TM38EX (~$4,000)
• GPX FSE 300R (`$6,000) ... even LESS activity/discussion

This got me wondering how $price sensitive$ the market is for Chinese bikes?

I found the GPX FSE 300R to be a particularly interesting case because ... while it's price is nearly as much as a Kawasaki KLX300 ($6,200+), it's suspension adjustability makes it closer (in my mind) to KTM/Gas-Gas/Husqvarna/etc. $13,000 offerings.


your thoughts?

you won't find much discussion around here about bikes over about 3k. part of the lure of chinese bikes (in my opinion) is the attractive pricing. Once their prices go up, there's a lot better options to spend your money on.

The GPX 300R has a 4 valve, liquid jacketed engine, and EFI. The TM38 is now available with EFI, but that is a 2 valve engine. GPX seems to focus a little more on higher end components. These two bikes represent two nice tiers for the Chinese dirt bike market.

I will have to do a lot to my Templar to bring it closer to performance level of the TM38! These two are both NICE entries.

Price sensitivity? Well, the differences are real and the pricing reflects it, so people can choose where they want to be. I agree that the GPX is comparable to much more expensive bikes like KTM, Honda, Yamaha. I own a KTM, and the suspension/frame/components are impressively lightweight, tight, stiff and work well. My Templar is loosey goosey by comparison, but an amazing value at ~$2000. I'd be curious to ride the GPX to see just how close it comes.

The GPX is a good brand, I believe. Someone in our club was riding a lot - on others' bikes, rentals at resorts (ATL area has at least 3 in its vicinity). Then he went and got a higher powered GPX (450?) and that's the last we saw of him - it was obviously too powerful and scared him. The bike is solid, robust and is a KTM-clone

support
 

Well, here's my thinking (right or wrong?) - why I walked from GPX (and TrailMaster, too, now that we're discussing such choices). Each dealer says all the 'right' support stuff; they know what to say. Some mean it ... and deliver on it; others ... ?

How do WE know one from the other? Forums ... like this ... are all we've got - with low-volume vehicles (of any type, really). I couldn't find anything - no discussion, forum etc.

Yes, these days one could find 'anything' on the Internet - somewhere; but, it's more than just parts; it's all the ancillary knowledge/experiences, too.


So, I asked myself, "Do you want to ride it? ... or make a hobby/life caring for it, nursing it ... and hoping for it?" The answer is: YOUR choice!

Come on ,ride it!

The elephant in the room is price point. You want specs, OH, and they ARE out there!!!! These options offer amazing price/performance. But you can't expect...

Service? Well,
CSC might have brick and mortar showroom depending on where you are, and people are finding surprising sources for low end bikes.
GPX is responsive if you are near the shop, and
Lifan works through shipping and advice. From my experience, so does PSM.

But nearly all of these options leave most of us on our own for wrenching.

So what do you want? Service guarantee is not there. We accept these conditions for the exceptional low prices we pay. For the knowledgeable wrencher, this is nothing short of GOLD. For the novice, it is a crap shoot, and long term mistake. This is the unfortunate reality, or fortunate if you have tools and experience :p

Information ! ... e.g. forum experience(s).

For example, I saw just about nothing on forums, regarding CSC or TrailMaster. :ohno:

That's what this site is for. :tup:

I'm just saying that the low prices are great, but there's no dealer network, and mechanics can't guarantee their work because they are not backed up by a parts warrantee from the manufacturer. There isn't a manual, and it's hard to find part numbers or replacement parts!! Buyers just have to take on the responsibility and live with it. I've learned a whole lot in the process ;)

forums value
 

Exactly ! :tup:

I've been wrenching on (usually high performance) cars for >50 years; but, do I want to spend my (little left riding) time chasing all over the Internet, looking for 'equivalent' parts, diagnoses and torque specifications ... for a machine that could ruin (or take) my life in an instant? ... or leave me stranded somewhere without chances of finding/acquiring needed parts for weeks?

In addition to 'how to' information, forums alert us to potential (future) problems, we didn't even realize were a threat, so we can take care of them before they become problems.




Absent such information & guidance, we're left to rely upon previous experience - not always specifically existent (I certainly don't 'know it all') to, effectively, reinvent every upcoming wheel.

Do I want to spend my limited riding time left doing that? ... not if I can identify alternatives!

For me $3,000 US would be the cut off for anything Chinese. Any higher than that and you're into the Japanese market where parts availability, performance and quality is guaranteed. Even on the $6200 bike the reviewer said it wasn't nearly as aggressive (fun) as the competition.

The appeal of the chinese bikes was always about getting nearly the same performance for less than an equivalent bike, or in the case of bikes like the Hawk, just cheap overall transportation where there really wasn't anything on the market like it (until now).

Once you start pricing a bike similar to the market of anything remotely competitive from Japan or elsewhere, it becomes a very different market. Example: CSC came out with their 400cc road bike that were priced around $5-6k. They were a total flop and are no longer offered because they flopped. There are a ton of Japanese bikes with similar or better performance for the same price point. Z400, MT03, etc. The only way they sold was when they were put on sale and were basically a grand less than their orginal asking price.

I ventured out to the deep end of the pool and bought a new RX4 a couple of years ago. It was heavy for what it was and underpowered. I owned it for a couple of months and sold it at a loss (not a big loss thankfully). I came back around and subsequently bought a Titan DLX and then a Templar X which were awesome for what they were and shined brightly at their price points. When priced low, we can forgive the lack of dealer network or support that relies on the customer to fix their own issues. When prices climb close to the stars: Big 4, Euro Bikes, etc with their massive dealer networks, online support, etc, its a whole other game and the competition is fierce.

I too almost bought an RX4, but the price is just too high. If my wrist ever heals, I may get a used Suzuki.

I've liked all my China bikes. No real issues. I also like wrenching and making sure everything is good, but that's half the fun to me.
I still have Q, great bike. Would I spend big bucks on a brand new one? Probably not.
The flip side is I've had friends buy brand new, super expensive bikes and they've had their fair share of "out of box" issues and lots of dealer trips. One of my buddy's bought a brand new, KTM Super Adventure 1290 and it's spent over a half a year in the shop.

Spending big bucks and having dealer support sometimes means nothing.