[culcune]

I would suggest the Chinese bike for a couple, maybe more, reasons. First of all, a used Japanese bike will hold up in value, when/if you come to sell it. True, but that is assuming you barely ride it, and it NEVER falls over either parked or ridden. Which brings me to the second point--dropping a Chinese bike gives you less guilt. This could be a low speed fall or parked, and it does happen. Imagine the depreciation of a dropped Honda vs. the Zongshen?! Third, I would suggest you look into the RX3--there is a cult following for that bike (which WILL help in resale), and the luggage really does not weigh a whole lot more, and you can carry stuff easily. There will be times you just might have to buy something bulky then and there, and having the baggage means you can toss it in vs. trying to tie it down.

Compare shop bikes for comparison sake. Go to dealerships and check out bikes on Craigslist and such. Some regions of the country are great to find used, 1200 mile, all-original CB300s for $1500, while others are top dollar. We used to have a lot of people here on Chinariders arguing for used name-brand bikes, and looking at the links they provided, the bikes were fantastic deals, but those were members living in the Pacific northwest in the region where Idaho and eastern Washington State met, and the too good to be true deals were usually gone in a day or two. If you happen to find a great deal on a used Japanese bike, go for it! You might come across one that is near perfectly fine, other than the owner, new him/her self had laid it down in a slow-speed slide, and is selling it cheap.

As far as the RXR goes, CSC does have a cult following as a company, thanks to the RX3, and more and more with the TT250, so the RXR might still be a great deal as far as resale goes. Did you check if they have some in stock? Sometimes they show bikes on their site that have since sold out, and new one are on the slow-boat from China.