Help me decide on a bike

[SirKng]

I'm looking at serveral. Lifan X-pect 200, SSR XF250, Apollo DB-36, Brozz Recon and TaoTao TBR7. I'm also looking at a few non-China bikes. Beta 125 RR-S, Yamaha TW200 and Yamaha XT250. I'm leaning towards the China bikes due to price though so let's talk about those.

I like the fuel injection of the Lifan but not the rear drum brake. I like the SSR's looks and overall features the best but not the lacking instrument cluster. The Apollo I like due to the wheel size and looks but I heard the seat is uncomfortable. The Brozz and Tao Tao are being considered because I like the smaller wheels on the Brozz (I'm short) and the price of the Tao Tao.

What do you guys think? I'm not in a hurry as it looks like most places are out of stock but I am stuck at home so let's discuss. Lol.

Edit: I forgot to say I'll be using my bike for commuting and general transportation and occasionally exploring trails that I'll have to drive to. The roads I'll be using are mostly 55 MPH so the fastest I'll likely be cruising at about 60 MPH and there will be plenty of street use at under 45 MPH.

[TestYourMight]

Either the brozz, the Apollo, or the crf250l IMHO.

[Hancadam]

For your stated use, I'd say Brozz.

We have a Brozz and Hawk, love them both. Hawk is the better dirt bike, Brozz is the better road bike.

[Baskt_Case]

Those choices cover a $4000 spread and almost 4 different levels of quality and content. IMHO you need to decide on a pretty solid limit on how much money you want to spend.

If you've got Jap bike money and your comfortable with spending it, then thats my suggestion.

If you wanna SAVE a bunch of money and you WANT to work on a bike and put time into it, well that narrows it down a little bit.

Check out this thread I started a little while back. It might help you narrow things down a bit. I dont have Lifan on there but they would slot near the top in terms of price, quality, and content in Chinabikes. Jap bikes arent even on the list. Whole other league...

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=26053

[gwowzer]

I've been nothing but thrilled with my Brozz

[alex_in_az]

You will be working on the TBR7, luckily I see that as a feature, not a bug.

[SirKng]

Good input guys. I'm leaning towards the China bikes because I like tinkering and saving money.

I do see three votes for the Brozz though... It might between that, the SSR, Lifan, or Beta now.

[Megadan]

Want to spend 2k or less, get a Brozz. It meets most of your criteria, minus the EFI. That being said, I would honestly not let the rear drum brake stop you from considering the Lifan. It's a great little machine, and that drum is more than enough for what you want to use the bike for.

If you decide to spend a bit more then the SSR XF250 is a damn good bike too. I wouldn't let the kind of blah gauges put you off. The rest of the bike is very solid and well proven.

I do agree with Baskt_Case though, you should put down some parameters or a budget to really try to focus your list up some more.

[SirKng]

The Brozz and Lifan are in the sweet spot of what I want to spend. It's just that I like the SSR because it sounds like a pretty solid bike for the money. And the Beta I'm still considering because I literally found out about it yesterday and I'm still doing my research on it. But it is definitely between one of those four at the moment.

Which of the three Chinese bikes that I'm looking at have counterbalanced engines?

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by SirKng

Which of the three Chinese bikes that I'm looking at have counterbalanced engines?

Both the Brozz and the Xpect are counter balanced.

[SirKng]

Thanks Megadan. The Brozz and Lifan are looking pretty good but I still like that SSR too. I'm gonna try calling the local SSR dealer tomorrow to see if they have one I can go look at. Maybe that'll help me decide for sure.

[dh]

I love the SSR for the good balance of on and off-road capability. If being on the street or highway wasn't as important to me I'd look at the Orion RXB 250L. It looks like a lot of bike for the money, but really meant to live in the dirt.

[2LZ]

I think it would be between the SSR XF250 (would be my choice) and the Brozz.
While the Brozz is one of the best Hondoids out there and would be my choice of Hondoid if it were available here in CA, the SSR (Qingqi) quality is virtually Japanese.

Both dh and I have constantly sung the praises of our Qingqi bikes, so much so when we log on, people log out. ;-)

The upside of the Brozz is parts are cheap and readily available online at Amazon or Ebay. I'm not sure how the SSR parts support is on the XF250 these days. Maybe dh or culcune can chime in. If SSR support has gotten better, I have not heard.

[SirKng]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

I think it would be between the SSR XF250 (would be my choice) and the Brozz.
While the Brozz is one of the best Hondoids out there and would be my choice of Hondoid if it were available here in CA, the SSR (Qingqi) quality is virtually Japanese.

Both dh and I have constantly sung the praises of our Qingqi bikes, so much so when we log on, people log out. ;-)

The upside of the Brozz is parts are cheap and readily available online at Amazon or Ebay. I'm not sure how the SSR parts support is on the XF250 these days. Maybe dh or culcune can chime in. If SSR support has gotten better, I have not heard.

Where do you get parts for your Qingqi?

[SirKng]

Originally Posted by dh

I love the SSR for the good balance of on and off-road capability. If being on the street or highway wasn't as important to me I'd look at the Orion RXB 250L. It looks like a lot of bike for the money, but really meant to live in the dirt.

I thought about the Orion but like you said it's more of a dirt bike. I want something that's gonna be good on and off road. So that still leaves me with the SSR, Lifan, and Brozz. The Beta 125 RR-S still looks pretty enticing to me though too.

Edit: How well is the XF250 geared for street use? Can it be re-geared for better street use or is it good out of the box?