About to go against the grain and give one of these a shot

[Alex Branscum]

I have always been interested in trying out one of these Chinese bikes, been made fun of by almost everyone, because they say that I am just throwing my money away on worthless trash.. I am an experienced motorcycle mechanic.. I once kept myself on 2 wheels nearly all the time.. I survived an extremely bad motorcycle accident that caused a severe traumatic brain injury, and am full of metal now, so my long journeys are pretty much gone.. Not that this matters really to my question, but why spend a huge amount of money on a bike that will be used less... My main question is I have looked at almost all options and am leaning towards the Tao Tao tbr7, are parts readily available for it, what changes do people recomend that I do to it for maximum performance and reliability, and feel free to be blunt if I am making a terrible choice... I just joined here and am impressed by all I have read so far... Sorry for the long Question... Any advice and knowledge will be greatly appreciated...
Thanks, and keep the rubber side down!!!
Alex...

[Skyd]

The TBR7 is a good choice, especially if you're gonna be doing true 50/50 riding. If you want better off road performance, go with the Hawk for the 21" front tire and full knobbies.


Parts are available, but it's not always as easy as walking into the Honda dealer and saying - I need a head gasket for a 2020 TBR7. It often requires a little research.


That being said this forum has a plethora of support for the Hawk and TBR7 as well as some other bikes.



Check out the sticky at the top about the Hawk, alot of the items will be the same for the TBR7. I'd probably change the gearing, do a good once over with good fluids and grease and then adjust or change controls to fit your needs. You'll need to either jet the stock carb or get an aftermarket one and jet it. I went with a PZ30B pumper carb myself.

[TxTaoRider]

1st off welcome!

2nd, what type of riding are you planning on doing? The tbr7 is a great commuter bike, decent tires, luggage rack. The hawk is a little more geared to more trail riding with knobbies and 18/21 tires. Then there are the db36/apollos that are mostly for dirt with a little street riding.

[JerryHawk250]

All i can say is I'm glad i threw my $1100 away many years ago on my worthless POS Hawk 250. It was so worthless that I've bought two others china bikes since them. Worth every penny i spent on them. Oh yeah! Welcome aboard!

[Alex Branscum]

Thank you all for the fast response!! I honestly didn't expect anyone to acknowledge my post.. The majority of my riding will be on road, but I own wooded property and like to just go back away from society and camp out.. I have an atv, but it would be easier for me to simply just leave the road and go directly into the woods than loading an ATV in back of my truck, leaving my truck where it can and has been vandalized... Arkansas rumors are more truthful than people are led to believe... Almost like a true fear of what happened in the movie Deliverance in real life...Peace to everyone! And Thanks for your help!!

[tony_cr]

Cool, a fellow Arkansansan. I've never had an issue with vandalization but I'm not out in the woods that often. I once camped out in the boonies, like way out, and me and a couple buddies were sleeping in an old camp trailer. We got woken in the night with the trailer being shaken about 2am. If it was human, you'd have to be pretty strong so whatever it was or whoever, they were probably not to be messed with. We just stayed curled up inside and yelled 'who's out there' and we heard nothing. This happened twice in a night. I want to say it was samsquanches but probably some teenagers messing around but they'd have to be really crazy or drunk, many people have guns when camping out there.

[TxTaoRider]

Where in Arkansas are y'all? I'm up there riding 2 or 3 times a year. In fact I'm heading to Mena in October to ride Wolfpen Gap and Fourche Mountain. I've got atvs and my tbr7.

[China Rider 27]

Welcome. You are about to go with some seriously good grain here!

[bogieboy]

welcome! there is no against the grain here... we ride anything, as long as it brings a smile to your face.... sometimes thats a chinese bike, sometimes indian built, sometimes russian built, sometimes american built, sometimes japanese or korean....there is no bike prejudice here.... LOL we dont even hate on the pedal bikes either...

i feel ya on the full of metal part too...i had a bad BMX crash when i was 15, and have a hardware store in my left arm... thanfully, i did not sustain a severe brain injury... i had a running joke with all the nurses, as soon as they found out it was a bmx bike crash, they asked if i had a helmet on (i didnt) i simply replied, do you think it would have really mattered? whilst looking down at my arm swollen 4x its size and my hand pointing the wrong way.... brain injuries suck big time... they can change your entire life in a heartbeat... i dont take those chances any more when i ride a bicycle.

[idle_purr]

I am getting close to 1000 miles on mine. The quality, parts and support are all there. Get one! Your friends won't be laughing when they see it, they will be asking how they can get one lol. I think a Hawk DLX would probably do you well.

[stewbrash]

Three of my neighbors have stopped by to admire/look at my new BSR 250, calling it absolutely stunning, great looking, functional...etc. The best part is the look on their faces when I tell them I only paid $1250 for it...it's priceless!

[bogieboy]

Originally Posted by stewbrash

Three of my neighbors have stopped by to admire/look at my new BSR 250, calling it absolutely stunning, great looking, functional...etc. The best part is the look on their faces when I tell them I only paid $1250 for it...it's priceless!

its even more fun when people see my ugly duckling,. and i tell them i only paid $500, including the supermoto wheels and DR tan and seat conversion