RPS Magician and Houston

[jaxwithanx]

Well I had been looking for a nice Yamaha TW200 for a few months and have switched gears over the past couple weeks into looking for a new Chinese alternative.

I really like the Magician style but I am 5'11 and 200lbs. I prefer a smaller bike but I feel like I might just be too large...which leads me to my next question...I've seen a few bring up the fear of sag due to lack of support in the rear. Anyone have any evidence of this yet?

I'm in Houston and tjpowermax.com carries RPS products. If this Magician is just a bad idea I'd go for the Hawk but kind of feel like patience might make more sense and just ship a Bashan. The storm/stallion is still out there but I still can't find a straight answer for the difference between the Brozz/Storm/Shark.

I don't mind paying more for better quality but it's hard to make a choice when you can't even decipher the feature difference between one manuf.

BTW anyone have any experience with Powermax in Houston on Harwin? Also known as Harwin Powersports.

[JerryHawk250]

APSCUSA Carries the Storm which has the counter balanced engine and USD forks. But has smaller diameter tires. 19" front / 17" rear. Brozz and Shark are almost impossible to find. http://www.apscusa.com/New-2017-Stor...ry-_p_904.html We are about the height and the Hawk will be a better fit due to having 21" front and 18" rear tires. The Bashan Enforcer is almost identical to the Hawk . All about the same price. TXpowersports may have better prices on the Hawks.

[ben2go]

Look up motocheez here and youtube. If I'm not mistaken, he is around 5'11" and I think he stated in one of his videos that he's a little cramped but not bad. It really comes down to a person proportions, inseam, torso length, and reach.

[jaxwithanx]

Originally Posted by ben2go

Look up motocheez here and youtube. If I'm not mistaken, he is around 5'11" and I think he stated in one of his videos that he's a little cramped but not bad. It really comes down to a person proportions, inseam, torso length, and reach.

Oh yeah I watched the whole series including all his repairs. Didn't love seeing all those broken welds and weird bracket issue putting a hole in the tank.

Long term, it doesn't look like Magician is up to par. The weld failures could even speak to the lack of support in the back I mentioned before. I hate that because I love the look but that's a poor excuse to purchase in the face of reliability I guess.

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

APSCUSA Carries the Storm which has the counter balanced engine and USD forks. But has smaller diameter tires. 19" front / 17" rear. Brozz and Shark are almost impossible to find. http://www.apscusa.com/New-2017-Stor...ry-_p_904.html We are about the height and the Hawk will be a better fit due to having 21" front and 18" rear tires. The Bashan Enforcer is almost identical to the Hawk . All about the same price. TXpowersports may have better prices on the Hawks.

Yeah I know the Brozz and Shark are MIA right now, that's why I specified the Storm "was (still) out there". But a forum member mentioned starting back importing in March so we'll see.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by jaxwithanx

The storm/stallion is still out there but I still can't find a straight answer for the difference between the Brozz/Storm/Shark.

What differences were you looking for?

The Brozz, Storm, and Shark are all basically the same bike. The Brozz differs from the other two with a rear drum brake instead of rear disc. Some small styling differences at the tail light, I believe the Storm and shark come with a tail rack.

Depending on the year and model the forks may be standard or USD, but most of the newer bikes are USD. All three newer versions have counterbalanced engines. and 19"/17" wheels.

The Enforcer is no different from a Hawk, but does come with much better road gearing and from what others have said, better carb tuning. They also seem to have slightly better out of the box quality, but since the number of Hawk owners greatly outweighs that of Enforcer owners on this site right now, there is a lot less owner based information on any problems.

As far as the Magician goes. It seems hit or miss with those bikes. The potential frame issues would keep me away and looking at other options too, so you aren't alone. It also seems best suited for riders in the mid 5ft tall range.

If you want a bike slightly more suited for road use, then the Brozz/shark/storm would be right up your alley. If you want the more off-road oriented bike, then the Enforcer or Hawk would be great. The Enforcer/Hawk are still very road friendly, especially with more road friendly dual sport tires and gearing to suit the use and the rider.

[jaxwithanx]

Originally Posted by Megadan

What differences were you looking for?

The Brozz, Storm, and Shark are all basically the same bike. The Brozz differs from the other two with a rear drum brake instead of rear disc.

If you want a bike slightly more suited for road use, then the Brozz/shark/storm would be right up your alley. If you want the more off-road oriented bike, then the Enforcer or Hawk would be great. The Enforcer/Hawk are still very road friendly, especially with more road friendly dual sport tires and gearing to suit the use and the rider.

Realistically I'll be spending much more time on the road just enjoying the ride period. Here in Houston we don't have an abundance of rocky/rugged terrain anyways....just some local forestry trails for the most part. That's part of the reason I still humor the idea of the Magician even though everything inside me tells me that's a poor choice. I have a welder and could fix those tabs more than likely but why bother going into something KNOWING it's got some pretty severe flaws.

I think it's funny the Brozz comes with a drum but also is the only one with the digital speedo, I believe. Kind of points to how seemingly absurd they option these things.

For the riding I plan to do, a scrambler style bike would work just as well probably. Wish there was some Chinese options there as I like a minimalist design (part of the draw of the Magician). Right now, the Bashan Storm seems like my best available bet. I can always install that aftermarket information panel later.

[wheelbender6]

"Realistically I'll be spending much more time on the road just enjoying the ride period. Here in Houston we don't have an abundance of rocky/rugged terrain anyways.."

Some of the crumbling streets in Houston are far worse than many unpaved trails. Nice to have a dual sport so you can detour along a channel bank or utility corridor to maneuver around the inevitable traffic jams.

[Megadan]

I can see the appeal of a scrambler style bike. One thing you could do is something similar to another member here, richinar, who stripped down the bike of it's plastics, installed a round headlight, and made a custom battery box under the seat. The look he achieved is very similar to a scrambler style bike, and could be done very cheaply.

Check out his thread. http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20343

[jaxwithanx]

Originally Posted by wheelbender6

"Realistically I'll be spending much more time on the road just enjoying the ride period. Here in Houston we don't have an abundance of rocky/rugged terrain anyways.."

Some of the crumbling streets in Houston are far worse than many unpaved trails. Nice to have a dual sport so you can detour along a channel bank or utility corridor to maneuver around the inevitable traffic jams.

Tell me about it. I live over by Hobby, where they laid down all new road work for the Super Bowl and I shit you not, the contractor did such a poor job that it is worse off than it was before they did the work. It's unreal.

Originally Posted by Megadan

I can see the appeal of a scrambler style bike. One thing you could do is something similar to another member here, richinar, who stripped down the bike of it's plastics, installed a round headlight, and made a custom battery box under the seat. The look he achieved is very similar to a scrambler style bike, and could be done very cheaply.

Check out his thread. http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=20343

Thanks for link! Definitely will check that out tonight....

[timcosby]

dont let the knobby tires sway you one way or the other cause i ride the road a lot on the hawks knobbies and have never felt unsafe even in the corner on wet roads. they hold up well too i have about 2700 miles on mine and you can just barely tell they have started to wear. im thinking 13-15 thousand miles is doable and i really cant tell i have knobbies on while on asphalt. if i had a do-over i might look for the counter balanced engine cause the un balanced engine is a buzzy bumble bee.

[jaxwithanx]

Originally Posted by timcosby

dont let the knobby tires sway you one way or the other cause i ride the road a lot on the hawks knobbies and have never felt unsafe even in the corner on wet roads. they hold up well too i have about 2700 miles on mine and you can just barely tell they have started to wear. im thinking 13-15 thousand miles is doable and i really cant tell i have knobbies on while on asphalt. if i had a do-over i might look for the counter balanced engine cause the un balanced engine is a buzzy bumble bee.

Thanks for info. I agree I'd prefer the balanced engine of the Storm or Brozz right now. The 1" smaller wheel difference won't mean much to me for the amount of time it will see off-road vs on-road. Plus, I'd probably prefer the road gearing.

You can always change wheels/tires as you see fit later but I can't really balance the engine later on.

[jaxwithanx]

ASPCUSA looks to be only fairly reliable seller right now for Bashan's. Enforcer is $1,200 to my door and Storm is $1,600. I don't think USD forks and balanced engine is worth $400 for machine that is just for me to gain some mechanical knowledge on. Commuting and any long tours just aren't in the cards so I think I'm going to just hope I can find the unbalanced engine tolerable.

There is a local TT250 with under 100 miles on it for $2,400 firm. The guy is trying to sell the idea that it's basically worth more than a new one since it's already put together and has title. Nevermind the fact it's out of warranty and plenty of people would rather put theirs together. I'm going to shoot him a $2k offer and if he doesn't bite I'll order a black Enforcer tomorrow from Don. Thanks for all the help.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by jaxwithanx

ASPCUSA looks to be only fairly reliable seller right now for Bashan's. Enforcer is $1,200 to my door and Storm is $1,600. I don't think USD forks and balanced engine is worth $400 for machine that is just for me to gain some mechanical knowledge on. Commuting and any long tours just aren't in the cards so I think I'm going to just hope I can find the unbalanced engine tolerable.

There is a local TT250 with under 100 miles on it for $2,400 firm. The guy is trying to sell the idea that it's basically worth more than a new one since it's already put together and has title. Nevermind the fact it's out of warranty and plenty of people would rather put theirs together. I'm going to shoot him a $2k offer and if he doesn't bite I'll order a black Enforcer tomorrow from Don. Thanks for all the help.

The non-counter balanced engine really isn't that bad with the vibrations. It's not even a thought in my mind.

As far as that TT250. If you can get it for 2k, then go for it. The TT250 is kind of the king of the hill out of these bikes, and has the best quality and features of them all. It's worth the extra money.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Megadan

The non-counter balanced engine really isn't that bad with the vibrations. It's not even a thought in my mind.

As far as that TT250. If you can get it for 2k, then go for it. The TT250 is kind of the king of the hill out of these bikes, and has the best quality and features of them all. It's worth the extra money.

I agree, for 2k it would be a good deal on the TT250. The non-counter balanced engine really isn't that bad when you go with a taller gear ratio. The Reduction in rpms at higher speeds reduce the buzziness of the engine. If you planning on mostly street riding then a taller gear ratio would be the thing to do. I swapped out to the 17/40 last weekend because i have been doing more street riding lately. When i go back to trail riding i'll stick the 15 back on. But like MD stated. I never really notice the vibration.

[Weldangrind]

Jax, I encourage you to re-examine your priorities. You clearly need a TW200 and a China bike.