Zongshen RC3

[Aleong1967]

Are there any specs on the bike yet?

[Lee R]

Originally Posted by Adjuster

^^^^^Very cool. By any chance does that guy only weigh 90 pounds?



/

He's 175 pounds. It's all skill in keeping speed through corners.

[Lee R]

Intro price is good, it's going to need good components to compete at full price. If they raise it to 3300-3500+300 shipping and a doc or crating fee your right on top of prices for the cbr300 and ninja 300. It's easy to find them well under Msrp.

This ones in a much more competitive field than the RX3.

[SpudRider]

I agree with you on all points, Lee.

[SpudRider]

Specifications for the RC3 bike were posted at the CSC Blog.

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/?p=20492



The RC3 has a lot of nice features, and the price is pretty competitive when you consider the bike has ABS braking as a standard feature.

[pete]

Even BMW are getting in on the 300cc road market....
An ADV bike spin off with this motor would be nice...

http://www.webbikeworld.com/BMW-moto...-r/preview.htm





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[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by pete

Even BMW are getting in on the 300cc road market....
An ADV bike spin off with this motor would be nice...

http://www.webbikeworld.com/BMW-moto...-r/preview.htm

..

My goodness, I wouldn't have guessed BMW was going to compete in this segment of the market. Thanks for posting the link.

[jbfla]

Originally Posted by SpudRider

My goodness, I wouldn't have guessed BMW was going to compete in this segment of the market. Thanks for posting the link.

Yes, made in India.

I received an email from the local BMW dealer. He is taking pre-orders...however no price was mentioned.

jb

[Louis Angel]

My knee jerk reaction to this was "Awesome!" , , , , , but then, , ,
I go looking about at new Ninja 300, CBR300R's, remembering I paid something like $4k out the door for my 2015 CB300F, started thinking about the Kawa/Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha supreme dealer service network all across the nation, their warranty, and the virtually 100% reliability of all the Jap bikes.
THEN went looking within 150 miles of my home for used 250's! WOW there is a LOT of very very low miles excellent condition CBR's and the like for sale!
Almost all of them BELOW $2500 mark.
I feel ( HOPE I am wrong! ) that the RC3 will be a total flop.
RX3, SURE!!! Great adv bike at an untouchable price in a class of its own.
RC3, , , , , no way. Even at the pre arrival introductory price, it is still more than $500 over priced.

[pete]

Wonder if Honda have plans for a X version
of the CB300R as they have done with
the CB500R "CB500X , soft ADV bike"



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[culcune]

If they watch how well CSC is doing with the Zongshen; however, not sure of the economies of scale as CSC is headquartered in the outskirts of L.A., while Honda is massive and worldwide. If they use the RX3 bike in the US as a test market, and as they sell worldwide, they might figure they could sell 'x' amount of their bike worldwide. The RX3 is sold worldwide, but depending on importer/distributor, seems to have mixed results as evidenced by the worldwide members asking for fixes here on chinariders for their RX3. Either way, Honda could look at the RX3 as it is sold in all its forms worldwide, and figure their bike would fit in as a competitor as their bike is pretty much the same bike manufactured in Thailand no matter where it ends up, and would thus have more consistent quality.

To be honest, I am surprised it took Zongshen to answer a question no one really had in the first place--would people go for a small-displacement adventure bike?

[pete]

Looking for a small ADV bike,,, Was hopeing the RX3
may come here... dosn't look lightly ...
might have to do the TTR250 up... go well with the 325 kit..
as my XT660 is getting a ADV sidecar on it... half built now...



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[Louis Angel]

Originally Posted by pete

Wonder if Honda have plans for a X version
of the CB300R as they have done with
the CB500R "CB500X , soft ADV bike"



..

Being the Honda nut that I am, I had already asked Bruce ( the Honda dealership owner ) over at the dealership about 2 miles from my house about the possibility of a future
CB300X model. He said if they had any plans on it, he would have heard about it. And so far he has heard nothing at all.
Keep in mind that I had asked him about this 2 weeks after buying my CB300F and was unhappy with the seat and general overall seating position of the CB300F, but loved the seat on the CB500X. So roughly 10 months ago. They DO sit & ride different, even though the geometry looks the same. An inch added here & there can (does to my body ) make a HUGE difference on how a bike sits.
And for that matter, something as simple as the kind of foam used under the seat cover makes a difference as well. Just for shits & giggles, I rode a
2012 CBR250R ( all black and sharp as a tack! ) before I added the Vulcan 500 to my stable. LOOKS like the same seating set up as the 2015 CB300F, but it sat totally different. Seat was thicker and had softer more conforming foam padding in it. Felt really nice. So much so that I juuuuuussssst about got it instead. But was wanting a cruiser for some odd reason.

Would be realllly nice if Honda DID decide to build a 300X.

[culcune]

Since bikes don't sell in the millions or even hundreds of thousands, it would seem that most any company worth their salt can see the enthusiasm for small displacement adventure bikes as evidenced by the RX3, so it wouldn't be a far stretch to make a 300x. A recent bike I had that I truly enjoyed was a Honda Ascot 500 (the v-twin model), and a few years ago when Honda introduced the CB500F, the spiritual successor to my Ascot, I felt a longing to get one. It has been in the back of my mind. This thread has revived my interest in that bike, but taking it up a notch to the 500X! Thanks Pete and Louis for making me want to go to the Honda dealership to try to purchase one...

[Louis Angel]

Originally Posted by culcune

Thanks Pete and Louis for making me want to go to the Honda dealership to try to purchase one...

You bet! That's what friends are for after all. :-D