Which EFI bike?

[Robertlamont80]

I have been here for a long long time lurking. I finally decided I need a Chinese bike in my life. I am going to be using it mostly commuting but would like to be able to shoot around on the trails. The trails are pretty decent and not very technical at all. I am really trying to choose between the hawk doc and the lifan x-pect. I am a small engine mechanic to maintenance and tinkering are in my blood. What would you guys choose and why? Thanks in advance.

[culcune]

Personally, I would go with the Lifan. This site was pretty much founded in 2006 from the owner, Frostbite (he sold it Quadz a few years back), who owned 2 Lifan dual-sports. The engine in the X-Pect is pretty much the same 163 FML 197cc engine from back then, only now fuel-injected. That being said, the non-fuel-injected Hawks have been around at least 5 years, and those bikes have been sorted out via numerous owners. Then, they introduced the fuel-injected Hawk DLX which is 49 state EPA/DOT certified as an 'on-highway motorcycle' (the non fuel-injected Hawk is technically an EPA certified 'offroad motorcycle'). The Hawk has USD forks and rear disc brake, and perhaps has other upgraded features the X-Pect does not. But, from what it sounds like your intended riding, the X-Pect would be my choice, but I am biased towards Lifan.

[Bruces]

Thread after thread on this site by the new owners of the 250 bikes ask about modding them to go faster ,giving up 40cc on a bike this small is a hinderance to making power needed to keep up with traffic in the real world .If you are going to truly be happy just poking along on side roads and easy trails the 200cc bike is probably a good unit ,but any amount of highway riding and you will find the extra 40cc was the right choice .

[Wild Dog]

Originally Posted by Bruces

Thread after thread on this site by the new owners of the 250 bikes ask about modding them to go faster ,giving up 40cc on a bike this small is a hinderance to making power needed to keep up with traffic in the real world .If you are going to truly be happy just poking along on side roads and easy trails the 200cc bike is probably a good unit ,but any amount of highway riding and you will find the extra 40cc was the right choice .

You would be surprise to see that it is less than 40cc and both of them can reach the same top speed

[Robertlamont80]

Most riding would be 45mph or under while commuting across town. 55mph would be nice since I intend to ride about 30 miles of country road to get to the trails I grew up riding on. Since low gear torque intense trails are not really being considered, I will probably intend on changing out the sprockets for easier 55mph cruising. I also am only 5’7” and about 170lbs so I’m not adding to much resistance!😂🤣😂🤣

[culcune]

Originally Posted by Robertlamont80

Most riding would be 45mph or under while commuting across town. 55mph would be nice since I intend to ride about 30 miles of country road to get to the trails I grew up riding on. Since low gear torque intense trails are not really being considered, I will probably intend on changing out the sprockets for easier 55mph cruising. I also am only 5’7” and about 170lbs so I’m not adding to much resistance!😂🤣😂🤣

The Lifan would be fine for such duties. I am 5'7" and find that most dual-sports are high for me, but having learned on them, have learned to adapt and overcome the height issues which is mainly wearing boots of some sort. I have sat on and ridden a regular Hawk wearing slip-on Sketcher shoes, but that did involve standing on the balls of my feet. The Lifan has a fairly lower seat, and while I have never sat on one, I imagine it would be easier to sit on than the Hawk. The Lifan and DLX should have no problem maintaining 55, but I do not know what the stock gearing is for the DLX whereas the Lifan has 15/46. A simple swap to a 17 will get that bike cruising at lower rpms at 65 to 70 (people have reported 65 bone stock), and a similar swap on the DLX should get you the same. Either bike will do what you want them to do. I would still suggest the Lifan from a known quality standpoint and my own bias, unless you think the rear disc brake and USD forks are more suited to your needs. I believe the prices are about equal for either bike.

[aaw611]

I think you'd be fine on either but I'd pick the bike with the lower seat height if you're worried. Either bike is going to have plenty of grunt on the trails. My carburated Hawk has the 17/45 sprockets for highway and still has plenty of juice on rocky/steep/muddy trails. It will spin the tire no problem.

[oincman]

X-Pect. We have one and love it.

[Robertlamont80]

Thanks for all the great information. I was overlooking seat height. I think with the lower seat height, efi system and included tires, the Lifan X-pect would be the better choice since street us is primary and trails is secondary.

[tknj99]

Not an exact comparison due to EFI vs carb, but how would you rate the Lifan vs Brozz from a quality perspective? I'm in the market and have read that the Brozz is better quality than the Hawk but curious how it fares next to the Lifan, thanks

[Robertlamont80]

Correct me if I wrong but my understanding is the Lifan’s are the higher end Chinese bikes.

[culcune]

Like I mentioned above, Lifan have been around a long time (this site was founded in 2006 by Frostbite who had two Lifan LF200GY-5 dual-sports). RPS, Hawk's manufacturer, is a subsidiary of sorts of Hensim who also have longevity going for them when they offered bikes in the US under the Hensim name. Fun fact, Hensim was among one of the first manufacturers to offer a dual-sport in the US bigger than 200cc's.

Lifan is trying to establish themselves as a brick and mortar dealer network, but have to fill in the gaps with mail-order. I do think they are one of the higher-end Chinese manufacturers with quality built in. I know that videos are limited, but have you been watching videos?

[Jbmoto]

Originally Posted by oincman

X-Pect. We have one and love it.

I agree