Lifan Dealers a question for you!

[ACD]

Is it true that American Lifan holds a higher quality standard than the "grey market" importers of Lifan products withe better consisitency of parts use etc.? I am looking at a new Lifan 150cc scooter that is direct imported by a person in my state and was wondering if it is the same scooter I can get from a dealer. There are no "street" dealers in ME last I checked dirt only and he is a very nice guy. Thanks all!

Aaron

[czowner]

Ive heard this story many times in my 30 years in the motor trade, better quality and materials goes for export etc.. What utter rubbish, no manufacturer is going to the expence of making different quality versions of the same product.

Jonathan.

[ejcycles]

Hi Guys

Jonathan, I hate to tell you but Yes they do. I carry American Lifan and Redcat. I had a Redcat R9-X 90cc pit bike here and a A. Lifan LF110GY-D 110cc pit bike. Both bikes where made by Lifan in China but the LF110GY-D was made better. Better welds, different bolts, handlebars etc. All A. Lifan bikes have their parts stamped with the L or LF. Remember how Suzuki used to put their S on almost every bolt so does A. Lifan, on their engines. I talked to one of the guys on here a couple of weeks ago about a problem he was having with his brothers GY-5. He owns an A. Lifan where his brother purchased a Grey Area Lifan and he told me with the two bikes next to each other there are big differences. If you wanted to import Lifans from China they would make them to your specs to cheapen the price. Yes Lifan does make bikes that have different names on them and they sell a lot of engines, but they are made to those manufactures specs. You have the same thing with Linhai Yamaha in China and others.

http://www.linhaigroup.com/english/contact.asp
http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global.../01/joint.html
I hope this helps.

Bruce

[RPM]

And to add to Bruce's post, you have to consider the parts availability when you are purchasing a gray market bike as well as warranty issues. American Lifan pays for parts and labor for 6 months, most other gray market bikes that I have seen are usually 30/60/90 days - parts only. With an American Lifan, you will have parts, even for discontinued models, in most cases. What I have found in the market is that many times you order a part for your particular bike through whatever means, be it a dealer, catalog or on-line, you will get a part that will fit, but is a little different and may very well require some modifications to get it to work. I know this first hand as most dealers will tell you.
Most of the plastics are hard and brittle on the cheaper models, again in reference to the specs that any manufacturer requests to lower the cost as Bruce pointed out. You may very well see differences in the frame construction as well.
To be one of the biggest export companies in China, as Lifan is, they have to build a unit as they are asked to do for their customer's dollars. The only thing that they may change as far as engines go, is they may change the covers to reflect a different logo or name.

[ACD]

Thanks guys I knew first hand that CFMOTO did the same thing and that Lifan built for other companies. I was just verifying that an actual Lifan Branded Machine could be different from an A. Lifan machine. Thanks!!

Aaron