New Zongshen RX3 (ZS250GY-3) Dual Sport

[zingshoen]

not too cheap, but one could get convinced by a test ride. my dream is to buy one in china and go west via the silk road, it s been done, but it needs preparation to ride across the taklamakan desert. it may remain a dream because it needs a fair bit of preparation, some language skills and at least one other person to ride with. and of course it would be good to ride the bike here and work out its weaknesses and how to rectify them before we go on that trip.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

not too cheap, but one could get convinced by a test ride. my dream is to buy one in china and go west via the silk road, it s been done, but it needs preparation to ride across the taklamakan desert. it may remain a dream because it needs a fair bit of preparation, some language skills and at least one other person to ride with. and of course it would be good to ride the bike here and work out its weaknesses and how to rectify them before we go on that trip.

Sounds like an awesome Long Way Round adventure.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

not too cheap, but one could get convinced by a test ride. my dream is to buy one in china and go west via the silk road, it s been done, but it needs preparation to ride across the taklamakan desert. it may remain a dream because it needs a fair bit of preparation, some language skills and at least one other person to ride with. and of course it would be good to ride the bike here and work out its weaknesses and how to rectify them before we go on that trip.

That sounds like a great adventure. Based upon my experience with my ZS200GY-2, I think the RX3 would be fit for the trip.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by zingshoen

not too cheap, but one could get convinced by a test ride. my dream is to buy one in china and go west via the silk road, it s been done, but it needs preparation to ride across the taklamakan desert. it may remain a dream because it needs a fair bit of preparation, some language skills and at least one other person to ride with. and of course it would be good to ride the bike here and work out its weaknesses and how to rectify them before we go on that trip.

Are these available in Australia yet? I always like the 'romantic' ideal of riding a small displacement Chinese bike through China and other countries nearby, such as Vietnam. This would probably be most close to being a "Chinese Honda" for such as trip as far as reliability is concerned (I do believe there are actual Honda joint-ventures in China, so my statement is misleading, LOL)

[SpudRider]

If I were adventure riding in China, I would definitely choose the new, Zongshen RX3 as my vehicle. In the following ride report, the authors chose the older, Zongshen 200GY-2 because of its reasonable price, build quality, and manufacturer support. Their choice proved to be well justified.

http://www.danielmontejo.com/Picture...themachine.htm



The riders in the following ride report also chose the Zongshen 200GY-2, and it faithfully transported them across China and Mongolia.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371656



The new, Zongshen ZS250GY-3 is more powerful, and even better equipped to support adventure riding. It has much greater range with its 16-liter fuel tank. The RX3 also has three large, integrated pieces of luggage to carry the equipment necessary to support an adventure ride. I think the Zongshen RX3 would sell well in the United States at the suggested MSRP of approximately $3,400.



However, Zongshen America appears to be closing shop, and I don't think Zongshen International wants to spend the time and money necessary to comply with the EPA and DOT requirements of the United States.

[SaharaStorms]

Hi all. I've been searching across the net for info and forums on the RX3. Couldn't find much but did a lot of research for months on every bike I could find in the adventure tour field and after a lot of consideration finally bought the RX3. I've had it for about 4 weeks now. Anyway, I'm glad I found this forum with other interested people. I'd be glad to answer any questions you might have (to the best of my ability. I've a lot to learn) This is an absolutely, beyond shadow of a doubt fantastic bike! I haven't ridden other adventure tours but based on comparing many different reviews of other riders, I believe this to be the king of adventure touring. Instead of waiting for any questions I'll tell what I've experienced so far and see if I can add some of my personal pics. By the way. I'm a U.S. citizen teaching English in China right now. So here are some things I appreciate.
1. Shocks - Even in quite bumpy situations, the shocks on this thing make it feel like a Mercedes on a smooth road.
2. Engine - It has power that is quite surprising for a 250cc. I've let a friend ride it who's easily over 200lbs and he said the bike drives likes it doesn't even recognize his weight. We both rode around for a bit and with all that weight it still treated us like feather weights.
3. Seat height - I'm 5 foot 6 inches and am able to just rest on the balls of my feet. Any higher and I wouldn't be able to sit the thing, so it does sit up there.
4. Luggage - If anyone is interested, you can drop the cash and get a special set of 3 very large stainless steel carriers that are padlocked and everything. They have their own special frame and in the future, if my carriers (which are already a good size) don't provide enough room I'll move to the others. If you want pictures of those from TaoBao I can post them.
5. Power - it has it and lets you control it. You drive nice and carefully the bill will be nice. You gun it and drive it like a mad man, it will give you the power without thinking twice - and send you the bill later. In other words, its very fuel efficient, unless you enjoy its power often, and then you'll pay a bit more.
6. Long freeway drives - I was just on the freeway at 120kph to 130kph for an extended amount of time just last Thursday. It has no problem in the least. I kept my eye on the cooling and it didn't ever get above 2 blocks once I was full out.
7. Cooling - in reply to someones comment, it does indeed have two fans over the two separate radiators. You can hear them running even at 90kph. It's pretty cool to listen to.
In addition to the cooling, it's a good thing it has it and the fans do their jobs. Along the right leg I often feel the heat being jetted past the inside of my leg. If it weren't for the computer monitor letting me watch the cooling I would have been nervous because the engine runs quite hot, but the cooling does it's job and keeps everything safe.
8. Gears. Slipping into neutral is sticky. Often I have to sit there and fiddle with it as it constantly will bypasses right past into first or second. That's my only complaint about the bike. I'm still a noob to be honest so that might be entirely normal. Clue me in please if it is.
9. Stock tires - It comes with on road off road tires. Took them through some bad road on not to deep mud but the really slick stuff and it was very stable.
I treat it like my baby but I took it near the coast into a bit of the wet and semi deep sand (I know the tires aren't meant for deep coastal sands.) It crawled all over the place. Got it semi stuck a few times but turned the wheel, rocked it a bit and gave it the throttle and thankfully, I've ridden enough that I kept it under control. It turned into a big angry beast and clawed itself right out. It may be heavy, but it's engine more than easily makes up for it. On the way back I hit the freeway again at 120kph for an hour through down pouring tropical rain. It remained stable and smooth. Any more questions and I'd be glad to answer. I love this thing! Sometime if I get a gopro I'll videos on youtube. This baby really needs more public face time in the west.