Quote:
Originally Posted by MPK2K
I spent a year or so wrenching on a beater dirtbike, so I'm not afraid to get my hands a little dirty.
But, my free time is more limited now, so I don't want to spend every weekend keeping a bike on the road. That also means I won't be riding that much, so I'm hesitant to drop $5k on a Japanese dual sport. So, I'm considering a Chinabike as a calculated risk.
Given these concerns, is a chinabike right for me? If so, which one?
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I'm in the same boat. In the past, I've owned XR80, XR250, and a CR250. Those were in my younger days and analyzing what I want in a motorcycle now, I want something I can easily just jump on and go. I don't want to fuss with it too much. Street legal is a requirement because I don't want the extra hassle of loading it into my truck to ride. I want to go to the garage, jump on the thing and go.
I loved wrenching on my CR250. Those things are just made to come apart and go back together. The XR250 was the last bike I actually owned and in true Honda fashion, that thing just ran without the need for much more than changing the oil and adding gas. I ran around on logging roads with it mostly. It was tall (I'm short) and for farting around tight trails it wasn't great (neither was the CR). I buried it in a creek once and I thought I was going to die trying to pull that thing out of there and up the bank. In retrospect, I'd like a shorter ride, with more emphasis on single-track trail capability and I'll steer clear of the deep creek beds.
The LiFan X-Pect is currently at the top of my list. The newer version with the 250 looks good on paper but honestly, the shorter, cheaper, and lighter version with less power would do what I want to do. I've never owned an EFI bike but that is a plus in my book, not a negative.
I've also considered the Kawasaki KLX 230S. It is probably the "perfect" bike for what I want. It has a 6-speed transmission, EFI, 32-33" seat height, and I can just drive down to the dealer and buy one for about $5K. The LiFan X-Pect would be half that price, I'd give up a notch in the gearbox, 30cc & few other small details like a rear disc brake, o-ring chain as stock and a more traditional tire size.
I can see where this is going.