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.
- Typically, how much labor goes into keeping a Chinabike going beyond the initial setup (assembly, oilchange, threadlocker, etc.)? Is it a "few hours every weekend" sort of deal where small things regularly go wrong? Or is it a "one weekend every few months" type of deal where you don't have to worry about it?
- If something's wrong with the bike, will dealers honor their "parts" warranties?
- How common is it to get a lemon that requires a lot of extra labor or needs to be junked?
- Is there a major difference in reliability/quality between the lower-end bikes (Magician, TBR7, Hawk) and the higher-end ones (Hawk DLX, Brozz, TT250)?
Given these concerns, is a chinabike right for me? If so, which one? |
It seems apparent that it is a matter of $, or hands-on capability. There is some risk in buying a Chinese bike. Or pay 3 or 4 times as much for a Japanese bike. It is as simple as that. Is the few thousand dollars worth possible warranty value? It is up to you. folks here buy these bike on the assumption that they might need to fix/adjust or replace something. Some have better experiences, some worse. If you want a guarantee, look elsewhere. It really is that simple.
From there, pick your preference. Most of the bikes represented here will run after assembly. Jetting is the most common first need, but not surprisingly, the expertise is here to help navigate it, and much more!