Is saving money worth my life?? Something to ponder.......

[red2003]

Now that I have your attention, I have a topic of debate. As you all know, I have tinkered and tinkered on my Roketa to make it a better ride, better performance, yadda yadda yadda. I was out riding last night to road test the new rear suspension (which is to die for BTW) and could have easily been killed by my bike. Coming around a corner in town (luckily) I heard and felt something in my back wheel flopping around. I pulled over to find my complete battery box assembly hanging by the cables flopping around in my rear wheel. The battery box welds (if they even qualify as welds) had come apart and dropped the box, battery and all onto the rear wheel. If this had happened at 60 mph on a corner, I'd be done for. This is atleast the third battery box I have read about falling apart, and I check it every time I ride. Recently rear spokes have broken and popped tires at highway speed, swingarm bolts shear off, rear brakes are flawed from the factory and bound to seize if not modded. Guys and gals I pose to you this question. Is saving money worth risking our lives on these bikes? I can deal with sub par lighting, and cheesey front fairings, and plastics way to hard for a dual sport, but mechanically these bikes are dangerous. My bike only has 250 miles on it and all of those are paved road miles, so the chassis has not been abused. I don't see that battery box design lasting 5 minutes if you were to run off road with one of these. I'm open to thoughts and concerns. BTW, I will fix the battery box this weekend (going under the seat) and be out again as soon as the roads are clear! More snow coming tonight!

[Penguini66]

I ponder the thought every day I ride since I as well have about 99% on-road miles. Worst thing I had happen was one day when I exited the highway and, coming up to the stop at the end of the ramp, I noticed I had no rear brakes. I looked back to see the rear caliper dangling by the brake hose. Good thing we got front and rear brakes on these things.

But to your point, it is a very serious valid point. I altered my daily commute route so that I'm at low speeds and off the highway most of the time. It takes me about 15 minutes longer but I enjoy the ride so it is worth it. I do get on the highway for about 2 miles but try to keep the speed reasonable and stay extra alert. Still, I understand bad things can happen.

So is it worth it? That's definately a personal choice I guess. Life is just a series of risks of varing magnitude. Here's how I justify it: I figure it is dangerous to ride a motorcycle period. For two main reasons. 1. People in their cages simply don't see motorcycles. 2. If you do get in an accident the concequences are typically much more severe on a motorcycle. But at the same time, I think that the odds/statistics of of a 'typical' accident -vs- a mechanical failure are in the favor of a 'typical' accident. In other words, I think it is less likely that you will have an accident from a mechanical failure than any other type of accident. If the risk of a 'typical' accident has a magnitude of 10, the risk of an accident from a mechanical failure caused the by the build quality of your Chinese motorcycle is 2. If you average that out, your overall risk factor is only slightly worse than the guy riding the Japanese, US or European bike because those guys have to deal with the exact same 'risks' that you do while out on the road. Plus, even though their bikes have superior build quality, they still do, to a smaller extent, have to deal with the same mechanical failure issues. In addition, we do have the fact that its pretty hard to be involved in a "high speed" accident on one of these (although I do understand that, even with a helmet, you're never really safe at any speed).

[fatboy250]

Coming around a corner in town (luckily) I heard and felt something in my back wheel flopping around. I pulled over to find my complete battery box assembly hanging by the cables flopping around in my rear wheel.

That was about 500 miles for me. Dad's is still holding together fine at 3800 miles. Go figure. Guys, if you have the means, just weld over the existing welds to strength the entire cage as a DS prep.

Jason

[red2003]

Yeah I remember yours coming apart Fatboy. You've had a few close calls, but you also have a lot of miles racked up on that badboy. My battery is going under the seat this weekend. It looks like there is room right behind the top shock mount. I was thinking of just beefing up the stocker, but I really don't want it hanging out there in the breeze anymore. Like always, I'll take pics and post results. The good news is I don't have to worry about my bike killing me, my fiance will after I am in the shop again all day Saturday 8O . Anyone seen any good deals on roses and chocolate???

[panterra_rider]

Personally, I applaud you DS guys for making a go of it with these as personal transport.; I don't think I would commute on one of these bikes yet (maybe in a year or two - on the bright side Chinese quality J-curves). Mind you, there seems to be far more available in the U.S. right now so it's not like I have a major choice.

That said, for sport and leisure, the price can't be beat and because I don't dirtbike that often these days I can give the bikes a thorough going over before I go out of riding...plus I can take a break and get off the bike and check things over part way through the day. Speeds are not usually enough to kill me either.

The other thing to be mentioned is that hopefully the market starts to get more discerning among even the Chinese brands and a few makes/factories emerge as leaders (and those should be supported - at least until you get huge mark up :roll: ) For my part, it sounds like Lifan is doing well - and my Hensim bikes are okay (don't know if they have a DS).

On that note, maybe we should start a list of recommended/safe manufacturers?

Cheers,
R.

[Penguini66]

Originally Posted by red2003

Anyone seen any good deals on roses and chocolate???

Roses and Chocolate will only get you forgiveness. If you want her to forget about something, buy her shoes.

[red2003]

Originally Posted by Penguini66

Roses and Chocolate will only get you forgiveness. If you want her to forget about something, buy her shoes.

So THAT'S what I've been doing wrong all these years. I knew I loved this site for a reason!!!

[fatboy250]

Originally Posted by red2003

The good news is I don't have to worry about my bike killing me, my fiance will after I am in the shop again all day Saturday 8O . Anyone seen any good deals on roses and chocolate???

That's funny!! My Mom is getting to be the same way with Dad and these bikes. He's like totally ignoring yard stuff and things that he is usually very much on top of. But what can I say, he's got the motorcycle bug now.

Jason

[TheOtherRide]

Dude, get her a bike! Now I am the one letting house & yardwork slide, because who cares? I'm out on the bike!

Although shoes would be nice...still want those Thor 50-50's...guess I won't have a guest appearance on "Sex and the City." :P

Anyhooo... When I'm riding behind my boyfriend on his KLR650, even though I know it's a good bike, I still think about things that could go wrong, from tire blowouts to hitting a deer. There are no guarantees! But I'm out there, not sitting on my butt watching TV, waiting to die of high cholesterol.

The best thing I can do is to take all the info here to heart...MAINTAIN your bike correctly (grease!), CHECK for loose stuff every ride, REPAIR/MODIFY/STRENGTHEN the factory dumb stuff (battery boxes, bolts, tubes), and don't use the bike beyond it's capabilities.

[culcune]

Getting back to the killing stuff; how much better are the more expensive brands of the Chinese bikes, such as the Zongshen Sierra (Polygonfla, Beerslayer?), the Diamo, or the UM's? What about buying from a dealer? Didn't you buy from a dealer, Red?

[John22j]

First - glad you didn't go down after the battery fell off.

Now, If it's a money vs safety thing then let me ask it this way --- is buying a new china bike less safe than buying a 10 year old major brand bike?

Since I'm done riding on the road I guess I don't really want to get on that side of it... but like Panterra said, for the dirt my little Hensim is top notch. I believe it will hold up at least as well as the Honda I had in the 80's. I'm certainly not going to take it easy on my bike -- my philosophy of buying china was that it's worth the chance... if the thing holds up I have found a real bargain... if not, I was willing to chance it.

That's why I bought a China bike -- some buy them because it's all they can afford.... I'm sure there are unsafe bikes out there -- there are also unsafe riders. I think you should not ride any bike that you feel is unsafe -- no matter what the name brand or price. Why would you knowingly put yourself at risk... now realize what you feel is unsafe there are others who would not hesitate to ride. It's a personal case by case situation.

[molypod]

Good thread!

I deal with the effects of hazards at work all the time as well as human error, AKA pure stupidity. When I was pondering getting another bike ( I haven't had a bike for 7 years) My wife thought I was loosing my mind after all the on or off road crashes with major injuries including alot of deaths due to high speed MBI's ( Motorbike Incidents) that I have seen. I settled on a smaller dual sport that was cheap on the budget for use mostly off road. If my bike was to become a Hazard ( due to multiple problems that are a safety issue) I would part it out in a heart beat.
I haven't to date, had any thing on it I would consider a Type C hazard (imminate chance of injury and harm) that would cause me to take my bike apart. I would never sell it to pass on the Hazard to someone else.

[red2003]

Well thought out comments to all! I got my bike on eBay and assembled it myself. Like I said, I don't mind tinkering, and I don't mind improving, but I'm not sure I'll ever ride this bike without a little voice in the back of my head saying, "what happens if the swingarm bolt snaps?", "What happens if the front tire blows because a spoke crapped out?". I've never owned a bike where my concern was mechanical failure. Too much speed and stupidity on my part, yes, but not because it was just poorly built. I totally get the risk of riding a motorcycle, or walking out the front door for that matter, but at what point does the possibility of risk become a probability?? Things that make you go hmmm..........

[red2003]

Originally Posted by John22j

Now, If it's a money vs safety thing then let me ask it this way --- is buying a new china bike less safe than buying a 10 year old major brand bike?

Before this happened I would have said no, now I'm not so sure.

[John22j]

Yes - things that make ya go hmmmm.... if you're not so sure about the safety then best bet might be to start looking for another ride.

Doubting the machine could possibly lead to making improper decisions during a ride. Dunno - tough call for ya. Good luck with whatever you decide is best.