New Chinese (built) ADV bike!

[Dark Knight]

Have noticed that the Chinese manufactured stuff seems to be getting better.

I suppose they are learning from their mistakes.

[Nigel]

Have noticed that the Chinese manufactured stuff seems to be getting better.

I suppose they are learning from their mistakes.

To be fair they often manafacture to a price, if you want cheap tat they will make it

[XF650]

The only write up I could find was here, sounded ok but 250cc is perhaps a wee bit too small?

[Throttled]

Have noticed that the Chinese manufactured stuff seems to be getting better.

I suppose they are learning from their mistakes.

To be fair they often manafacture to a price, if you want cheap tat they will make it

If you properly spec and quality control, they will also build very good products cheaper than others can.

The bike here has three prospective companies trying to sell it. Chances are one will win out and grow so we will all eventually have heard about Honley or Minsk or whoever.

[artic fox]

Well rather than speculate I went up to Earnshaws a couple of weeks back with the intention of trying out this bike and buying one, unfortunately they only had the prototype in and it was being serviced,what I can tell you is this, the bike is very robust with very little plastic bits on it to reduce damage if dropped, it was put together by Earnshaws and the owner of the company that manufactures them, he even came over to visit Earnshaws to make sure everything was being done right, the electrics have been fully waterproofed and with quality parts such as a Siemens dash, I spoke at length in private with their mechanic and his only comment against the bike was the engine size, as for the build he said he couldn't fault them and in some cases better than well known English motorcycle company, as for my opinion, well I did try and sit on it but it seems that the prototype is an 825 seat height as opposed to the stated 795 so I was tippee toed and found it difficult to get the bike off it's side stand as it does seem a bit top heavy and I'm a bit short and old, but I was definitely impressed by the bike and would of bought one but Earnshaws suggested I wait until the sale bikes came in and I could try one that has a 795 seat, ( very honest and fair of them ), unfortunately on my way home I called into another bike shop and spent my money on a GSX650F, however if I save for a little while I think I will go back to Earnshaws, they are a great friendly bunch who seem to care about their customers

[XF650]

Good insight, artic fox, thanks! (thumbs)

[Devonboy]

A lot of the comments here were probably said about the Japanese bikes when thy first started to arrive on our shores. I rekcon in a few years time no one will bat an eyelid at chianese bikes. If that model came in a 600cc + I would probably intrested. I am pretty sure BMW have engines made/assembled in China.

[ZX Raziel]

Interesting looking bike , they should release bigger engined version , iphones and other stuff its being made there and people seem to be happy with the quality , but i think this seems too cheap compared to the established makes , so they either used some cheap parts or all the other manufacturers are greedy porkers :unsure:

[SSchultz]

Minsk(Belarus) was a very popular motorcycle brand in Eastern Europe and the Soviets.And it still is in some places.Not too many brands options back then.They only came in one version of 125cc.Sturdy and agile but very basic and unreliable(although nothing major that cannot be fixed by the side of the road).
My very fist bike was an '80s Minsk,125cc.Thrashed it for more than a year,day and night in a place somewhere up in the Carpathians.Tarmac wasn't available on a 30 miles radius.
Don't know about the new models,but I'll definitely give it a try at that 250cc,looks nice and if it is made in the line with the older model I'm sure it's more capable that many of the big names in it's category. (thumbs)

[sexysi]

Nothing wrong with Chinese engineering but you get what you pay for just the same as else where.

Steve

Agree you get what you pay for....... My tiger 800 xc costs £8,799 OTR..... Does it really cost that much to make one.

I would buy one. @ 155kg's it is 50 lighter than my Tiger 800, and looks like it could be a bridge between the out and out KTM, green laner and the bigger 800/650 GS,Tiger's.

At £3,600 OTR that is cheaper than DRZ money, plus you can commute on it, with panniers etc. I would say 2nd bike, winter commuter/ green laner..

Also I would wait until 2016, because then they have to fit ABS to it to.

si