Newbie to Motorcycles from Costa Rica - started with Jialing JH150E Cruiser

Hello Everyone,

I am totally new to Motorcycles and I read everywhere that you should start small and grow as you progress. Therefore, I got a Jialing JH150E Cruiser Type motorcycle that is very well supported locally (I asked around and other chinese brands, which were apparently good, had a not-so-good representation in my country (Costa Rica in Central America), so I decided to go with this one.

I am in the process of knowing the motorcycle, I dont know how good it is or if this model has particularities or issues, but anyway I found this site and I think I will be an avid user of this forum.

Any advice you may give me, I am more than happy to receive it.

Thanks to the creator of this forum.

Regards,

Otto

Otto,

Welcome to MCM and you've done a smart thing by getting a light motorcycle! We have at least one other member on here from CostaRica named GXT200-CostaRica. Maybe send him a Private Message (PM) and he may be able to help out if you have any local questions.

Otherwise, be sure to check ALL the screws and bolts on your motorcycle to make sure they are tight. :deal: That's a good place to start.

Do you have some mechanical repair experience?

CC

Thanks CrazyCarl,

The motorcycle is still under warranty, so they are checking the nuts and bolts for now, I will do on my own in probably some months.

I don't know if this is something particular to Chinese motorcycles, but they do come with either a very 'light' manual or no manual at all. I had to get stubborn with the salesman to get the 5 page manual this model has, and it is not of much use. I have to get something better, perhaps a book on Motorcycle maintenance.

On the 'riding part' I got
Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well (Paperback) by David L. Hough

Which is very good I think.

I am in the 'practice, practice, practice' part.:riding:

Practice is what it takes! Matter of fact, it's a whole life of practice! :riding:

Even though the bike is under warranty, I would still at least check some critical bolts yourself. These things have been known to cause nasty surprises from time to time.

At least make sure the shock absorber/suspension parts are tight. If they aren't you could have saved yourself some serious down time... it's only a few screws. Also, the couple of screws that hold on the brake caliper(s).

I had a Jialing 150 that had a problem with the engine mount bolts under the gas tank. They were too loose and caused A LOT of extra vibration in the motorcycle. Then they "fixed" it (in China) and made them too tight and the mounts broke! :rolleyes1: Then the vibrations in the bike were SUPER strong.

One great feature about most Chinese bikes is they are easy to work on and great for building mechanical confidence should/when you get a more complex machine.

CC

Welcome to here! Pitster Pro has a distributor in Costa Rica called Carmonax. The Pitster Pro dual sport and motard are very high quality Chinese bikes. If you can get over to them, you should visit and tell us what you think of the 250cc bikes, because none of us have seen them in person in the U.S. :lol8:

http://www.carmonax.com/