New Member About To Purchase a Skyteam V-Retro

Hi all,

My name is Stellio, I'm living in Sydney and currently riding a Buell XB12Ss.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...psaae5e123.jpg

I'm wanting a little bike to run around town and something to mod and think I'm sold on the Skyteam V-Retro as there called in Australia.

I've done a little searching on google and haven't heard anything bad about them, not really much about them at all to be honest.

So before I make the purchase I thought I'd join up for any feedback on my choice.

Thanks, Stellio.

Wondering why you'd consider messing with anything else when you have such a beautiful beast in your garage. I would sell my grandmother's balls for an XB12.

Anyway general chinabike advice applies here:
- get it if it's seriously cheap and you're handy with a spanner.
- check if it's gonna be easy and cheap to get parts after you buy.

Mechanics are too expensive in the real world so only buy chinese if you can fix the inevitable breakdowns yourself. Otherwise buy japanese.

http://liveimages.redbook.com.au/bik...FitWithinNoPad

Fun looking bike, but if you can find a real suzuki van-van 2nd hand for the same price then get that.

Suzuki Van-Van was never sold in Australia, the Yamaha TW200 are available 2nd hand but at 2 to 3 times the price of a new V-Retro.

I enjoy working on and modding my bikes and it won't be my main source of transport just something to do short trips around my local area so if it breaks down every now & then it shouldn't be a big issue.

Is there a good online store for part / spares for this bike that anyone can recommend?

And what are the main sort of issues Chinese bikes have?

Buell's are great but there not exactly problem free either.

Skyteam is one of the better Chinese bikes, especially their retro bikes, including the TRex (Suzuki RV 90/125 replica-not sure what it was called in Australia, if you guys even had them back in the day) and CT70 trailbike (what did you guys call them? I am quite sure you did have those). This bike is not available in N. America, but a couple guys with them from Europe have joined us on Chinariders.net and we do have a few Aussie members (I don't think they have one, though). This forum is predominantly ex-pats living in China who will warn you to stay away from all Chinese bikes based on their exposure to them (local brands don't seem to be of even decent quality). There is a British rider here on Mychinamoto who has a TRex 125cc and seems to be having great ownership experience in GB with it.

Hi Stelio, or should I say "kalimera: :)

I have Skyteam V-Raptor. Check my threads about it:
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...V-Raptor-owner
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...10-side-racks-)
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...coil-(Magneto)
http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...eel-Rim-spokes

There is a UK importer with a nice online shop for parts (http://www.skyteamparts.com/), but since you're in Australia I suggest you contact Skyteam directly as I did (which you can see in my threads about my troubles with the stator assembly and spokes). On chinariders.net there is one Australian mamber with such bike, so you might want to check there too.

Thanks for the welcome guys.

Had a quick read through your threads Krasi and was unfortunate to hear about the loose bolts on the coil but good to see you got it sorted out quite cheaply.

Also for future reference for Skyteam owners there are some frame & engine parts lists available here http://ikonikmoto.com.au/demo/index....in_page=page_2 and this looks like my local supply of Skyteam parts also :)

Don't try and talk me out of it now, I've place the order :)

Any muffler suggestion for the V-Raptor?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stellio78

Don't try and talk me out of it now, I've place the order :)

Any muffler suggestion for the V-Raptor?

---

Hi Stellio,

Do you mind sharing where you ordered yours from and for how much? In the same boat as you.

Thanks,

Chef

I got it from Neville at ikonikmoto (link above) for $1995 delivered to a mates factory then assembled the front end and registered it myself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stellio78

I got it from Neville at ikonikmoto (link above) for $1995 delivered to a mates factory then assembled the front end and registered it myself.

---

Ok thanks for that. Is there much to do to get the front end on? and what was the process (slips) and $$ to get rego?

and more importantly, how is the bike so far?

Sorry for all of these questions, your help is much appreciated!

Chef

Need to fit the front wheel & handlebars.

Blue slip, CTP & RTA costs totalled $387.

Bike seems fine for the money (don't expect too much), haven't put many km on it yet (only 30) as I'm in the process of making it a bit more my style.

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p...psbcfc3598.jpg

Damn, that bike looks like fun, and perfect for spring/summer. Was there no front fender?

Now I want to see a picture of it next to the Buell!

By the way, welcome to MCM! Looking forward to more posts as you tame this little beast.

euphonius

Came with a big bulky front fender which I'll probably trim down but for now I'll run it without one.

Stello---A pilot friend of mine has that bike here in Peru---- He has not had any problems with it that i'm aware of----that crazy nut job rides it in Lima traffic!------Lol I can't speak for parts availability where you are, but here it's no problem-------------hope this reduces your fears or concerns-----there are "good" china bikes, and "not so good" china bikes.......that one seems pretty good-------------cheers