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I am looking to import a new motorcycle (Suzuki GN250) from China into the UK. They are made by Chongqing Wonjan Motorcycle MFG. Co., Ltd. I only want one, so need to find a dealer in China willing to export a single bike. It should have the correct paperwork for the EC.
Can anyone advise?
Thanks in advance.
I would think you should have no trouble convincing Wonjan to send you a sample, provided they have some around (read my next paragraph). It will cost more for both the bike and the shipping since you are only buying one bike. Also, keep in mind; you are not buying a full container or half container, so your single bike will be sent as a large package, and could be subject to damages during transit. I would think it would be the UK where the troubles (if any?) will fall as far as legalities.
If you can't get the manufacturer to send you one (they don't usually have all their models sitting around their factory--they make bikes to order for distributors, etc. so might not have that model immediately available to send), your best bet is to find a bike on Taobao--I have no idea how to use the service (it is kind of like a Chinese Ebay), but some here on mychinamoto and chinariders.net swear by it and have ordered parts galore, but I have not recalled anyone actually buying a complete bike, either. Let us know how it goes...
OK, googled this http://wonjan.en.alibaba.com/product..._GN250_C_.html
They sell these bikes minimum of one at a time, so now your biggest issues will be figuring out shipping for one bike, and UK import laws and duties.
Why on earth do you want to do that? You can buy a UK spec Inazuma 250 in the UK from a Suzuki dealer. Much less hassle surely?
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by ZMC888
OP... locally local production is made to a price point, lower than... so you'd be buying a MC that looks like a MC and that is about it... dude, by a local Jap MC there where you are... even if it's second hand... there are few good examples of good quality MCs made here. That Suzuki GW250 seemingly appears to be holding its own. I'd bet that Suzuki Japan really had a big hand in QC & QA processes though, as it is their reputation on the line.
The hassles of buying and importing, taxes, duties, warranty issues down the track, homogenization with local fleets etc. - a big headache IMO.
I for example love chinesee bikes. I had no bigger problems with them. I dream of having chinesee bike without any added logo an "oryginal" one. i can unterstand him.
And This particular model gn250 or TUX are beautyfull but not to buy in Europe. They (japs) will not make bad the market. They sell in USA 250ccm bikes with the same price as polish importers sell chinesee 250ccm. A jap 250 in Europe Doubles the Chinese price, an that i find not Ok.
The pain and suffering of all that paperwork that could take weeks to import a hideously ugly fake cruiser 2 valve single and then it probably has some modern additional emissions equipment to make the bike less enjoyable and snatchy on the throttle. In every way you'd be better off with an Inazuma, it even comes hit with an ugly stick too.Quote:
Originally Posted by beniamin82
If you 'love' Chinese bikes sorry to say but the only people I know that 'love' their Chinese bikes have never owned or ridden a proper bike. I have arguably one of the best Chinese bikes ever made, and I'm just tolerating compared with a Honda.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ZMC888
+1
:thumbsup:
I think the hassles of importation likely would be many weeks if not months, and likely include many hurdles, some of which might be insurmountable. Sorry to say, but the feeling about Ch!nese bikes being all that are not well placed IMHO.
There is a very real reason that the majority if not all Ch!nese bikes have price points often far below any comparable product from the likes of the Japanese or the EU manufacturers. Those 'savings' made by using far inferior components many of which are unseen, come at a cost in terms of reliability and longevity. One don't know what one doesn't know. To compare and complain about the cost of comparable competitive products is short sighted in my opinion. OP and others that are so in luv with Ch!nese products, try coming and living here to get a different and REAL perspective. One might just have a different opinion based on a balanced view of the BS that takes place here. The majority of the local Ch!nese would prefer an imported product than that of a local. The government takes advantage of that and gouges their slice of the pie. Propping up multiple industries that would likely fail in a truly competitive market.
ZMC888 is correct, those of us with what is arguably one of the best MC products made here, still find angst to be concerned and complain about.
OP you want a GN250, buy a model made in Japan or some place else where the model is manufactured for export. The model made here is not, and consequently lower quality components are part of the trade off to meet the LOCAL consumer pricing expectations of the market segment.
One can put silk on a farking goat, it's still a farkin goat.
Nuff said.
It is clear that a new japanesee motorcycle is of better quality than a new chineese one.
But it is worth the price you must give for?
Look, in europe the japs has no motorcycyle i want.
I have very simple expextations from a motocycle:
1) Cruiser/chopper look, or classic one (70's)
2) displacment 250ccm, 17+ HP,
3) fuel consumption 2,5-3,5
The Japs do not sell such motorcycle in Europe, end even if they have they in stock they would sell them for too much money.
As i write Suzuki sell his Tux 250 in US for 3500-4500$, for the same price you can buy in Poland a Malibu by JOhnny Pag or a Regal Raptor
by Almot.
In Europe the japaneese sell motorcycles for much higher prices, i thinks they would sell it for the double price then in US.
With the Tux for 3500$ they could swipe out the "importers" of chineese bikes in a year, but the do not do that.
I have a Keeway Cruiser, he has 32.000km on wheels, and the repair cost were low, the fuel consumption is 2,64l/100km.
I have bought it used for 1200$ with mileage 5000km. The quality of the bike is very good, im comparison with YBR 125/Honda CG 125.
My Keeway is 7years old, i drive it every day to work, also in rain, and i have no problems with rost.
Before Keeway i had a senke 125. And the most problem was the quality of assembly. I had to spend few houres to "repair" it.
I buyed a new one for 1000$, an YBR costs 4000$. I sell the bike with mileage of 18500km, the new owner has now 30000km.
A friend of mine maked with senke 125 65.000km, and then it was cheaper to buy a new one as repair the old one.
There where bearings to change and some engine problems. He buyed a new a 150ccm chineese one (again?).
Another friend of mine has a Jinlun 250 with meleage of 80.000km and now he changed the gearbox wich cost 100$.
So?
I have the choice to buy one bike from Japs and drive it for 120.000km(!) and 12 Years, or every 3-4Years have a new Chineese bike.
I choose a new chinesse bike, it is very simple for me.
P.S. And the "some modern additional emission equipment" are very easy to cut out, no one in Poland controls that after the bike is registered :-).
P.S.S
The 320i from Lifeng, are selling very good, but if some one search for more power, and more prestige than he must buy a Japaneese one.
The benelli thing and CF 650 are to expensive, and the keeway 600i is not availble in Europe, and this are not choppers...
Here's why it is important to consider not just what one can see with vehicles, but the inherent attributes, materials, design and craftmanship (cough cough) once cannot see - when it comes to anything made in Ch!na.
Case in point...
Australian Crash Test body slams Chinese made 'Great Wall' ute (pickup).
Australia's crash safety body (ANCAP) has hit out at Chinese car maker Great Wall for offering "inferior protection for occupants".
ANCAP tested Great Wall's V200 ute and found it couldn't match safety offered by five-star rivals.
But the test also highlighted a major loophole in ANCAP's crash test regimen.
The ute scored 6.07 points out of 16 during a front impact that put it to the test.
By comparison, Ford's five-star Ranger ute scored 15.72 in the same test.
The Great Wall scored 0.07 out of 4 and 0 out of 4 for chest and lower leg protection, areas in which some rivals received a perfect score.
The safety body said the Chinese ute's passenger compartment "lost structural integrity in the frontal offset crash test" and that steering and dash components could have injured occupants.
At $23,990 drive-away in diesel, all-wheel-drive form, the V200 is around $15,000 cheaper than most rivals.
But ANCAP chair Lauchlan McIntosh says cheap imported utes may not be worth the trouble.
"Price is of course one of the key factors when it comes to deciding which car to buy, but that shouldn't mean we compromise on safety... There is no reason why light commercial vehicles should be built to lesser standards than passenger cars."
Yet the Great Wall received a satisfactory three-star rating thanks to an ANCAP policy that gives large vehicles a hypothetical perfect score in side impact tests without analysing a vehicle's performance.
ANCAP's crash report for the Great Wall ute says "experience shows that large vehicles like the V200 can be expected to perform well in this test. ANCAP has adopted a policy of awarding these types of vehicles a default score of 16 points out of 16".
The Great Wall ute does not have side or curtain airbags to protect occupants in side impact collisions.
A lack of safety features coupled with a worrying loss of body integrity in a frontal crash test suggests that the ute may have received a score lower than three stars if truly put to the test.
Great Wall's other ute, the V240, received a similar benefit in 2010 after scoring 2.36 out of 16 in its front crash test and a hypothetical 16 out of 16 in a side impact.
The V240 received a two-star score.
Source
It is not for nothing that myself and others warn of buying a Ch!nese goat with silk on it.
It is typical, allways the same. I talk about chinesee bikes and the People start to argue with chinesee 50ccm shit scooters and crash test of cars.
I do not talk about cars which safty is obvieus, but the safty on a chinesee bike and japaneese bike is the same (without abs).
Besides :
The quoros 3 car has 5 stars i Encap crash test.
It is the same safty that volvo has.
I think you want a 2nd hand Japanese made CMX250 rebel or CB250. It will meet you price expectations and after three years it will be in better mechanical shape, and give you far better resale.Quote:
Originally Posted by beniamin82
I'm a teacher I buy lots of red pens.
Chinese red pen lasts something up to a week usually a day. A French made bic lasts me around a month. Reliable, good quality, price is actually the same, although really a bic is 25% of the price as it lasts 3 times longer.
The reason: Chinese manufacturers give not one fuck about their consumer. Consumers are to them faceless muppets, screw one over, who cares? Another one will be there to take their place. All they care about is one thing: money.
They could make their pens better, but they won't, you'd buy fewer! What do they do? Collude with other manufacturers to make sure all pens are equally shit and also use the government to prevent imports to defend their industry.
The only time Chinese companies can manufacture properly is for export, when they have to, even then it's shonky shit.
You have a lot of right thinking in your answer. It may be that the oryginal chinesee bikes are not good in quality, maybe my senke was of good quality because of the quality control of polish reseller. The romet company assembly those bikes in Poland. This company exist in Poland since 70's. They do not want any bad marketing.
The second topic, Yes the rebel or cb 250 is something for me, but for first thing i can not buy it new. The same thing with suzuki TUX, it is not availble in Poland /Europe. And the import from Us is expensive.
The next question is: make the tripple price (ybr 125/senke 125) tripple better quality? Or Just double it. Is it posible to drive ybr for 180.kkm without engine trouble? If Yes it maybe a solution. But If senke engine make 65.kkm it is better to buy a new one after then and not to buy a ybr. And drive it to end of my life.
As i wrote you, the japaneese bike are still well Sold in Europe because of Power and Prestige.
I can say something else, i see the difference of quality in senke and keeway. The keeway is better, but it cost more.
If a company buys Chinese bikes in parts and welds and assembles themselves they can if intelligent make a pretty good bike from the better Chinese parts and undercut the Japanese bikes. You see the main problems with Chinese bikes is assembly mentality. That being a race to fill as many bikes as possible into a shipping container and be number 1 manufacturer by volume.This means bikes arrive the other end with welds that look like the have been done by children and finger tight bolts.
Japanese made bikes are of course better, but Japanese bikes made in China can be just as good as Indian made even better and not far behind Thailand. I see it as a mangaement issue, and obviously CFMOTO and Qianjiang are beginning to get the idea. Wuyang, Hoajue, Sundiro and Jianshe have already been taught the correct methods becuase they have Japanese bosses.
Are you saying Chinese mentality is low? They can't make things right?Quote:
Originally Posted by ZMC888
Funny thing is the Chinese even tell you the same
They ask if my bike is an import but I say it's Chinese then they say it's not a good bike because it's made in china
And here in china welding correctly isn't a known thing
Looks like bird shit from some prehistoric species
Well there are no specific crash tests for MC's that I'm aware of.Quote:
Originally Posted by beniamin82
The car testing was simply an example. However I would say that generally speaking - pretty much everything made in China, not made by a JV or WOFE with international QA & QC systems in place and adhered to, likely produces suspect products... bedding, clothing, textiles, furnishings, furniture, food, beverages, vehicles, components, buildings, building products, tools... pretty much everything. Evem plain old drinking water is not immune!
Lots of shortcuts, altered and cheaper materials and cheating the customer/end user. Maybe not every local Chinese company does so, but I doubt many don't. Even if a company tries its level best to control everything including the supply chain, there are no guarantees that one of the suppliers don't/won't take short cuts (common occurrence) shaving a mao here or a mao there.
As stated, it's not just specific to auto-mobiles, it's everything and it's endemic - nothing is immune!
That's okay though, you go for your life on the Chinese MC... <insert product here>.
It's not a pissing match, it's just a reality... the collective just trying to warn you.
Hey folks - the original poster seems to have been frightened away by the "discussion". He just wanted to know if there was someone who could ship him one of the Suzuki GN250s.
OP - IMHO, it is unlikely a legitimate shop will sell you one, and arrange shipping to the UK. A legitimate shop needs an Export License to be able to sell & ship to overseas customers, and I can't imagine any legal shops having the necessary export license. The only shops I have ever heard of that will risk shipping outside China w/o a license are the CJ shops, and I would not recommend any of them for your requirements.
Only to add:
Quoros 3, chineese car 5starts ENCAP
http://www.euroncap.com/results/qoros/3/528.aspx
Dear Edgara,Quote:
Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou
Sorry for our off topic rants.
It would be possible to buy a single bike online, you could try Alibaba. However these large companies tend to be greedy and unresponsive to individual customers, they would want you to commit to buy a certain amount of units 100+. But really with the documentation worries such export licenses and other obstacles you'd be best advised to come to China yourself to source a bike, and then attempt to get it registered by the DVLA when you return to the UK, which may not be possible and financially illogical.
If you really were keen on something like it you'd be best advised to find one second hand in the UK, or a Honda CMX250 Rebel or purchase and Inazuma from a dealership.
Still you could try Wonjan, it won't hurt to ask, they may be nice people who really love motorcycles and hugely value each customer, unlikely but worth a shot.