National Day holiday ride

Ive just noticed some unhappy vibes in one of the older threads here so decided to post some pictures from my last ride. In the evening, nothing relaxes riders more than a beer and some bike porn. Sorry for the quality of the pictures but I couldnt be bothered to take out my camera so all of them are take by my friends with their phones.

In Taizhou (Zhejiang), there is a town of Xianju which is an absolute gem. Not massively famous hence quiet most of the times. Its famous for its yangmeijiu (waxberry liquor) and clean streams. There is a very beautiful touristy area which is worth a visit but if you get off the main road there are some incredible places to discover. Plenty of X roads and a lot of dirt tracks too. We had 3 people (2bikes) and a new bike to ride in so it was mainly pavement this time. Weve found awesome camping spot. Crystal clean water for swimming and plenty of wood to burn. Happy times.
Unfortunately got me 3 punctures :(

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Beautiful
Did you have enough steak on the barbie?


This would be your friend who bought the Aprilia... That's the adventure version but in black colour eh? Nice.
You don't have panniers on your X5? I badly wanted to get that bike but found it hard getting a second hand one in good condition or fully legal. Guess living outside Shangers helps. Fate wanted me to buy Shuben's X2.
The X5 is great for the bigger petrol tank and carrying ability. Today I'm thinking of how to carry extra fuel on the X2..

Wonder if I could shoot down there from Shanghai on the X2... Looks lovely and the mention of dirt tracks... tantalizing

Thanks for posting.

Wow, you took the bikes down that stream bed.. looks well rocky.. How long was the trip? Camping I guess. ... Another thing I'm looking at is tents. Hilleberg seem to be best.

hi, Modron

how is Aprilia in compare to X5? can you describe a bit your impression?
also how do you see build quality in compare to X5? as I remember you had few minor problems with your bike, like front wobble, fork adjustment... are there some bugs in Aprilia too?

@Metal

Sure you can come from Shanghai, I guess youd need at least 3 days off spend one full day in xianju but 4-5 would be preferable. Camping there is great but if you need a good bed I know a hotel that will let you park your bike in the lobby.

As for tents, unless you are planning some serious expedition those expensive tents are waste of money IMO. I have a rmb200 Chinese one man tent that is amazing. Had some serious rain and didnt leak. Its free standing so I can sleep on rocks. Its big enough for me and my kit.


@Steel

So far no problems with the Aprilia apart from the fact that it was way low on coolant from the factory. It has a shitty top box rack which is plastic and will take 5kg max. Center stand reduces ground clearance significantly (to roughly 10-12cm). There is a 2cm thick, rubber spacer on which the stand rests, you could make it thinner and the stands goes up but only to a certain point because it will hit the chain. Cut off about 5mm of that spacer and the center will go up about 2-3cm without any problems.
Build quality is pretty good. Suspension is nice and firm. The front part (fairing around the light) wasnt designed to be disassemble easily. You will need to carry very little tools as it needs mostly the same ones. Comfy seat. Very inaccurate fuel gauge. Thats about it for now.

My X5 is ok now, that wobble was caused by thingy inside the tire that holds it in place. Ive removed it and its good now. front suspension is too soft tho. Its so soft that I actually think it might be faulty

what about engine performance? it's 150 cc water-cooled against 400 cc air-cooled. is there any miracle, or as expected - X5 far more powerful?

He is still running it in but I wouldnt expect any suprises

Yeah, I saw at the motor show that the luggage rack on that aprilia had a notice stamped on it that it was only capable of taking 5kg load... So that's just the rack, guys it has a steel subframe..

Sure it has but you need a new rack ;)

fortunately there are some on taobao already