Oh yeah, what tires?
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Oh yeah, what tires?
Which one pulls better / is more "elastic" at low and medium revs?
Little update:
My apologies for the interlude in completing this review - the bike has been "in limbo" while it was waiting for plates. I had a junker with an A plate that I scrapped, and the "demolition yard" was slow, slow, slow in getting the paperwork in order.
Anyways, finally got the new plates on (yesterday), so I'll continue on with the review over the coming days.
As a side note, for those inquiring minds in Beijing, the number of foreign-registrations in Beijing has fallen off a cliff. I registered a Regal Raptor in late June of this year with a new A plate. My GW received a new A plate yesterday. There are only six numbers between the Regal Raptor, and the GW (plates numbers are issued sequentially). This means that in 3 months, there have been ONLY six new A plates issued to foreigners (it is easy to tell, because foreign registrations start with the number 47).
Now, a friend of mine (another idiot, like me, who just can't get enough) is responsible for two of those registrations, so that leaves four, in three months. They say there are >100,000 foreigners living in Beijing. I guess everyone is registering their bike in their Chinese girlfriend's name?
I'll also try to get Mr. Red-GW (whom several MCM members know well) to join MCM and contribute his insights to the review.
My plating agent, who rode the GW to the Traffic Management Bureau, etc, during the plating process came back with a huge smile on his face, raving about how he totally loves this bike. Unknown to him, I had already put a GPS tracker on the bike ... yup, I was watching as he was having a "fun, circuitous ride." I think he even went to his girlfriend's house and gave her a little ride around. Hahaha.
Anyways, more later.
The stocks tires are IRC - Road Winner RX-01
Revzilla description
Love the new baby LJH!
I must say that even though you're correct in saying the YBR is probably a better china-tourer, this GW is way more tempting to me. In fact it currently sits in no.2 on my 'next bike' list. (no.1 requires convincing someone to sell to me, you know who you are!)
One good thing about the GW250 that hasn't been mentioned here yet is that taobao is already full of aftermarket parts for it. Crash bars, racks, side racks, cases, better lights, etc... Loads of choice. I like this as it's still hard to find any add-ons for my qingqi, years into production.
I'm not a huge fan of the enormous front fender either, but someone on motorfans found a nice one that works:
http://www.motorfans.com.cn/bbs/t_17422702_1.htm
I've a few questions if you don't mind:
- Have you worked out how much mileage you get out of a tank? Can you get 300+ km?
- How do you like those IRC tires? I'm using the YBR250 tires these days and am not super impressed, they're just ok.
- How does the suspension handle bumps? The reason i've been riding dual sport the whole time in china is potholes and shit; what happens on the GW if you don't slow down for speed bumps?
- Those bars look fairly cluttered, is there any space there to mount a phone/gps?
Anyway, congrats again sir!
These days I wonder, would it be better to have a Haojue tank and engine side covers to convince any ultra-nationalist China meathead that in fact it is a Chinese bike and not in any way Japanese, to save a punch-up or fire- bombing? Although I think people that badly educated only assume that Toyota and Honda are Japanese. Suzuki, Mazda, Yamaha and Lexus probably confuse them, tell them 'it's Korean, mate! Put down that rock!'
In my city they should smash down their apartment blocks, because all that cement, that's all from a Japanese joint-venture. :lol8:
On September 18th I was riding a CB400 around Shanghai and had dinner at a sushi restaurant completely oblivious to any demonstrations. I saw them on TV and read about them (including the 2 foreigners who were attacked by a mental patient) but I really think any fears of an anti Japanese uprising have passed. I think the most you would need to worry about is those who are envious of your nice new ride. :riding:
Actually, that was one of the things that pushed me towards this bike. Unfortunately, I have been having bad luck with these parts. More later, but I've already sent back two crash bars & a carrier (all were top shelf, expensive items, off Taobao) because they were crap. Just got back from a little ride and am going to attempt to put a new set of bars on it - we'll see.
Nothing scientific, yet, but it seems that >300kms will not be a problem.
Same with the IRCs ... they are ok, but they do not give any "wow" factor. They might be a little soft. as I've already picked up a couple of screws (fortunately, none went all the way through).
Suspensions is good, soft when needed; firm when needed. But I'm a big guy, and this is a comparatively little bike, so I slow down for the speed bumps. Also, the riding position isn't really conducive to standing on the pegs.
Very observant - the bars are indeed busy, and odd-shaped clip-ons. There are RAM mounts that attach to bolt fittings which I will try in the future.
This is becoming a wildly popular bike. More than 100 have sold in Beijing within the past couple of months, and there are now weekly GW-club get-togethers (dealer sponsored). It also attracts a lot of attention which means every Zhang, Zhou and Cao feel it is perfectly ok to hop on my bike to try it out whenever it is parked outside. I'm a friendly guy, but that just pisses me off. I've begun asking "hey buddy, where's your girlfriend? Mind if I hop on her to try her out?" Grrrr.
Yeah, I think the anti-JP nonsense has subsided somewhat ... that was scary stuff ... especially in your town, Felix.
Seriously, I promise ... more to come ... life just gets in the way.
Here's a thread on the October 1st GW party in Beijing ... Mr Red in attendance. I was on a HOG event, else I would've also gone.
http://www.motorfans.com.cn/bbs/t_17434317_1.htm
Yup - a very popular bike these days.
They met early, bought the same hi-viz, did a photo-shoot and had a three hour guanxi dinner avec baijiu and many lung busters. I never go on this kind of ride- out, can't remember quite why!?