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We are getting close to wrapping up the CJ750 and CBF150 engines are looking for where to turn our attentions too next. We were thinking about the CF650, but after it getting pretty muched panned on here I have my doubts. We're looking for something popular, under powered, exported and preferrably with EFI because we have some electonics we want to try out.
Hi there!
There haven't been any reliable or first hand reports about the CF650, only 2nd or 3rd hand comments, but indeed they were all bad. No one has said specifically what's bad about the bike, if it's the engine or chassis or quality or what, but it would still be interesting to know more about it. We also don't know if it's genuinely bad, or if whoever said is used to riding an FZ1 in which case it's just not fair. Unfortunately at this point info seems pretty sparse.
The JH600 is another fuel injected 'big' bike that you might be interested in, although i don't think that they export any. It's been mention a few times that jialing don't make any efforts abroad. Anyway it's got a bosch EFI system and i reckon a lot of people of this forum would be very happy if you turned your attention to it. From reports it seems to be a bit buggy and very picky with dirty fuel. People have been waiting for an upgrade on this but as far as i know none has been released. Maybe Euphonious or Pfaelzer could give more details here.
For smaller bikes you could at the Qingqi QM200GY or QM250GY, but popular models here and abroad. (the 250 is in its early stages but looks promising) Both are based on suzuki engines. Qingqi say they working on a fuel injected version of the 250 which they say is coming out later this year. You can take that with a grain of salt though, Qingqi make a good bike but are a very slow company.
Now questions: how did you get on with the CJ? Any results? I'm gonna be at Mr. Wang's tomorrow (sunday) afternoon, will anyone from PMI be there? Would be cool to meet!
Felix, thanks for the info. I personally still like the CF600, but we might wait until we get more feedback from the market. The CJ test engine is now in our shop waiting on new cylinders, pistons and gasket set from the US. We expect them to arrive this next week and will put everything together for a test run. We also want to look into have the heads ported and possibly some minor cam work done, but this won't be ready until later this summer. This first prototype still has a lot of issues due to the quality of the mating components and several other factors, but we're committed to making something affordable, durable and more powerful. It won't be as good as putting a brand new BMW engine in it, but it will be better than what we have today. I won't be at Mr. Wang's today (Brian our Tech Mgr might be there), but as soon as we have something running in the test mule we will have Mr. Wang schedule something so we can show off to everyone what we have been working on and get some additional feedback.
Re: CF650 - I think that market expectations have risen, given the availability of foreign bikes as a comparison (albeit grey market items). That said, I think the CF650 is light years ahead of any CJ, but the CJ has that certain Indiana Jones panache. It may be that the Chinese-gossip about the CF650 has deemed that it be subject to a public denouncement and a re-education.
It is the same with the 1970s Harleys (under AMF) - they were absolute POS bikes, yet the nostalgia-market has pushed the prices for those bikes to unrealistic levels, and people now swear by how good those old bikes were (obviously, they have never owned one!). Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, who owned one of those bikes could have ever imagined they would become a collectors item. Us old guys remember being subjected to the same snide comments and looks for owning a Harley in the 1970s - the same as people are now subjected to for owning a Chinese bike. "You OWN a Harley? What, are you an idiot?" Amazingly, Nortons & Triumphs were considered the reliable bikes! Japanese bikes, although factually way more reliable during the 1970s, were ... well ... Japanese, so it was unpatriotic to like them. I bought a Z1 in the 70s, and although my friends shunned me, it was a damn fine bike. And, at the time, untouchable by any other bike.
The JH600 is actually a pretty good bike, for what it is intended and its price. I've not encountered any problems with mine, at all, although I wish the front suspension was designed to have a bit less braking-dive. Although it can be fun to play around with a bike, I'm not convinced most mods are necessary, or even make much of a difference. I haven't encountered any major design flaw that would set it apart from any other manufacturer's flaws/bugs/shortcomings/etc. I've a lot of experience on the BMW 650GS, as it is one of my rides back in Canada, and although people swear by the blue propeller, actual owners of those bikes frequently say otherwise (while not in the company of other BMW owners). Frankly, they are both similar and dissimilar bikes, but I haven't ANY reason to say one is better than the other - my 650 GS was actually in the shop more than my JH600 has been, but maybe that's because I had higher expectations of the BMW.
I second Felix's vote for the GY200 - an extremely popular bike that is also exported in large quantities. That could be a lot of fun to play around with.
eh, my two fen.
off to ride
:lol8::lol8::lol8:Quote:
Originally Posted by Lao Jia Hou
Thanks, was excellent reading. I have thought HDs with Indians has been in America always the only socially accepted bike.
P.S. There are still people who think "if you own a HD you're an idiot" :lol8:
The Loncin 223cc is in a lot of bikes and could use another 100cc or 5-10 horsepower. The Shineray/Yingang 250cc engine has no bottom end. Would be be happy if you could sort out those two engines for me. There's a huge market here for both those powerplants.
Cheers!
ChinaV