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Hello.
My name's Steve. I live in China, Jiangsu, Nanjing.
October 2011 I decided to finally go legal and bought this Asiawing LX450X for daily city commuting.
Dealer: 南京曹记车行 （萨家湾）
Bike price: 28000 yuan
Plates price: 12000 yuan
Previous bike: Yamaha FZ6N '06
Here will be the review of the bike and experiences I'm having with it.
Link: http://www.asiawing.com/english/lx450s.html
28,000! Holy cow, they priced up that thing. I went to the factory a few years ago, they told me under 20,000, plate doesn't even look real either.
Plate's on the back. The one on the front fender is 停车证 for our office building parking lot.
Yeah, the thing's overpriced.
Now in terms of what went wrong with the thing:
1. The carb. Wouldn't idle at all. Better now, still not ideal. Plan to change it for an 41 FCR one. Read on moto8 forum they fit.
2. The original battery (Yuasa 12V; 5A) was dead the first week. Had to replace it with a bigger one (12V; 7A). For that half of air filter had to be cut off. Battery placed under the seat.
3. Stock blinkers got busted after the first rain. Had to replace them. Ordered a set from taobao.
4. The rear stoplight/ license plate assembly fell off, since it's not anyhow attached to the rear fender. 2 screws did the trick.
5. Clutch line snapped twice. Both times got the new one from taobao.com. Both clutch lines were different length. Got an original Honda CRF 450X one. Waiting for the clutch line I have now to snap again to have it replaced.
6. Exhaust burned the right side plastic cover through. Replaced it with the stock one from taobao.
7. Both left/right controls (light switches, etc.) had to be replaced, since they malfunctioned in about 2 months after I bought the bike.
8. The headlight can hardly be called light at all. Had to replace it with the Honda CB400 light. Put that CB400 windscreen on it as well. Got both from taobao.
9. Rear shock somehow came in contact with the carburetor-air filter hose and practically tore the carb-engine hose off from the engine. No jumps done on the bike ever. Street use only. Tha mystery!!!
10. Regulator-rectifier unit （稳压器） "burned" twice. Have one spare at home just in case, 'cause don't believe that the one I have on now will last long.
11. Seat's shitty quality. The first rain got it drenched through and every time you sit on it the water just sponges out. Wet pants, you know. Had to buy a huge piece of leather like material and have the local laoban help me upholster it.
12. Took it to car wash. Once. Wouldn't start after the wash. Took it about 5 hours to dry up completely. What exactly had to be dried up remains yet another mystery. That's actually pretty strange, 'cause they position it as a dirt bike. Dirt bike that's afraid of water???
13. Yesterday learned a new Chinese word: 启动继电器. Seems to be starter relay assembly. That's the thing that houses the fuse (the only fuse that the bike has). The fuse just popped put of the box, the bike went dead. Again, that's supposed to be a dirt bike, for jumps and all.
14. Put Kawasaki ER6-N mirrors on it, because stock mirrors were flimsy and shaky and rusted through in a week.
Notice: them salespeople at the shop got no idea what aftersales service is. They used to be a Yamaha motor scooter shop and all this Asiawing things is a new venture for them. They DO NOT know where to find spares and they DO NOT know how to fit them on.
Had to do everything myself with the help of one local bike mechanic dude who's crazy enough to help laowai work on his bike.
ok so thats the list of things gone wrong
any positives ?
like power and wheelstanding potential?
Positives:Quote:
Originally Posted by zhu
1. Those problems are all minor things and one can easily fix those. Diagnosing them took us longer than fixing them.
2. Once everything's done the bike works. I mean, it works: it doesn't splutter, doesn't over rev, starts every time (kickstart+electric start is required in winter)
3. I care about the road conditions no more. Potholes, road fixing, curbs, steps, whatever - I don't have to brake 50 meters ahead every single crack in the tarmac any more.
4. It's very lightweight. 100+ kg. Good in corners (would be cautious with stock tires, though)
5. All the spares are easily available from taobao.
6. Most of Honda CRF 450X ('05) parts fit. So if you're lucky enough to get those in China - way to go. Original supermoto conversion kit...
7. In rainy weather the fairing somehow manages to protect you from all that road dirt.
8. It's torquey = easy wheelies.
9. Fuel consumption is not that bad for a 450 carburetted single. Better fill it with #97, though.
10. Front forks/rear shock seem to be better than expected.
I'm pretty sure they were selling these in Australia a couple of years ago price close to $7000.00 Aud = 42000rmb They got a good review from a local motorcycle magazine.
A pic with the license plate visible:Attachment 6865Quote:
Originally Posted by ZMC888
Thanks for sharing with us Steve, a couple people reviewed the LX450 in the past, but we never heard much after their initial posts. What I find hard to believe is that this bike was introduced in 2009, and two years later you buy one with exactly the same problems as the early buyers experienced. Very disappointing that Asiawing did not improve their manufacturing processes. I read on some Chinese forum that all the LX450's made after Jan 2011 were supposed to be perfect with almost no issues.
28,000 is a lot for a China bike, but 12k for registration :eekers:... do you think you got hit with a "Lowai Tax", or is it just that expensive for a 450 in Nanjing?
Enjoy your ride :thumbsup:.
Cheers!
ChinaV
yeah, I read that moto8 forum. They said it was going to be trouble free. Like hell it is.
Say, today the left mudguard just fell off. Unscrewed and fell off. Vibration or whatever, guess dirtbikes aren't supposed to be like that.
28,000 is a price with insurance included.
12,000 for registration is because everything over 250cc is illegal in Nanjing and those "big" bikes that somehow comply with the registration standard and have proper paperwork have additional "cc tax".
Say, my friend here paid 52,000 yuan to put Nanjing plates on his BMW GS 1200. He is Chinese.