Xispa X250K

Finally a good review of basically a Chinese motorcycle(frame,engine and forks) assembled in Spain now being exported to certain countries.

Here is a quote from another forum.

"Having finally taken the plunge and traded my trusty and much loved Scorpa SY 250R for a brand spanking new XiSPA X250R a lot of you have asked ‘what’s it like?’ and a number of you have had a go... but since most ‘bike tests’ are done by expert riders who, let’s face it, could ride almost anything and make it work, I thought a few folk might be interested in a ‘clubbies view of all things XiSPA.

So here it is, take it or leave it, but you did ask...

Now I’m not professing to be anything other than someone who scratches around at open trials simply to have a good day out, but like many clubbies and many Vets come to that, there are a few really important things that go towards making a 'good ride' so, here are the things that stood out like 'dogs bits' for me after riding the last two rounds of the NSW champs.

The components...
No surprises here since most of the bits are the same as you’d find on any other bike – AJP brakes and controls, Domino throttle, fully adjustable suspension (Paoli rear) Dunlop tyres etc.

The wheels have no makers mark so I’m assuming they’re Chinese but having set the rear tyre at 3.5 psi on day one, it’s now done a good few hours practice and two Open trials and it’s still at 3.5 psi – that’s a first for me...

The plastics are very well made but having ridden in two wet (very wet) trials, the rear guard is a bit short. However, after two ‘back door exists’ it didn’t get ripped off so I reason a grubby arse is fair price to pay compared with a new guard – I don’t expect young Pauly Arnott will be making a lot of dough in replacement plastics any time soon.

The graphics are all high quality moulded pv rather than stickers and look like they’ll take a fair bit of hammering.

It also comes with a lot of expensive ‘bling’ as standard. Carbon Fork Brace, Carbon Fork Protectors, Carbon Muffler Protector, Red Brake Callipers and a really cool Bike Cover – the last time I saw one of those it had ‘Sammy Miller Bultaco’ printed on it...

Now the whole ‘Look’ thing is obviously down to personal taste – I love the ‘stealth machine’ minimalist black thing but, the swing arm initially had me worried. It’s an ‘as cast’ finish, which could either be that special ‘works look’ or simply a cost saving. Either way, I was little bit worried about oil staining, however a quick wipe with mineral turps brings it up good as new so worries over.

Taking it to bits...

Wandering round the bike and taking bits off reveals a few nifty things like hollow wheel spindles, lots of lock nuts and everything is easy to get at. It’s hard to judge the quality of the nuts and bolts at this stage and maybe they’re not ‘aircraft quality’ but no dramas in shifting them so all seems to have been properly torqued up when built. (Or Mr Arnott’s done a damn good PDI)

The paint looks thick and well applied – the welds look strong and clean – again maybe not to ‘aircraft quality’ but a whole lot better than some I’ve had.

Getting to the carb and air leaner is a breeze. Three screws and the tank and rear guard are off. The air filter is straight lift out and looks remarkably like another well known brand so no probs with a Jitsie spare replacement. Lift the tank an inch or two and the plug comes out a treat. I did replace the usual ‘lawn mower’ fuel line with some proper stuff but I do that with all my bikes. The carb is the OKO 28 mm flat slide, well made, easy to strip and seems to jetted perfect right out of the box cos looking at the plug after two events and it’s the perfect colour.

So, to the meat of it...

Now here’s the thing. There’s been a lot of talk in ‘the other place’ about this bike. Frankly a lot of the commentary appears to be ‘vested interests’ or lounge room testing so from a rider’s (albeit towards the bottom of the food chain) viewpoint, here’s my thoughts.

Before I rabbit on – I have made a couple of personal preference changes from standard – a set of S3 adjustable bar clamps – partly because they’re cool red anodised and partly because I have a problem keeping my lardy arse over the back end and they help fix that. And secondly, I’ve dropped the rear sprocket from 42 T to 41 T, again partly because I could fit a cool red anodised joby and partly because I’m a first gear kinda bloke and 42 T was a tad too low for me.

How does it perform?

Engine response – clean and crisp off the bottom, linear power - and quite a bit of it now its run in, witness two 'back door' exits in the first trial as I struggled with reprogramming my right wrist.

Clutch – nice and light - a little grabby when new, but it’s now settled down to as smooth as my left index finger can make it, and as good as anything else I’ve ridden recently.

Brakes – all AJP so, much the same as everything else on the market, downhills are completely drama free and with the geometry (see 6, 10 and 11 below) nose wheelie turns are distinct possibility in the future...

Suspension – again the bike has had mixed/conflicting reviews in the press to date. Pauly A has done a good job setting it up, it’s livelier than I’ve been used to in the past but it suited me just fine. In truth the front suspension is not as plush as the Scorpa or the Gas Gas but as I’m not splatting 2 metre steps I doubt it will ever effect on my enjoyment, or my scores.

And how does it ride...

Stationary balancing – this bike is oh so easy to balance, I call it ‘doing a Kev’ – I remember my first ride in Australia at Wollongong Club trial way back watching a young Kev Zar stationary balancing in the queue – cool stuff- well it’s damn easy on the XiSPA, watch out Kev...

Full lock turns – some reports on the XiSPA suggest that the turning circle isn’t that tight – I’m not sure that’s true, two events in and... it turns oh so easy, on full lock – a little bit of feathered clutch and it feels like it will stay like that all day. God help me if they bring back no stop, that’s my new secret weapon gone...

Drop offs – this is probably the biggest worry for we ‘lesser lights’... that stomach churning ‘oh s@#@’ feeling as you ease off the step... Clearly the geometry of the XiSPA is different – no tuck in over the edge and no grounding of the bash plate to help with the catapult effect... dead easy.

Steps – the old double blip is breeze – throttle or clutch just punch the front wheel two thirds up and over she goes.

Grip – after two wet trials on the trot (a first for me in over 15 years riding in Australia, how dry is NSW?) just get the work done at the bottom of the obstacle and coast up, easy paesy.

Cross cambers – relax the knees, steady throttle, straight as an arrow, no dramas.

Wrangling in the queue – getting into position at the start card is sometimes one of the bigger challenges in clubbie world... well again I guess this is down to XiSPA geometry – just stick the front wheel where you want it, lean forward on the bars and the back comes up ready to be plonked where you want it. A bit of a standing nose wheelie, more to come me thinks...

The ‘strategic’ dab – most of us old timers have learned that trying to ride every section clean is a pipe dream, discretion being the better part of valour, a strategic dab is heaps more effective than a ‘cool looking’ crash and burn 5 (something I’ve tended to make my own in times gone by). The problem is, all too often a strategic dab ends up a not very strategic 3 when you’re tired. Again, the geometry is such that a dab and a lift of the inside bar brings the front around or, lean forward on the bars and the back comes up ready to be plonked where you want it – the strategic dab now becomes a real weapon.

Now I know lots of you will say all the above is just about technique, and it works on any bike – true -but my point is, I found all the above easy or a whole lot easier on the XiSPA than on any other bike I’ve ridden recently, and I’ve tried them all in last couple of months.

So is it all perfect? – no, but how many bikes are...

A few gribbles include:

- No rear disk guard - that surprised me so if you’re reading Pauly you know my postal address.

- No Radiator Guard – again not sure if it’s a huge issue other than to be careful when cleaning. The SY had a huge guard and I still managed to mangle the rad.

- Air intake - the position of the air intakes mean that crap can, and does, drop into the air filter on snotty days. The filter box itself is well sealed and providing you keep on top of cleaning it I’m guessing it’s little different from many – and it’s a small price to pay for the clean breathing motor.

So, there you have it – the unofficial XiSPA X250R bike test, take it leave it - as you’ve probably gathered I’m well chuffed (particularly when you consider what you get for the money) as I expect many others will be.

PS a note to Les Boniface – Les, you can’t have one, your hard enough to beat already.

Paul Mac"