Anyone experienced this Zongshen over there?

It just got EPA approval here in the U.S. and the importer says it'll cost $3,495 (including hard bags).

Wondering if any of you China hands have seen it.

http://californiascooterco.com/_DSC0152-650.jpg

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/?p=14518

Cheers,

Dan K.

here is a thread
There were some issues with it if I remember well but not major. For me its just too heavy as a 250cc

Quote:

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Originally Posted by modron

here is a thread
There were some issues with it if I remember well but not major. For me its just too heavy as a 250cc

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Thanks Modron for the link. I'll browse over to it.

Yes, it is almost as heavy as my old BMW F650 was. I'm interested in it as a replacement for my Yamaha XT225, which although lighter than this has only 18 hp at the crank. That makes for some slow going when I have her loaded down and heading uphill into a wind.

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/t...mmothGulch.jpg

This new bike has about 10 hp more than the Yamaha and that could make all the difference in how I use this bike for backroads/fire roads touring.

Cheers,

Dan K.

Have you joined in here? http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=13440 There are several people on the discussion awaiting delivery (towards the end of the thread) meaning you will be in good company if you do purchase one. Spudrider has an older, air-cooled Zongshen (the one whose engine clones the TW200's engine) and he has wrung it out to over 65k miles; he is waiting for one of these, too, so I am quite sure if anything goes wrong, it will be discussed and fixable. From the thread that 'modron' linked above, the guy was a pretty new rider with no mechanical skills (i.e. did he change the oil??), riding an early release bike in China, who eventually made it to Turkey. Like I said, with the early adapters in the US on the chinariders thread, and with a little bit of skill, I wouldn't anticipate anything but small maintenance items to worry about. Oh, and don't forget about Tao Bao which would be the source for any parts CSC might not have in stock...

Thanks Culcune,

I'll head over to that ChinaRiders thread also. I'm not too worried, quality-wise, about picking up a Chinese bike (Hell, I own two Urals and a Royal Enfield. . .). I know they can build good stuff when their distributors demand and are willing to pay for it. If Zongshen is serious about building a world-wide market, maybe this first foray into U.S. sales via CSC will have them stepping-up QC before shipping the bikes over.

Only time will tell.

Cheers,

Dan K.

Hey Dan! Check the link below for CSC's blog. They even have some reports of engineer meetings and bikes coming off the assembly line.

http://californiascooterco.com/blog/?m=201412

CC

Carl,

Thanks for that link too. I'm only halfway through the ChinaRiders thread. There's a lot to digest! Over to the ADVRider thread next. Then on to the CSC blog. By the time I'm done doing all the reading, the first deliveries should be done in the U.S. :icon10:

Cheers,

Dan K.

Haven't come back to this thread in a while. I pulled the trigger about two weeks ago. Shipper tracking shows the bike arrived at the Denver depot today. CSC told me I have to wait for the shipper to fill up a truck that is heading towards my area before it'll leave the depot. I opted for the 19" front wheel option at order time.

I've been following the CSC RX-3 blog, the ADVRider thread, and the ChinaRiders thread and so far all the U.S. owners seem happy and so far nothing but niggling problems with the bikes (Loose bolts, etc.)

Looking forward to hitting the road.

Cheers,

Dan K.