Hello from Ontario, CA

[MJH]

That bike was in a Movie
The Twilight Saga: New Moon "Motorcycle Scene"

[euphonius]

Groan. Movies like that give motorcycling a bad name.

Time for a new thread on great motorcycling movies. I've been trying for weeks to download a copy of Motorcycling Diaries, but the torrent ain't seeding...

[shinysideup]

Hello konkfrantic,

I've had my ksm200 for a year now and its got about 1800km on the clock. I haven't had any clutch problems at all. I'm thinking/guessing a higher quality motorcycle oil in there would help a lot. Check the sprocket on the back. If you still have the stock one it many be worth while to get one with about 4 fewer teeth on it. It certainly made 3rd gear much more usable for me. Another thing I ran into, and this my have just been me, was that the exhaust pipe aims directly at the right rear signal light. I melted mine by doing about 30 minutes at 90Km/h on a hot summer day and had to replace the rear signals with smaller ones that are not directly in line with the tail pipe. Other than that I haven't had any problems. It sure makes the commute to work more fun and with gas at $1.40 a litre the 3L/100Km I'm getting is really nice!

[slabo]

especially if the previous owner abused it. Kronkfrantic, do you have any idea who rode those 1491 km, and under what kind of circumstances? Seems a bit of detective work could be useful right now.


cheers

Speaking of detective work, here's the ultimate guide to buying a used motorcycle. >> http://www.clarity.net/adam/buying-bike.html

[slabo]

Groan. Movies like that give motorcycling a bad name.

Time for a new thread on great motorcycling movies. I've been trying for weeks to download a copy of Motorcycling Diaries, but the torrent ain't seeding...

Is that the movie telling Guevara's trip around Latin America? I have it if you want, i can send you a copy. I've also seen it around some DVD stores around Kunming..
For some reason, engine breakdowns make any he trip all the more memorable.

[konkfrantic]

There were 2 previous owners, the last one put 1000km on it. He was 250lbs and would pick up his son (a teen) from school with it. I can see some melted shoe on the pipe which proves it's been riden with a passenger. The clutch engages pretty far out, and with a small range of travel on the lever. I'm not going to lose much sleep over it, but planning a trip to Royal Distributer in the near future after putting a list together.

As for the oil, buddy claimed it was changed in the fall before winter storage. It seems clean, but would rather know exactly where I'm at. I am going to go on an info hunt for service/repair manuals for I have nothing! I'll check in tomorrow and let you guys know how that goes. It will be raining friday through the weekend which will give me some time to get to know Konkey on a different level (in the garage).

I was even thinking of trying Konkey around in the rain a little, just in case the day comes when I get caught in a shower or even rain.

Thanks folks for the feedback. konkfrantic.

[MJH]

Groan. Movies like that give motorcycling a bad name.

Time for a new thread on great motorcycling movies. I've been trying for weeks to download a copy of Motorcycling Diaries, but the torrent ain't seeding...

Actually if that bike was not unbranded it could have drove sales off it off the charts, if it actually looked like that bike in the movie. I say that because the movie pulled allot at the box offices and in that it was attended by millions of young men that were likely dragged to see it by their girlfriends for a Friday night date.

The bike looks very good , but unbranded it would never be identified. It is entirely possible that some of those young men did some internet searches on the bike, because most of them may have found the obligatory date night movie uninteresting and in that wondered through it, the bike may have caught their attention.

But it just slipped by most as a anonymous motorcycle, in the movie its was picked up as junk from a scrap yard. That part was the most believable part of the movie for me, but it was actually chosen by the producer because it was considered cheap and disposable, which is also true for the most part.

It is funny because in general you could show the stock version of that motorcycle to everyone that saw the movie and most, if not all of them would say they never seen the motorcycle but in realty they all did.

Could say that the bike was seen by more people then any other Chinese motorcycle….but they are all not aware of it.

[euphonius]

Sheesh, MJH, now you've got me wanting to watch the damned movie, just to see the anonymous starring motorcycle. Agree it was lost opportunity for the manufacturer and/or importer, but it's par for the course. Chinese manufacturers have no clue about marketing. Zero. Conspicuous branded product placement in a (crappy, low-budget) Hollywood movie? Not in a million years, even though it probably would have been pretty affordable. Did Qingqi roll in the closing credits?

Didn't you show us a Qingqi cameo in a Pink video a few months back? Off topic but I've been listening to Herbie Hancock's latest album, Imagine, and Pink stars on two really excellent cuts. I'd never heard her before but assumed she was a marketing gimmick. But she can sing.

cheers

[MJH]

yeah she is the real deal

[felix]

Speaking of bad marketing, i've often thought it was a missed opportunity for qingqi and others to sell bikes under so many different brands. I understand the reasons for it, but that qingqi QM200 is selling all over the world under 30 different names and as a result no body has ever heard of them. They could be getting their name out there and start building a bit of brand recognition. But they don't even care, so why do i?

Euphonius, you must be doing something wrong. Try [link removed], plenty of seeds!