Help my choose a China-bike in Australia!

[MJH]

Australia does have a very small market,
http://www.fcai.com.au/motorcycles/introduction

[lipsee]

I just read this track test on the CF moto 650 by Alan Cartright. He pretty well the top racing bike tester in the UK and has been since Genesis chapter 1..take time to read,,,,all the best http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cycle...000&pg=83#pg83

well well well ,,, I know so much about Alan Cathright I got his name wrong,should be Alan Cathcart,and rumour has it he,s a knight of the realm.Even so he got his moneys worth out this story ,he sold it to the very same magazine to which I subscribe,and apart from a few commers and full stops its exactly the same.....all the best

[bigdamo]

Australia does have a very small market,
http://www.fcai.com.au/motorcycles/introduction

Really ??

"A total of 109,067 new motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and scooters were delivered to customers during the full year 2011,Australia"

"Number of Motorcycle Domestic Sales
Domestic sales (factory shipment) for Fiscal Year 2011 stood at 407,567 units. America"

Australia has a population of 22 million people.

America has a population of 311,591,917

Per capita I think Australia has a rather large motorcycle market hell we are even taking the motorcycles that the USA can't sell now.

[japonly!]

I just read this track test on the CF moto 650 by Alan Cartright. He pretty well the top racing bike tester in the UK and has been since Genesis chapter 1..take time to read,,,,all the best http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cycle...000&pg=83#pg83

While I wouldn't normaly read a road test on a Chinese Motorcycle with so much interest, when I saw the name Allan Cathcart I had to see what he had to say. I have read many of his tests over the years including the top Grand Prix bikes and World Superbikes (multi-million dollar machines!) and thought his views deserved my attention.
He made many very good points which I'll breifly touch-on; Firstly this bikes obvious similarity to Kawasakis ER6N, a bike I know quite well, what better way to attempt to produce your own model than to copy a successful Japanese model. Secondly Michael Pointon of Mojo Motorcycles comment that CFMoto "gets quality in a way other Chinese manufacturers which are primarily price-oriented, still don't get." I have had many dealings with Mojo motorcycles as we sold one of their brands, and Michael and his team were always good to deal with and backed up their product well. Mojo and CFMoto seem like a good partnership! Thirdly Allans comments about his own past experience with Chinese bikes (first half of middle colum page 98, and his point "solid, rather than flimsy.") which I see are exactly in-line with my own experiences as I expressed in my initial post. It is a surprising review of a bike which on paper looks impressive, I'll reserve my final verdict until after I have had a chance to see the 650NK in the flesh, have a ride and get it on the bench. I'd say from what I've read that this bike would be the smartest Chinese buy available here in Australia at present. As Allan said, the question of durability can only be answered in time, however I suspect these bikes will still wear out far quicker than their Japanese inspiration due to inferior materials and manufacturing processes, and the question of reliable long term spare parts availability will likely be dissapointing when compared to the Japs. Good on CFMoto for going their own way, the future of their band looks bright, I hope the other Chinese manufacturers follow their lead or lose market share to them for the benefit of the consumer. I'll end with one last quote from Allan "At last a Chinese manufacturer more interested in quality rather than price or volume

[bikerdoc]

all I can say is, I said as much over a year ago when I saw CFMoto manufacturing and assembly processes up close in Hangzhou - first hand, and after having bought my CFMoto Jetmax which was my second CFMoto ride... guess I could say "I told you so"

[japonly!]

all I can say is, I said as much over a year ago when I saw CFMoto manufacturing and assembly processes up close in Hangzhou - first hand, and after having bought my CFMoto Jetmax which was my second CFMoto ride... guess I could say "I told you so"

I'm glad you are happy with your bikes, however if the "I told you so" remark is directed at me ?? then I guess you should read my posts again as you don't seem to have really grasped all that I have tried to convey, this includes my comments about the CFMoto tested by Allan Cathcart. There are many many Chinese bike owners that I could say "I told you so" to with good reason, but I'm not that way inclined, my peace comes from the fact that they alone have to live with their choice to buy Chinese, for better or worse!
My advice to motorcycle buyers is still exactly the same; if your budget allows then buy a new Japanese bike, if you can't afford new then buy a used Jap bike. If you prefer a Harley or European bike (Triumph, Ducati, Aprilia, BMW, KTM etc) they are the next best thing. CFMoto as I said seems like it would be the smartest "Chinese bike buy" if you must go that way, nothing more. Now the other one hundred dozen or so sub-standard Chinese motorcycle manufacturers need to get their sh** together if they want similar praise!

[Steve_Halt]

Interesting how kwaka_chris never showed up again in this thread even though he needed the answer. Well, my answer would be Sachs (if the dude's still interested, that is) for the solely reason of it looking better than the others. Would never buy a 400cc single cylinder, my experience shows they could never get the cooling system right. Simply put: 9 ouf of 10 it'll burn you.
Would never go for that "Laro" thing either, it's a rebranded "Regal Raptor" aka "Johnny Pag" or 大地鹰王 as it's known here. Lots of weak points, you can search for reviews on this site, you'll find many. Say, how does a permanently leaky engine sound to you?
Megelli is cool, but I guess spares could be a problem.
That 250 motard you have listed first is quite nice, I don't dig the scaled-down '06 DRZ-ripoff design, though.