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  1. #1 Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    AT LAST !!

    I have to pinch myself too, I finally got the bike 2 weeks ago at my place, after a 3 months wait.

    I'll try to keep this thread about the bike, not about all the troubles I had and still have with the shop and the bike itself.
    To summarize quickly those troubles (and then focus later on on the bike) :
    - 2 months for the bike to arrive at the shop
    - 1 more month without the bike, with the shop laoban terribly unorganized, leading to many many yellings, many threats, in order to do all the paperwork for the selling of the previous bike, ownership change, the plates transfer, etc. .
    - damaged tank and plastic on the right side : tank changed now, still waiting for the new plastic cover...
    - after 1st test of the bike in the street : crooked steering (handlebars not straight in order for the bike to go straight !). They change the handlebars, which helped some, but I still feel something is slightly wrong. I seem to see that the 2 tubes of the fork are not completely parallel, but I need a bit more time on the bike to be really sure. Clearly not what you expect from a new bike...

    Needless to say that after all that I inspected very very very carefully all the bike. I cannot spot any other problem, the bike is for sure new for those who wonder. Did 180km with it, no complain at all except the steering thing, which I'm not really sure of yet.


    Now to the bike and my review so far !

    (I know, I know, this thread is useless without pics, but unfortunately I only took pics of it when I brought her home, in the dark, and there're quite useless... I'll shoot a few for you guys this week.)

    I took a red one, because it's obvious that they're faster, period.
    What a change from the Honda-Sundiro "Shadow" 150cc ! The riding position, the power, the good feeling from the tires even in the rain, whoah it's a completely new world for me.
    Positive review from my GF too, and she hates bikes... Seems more comfortable for her, that's good.

    When I was riding the 150cc, which is a "cruiser style" in terms of riding position, I always felt a little bit awkward when trying to lean, my body was fighting the lean at first and even after 5,000km on it, I was not sure of my body position when leaning the bike. I was starting to wonder if maybe it was not something "natural" for me.
    Now with the YBR it all disappeared very quickly ! The position is much better to take corners, your body just flows with the bike, I feel I will be able to lean much more when I will be used to this bike.

    The power is nice after the 150cc, even though I'm in the break-in period (not over 5,000rpm for 1,000km). In 5th gear at 5,000rpm I go as fast as the top speed of the Honda 150cc before...

    The storage space under the seat (easily reachable with a lock under the seat) is a nice addtion compared to the 150cc, with enough space for the stock basic tools kit + a tubeless tire repair kit + a big heavy chain lock + a disk lock.

    I don't know if it's a good thing yet, but the red YBR attracts a lot more attention than the black Honda 150cc which looked like a moto-taxi. Needless to say that 99,99% of the questions asked are about the price...

    From what I felt (only 180km), the Sakura tires are much more confidence inspiring than the ones I used to have on the 150 (Cheng Shin). Of course they're fatter, but I think the rubber quality is better too.


    For an urban bike I think it's a very good choice (power and featherweight), I don't need more than this, especially in China.
    For a touring bike (as it will be for me), sure you can find bigger (JH600) but I think it'll be more than enough for me with the right bags. A big plus is the range with a quite impressive fuel tank (19 liters, bigger than a lot of much bigger bikes), coupled with a 250cc engine, which means close to 600km autonomy (in theory, I didn't test yet), pretty impressive.

    There it is for the 1st review, I need to sort out this "problem" of the front fork and ride more to evaluate it better.
    And of course, to snap pics for you guys !
    Last edited by Fred; 11-03-2011 at 09:19 AM.
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  2. #2 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    C-Moto Regular marcomagica's Avatar
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    Hi Fred,

    Congratulations! And yes, red bikes are faster.
    I'm sorry to hear about your steering wenti, I'm quite sure it's related to the drop that also damaged the tank. Shit happens, unfortunately.

    Waiting for the pictures!
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  3. #3 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
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    Congratulations Fred! Hopefully you can enjoy your bike a bit more before the real cold hits Shanghai.

    Being quite tall myself I feel like everything smaller than a JH600 is like a kids bike for me now. I doubt they make any bikes my size
    Last edited by Barry; 11-02-2011 at 06:22 AM.
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  4. #4 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Barry, that's a good point I forgot to make : I stand much taller now on the YBR 250 than on the "cruiser" style 150cc, and that's a very good thing to see the traffic ahead.
    Even being 1m83 tall I don't feel like a frog (well, I'm French anyway... ) on a pocket bike, which is nice too.
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  5. #5 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Dear Fred,

    Thanks for the great review. The safety benefits of the upright riding position (vs laid-back cruiser position) cannot be overemphasized. In the standard position you are indeed up much higher and can see ahead, but if you want an even better view you can stand on the pegs. This is also useful when running on very bad pavement, or just to relieve cramping and the discomfort of sitting during long rides. I've said it before, and others will disagree, but given the dangers and risks here in China, I could never imagine accepting the semi-recumbent position of a cruiser or the semi-prostrate position of a sport bike on Chinese roads. Up high is good, and safest.

    cheers!
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  6. #6 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
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    Hey Fred, eagerly awaiting pics. How is the low speed turning on the bike? Do you notice any rattle or jitter coming from the front forks after coming to a hard stop?
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  7. #7 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Nuhaus, the low speed turning is fine I guess, to be honest I did not try it too much at very slow speed yet...

    About the rattle or jitter after a sudden halt, I don't really understand what you mean. Do you mean : when the forks are pushed down, do they come back up smoothly ?
    Because I also want to "break-in" nicely the front disc, I tried not to do any heavy braking yet.
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  8. #8 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    C-Moto Guru Fred's Avatar
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    Pics for you, but I warned you, those are pics taken in the dark, so pretty bad quality...

    Arrivee 250 001.jpg

    Arrivee 250 002.jpg

    Arrivee 250 003.jpg

    Yeaaah....
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  9. #9 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
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    Bike looks very clean in the photos. I don't see any damage at all. Sorry I wasn't more clear earlier, just thinking that if the shocks or triple tree were damaged you might feel something move slightly in the handlebars after a complete stop, when the forks come up after compressing.

    Looking forward to some daytime photos!
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  10. #10 Re: Fred's YBR 250 ;-)) 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    Dear Fred,

    Something is telling me that something more than a mere drop happened to this bike. If the tank was crushed and the front forks became misaligned, I'm wondering if something more violent occurred.

    One thing that comes to mind, because I've actually seen this happen in the wild, is that the crate carrying the bike from the factory got dropped off a truck. When shipped, the front wheel is removed and the fork is bolted to the shipping frame, while the rear of the bike is strapped down with the wheel on. The front wheel, handlebar and other parts are generally zip-tied or lashed to the bike frame itself or to the shipping frame. (You can see this in Soberpete's writeup.) If the entire assembly falls or is dropped from some height, and especially if it lands hard on a corner of the crate/frame rather than landing flat, this puts all kinds of torsional stresses on the crate/frame, which very likely is transferred through to the bike. Since it's the fork that's attached to the shipping frame/crate, that logically would bear the brunt of those stresses.

    I've watched a shipment of bikes being offloaded from a truck at a dealer in Kunming, and saw one crate dropped precisely in this manner. I did not stick around to see what condition the bike was in, but from the looks of the crate it could not have been a happy ending.

    This could all be irrelevant to your case if the bike was already uncrated and on the showroom floor, unblemished, when you first saw it, and the damage showed up in a later viewing. But if you ordered your bike after seeing a pristine floor model, and your bike was already in the damaged state when you first set eyes on it, the possibility of such dealer-inflicted duress is not insubstantial. Either way, the bike they've given you was seriously damaged.

    You've already put up with a lot, and are probably sick of bitching at the dealer, but if the front end is not true and you are feeling it in the ride, you should scream bloody murder until you get full redress.

    Have you contacted the actual JV manufacturer, which I'm assuming is Jianshe Yamaha, or, better yet, Big Yamaha about this? That's where I'd go if you are getting any resistance or anything short of full cooperation from the dealer.

    You paid full retail price for this bike, so you should not be tolerating or accepting damaged goods.

    Just sayin'...

    cheers
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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