Selecting a bike for triping

[milton]

Big guy, two up, long rides, asphalt, hotels, ¥50K = JH600 or maybe the CF Moto.


ChinaV

To be precise, JH600A costs ¥31800 plus shipping and license plate.

Cheers!

[gambitox]

Hi ChinaV, answering to your questions

How big are you? 80 kg
Will you ride alone or with a passenger?
usually with a passenger
How many consecutive days will you ride?
I plan to ride at the most for 2 weeks but making only maximum 400 km per day (my girl would complain) and maybe resting some days without making long distances
How far do you plan to go?
Maximum 2000 km and back home
Do you prefer twisty asphalt or roughing it in the dirt?
I plan to visit small towns too as well as driving in the highways (which I think is permited for motos of this displacement)
Do you camp or stay in hotels?
mainly in Hotels/houses but I would love to camp too ( I am not too aware of chinese regulation in camping, and enforcement)
Have a budget?
My budget is 50K rmb at the top.

The biggest limitation is I have to be back at work by the end of the trip, so I can not afford to have some kind of technical problems with the bike.

What would you say are the differences in reliability between the CF 650 NK and the JH 600 A. Is the difference in price (around 10 K I think) worth it?

[andre555]

Let me get it right, you want two weeks adventure for two people, budget is 50k (max).
You want to see countryside, and do it by bike...

Why to buy a cow, if you only want to drink milk?

Ever though about joining a small group? Their are many organised Groups (usually max 5-10bikes), but the operators mainly use CJ750 sidecars.
They head out into the nowhere and you dont need to worry about fixing the bike, ordering food and get into the a foreigner accepting Guesthouse.

50k RMB is plenty enough for such kind of trip, 20-30k should do for two, usually they are organised around 10-12 days.

I only took such a trip with Yangtsepete, www.yangtsepete.com - just check with him, if something available to suit your schedule.
Otherwise he maybe can refer you to somebody else or somebody knows other operators. I definetly can recommend his product!

[Barry]

Let me get it right, you want two weeks adventure for two people, budget is 50k (max).
You want to see countryside, and do it by bike...

Why to buy a cow, if you only want to drink milk?

Ever though about joining a small group? Their are many organised Groups (usually max 5-10bikes), but the operators mainly use CJ750 sidecars.
They head out into the nowhere and you dont need to worry about fixing the bike, ordering food and get into the a foreigner accepting Guesthouse.

50k RMB is plenty enough for such kind of trip, 20-30k should do for two, usually they are organised around 10-12 days.

I only took such a trip with Yangtsepete, www.yangtsepete.com - just check with him, if something available to suit your schedule.
Otherwise he maybe can refer you to somebody else or somebody knows other operators. I definetly can recommend his product!

I think he wants to buy a bike that he also wants to use for one longer trip of 2 weeks. Right gambitox?

[euphonius]

Hi ChinaV, answering to your questions

How big are you? 80 kg
Will you ride alone or with a passenger?
usually with a passenger
How many consecutive days will you ride?
I plan to ride at the most for 2 weeks but making only maximum 400 km per day (my girl would complain) and maybe resting some days without making long distances
How far do you plan to go?
Maximum 2000 km and back home
Do you prefer twisty asphalt or roughing it in the dirt?
I plan to visit small towns too as well as driving in the highways (which I think is permited for motos of this displacement)
Do you camp or stay in hotels?
mainly in Hotels/houses but I would love to camp too ( I am not too aware of chinese regulation in camping, and enforcement)
Have a budget?
My budget is 50K rmb at the top.

The biggest limitation is I have to be back at work by the end of the trip, so I can not afford to have some kind of technical problems with the bike.

What would you say are the differences in reliability between the CF 650 NK and the JH 600 A. Is the difference in price (around 10 K I think) worth it?

Dear Gambitox,

Based on these replies, the JH600 is a very good bet -- and superior to the CF650NK for the reasons I spelled out a few days ago. I won't speculate about your pillion, but the two of you together will displace about 120-130kg plus gear. The NK is a little bike, designed for fast riding on good roads with no load, not for touring on variable roads with load. So even without answering your question about reliability, which is impossible to know since the NK is still so new, I'd say the JH600 is a superior choice.

As you'll have seen in the JH600 stalling thread, there is at least one owner who has thrown in the towel and might want to talk to you about a sale, including one in Beijing, though they may now be considering the upgrade path that Milton has pioneered in Shanghai. Needless to say, you'd need to be prepared to undertake the 3.0 upgrade yourself.

Do let us know what you decide.

cheers!

[ChinaV]

Based on the additional info you gave....

Yamaha YBR250 - If you want to save a few bucks.
Jialing JH600 - Like many others here, probably what you will end up with. As I said before, not because you want to, simply because there are so few choices.

Try contacting Shineray and see if they're ever going to get the X5 out the door, it's a decent looking 400cc dualsport.

Reliability....Chinese Moto.... I have to be back at work by the end of the trip, so I can not afford to have some kind of technical problems with the bike.

All I can say is... be prepared.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[gambitox]

Thanks guys, as close as 2 weeks ago I had absolutely no idea of the bike scene in China and now I am getting a clearer picture of what I need.

Andre555, Barry is right, I want it for more than than 1 trip I am planning 3 at least plus some weekend escapes, but thanks for the advice.

And yes Chinav, they idea of buying a chinese brand is something that has been worrying me for a long time, but since I came to China I am trying to have a no prejudice attitude towards the country and that certainly includes bikes, even if a guy from Yunan wisely advises me to take care! But what the hell, the japonese also started with very poor quality standards and as an engineer I ve seen very poor stuff in europe too so I think no ones to blame and everyone is.

I am curious about the Yamaha 250 CBR you mention, I thought that with taxes and everything its going to be like 40K at least in Beijing, havent seen any japonese dealers and most of the foreign brands are absurdly expensive. If anyone has any clue where to find this beauty in Beijing please let me know

PD: euphonius you are right, it will be something like 150 kg between the two of us, but dont let my girlfriend know I said this...