Loncin 重庆隆鑫机车有限公司

**MJH** · 05-27-2014, 07:18 PM

The CR5 offered in china has 9.5kw of power and also is advertised as having a sixth gear.
The call that engine a T series engine.

**MJH** · 05-27-2014, 07:21 PM

The LX650 (CR9) is their flagship model and with room between CR9 and CR5 they have space to fill.

**MJH** · 05-27-2014, 07:33 PM

Loncin is now number three in total production of units for 2014 and in exported units fell to second place. However that is OK, they are moving forward, they will likely endure where as other manufactures simply should go away forever.

**Rewi Alley** · 05-27-2014, 08:49 PM

Originally Posted by MJH

Loncin is now number three in total production of units for 2014 and in exported units fell to second place. However that is OK, they are moving forward, they will likely endure where as other manufactures simply should go away forever.

Has anyone actually seen one of these fabled LX650 Loncins out on the road, much less ridden one? It all seems smoke and mirrors to me. At least with Qianjaing, you can see the 600 Benelli four cylinder rolling off the assembly lines and the CFMOTO650 is not only available in China, it has made inroads into the Australian market and two of them recently made a coast-to-coast and back run in six days. For those who think the Land of the Free (ho ho) is big, Aussie is slightly wider, so that trip was 10,200 kilometres. That's averaging 1766 km per day, every day, for six days. The CFMOTO 650s bolted it in.

Back to the Loncin, those who puff out their chests and say the 650 single cylinder engine is a "dual sport-only" are clearly speaking with complete ignorance. BMW's F650 Funduro was no dual-sport bike. It was a road bike with mild off-road pretensions, much like all their so-called Adventure bikes. Loncin is making that engine for BMW nowadays and it is fitted to the G650GS and performs very well. It is also more fuel efficient than the Honda NC700 twin, which was designed to be fuel efficient.

**ZMC888** · 05-27-2014, 11:34 PM

Originally Posted by Rewi Alley

Has anyone actually seen one of these fabled LX650 Loncins out on the road, much less ridden one? It all seems smoke and mirrors to me. At least with Qianjaing, you can see the 600 Benelli four cylinder rolling off the assembly lines and the CFMOTO650 is not only available in China, it has made inroads into the Australian market and two of them recently made a coast-to-coast and back run in six days. For those who think the Land of the Free (ho ho) is big, Aussie is slightly wider, so that trip was 10,200 kilometres. That's averaging 1766 km per day, every day, for six days. The CFMOTO 650s bolted it in.

Back to the Loncin, those who puff out their chests and say the 650 single cylinder engine is a "dual sport-only" are clearly speaking with complete ignorance. BMW's F650 Funduro was no dual-sport bike. It was a road bike with mild off-road pretensions, much like all their so-called Adventure bikes. Loncin is making that engine for BMW nowadays and it is fitted to the G650GS and performs very well. It is also more fuel efficient than the Honda NC700 twin, which was designed to be fuel efficient.

I have seen a real Loncin here in China. Not much of a fan of it, it has a reputation of being a lemon and is expensive because of Loncin's manufacture of low end BMW engines, who clearly believe they must be geniuses of not only engineering but marketing too. However to be fair I was impressed by some of the parts on the bike, like brakes and tires. I completely agree CFMOTO are at least much better proven bike, but the Loncin because of deals and agreements with BMW is not allowed out of China.

**Rewi Alley** · 05-28-2014, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by ZMC888

I have seen a real Loncin here in China. Not much of a fan of it, it has a reputation of being a lemon and is expensive because of Loncin's manufacture of low end BMW engines, who clearly believe they must be geniuses of not only engineering but marketing too. However to be fair I was impressed by some of the parts on the bike, like brakes and tires. I completely agree CFMOTO are at least much better proven bike, but the Loncin because of deals and agreements with BMW is not allowed out of China.

That is understandable - that the LX650 would be for domestic Chinese market consumption only. Failure to do that would cost Loncin its BMW contract, and probably a lot more. but my point was that Loncin has been hawking this thing around for almost three years but had never put it in production. My guess is they are actually making production versions now, correct? It should go OK because there is nothing wrong with that engine. When they were in the F650 Funduro, they were good for at least 200,000 km before anything needed doing (apart from maintenance).Loncin LX650 black.jpg Loncin made BMW engine.jpg

**ZMC888** · 05-28-2014, 01:30 AM

Steve Halt (was it I think) saw one about a year ago, I saw mine back in March so yes I'm sure they are in production.

Well the engine might be reliable and fuel efficient, but an engine doesn't make a whole bike. I suspect that the bikes 'lemon' tag is not unfounded, that's because the Chinese put minimal effort into bikes generally and even less if they are not for export.

Worse than that the price tag I belive is higher than its Benelli/Qianjiang & CFMOTO competition, because of the BMW engine. Loncin believe because they have this BMW wonder-engine (even though actually BMW motorcycles are the bottom of the league for reliability according to their western customers) that they can charge what they like (major kudos brand in China).

However the riding public aren't idiots, they know that an engine is only one part of the bike, they also know that it is far cheaper to manufacture a single than a multi-cyclinder engine. So everyone knows Loncin are taking the piss, therefore they aren't selling.

**Rewi Alley** · 05-28-2014, 02:34 AM

Originally Posted by ZMC888

Steve Halt (was it I think) saw one about a year ago, I saw mine back in March so yes I'm sure they are in production.

Well the engine might be reliable and fuel efficient, but an engine doesn't make a whole bike. I suspect that the bikes 'lemon' tag is not unfounded, that's because the Chinese put minimal effort into bikes generally and even less if they are not for export.

Worse than that the price tag I belive is higher than its Benelli/Qianjiang & CFMOTO competition, because of the BMW engine. Loncin believe because they have this BMW wonder-engine (even though actually BMW motorcycles are the bottom of the league for reliability according to their western customers) that they can charge what they like (major kudos brand in China).

However the riding public aren't idiots, they know that an engine is only one part of the bike, they also know that it is far cheaper to manufacture a single than a multi-cyclinder engine. So everyone knows Loncin are taking the piss, therefore they aren't selling.

Thank you for that explanation. It makes some sense. The exhaust pipe on the LX650 at CIMAMotor2013 appeared to have been designed by someone from Massey-Fergusson. Here's a shot of it: Loncin LX650 Exhaust.jpg

It probably works fine as an exhaust but it sure looks tacky. It will be interesting to find out how many of these things Loncin has made. An expensive Chinese-made bike in China does not sound like a recipe for success. It is not as if Loncin has won a world championship or anything to boast about. Didn't Loncin get into a JV with Kawasaki at one point (signed June 1, 2012) - one that was never consumated?

Perhaps Kawasaki got cold feet - again.

**ZMC888** · 05-28-2014, 04:37 AM

Originally Posted by Rewi Alley

Perhaps Kawasaki got cold feet - again.

I think Kawasaki have the right idea. These western brands that switch manufacturing to Asia are just killing themselves in the long term. It amazes me, they go in to an Asian country, spend huge resources to set up quality manufacturing. Loads of examples, often it's an existing facility that make own brand local crap. They soon learn all that they didn't from the big boys and their own brand improves by leaps and bounds and people buy their stuff in the west at slightly cheap price points. Then one day a military coup, change in policy or dirty tricks and the western company is thrown out, then you have created a new competitor for yourself. So stupid.

**MJH** · 06-08-2014, 02:15 PM

BMW is also partnering with TVS in India, which also has an 180cc engine with even higher power output, then the Loncin. However India does not have the strict emission regulation that the Chinese market does. I find it interesting how Loncin states its updated inductions is a BMW technology, but in fact is it?

Logically there will be some cross development and it is likely that Loncin will manufacture the new BMW bikes in China through Loncin, but that’s just me forecasting.
BMW will likely manufacture in India and China and similar if not identical bikes, the under 500cc are in development. They may be what will be in part the C6-8 models in the future Loncin line.

I predict that Loncin will be around in china in the end and have a major share of the domestic market. They will improve in quality as well as customer support.