Why so few high-capacity Chinese bikes available?

[Chriss]

Hi,

New to this site and to the motorcycling world. Doing some research into the Chinese motorcycling manufactures for my first bike and I can help myself but wonder as to why there are so few bikes with more than 250cc. Lack of demand? Any particular reason for it? Thanks.

[ZMC888]

The Chinese government decided many years ago that they really rather like cars, and decided to make the car industry the a pillar of Chinese (unsustainable) economic growth. Motorcycles were regarded as an irritant industry, competing for resources and road space.

People who work in the motorcycle industry in China are generally just interested in money, they have mostly no love for bikes, possibly the way you might think of a single cylinder generator, and consequently little idea what consumers want and no innovation or imagination to make anything original, much preferring a numbers game. 'We exported XXXXX units last year so we are the biggest manufacturer in China'. The fact that they made thousands of low grade super-cheap Honda based 125cc copy bikes was not relevant.

However as Chinese companies buy struggling western brands, and powerful western brands start more joint ventures in China to cut costs, the shop floor quality of the bikes has and will continue to increase, so that most likely in ten years you'll really see little difference between the better Chinese bikes and Japanese made bikes. With a higher level of manufacturing larger engines are now possible and many have realized the 'entry level mid sized bike sector' from 250cc-650cc is a lucrative market for domestic and developing country 'leisure hobbyists' to recent test passers in Europe, Australia and America.

About local attitudes and demand, who an tell?

[PeteZ]

Another thing is that a huge number of first-, second-, and third-tier cities in China have motorcycle restrictions or outright bans. As the overwhelming majority of China's wealthy citizens live in urban areas, this has killed off a large portion of the market for high-capacity bikes.

[englishman in china]

All of the above and also the fact that most Chinese companies don't have the technical nous to build a 'big bike' of adequate quality.This example is apparent with Shineray who have been developing (and even advertising) their 400cc displacement bikes for over a year, they are still no where near ready for sale.

[ZMC888]

All of the above and also the fact that most Chinese companies don't have the technical nous to build a 'big bike' of adequate quality.This example is apparent with Shineray who have been developing (and even advertising) their 400cc displacement bikes for over a year, they are still no where near ready for sale.

True, but this isn't the biggest stumbling block. Most Chinese companies just plain don't have the desire to build big bikes. This is purely conjecture, but having visited India, Thailand, Italy and being from the UK I know that companies in those countries can easily find employees with a genuine passion and interest in motorcycles.

Sure, there is an underground motorcycle fan group in China, but seriously they must make up less than 0.2% of the adult population and chances are those bike fans would have no power or influence if they were employed in a motorcycle company and most of the employees would be there for the money through some kind of nepotism or connections. In my opinion it's pretty hard to bolt together a good motorcycle if you are dreaming about being a car owner. I'll wager if you look at the number of over 400cc engines manufactured in China the massive majority are put in quad bikes, side by sides etc.

[miguelitro]

Another thing to be aware of is that the destination countries such as Ecuador have much higher import duties and taxes on bikes over 250cc making bigger bikes unaffordable for those who buy china bikes. If you can afford an expensive china bike you just buy a Jap bike.
Mike