Newbie from Western Australia

**MJH** · 11-30-2013, 03:01 AM

Closest to a WR250R would be the 鑫源x2, copy and paste that into a taobao search field and you see lots of them.

If your only there for business and the bikes is just a tool to get around, there are lots of cheap 150cc versions designed for the Chinese roads, ones with lots of racks to pile on . A dirt bike is never ideal to carry stuff on, they have these types bikes that are very utilitarian. Yingang makes one of these they call it a Mountain King 銀鋼, its a CG150 it probably be a good bike for your purpose.

**whitworthsocket** · 11-30-2013, 05:32 AM

Thanks MJH
I will look up the Yinyang.
I am just a bit concerned about how well a 150 will drag my not inconsiderable weight around.
I appreciate your comments regarding putting luggage racks on a Dirt bike.
I will post some images of how my mates have done this tonight.
What I like about the dirt bikes is that that they are light weight and their suspension is going to handle Chinese roads.
Regards Whitworth

**ZMC888** · 11-30-2013, 07:54 AM

Whitworth, I don't really understand why you want a dirt bike. Sure road/trail possibly, but people are doing big trips on tourers these days. Not every road is a lunar landscape, there are millions of kilometers of smooth black asphalt and concrete too.

If you are going 250cc, personally I'd be inclined to buy a Jianshe Yamaha YBR250 for the type of trip you are into. Then put road/trail tires on it, hand protectors and a luggage rack. Sure it would be nice to have more suspension travel, but it can deal admirably well with the conditions. YBR's have been ridden around China and across Asia plenty of times. Light, reliable and easy to fix, you can pick it up when you drop it. Sure, you worry about EFI, but I'd take Yamaha EFI over a Yingang carb any day. Also China is very mountainous so playing around with jets is a pain at altitude. The Yamaha's the real thing, not a copy of it. Sure those copy bikes will look like your ideal bike the WR250R but they won't have the Yamaha reliability. In my view there is no reason to throw away all that Yamaha reliability for an extra 40mm of suspension travel on a Chinese bike.

Go with Chinese bikes only if you are dead set on a bigger engine and the bike you'd like isn't available in China or is ridiculously expensive.
Going bigger I'd suggest the CFMOTO 650TR, the Jialing JH600 or wait until CFMOTO and Benelli have released their new adventure models next year.

**MJH** · 11-30-2013, 01:34 PM

It’s a matter of how much you want to spend as always. If you are not in the country for an extended stay then at the end of the stay you have to get rid of the vehicle. You could get off very cheap and make compromises or buy up and not make as many compromises.

You have the Zongshen RX3, Shineray X5 and Benneli BN600GT. However if you get out into villages and or the rural areas your going to have compromises on serviceability as you go up.

There is always more then what you can see online as well and conversely also often less. You can get screwed in allot of ways as you can get lucky too.

I do not think I would use Taobao to buy a motorcycle, I would try to find a local dealer to buy from.
I think I would try using the new motor.com.cn website to locate a bike/dealer.

**whitworthsocket** · 12-01-2013, 05:54 AM

Originally Posted by ZMC888

Whitworth, I don't really understand why you want a dirt bike. Sure road/trail possibly, but people are doing big trips on tourers these days. Not every road is a lunar landscape, there are millions of kilometers of smooth black asphalt and concrete too.

If you are going 250cc, personally I'd be inclined to buy a Jianshe Yamaha YBR250 for the type of trip you are into. Then put road/trail tires on it, hand protectors and a luggage rack. Sure it would be nice to have more suspension travel, but it can deal admirably well with the conditions. YBR's have been ridden around China and across Asia plenty of times. Light, reliable and easy to fix, you can pick it up when you drop it. Sure, you worry about EFI, but I'd take Yamaha EFI over a Yingang carb any day. Also China is very mountainous so playing around with jets is a pain at altitude. The Yamaha's the real thing, not a copy of it. Sure those copy bikes will look like your ideal bike the WR250R but they won't have the Yamaha reliability. In my view there is no reason to throw away all that Yamaha reliability for an extra 40mm of suspension travel on a Chinese bike.

Go with Chinese bikes only if you are dead set on a bigger engine and the bike you'd like isn't available in China or is ridiculously expensive.
Going bigger I'd suggest the CFMOTO 650TR, the Jialing JH600 or wait until CFMOTO and Benelli have released their new adventure models next year.

Hello ZMC888
My current ride is an old BMW K75c. That's got quite a low seat height and I find that due to my height it gets uncomfortable fairly quickly. The seat height to foot peg distance means my long legs get quite cramped.
A dirt bike sits me taller and although the dirtbike seats are generally narrower I can use an Airhawk cushion
http://www.airhawk.com.au/content.php?content_id=7 to help in that department.
I do like your suggestion about the YBR 250. Fuel injection means great economy and better running at altitudes.
Not sure how I would fit that bike?
I expect that I will be doing quite a lot of dirt kilometres and I like the light weight of a dirt bike.
I would like not to have to sell it and ride it back to Thailand. Not sure how I would go with import duty or taxes at the borders.
I dont suppose there are any 250 fuel injected Chinese dirt bikes?
I did some internet research and discovered that I can buy a CFMOTO 650 or a Shineray 250 offroad in Australia.
Alan Cathcart did a reiview on a CFMOTO 650 here
http://cyclenews.coverleaf.com/cycle...pm=2&fs=1#pg87
I appreciate your input
Regards Whitworth

**whitworthsocket** · 12-01-2013, 07:38 AM

Originally Posted by MJH

It’s a matter of how much you want to spend as always. If you are not in the country for an extended stay then at the end of the stay you have to get rid of the vehicle. You could get off very cheap and make compromises or buy up and not make as many compromises.

You have the Zongshen RX3, Shineray X5 and Benneli BN600GT. However if you get out into villages and or the rural areas your going to have compromises on serviceability as you go up.

There is always more then what you can see online as well and conversely also often less. You can get screwed in allot of ways as you can get lucky too.

I do not think I would use Taobao to buy a motorcycle, I would try to find a local dealer to buy from.
I think I would try using the new motor.com.cn website to locate a bike/dealer.

Hi MJH,
No I am not going to buy a bike from Taobao. I am just using it as a price guide.
The Zhongshen RX 3 and the Shineray X5. Really look the part.
The RX3 is 175kg?? in the brochure. The X5 would be ideal for my purposes. I found that It costs ¥27800.00 which is about AUD $5100 that is quite a bit of money to invest with the potential of having the back spokes break etc.

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...-review/page18

So it seems I am going to have to fettle with any Chinese bike I might just go the cheap charlie route and get on of these http://aimayueye.taobao.com/?spm=2013.1.0.0.Of06mf
Does any one know where and who make the above?

I pretty sure that I am going to stick with a 250. I think anything bigger will get me into trouble speed and traffic wise.
If it was in Australia where I am accustomed to the conditions and want to get there fast I would be buying something bigger.
But In China I want to stick to about 80km/Hour and stay alive.

Regards Whitworth

**ZMC888** · 12-01-2013, 08:37 AM

Originally Posted by whitworthsocket

I do like your suggestion about the YBR 250. Fuel injection means great economy and better running at altitudes.
Not sure how I would fit that bike?

I'd still go YBR 250 with road/trail tires and get adjustable pegs if you are tall.
images.jpg

**Lao Jia Hou** · 12-02-2013, 01:22 AM

I agree with ZMC, the YBR250 is a great bike, and with more aggressive tires it can handle pretty much everything. I'm 180 cms, and the bike felt fine (I owned one for about a year).

**MJH** · 12-02-2013, 04:45 AM

You may have problems with getting one of those legally plated. I would say they are off road only.
You have the X2 and the Jailing 223cc air cooled that should be legal to plate, these are all suspicious IMO.

These guy all know what is up there they live there, I do not. The YBR250 would meet your needs and likely never breakdown either. It sell fast to when you need to sell it.

http://www.newmotor.com.cn/moto/JH20...7/baojia.shtml

I wonder if the weight on the RX3 is that wet? Its not light for sure they may have used the wet weight? Plus it may be the boxes and its crash bars in total? I wonder about the weight because the cases are the only option on the advanced version and the weight is the same on the brochure. The Honda CBR250 is 357lbs wet the RX3 does not claim it as wet or dry and that's a big mistake for them not to state that. Then there is the cases and not showing a difference in weight with and without, another mistake. It is a 28lb difference if it’s a wet weight.