Hi Everyone

[ShuBen]

If you dont want a "Project" you must buy a foreign brand :-)

[Guoseph]

I guess by project I mean taking large pieces of a parts bike from the and grafting it to a Chinese clone, assuming exact parts compatibility. Things like suspension, wheels, brakes, etc. right now I'm not sure how much of a clone these clones really are, or more "inspired" by the original design

[ShuBen]

I would consider complete wheels and a good used engine as a project :-)

[ShuBen]

Anyway .... the X5 has acceptable suspension from FastAce

[Guoseph]

Anyway .... the X5 has acceptable suspension from FastAce

The XR400 had pretty good suspension so as long as Shineray didn't muck with it it should be quite decent.

I am really looking for a 200cc class bike though, not looking to spend 30k on a bike I won't get to use that often.

[culcune]

The man who started this site 'Crazy Carl' was an American guy who lived in China for a few years teaching at the (or one of the) universities in Chengdu. He got to know some of the management at Qingqi, and for the last year or so of his stay I China, he rode all over on one of their dual sports. As mentioned, the 200 uses an exact copy of the DR200 engine. They have a 250 version although I am not sure what Suzuki it is based on.

IN the US, the company known as Qlink imported the 200 and rebranded it as their own in both motard and dual-sport styles. In spite of having great success with the endure, other bikes and 4 wheelers have driven them out of business in the US. SSR picked up these bikes, too, in both 200 and 250 forms, and while Qlink was still in business, they both sold these bikes.

If Qingqi is still available domestically in China, I suggest you buy one of those. As far as Chinese bikes go, they are probably as good as they get. Yes, there are Benelli 600's, CFMoto 650's, or the recent Zongshen RX-3 250, but those are complicated and cost much more than the simple Qingqi. I must say, no one in China who is a member here has reported buying one in a long time, so they might not even be available domestically to you, but research them, and if they are still available, put one on your short list.

[Guoseph]

The man who started this site 'Crazy Carl' was an American guy who lived in China for a few years teaching at the (or one of the) universities in Chengdu. He got to know some of the management at Qingqi, and for the last year or so of his stay I China, he rode all over on one of their dual sports. As mentioned, the 200 uses an exact copy of the DR200 engine. They have a 250 version although I am not sure what Suzuki it is based on.

IN the US, the company known as Qlink imported the 200 and rebranded it as their own in both motard and dual-sport styles. In spite of having great success with the endure, other bikes and 4 wheelers have driven them out of business in the US. SSR picked up these bikes, too, in both 200 and 250 forms, and while Qlink was still in business, they both sold these bikes.

If Qingqi is still available domestically in China, I suggest you buy one of those. As far as Chinese bikes go, they are probably as good as they get. Yes, there are Benelli 600's, CFMoto 650's, or the recent Zongshen RX-3 250, but those are complicated and cost much more than the simple Qingqi. I must say, no one in China who is a member here has reported buying one in a long time, so they might not even be available domestically to you, but research them, and if they are still available, put one on your short list.

Thanks for the info. I did find this:

http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/QM200GYFII1835/

Not sure if this is the bike Crazy Carl had, but from reading the description it's got fuel injection. I will try to find some more info on the bike and the brand.

I'm not stuck on the DR200, anything based on the CRF 223, TW 200, XT225, XR 250 would all be good candidates.

[culcune]

The 'QM200' seems to indicate Qingqi, and would be close to Carl's bike. The fuel injection is new, however. I would seriously look at this bike not because of the 'Suzuki' part but because of the quality part. Zongshen had plenty of their TW200 based engine bikes, the Sierra, back when one could travel to China, buy one for about a $1k US, travel China with no license, and sell it to someone when you were leaving--alas, they no longer make them, or at least are no longer sold in China (unless someone knows different), and I think the free and easy days of riding China license-less are over and done!

Honda-ish bikes are plenty, but I think the quality on the generic domestic bikes are spotty, but they are cheap. Someone from China had asked about a Sukuda (I think that is the name) 250 enduro a few months back, but not sure if the bike was good or the guy even bought one?! It looked decent at least! Galaxy, which are/were (?) made by Yinhe were fairly decent bikes and even had a racing pedigree (they won one of the Talikaman Rallies in China a few years back).

People love and rave about the Yamaha YBR 125 or 250 but I am not a fan of their looks and they seem to be limited in their use, although people insist they can be off-roaded. They look like a generic naked sporty bike; but I would choose one (if that is still even an option) if I was one of the many people who post the familiar "I am planning to buy a bike in China, ride around, and then ride to ...." posters (they are usually planning to head back home to Europe riding a bike the whole way). As much as I am not a fan of their looks, they do have reliability behind them (the Yamaha part, even if they are made in China), so check them out, too, but probably the 250 for resale value. Speaking of brand names--the Chinese made Suzuki GW250 is available in China, too--but that is similar to the argument against the YBR--its limited, to none, off-roadiness (I am an enduro snob)

[Guoseph]

I read a few of those "help me buy a bike" threads and the YBR is heavily recommended, but cast wheels and a metal tank takes it immediately off the option list for me. Plus it's kinda heavy looking too. The Qingqi bike you mentioned looks like it has a 120kg weight, not sure if that's dry weight or wet. I think for a nice 200 class air cooled, 110kg would be more ideal. My Te250 is only 106kg dry, but then that's a race bike :p

I also found these:

http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/JH200GY5A2317/
http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/XY250GY2B5510/
http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/Z5zhan250huayouqiban5620/

The Shineray X2X seems like a nice bike but from what I understand it's based on the NX250, which is not a common bike in the US.

[VroomVroom]

I read a few of those "help me buy a bike" threads and the YBR is heavily recommended, but cast wheels and a metal tank takes it immediately off the option list for me. Plus it's kinda heavy looking too. The Qingqi bike you mentioned looks like it has a 120kg weight, not sure if that's dry weight or wet. I think for a nice 200 class air cooled, 110kg would be more ideal. My Te250 is only 106kg dry, but then that's a race bike :p

I also found these:

http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/JH200GY5A2317/
http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/XY250GY2B5510/
http://motor.newmotor.com.cn/Z5zhan250huayouqiban5620/

The Shineray X2X seems like a nice bike but from what I understand it's based on the NX250, which is not a common bike in the US.

All of those bikes are good options. All of which have decent (for china) reviews. The Engines from the main 4 companies aren't usually a problem and should be expected to work day in day out if oiled properly. Spud rider for instance has put over 65,000 miles onto his Zongshen bike. That Jialing is for sale in Chengdu and the x2x also. Both can be seen in the same place.