Are Benelli bikes big fat lemons....

[prince666]

For me it would be the new Afican Twin just waiting for the bike to be come available in China then it will be on the shopping list for sure .
The Honda CB 500 X with the uprated off road kit would be very good as well but once again all these bikes are not available in China.
So until such time we ALL have to make do with Chinese lemon bikes

[ShuBen]

To repair a fuel tank we made far out offroad once the experiences that a lot of tube repair glue well dried and patched with a big repair patch could solve our problem sustainable.
We tried that because it was our only chance in the middle of nowhere ... And it worked!
A too long bolt had damaged the metal tank on the inner flank where the frame goes through.
Over the patch we still put duct tape. We had no idea how long it would last.
But for the remaining days it didn't leak a drop :-)

Sent from my HUAWEI P7-L07 using Tapatalk

[prince666]

The owner is this case would perfere to have a new tank ?
I did explain the option which could be done with a 99.9% of success.
New tank is winging its way to use now with a cost of 450 RMB and 150 Rmb for express delivery.

[ChinaV]

The owner is this case would perfere to have a new tank ?
I did explain the option which could be done with a 99.9% of success.
New tank is winging its way to use now with a cost of 450 RMB and 150 Rmb for express delivery.

I hope it turns out to be a "bolt-n-go" operation for him. A lot of newer bikes with EFI systems have multiple parts that need to be taken off the old tank and then added to the new tank. Being a lemon bike, the gaskets will probably be single use that can't be re-used. Tell him to pay attention when swapping the parts over, or he could end up with even more problems.

[prince666]

Thanks for the advise.

Tank was ordered yesterday at 10 am from SH area the we recived the tank today at 5pm .

But did cost 200 Rmb to ship,tank all fitted and working great owner very happy can now finish his ride.

All the bits came off ok and was fitted with rubber gaskets.

Just 1 cock up he did not push the fuel pump plug on correctly as you have to do this last when the tank is being lowered down.

We should of checked it then to see if all was connected correctly.

Well with all the side panel back on we then found out we had a problem hehehe.

So all the bits had to come off again to check the plug.

This time before all this bits was relocated we checked the pump to see if it was working.

Spot on big smiles all round owner happy as a sand boy.

Got pictures you asked about but for some reason I can't seem to upload them it could be the slow internet connection so I will try at the next hotel stop.

Thanks again for the advise and showing a interest in this thread .

I just fill so sorry for the owner who is a really nice guy who has takeing the time to ride around China on this trip he has planed.

We don't have to many of us left in China now who does and not just talk about doing trips .

IMO I still think he had a bad deal with the bike and the guy is very laid back and will just take it on the chin.

That why I have been helping out and I was in the area to be off some help.

[ChinaV]

For me it would be the new Afican Twin just waiting for the bike to be come available in China then it will be on the shopping list for sure .
The Honda CB 500 X with the uprated off road kit would be very good as well but once again all these bikes are not available in China.
So until such time we ALL have to make do with Chinese lemon bikes

I think you should look at the KTM1190S model. I was within hours of pulling the trigger and buying the Africa Twin, but here's what changed my mind.

#1 The KTM is lighter
#2 1190cc vs 1000cc, more is always better
#3 The KTM has 50 more horsepower and 20% more torque.
#4 The 17" X 19" tire sizing is perfect for China and Adventure riding. You sacrifice a lot of road handling when you run a 21" up front.
#5 Ride By Wire cruise control. Easily added to the KTM, not available for the Honda. This was the main deal breaker for me.
#6 Bigger Fuel Tank

As far as I know, the KTM1190 is available today in China and would probably be roughly the same price as the Africa Twin if it was available.

Now, since we're just talking shit and "wouldn't it be great if" but "this is China".

The 2017 Suzuki V-Strom 650XT is the Ultimate China Bike (UCB).
It's going to be a lot less money than the Honda or the KTM.
Way more power than you will ever need in China.
The engine is legendary for performance and reliability.

[prince666]

Some good points made.

I do like the sound off the DCT and a like off road riding to which nearly every ride report on the bike says the DCT is spot on for track riding.

For me 100 hp is more then plenty power .

And I am not keen on the running cost off KTM.
I have looked at the 650XT and I do like the bike but it's a bit low on ground clearances.

Still early days won't buy the new bike until next year and we still need to wait for the new CFmoto 650 MT ADV bike to be released.
Also I need to sell 3 off my bikes lol

[Asymptomatic]

Most of the new KTM's now have 7000k maintenance intervals. If you keep up with basic maintenance in between the running cost is not bad. I have 50/50 tires on my tiny little 390 and it pulls through mud and rough roads with out a sweat. I've done 7 hours straight on freeways on several occasions and it has plenty of power and torque. Had it buried in miud and gone up steep rocky inclines. It's a very suitable ride for China so the adventure bike would be a dream.

[billeuze]

Its time I chimed in here since this thread was inspired by my bike.

OK, I have had some problems with this bike and that doesn't mean its a complete lemon.

Someone asked "why would anyone buy a Benelli bj600gs to tour around China". Well, I did not buy it for that purpose. I bought it for some something fun to get around on in the mountains where I live. Later on the opportunity came along to do a month long tour.

Yes I could have done tons more research before buying a motorcycle. The fact is I did some research and what I learned is that the Benelli 600 is not as poorly built as most Chinese bikes. Of course one can engross himself in research, but that can take quite some time. I had reasons to be in somewhat of a hurry to buy a motorcycle and I live well outside of the city which is not convenient for buying a motorcycle and I have the obstacle of not speaking Chinese, so when the opportunity to by the Benelli came along - I took it.

I have had fun on it. So far it is working well for me to get around my route which is pretty much all pavement except for where the road is dug up for repair, detour, etc - and in those cases my dual purpose tires do the job. I would not call them 50/50 tires, more like 80/20 (Avon TrailRider on the rear and Metzeler Tourance NEXT on the front).

Of course I am not happy that I have had 2 problems with the bike already on this trip. But for me, when Sh*t happens, I just get on with it. I was actually very disappointed with the first breakdown because I didn't know if I could get it repaired in time to continue my trip. But the repair was quick (although expensive) and I was thrilled to be on my way again. As for the second issue, the leaking fuel tank. Well that was not even a breakdown and I knew how to deal with it - simply replace the tank. Thanks to Taobao, SF Express, and Prince's wife translating for us, we got a new tank in just 30 hours (This was during the holiday period when we could not even order form the manufacturer because they were closed).

Here is the failed tank. Fuel would seep from under the rear mounting bracket right where the arrow is pointing. I would wipe it clean with a rag and withing 1/2 second it would seep again from right there. The actual leak must be somewhere behind the mounting bracket - probably on one of the 2 welds close to where we could see it seeping.
TankLeak.jpg

And here is the new tank, I put it on the bike as soon as it arrived:
newtank.jpg

And we were on our way:
enRoute.jpg

Much thanks to Prince666 for his support and help. Also to Eric, our hotel manager who received the new tank delivery gave us the lobby of his hotel to use a workspace. Here we are:
mmexport1475847781618.jpg

[billeuze]

To add information, about a week ago I leaned of this list of known issues that can affect the Benelli 600: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/4523378949 (and none of these reported issues are found on my bike yet).