Opinions and suggestions on Adventure style motorcycles

**prince666** · 02-25-2019, 09:25 PM

For what it's worth
for the money ,HP, and KG
My money is on the Cfmoto 650 MT
With over 48.000 km cover with riding all over China on the MT.
IMO it ticks a lot of box's.

**ShuBen** · 02-26-2019, 05:29 AM

the CF 650 MT is for sure an attractive bike and quite well built from what I saw in the shop.
But it has a bit more street orientation which is for long travel very suitable.
... and when I read 48k km without major trouble ... then that sounds reliable to me.

I am personally a fan of a 21/18 wheel setup. My GS has 19/17 which is also ok, but honestly I prefer the slim tire version of an Enduro bike.
So my SWM makes now more mileage than the GS. .... and it wheelies better

**prince666** · 02-26-2019, 06:10 AM

Spot on Ben
Should of mention
Its best to fit a set of Trail 2 or MT60 tyres.
As to 21/18
Yes my best Opption for a ture ADV bike .

20171230_123425_001.jpg

**ShuBen** · 01-23-2019, 12:48 AM

For reason of getting a more mature bike with certain experience I would spend more money on the CFmoto even the CoLove looks tempting.
For a certain time we also saw some more Info's from Motrac but it seems getting silent again. Will they disappear or disappeared already? How about parts supply then, .... and why that should not happen to CoLove....
I prefer : Play safe

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**GSR** · 01-23-2019, 02:48 AM

ShuBen, That's a good point. I have thought of that at least a little. Given the CoLove has a Loncin motor that appears to have been around for some time I'd hope motor parts would be available. The bike uses Bosch fuel injection so that should be okay. KYB suspension means fairly universally available parts. It appears the bike is assembled by Jialing in Chongqing where I'm currently staying/living(?) CF Moto, SWM and Benelli definitely seem the best Chinese manufacturers currently set up for the international market. I just have an internal liking for a company willing to step outside the current pseudo-adventure bike mold, and actually use design and parts that, on paper at least, make the bike potentially what I consider a real adventure bike. Your advice is solid, my internal rational, maybe not so much. I'm off now to find the SWM dealer, your prior posts have peaked my interest. Your opinions and advice, even if I'm not the best at following them, are much appreciated.

**ShuBen** · 01-23-2019, 06:59 AM

Send me a PM with your wechat ID and i forward you my SWM contacts in ChongQing.

;-) .... of course we would be also interested in a review of the 500cc CoLove ... ;-)

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**modron** · 01-27-2019, 02:00 PM

Did you go to a SWM dealer? Did they maybe have any of those new scrambler bikes? I'm not sure whether they are available in China.

Look at this. There is a wee problem with that Colove bikes and the company admitted it. That's a first here

http://www.newmotor.com.cn/html/cjdt/99417.html

**GSR** · 01-27-2019, 03:11 PM

Modron,
I did go to the Shinray/SWM dealership. They did have 2-3 scramblers on the floor. I thought I took pictures but can not find them so I guess I didn't. I was short on time and got distracted trying to get information on the 500 or 650 SMW so I didn't spend much time looking at the scramblers. I'm not positive they were SWMs (Is there a Shinray branded scrambler?)
Thanks for the heads up on the Colove recall (I assume that the Excelle, CoLove, and another brand I can't recall right now are all the same factory). i actually don't see that as necessarily a bad thing. As the article pointed out nearly every manufacturer/model has some recall issues. The fact that Excelle/CoLove actually did a recall rather than blame the customer or ignore it seems like a good thing.
I'm still leaning toward the 500x, though I have to admit those scramblers are looking good.

**modron** · 01-28-2019, 10:42 AM

It's definitely a good thing that they informed people about that problem. Just very unusual in China.

I asked around about those scramblers. Unavailable in China

**GSR** · 01-29-2019, 04:52 PM

Well guys I pulled the trigger on a CoLove 500x today. Waited until too close to the Spring festival so can't get the insurance and plates for 7-10 days but I get the motorcycle tomorrow. Looks like no ride report for at least a week, which gives me time to gear up. The very short test ride I did felt good, seat feels lower than I expected and it does not feel light, but no adventure bike I've been on does at slow speeds. Build quality and feel are nowhere near my Ducati back in the US, but at 1/4 the price no surprise there. It does have the KYB suspension and is adjustable. The wheels are spoked tubeless, BMW style. If the bike handles the rough roads and dirt I'll be a happy camper. The owner put me down for a owners group ? and mentioned they have a ride to Tibet planned in June. If I can get in on that, which I think he said was possible, that alone would be a big bonus.