New Girl in the Group!

[MJH]

Dual sports or Enduro’s are dirt bikes with all the stuff needed to ride them on the street. Headlights, horn….they typically have a 21” front tire and a 18” rear tire. That makes them sit high and they have what is called wide travel and that’s a range of movement between the wheel and the frame. Because as you ride across rough terrain you want travel, you do not ever want the tire hitting the frame.

The Motard is a combination word the Dual Sport/Enduro is basically a Motocross/Dirt Bike and the Motard is word derived from Motocross-Standard. A Standard is a street bike and the Motards have street tires typically 17” front and rear and with less knobs on the tires. That lowers the seat but it does not affect the range of travel, its still wide. But it usually lowers the seat because the distance from the ground to the top of the tire is reduced. They can be ridden off-road but the tires will have less traction.

The Zongshen ZS200GY has a 15” rear and 18” front, which is unusual it has a lower seat height of 31” if it had traditional dirt tires 21” and 18” it would sit higher. You could call it a Motard but its actually in a configuration that is unusual. It is based on a TW200 Yamaha which actually has even smaller fatter tires.

Many dual sports come in a Motard version and yeah the seats height drops on them usually 2-3 inches.
You may need a 29-30” seat height and like it has been said, you will need to ask if it can be lowered if it is not correct for your size.

You know what would be great is if you made a list of your considerations and then sought them out with a camera so we can see what you look at, the prices and all the details.

If you have a budget you may want to consider many options, the Qingqi are good bikes you should go to a dealer that sells them. If you come across other brands then post those as well.

[Ekkicore]

Thanks for the explanation guys, definitely helped clear things up for me.

I have a few questions: is it because bikes require more torque for dirt roads that I often hear people say these bikes have a sensitive throttle? and by softer, do you mean that the throttle is less sensitive?

I think a motard sounds like exactly the thing I am looking for, shall do some research and maybe have a look at some dealers in Shanghai as I will be there tomorrow for a few days.

Does anybody in Shanghai know of a good place to buy helmets, and where the Qingqi dealership is?

[jape]

Its not just how the throttle works, that can be because they are cheap, or even because they are set to give full power over a half twist in some cases.

By 'softer' I meant it is more how the engine power is available. That power is released through the gears and sprockets to the road more quickly on a dirt bike. Think of a push bike with a set of 10 rear chain sprockets, gears, and how you put it on the biggest rear sprocket to get up a hill. So it is the overall design of the power drive, what gears are made available, what type of clutch response, even what kind of chain! That is why on these pages you see people putting different sprockets on to smooth out the transfer of power to the wheel. Changing tyre size and type also affects that a bit (as well as the feel of the ride as you negotiate bends at speed and so on). It is also carburretor jet and setting choices or on a more modern bike the electronic fuel and ignition control (efi) which replaces the carby. On more expensive bikes, you can even 'dial in' an efi mapping for choice of terrain!

Thats really why I said try and ride a few bikes until one 'feels' right. Not very technical! But it saves you having to learn all this stuff and understand it as a beginner. I don't pretend to know all that much, just enough for me and I ask questions still so you should keep on asking until you have enough worke dout, Plenty here could explain it better than me I am sure.

Choose the right 'kind' of bike, then get the ride height and bar settings correct for comfort and safety. You will handle any throttle easily enough with practise I am sure but some things can be done to smooth out rough edges if you get a bike you feel good on but need to tweak a little. Even different (thinner or thicker) bar grips can alter the throttle response, to your size of hand.

My niece rides an Aprilia road/racer bike through city traffic daily but would soon learn the difference in handling on a dirt bike. And me personally well I came back to riding after a few decades and was shocked at my present lack of skill. I used to ride road bikes anywhere just about through the bush and across paddocks, and could even take a dirt bike up the stairs in a house, skid turn on the landing and roll back down ... if stoned enough!

These days I forget when to change gear on my road/trail bike, often hold the throttle in when I should release it and wonder why the engine is screaming ... and much more stupid stuff. Thank goodness for the clutch lever!

I still think you need to try a few models and designs. How soon do you want to purchase one? Why don't you try and get some of the Shanghai folk here to meet up for a coffee?

[Ekkicore]

Thanks again Jape, really appreciate your contribution!
I started a new thread in the regional section regarding shanghai, i happen to have my camera gear with me so i can go around taking pics of things i liked, as MJH suggested i do.
I don't (as of yet) have a list of considerations, as i'm not really sure whats available out there for chinese-brand bikes.. so far the two i like are the Qingqi and the Zhongshen.. was thinking of looking into Shineray bikes as well..
my aim is to get the bike around March or April, but don't mind taking as much time as i need in order to find the perfect bike :)

[humanbeing]

Yingang YG150-E aka "Montain King" is quite poular as Tibet road trip pony. http://motorcycle.sh.cn/t_16805663.htm BUT some chinese are wick mind done it on 48cc (Supersignet did own that type of bike ) http://motorcycle.sh.cn/viewthread.p...uthorid=188840

[MJH]

That’s very good …..first step is to find many locations that sell and service the bikes.

See if you can find the Yinxiang YZ200GY


http://www.yinxianggroup.com/



It has a 14" rear tire and 18" front, which should make it have a lower seat height, it also has a 4-valve engine that offer 12kw@7500 rpm, that is very good for a 200cc.

[Ekkicore]

@ Humanbeing: that Yingang is not a very good-looking bike and not really what i'm looking for.. also am not planning any trips by motorcycle to Tibet anytime soon.. but thanks anyway!

i don't think i'll get anything under 200-250cc, and will continue searching for bikes in that range.

@ MJH: i do like the look of that Yinxiang! would it be a similar anomaly as the Zhongshen, as it doesn't really fit into the category of motard or enduro?

[Ekkicore]

i also noticed that the Yinxiang doesn't have a 'wide travel' like the other motards, would that be a problem? the front wheel seems to almost be touching the mud guard or whatever it's called..

[MJH]

That video promo for the Yingang is very well done.
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjAzODY1ODE2.html

[MJH]

i also noticed that the Yinxiang doesn't have a 'wide travel' like the other motards, would that be a problem? the front wheel seems to almost be touching the mud guard or whatever it's called..

Not unless you are taking jumps, or ridding very hard and fast on it.