Price will matter more and more in coming years, but quality will ultimately trump price. What will probably be less and less sustainable is the endless tail-chasing by the big international brands to make "improvements" every year with which to allure new buyers. I'm thinking especially in the kilobike class. I don't have numbers, but I bet the KLR650 is still one of the top sellers in America, with barely any changes from when it was launched almost 30 years ago. OK, they did a redesign in 2007, but it's still basically the same carbureted bike.

If the Chinese manufacturers can find a way to make quality bikes at a reasonable cost, and avoid the extremely costly urge to get into these endless development and marketing cycles, they might win longterm loyalty and a sustainable market. But they have to start paying at least some attention to the customer.

And if EFI gives Chinabikes longer life, less maintenance hassle, better efficiency and power and cleaner emissions, I can live with that.