Quote Originally Posted by macieq View Post
....But the JH600 is extremly "underpowered" with 40HP. ...
Dear Macieq,

Needless to say I'm biased, but I find it pretty hard to understand why anyone would want more power than what the JH600 delivers. Your preference for a dual sport style of bike over a sport bike is not just practical; it's prudent and wise. There's just way too f**king much happening on China's roads, and much of it is unprincipled and dangerous. Being top-dead-center upright with your head and eyes positioned to scan all but about 90 degrees of the horizon (directly behind your head) is a strategy for survival. Leaning forward on a sport bike, even just 15 or 20 degrees, substantially decreases your ability to scan the horizon and also reduces your ability to see over passenger cars. Adding horsepower and the ability to accelerate faster and ride at higher overall speeds will certainly give an adrenaline boost, but I'd argue that it substantially decreases your chances of avoiding calamity.

Sometimes I wish I'd opted for a lighter and more maneuverable bike like the Galaxy 250, which respond better to emergency evasion moves despite having maybe half the horsepower even of the Jialing.

It's not a jungle out there. It's a maelstrom. China is a chaotic developing country, where speed kills. A strategy for survival is one that gives you the best possible chance of seeing what's about to cream you, traveling at a safe enough speed that leaves you with a margin for error and quick adjustment, and pulling it all together with an attitude of respect and humility toward the dangers and risks that we take when we throttle into that maelstrom.

A final word of (unsolicited) advice from an admitted novice with only two years' experience as a rider: I would take the views of any trackside wrench jockey with a huge grain of salt. They are thinking about bikes in absolute terms -- the terms of winning on a track -- and not in the prudent, life-preserving relative terms that I've described above. And talk is cheap when it's not your own ass in the sling.

good luck!