Qjiang QJ600GS / Benelli BJ600GS - rumors thread

[ChinaV]

to be fair most modern japanese 600,s would be pretty tired after 5 years

Absolutely disagree. A Japanese 600 with a touch of maintenance and care here or there will easily last a decade and 100,000 kilometers without major repair. My V-Strom 650 is almost 5 years old with 50,000 China kilometers on it and it looks and runs like new. Summer 2010 I bought a 6 year old Kawasaki Concours with 20,000 miles on the clock. My wife and I rode it 20,000 kilometers across America and I sold it for the exact same price I purchased it for. Bikes that are taken care of tend to last a very long time. Despite my best efforts, all of my Chinese motos have suffered from poor materials. Paint that flakes off, anodizing that fades, fasteners that rust, premature corrosion in the bearings and bushings, etc. etc. Japanese manufacturers have a fantastic pool of sub suppliers like Showa, Nissin, Yuasa, etc to build quality machines. Chinese manufactures have a pool of no-name garbage sub-suppliers, there's little hope in the near future of us getting quality components on bikes made here.

Perhaps there are enough imported components on these new bike to ensure they will last, and maybe there's even a chance that a company like Benelli is educating Qjiang in the art of sub-supplier management and evaluation, we can always hope.

But then again an abused Gixxer might not be as good.

In America, the 600cc sportbike is the number one entry level moto for squids. They are usually inexperienced and irresponsible when it comes to the maintenance of the machines, and a large amount of them end up crashed or abused. In 1990 I sold a Suzuki Katana 600 to a female friend of mine, she is teaching her daughter how to ride on that same bike over 20 years later. It just rolled 100k miles and has required nothing more than general maintenance items.

I think almost any modern motorcycle has a good chance of lasting well beyond 5 years, as evidenced by the thousands of postings across the internet supporting the longevity and durability of Japanese, European, and American motorcycles. On the other hand, there are very few documented cases of Chinese motorcycles surviving a long time without constant attention and replacement of vital parts. This site is littered with opinions about "durable" Chinese bikes, but almost all these experiences are coming from people with less than 20,000 kilometers on the clock. Look at the very honest appraisal of long term ownership posted by ZMC, he likes his bike, but he calls a spade a spade and does a great job of pointing out where the manufacturer has cut corners. Does he still enjoy his bike, sure, but I respect his opinion (even if he does like Honda's) far more than the people saying the wing fung choo XYZ200 is a decent bike, because ZMC is not letting "face" get in the way of calling it like it is.

That old saying "you get what you pay for" is never true in China, and maybe should be changed to "you get what you take care of" when it comes to non-Chinese motorcycles.

Cheers!
ChinaV

[zhu]

i,m talking about r models

gsx r cbr zxr yzr

thats r models get it?

race one of these and see if it gets 50,000km

more like 5000 and rebuild trhe engine

sv650 is a sled and i dont see how you could even compare it to the benelli

[ChinaV]

i,m talking about r models

gsx r cbr zxr yzr

thats r models get it?

OK, thanks for clarifying that. But I'm not sure what your "modern japanese 600,s would be pretty tired after 5 years" statement has to do with the QJ/Benelli, as it's not a race bike.

sv650 is a sled and i dont see how you could even compare it to the benelli

I don't know why you're talking about a SV650 and calling it a sled. I'm sorry, I don't know what that means. My example was the Suzuki DL650 V-Strom, a modern Japanese 650 that seems to have no trouble making 5 years and 50k kilometers with reasonable maintenance, something many of us fear the QJ/Benelli will not do.

My comparison was made in an effort to help people understand the importance of the reputable second tier suppliers that make the components for companies like Honda and Suzuki versus Chinese companies that supply the local market with sub-standard products.

Given the six minutes it took you to read it and reply, obviously I wasn't very clear. Maybe too many words and punctuation?

Cheers!
ChinaV

[ZMC888]

Zhu, I promise you I can make a new Japanese bike last me 20 years, even longer. Some of this is ability is because of Chinese bikes. In Australia I had a 1983 Honda CB250N. That was around 1998, so the bike was over 15 years old. I had some carb issues and a few other niggles, that then I couldn't fix myself, but now would be easy even for me. In fact the CB was nothing compared to the Chinese bike I have now, which is much harder to keep maintained and is only three years old. There is no way I would be able to afford to keep a Chinese bike on the road in the UK, Australia or NZ without learning to do a whole load more work myself, because I simply wouldn't be able to afford to pay for the labor. Chinese bikes make some sense in China because the parts and labor are so cheap, but in a western country they are almost always a false economy for anyone other than a home mechanic. In some ways having a Chinese bike as well as many older bikes has taught me a great deal. I know when a bike isn't right and it needs to be taken care of, either by myself or a professional.

Also you have to remember that many western bikes in China have been badly abused and are not a true representation of the bike in another country. Some are stolen from Hong Kong and poorly reassembled, worked on by barely competent mechanics or dropped because of the drying crops, sand or other road debris or crashed into by other road users.

Back on topic, I'm sure we all want the Benelli to be a reliable bike that lasts for years, if taken care of just like a Japanese bike. I'm just waiting to find out is it's true, I might even buy one next year, but really I'd rather have a 2010 CBF500, because I know I can make that bike last for 20 years, I just can't get a legal one.

[Morfar]

Have a Honda Transalp in my garage - 55.000 km and 25 years old......yes, she is from -87 and runs like new!!
One of my friends have ordered a Benelli 600 - he was told that the factory have order for 24, so he have to wait a while.
The bike should arrive Beijing in May.

[Steve_Halt]

Perhaps there are enough imported components on these new bike to ensure they will last, and maybe there's even a chance that a company like Benelli is educating Qjiang in the art of sub-supplier management and evaluation, we can always hope.

No hope here. I asked the saleswoman and she was proud to say: 所有的配件都是国产的，which means that all the parts are manufactured locally. No imports.

[zhu]

i agree the benelli is not a race bike , but it is the closest chinese engine to the high revving compact 4 pot design
so what else can you compare it to?

a sled is a bike which has good carrying capacity and i have owned a few of those myself
no offence intended

The V-Strom has a six-speed transmission with a fuel-injected and slightly retuned 645 cc engine from Suzuki's SV650 sport bike, using a two-into-one exhaust system.^[9] An upright, standard riding posture contributes to the bike's handling characteristics. "wiki"

i usually just pay attention to a new design as it comes ,not every variation of the theme
again no offence intended

as for the benelli i have no intention of buying one or any bike like it, japanese or otherwise.

i like chinese bikes and i think the amount of work required to get them to a decent standard is well offset buy the low price
i agree that if you were paying the labour in a western country it wouldnt be worth the hassle

but i am here in china and i was an aircraft mechanic for 20 years
so no trouble to keep a bike going eh

i hope anybody who does buy one of these things gets a good run out of it

zhu over and out

[MJH]

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[ZMC888]

Zhu, no offense taken. I think as a former aircraft engineer you might find some Japanese bikes in the same category as Rolls-Royce aircraft engines, that can actually log thousands of hours of use with no real issues. I think if you own something even humble like a Honda CBF500 you would be amazed that it would only need 2 oil changes, 2 set of tires and 2 chains over 20,000 kilometers, quite literally nothing else would go wrong, they are that good. In fact I find it criminally insane that neither Sundiro or Wuyang Honda do not manufacture this bike in China for sale domestically and for export.

Chinese bikes are sometimes cheap, and also can teach people a great deal about bike repair and maintenance, but until you have owned and ridden something really well made it's hard to appreciate.

[tomtom]

FYI, spec sheet
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