
Originally Posted by
nicholastanguma
Cleveland Cyclewerks sells Chinese manufactured machines at a low pricepoint. This unavoidably means crap components in lots of areas, as well as shoddy construction. I think one day CCW will have their teething problems ironed out, and that day will probably be when they've established their products as genuinely built in America.
Right now you need to understand that a hardtail Chinese bobber will likely always require tinkering and money. It's not a Honda or BMW. I understand new motorcyclists want to save money wherever possible concerning their first motos (who doesn't?), but take it from someone who's been doing the motorcycle thing for years and years: a CCW machine WILL require money and attention from you to keep going. IT'S A CHINA BIKE.
If you're not willing to keep spending time and money here and there, on this and that, then I suggest you cut your losses and sell if possible. Get a Honda Rebel or V Star 250--there's aftermarket support for bobbing them, or turning them into lightweight tourers, and the online forum support for them is active. Plus, they both have literally decades of build history behind them, so they're proven bulletproof, parts are plentiful and cheap, and any moto mechanic knows how to work on one.
In all honesty, if I were buying a Heist brand new I would:
1) Only purchase from Tom Weaver.
2) Give him a very appreciable chunk of change over the MSRP.
3) Tell him to use that money to literally rewire the entire motorcycle, exchange literally every nut and bolt for stainless equivalents, change out every bearing and seal for anything-but-China replacements, re-weld every bracket and weld that's been proven to break on these machines, and rebuild the entire carbie and motor with his hot rod upgrades and never reuse any of the Chinese gaskets that came stock.
4) Send out the forks to be Ti-nitride or DLC coated to fix the bloody stiction problem.
5) Preemptively fix every problem that's been proven to happen with frequency to these machines. Little things like improperly vented gascaps and un-Loktited fasteners, for instance.
I'm totally serious. And bear in mind I say all this with much love for Tha Heist--it's currently one of my all-time favorite motorbikes.