Quote Originally Posted by ZMC888 View Post
I think if you are riding in China you're going to be 50% good tarmac, 30% potholed/smashed uneven and 20% lunar landscape. You can see with bikes like the YBR125K or G that they have the clearance, some road trail tires and maybe handguards and box paniers, you'd be fine. Sure ideally off road you could have more travel and if only and ideally a XT250 Tenere, but that travel just isn't needed 80% of the time, so buying a Chinabike with all the potential cheap parts and mediocre assembly is IMHO a poor decision. Many people have gotten pretty much anywhere on a YBR250, most of the time they end up dropping them because they use the original tires off-road, which is a pretty simple fix.
Agree on the percentages there but here is the thing...

You wont be fine on a Ybr because the first few times in the day when it tries to spit you off you will save it . 300 km and 10 hours later you wont save it and it will spit you onto the road, if you are lucky you will walk away cursing the shit shocks.

To the OP you will be shocked how much an XT250 would cost you too import. I would say you could then just go ahead and buy a new JH600 for less money. Not a bad bike as it happens but you originally asked about 250's.