Galaxy XTR 250 review

[felix]

I've been reading this forum for a little while now and it seems there are a few people wondering about the Galaxy XTR 250. since i've had one for a couple of months i thought i'd post up my thoughts on it.




2008 vs 2009
My bike is the 08 model. If i were to buy it again however, i would definately get a 09 one, it costs 1000RMB more but is well worth it. As 08 was the first year of production, it had a few flaws that were eliminated the following year. the hubs and fork clamps were cast aluminium and very brittle. my front hub blew apart at 60kph and i was pretty lucky not to get badly hurt. the 09 wheels are CNC machined and much stronger. same with the triple clamps, which i will soon swop over before they fail and kill me. the 08 bike is also known to have had rear swing arm failures. get the newer one! (if you're not sure how to tell, the 09 bike has red hubs)




service
i've been very impressed with the factory so far. firstly i got a brand new engine for free. some of the 08 bikes had problems with 2nd gear, so the factory recalled all the bikes and everyone got a brand new engine! this is unheard of for a chinese bike manufacturer! secondly, after my front hub exploded, the factory sent me out new front AND back wheels, 09 CNC machined ones, for free. and they also replaced my front forks for free because mine had a little leak. good stuff.


engine
not very much to write home about, it's a pretty standard chinese 250 honda copy engine. It puts out about 18hp i think, which is plenty enough to pull wheelies and generally dick around. i've done about 5000km on my new engine and it's going grand. during the break-in period i rode it hard and changed the oil after 30km, 150, 500 and 1000. now i change it every 1500 to keep it good and fresh. that break-in method works well, my bike doesn't burn any oil at all, and it saves you weeks of tedium.




chassis and parts
i have to say i'm really impressed with the suspension. i was buying a budget chinese bike with large diametre USD forks and a big-ass mono shock, i thought it would be all show and no go... but actually they do a really good job, both on tarmac and over rough stuff. on road, they handle well and cornering is very predictable. off road, they soak up drops comfortably and bottom out only occasionally. i do most of my driving on road, but it's really handy to have a bike that can go through anything when the need arises.
the brakes are by far the best i've tried in this country. in fact the rear brake is almost unnecessarily good, it's a bit too easy to slide. the front brake though is spot-on, plenty of feel and power. endo's are easy enough but i do need all 4 fingers.
one thing i will say is buy some thread-lock and put some on every screw when you get the bike. unless they have sorted this out on the 09 bike, it'll save you a lot of hassle. before my front brake caliper fell off coming up to a red light, i was content just tightening all the lose screws every week. now i know a more permanent solution is well worth it.

there are some nice details here and there that show that Galaxy were trying to make a nice bike. the chain tensioner is a good example, they welded some nice machined ends on the swing arm with a precise adjustment system. or the high-beams trigger switch on the bars for flashing your lights at people, i've never had one of those before and it's really handy, especially here!



what wheels?
depends what you want to do with it. i bought it with the knobbly dirt tyres, 21" front and 18" rear. They were great fun for pulling dirt off road, but after 2500km on mostly tarmac they were pretty much spent. I've since bought the supermoto wheels, 17" front and back with road tyres, and am having even more fun with those. the front end feels very nippy in town, there's no more whirring when i travel long distance, but mostly they corner like a dream! i'm serious, if you like corners you'll never stop smiling! i've done about 4000km on them and there's not any noticable wear yet. (taiwanese rubber by the way)

note: When you buy a new set of wheels from galaxy they come fitted with brake discs and sprocket, so now when i want to swop them around it only takes 10 mins!


any good for touring?
touring china for sure, you're unstoppable! i rode 900km this weekend and it was fine. (i'll write about that in the appropriate section when i have time) two things about that though: the saddle is pretty narrow, if i was planning a few weeks on it i'd think about modifying it somehow. the rear sprocket is 41T, which is good for messing around but not great for top speed. i can get up to 120kph, and cruise at 100, but the engine doesn't feel very comfortable at that speed. cruising at 90 feels best but i'm usually in a hurry. [edit: at the time of writing my tacho was calibrated right, what i thought was 120 was more likely 105, and my cruising speed was likely 80] i can't find a smaller sprocket anywhere that fits the bolt pattern so i'm gonna get one made, maybe 37T. i'll report back after i get it. i'm expecting more comfortable cruising but less wheelies.
for carrying luggage it's not a patch on the shineray long march. i fitted the standard rack on the back which helps, i'm able to strap a couple of bags on the back which is enough for me.




registerable in china?
i have legal nanjing plates. (although they're not in some of the pics)


is there a water cooled 250cc version with a better swing arm and trick parts coming out at the end of 2009?
yep.
[04-2010 edit: this bike has still not been released in PRC. i have no idea what is taking so long.]

why would i bother writing all this?
i think galaxy deserve a break. they've built a great little bike and have shown they really care about their buyers, the engine recall is very impressive, as are the free wheels and forks. when i call them with a question or problem they're always really nice to me and very patient with my broken chinese. i also just think it's a cool bike so i want to talk about it.


That's about it i think. Hope this helps if anyone out there is undecided about it. Buy a 09 model and you really get a lot of fun for 12,000 RMB!

[ChinaV]

That was a great read felix, thanks for taking the time and filling us in on all the details I'm very impressed with your patience, as there was quite a list of glitches that would make a lot of other people pretty upset. This is the second time someone on MCM has been involved with a die cast part failing. Good on the factory for correcting it, but if that happened to someone in America, just imagine what the lawyers would do. Nice to hear they changed to a CNC aluminum design.

the rear sprocket is 41T, which is good for messing around but not great for top speed. i can get up to 120kph, and cruise at 100, but the engine doesn't feel very comfortable at that speed. cruising at 90 feels best but i'm usually in a hurry. i can't find a smaller sprocket anywhere that fits the bolt pattern so i'm gonna get one made, maybe 37T.

Might be easier to just add one tooth on the front sprocket, with my QingQi 200 that made 100-110 kph much nicer.

Can't wait to see more ride reports

Cheers
ChinaV

[culcune]

Felix, thanks for the report and photos. I had been very interested in the Galaxy since last year, and had corresponded with the factory people, but their site seems to have gone bye-bye, and their business 2 business site seems to have disappeared, too, without the bikes ever making it to the US!!

I had thought the bikes would make a nice alternative for the common GY 200s that are prevalent in the US.

But alas, like a shiny ray of hope, Pitster Pro in the US and Puzey of S.Africa/Australia brought us the watercooled XTR 250, and that is what I will probably sell my Honda Ascot 500 for this fall. I am not sure if the Puzey/Pitster bike is related to Galaxy, as I have read a response from someone directly involved w/Pitster that they're not, and are in fact OEM'd, but the Pitster site shows the CNC machined hubs and all the other '09 upgrades that you mentioned. In fact, Puzey in S. africa, does rebadge the Galaxy bikes for their mid-level bikes, with the Loncin water-cooled bikes as their premium bike. Pitster in the US only carries the Loncin water-cooled bikes, and I believe the Puzey distributor in Australia only carries the water-cooled bikes (but someone from Australia could confirm or correct me on this...)

However, I still feel that Galaxy could find a market here in N. America with their air-cooled bikes to compete with the Qlink XF/XP 200's or to compete with the very common Lifan/Kinroad/Shineray/etc. GY200. I will be aiming for what is currently available here, the Pitster model, but I would seriously consider the Galaxy if we could get one here, like what Puzey offers in S. Africa.

Your photos and story, combined with all the other "foreigners" in China stories both as residents and workers, make me want to fly to China and tour there, and I think with a more comfortable seat, the Galaxy would be my first choice!

Puzey's liquid-cooled XTR 250

http://www.puzey.co.za/commuters/xtr...otard_main.asp

Puzey's Galaxy-sourced XTR 250

http://www.puzey.co.za/commuters/xtrmotard250_main.asp

Pitster Pro's liquid-cooled bike

http://www.pitsterpro.com/bike/overview/id/31

Puzey's Australian distributor FX Racing

http://www.fxracing.com.au/PuzeyxtrRX.html

[ZMC888]

Great review Felix. In a country where your McDonalds complaint will be ignored and the staff go into denial, Galaxy seem to have unusually good customer service. The fact that all the bolts come loose is a little scary though.

[kingmarty45]

one thing i will say is buy some thread-lock and put some on every screw when you get the bike. unless they have sorted this out on the 09 bike, it'll save you a lot of hassle. before my front brake caliper fell off coming up to a red light, i was content just tightening all the lose screws every week. now i know a more permanent solution is well worth it.

Anyone out there with a chinese bike needs to put some blue loctite on their front brake caliper bolts (amongst others). Like felix I lost mine. It is a scary experience when you are just cruising along and then try to stop and suddenly your front brake doesn't work

Great report and pics felix, thanks for sharing. The galaxy looks like a great bike. Unfortunately for me, the Aussie equivalent is over $4k which is a lot when you can get Zongshens, Qingqi (aussie equivalent) and the mighty Loncin Kinlon for about a thousand bucks less...

[ZMC888]

The bolts question is why Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki joint venture bikes made for export are the safest choice when buying a bike in China.

[bigdamo]

Great report Felix.Thanks.

The original Australian puzey importer went bust early this year/ late last year they where in the process of getting the enduro version ADR for road rego in Australia.Not an easy process and not cheap either.I would think the new importer will have to start again.That could take years.

The local motorcycle shop where I used to live had the watercooled puzey on display and it looked good. Swing arm possibly to long but anyway they had a lot of interest in the bike and for $3600.00AUD I think that was a bargain for a beginner/paddock basher bike. A Yamaha YZ250f would be about $10000.00Aud.

Alot of people where waiting for the road registered Puzey and I was told it would be about $4000.00 aud.

I would say that is excellent value compared to a Suzuki DR250 Which I think was $8000.00 and a Yamaha XT225 $8000.00 these are all entry level bikes.

ADB the Australian Dirt bike magazine did a test on the Puzey 250 and it came out favorably after they stopped laughing at the name.

They said it was a good bike for the money and China was getting better in there manufacturing and would be interesting to see what comes out of China in the future.

They where also looking for loose bolts

[kingmarty45]

good info there damo I was wondering about Puzey. The Puzey website (.au) has now gone and there is just this fxracing place in Victoria that claims to have them. Although, when looking through their website I am not filled with confidence that fximports even has these bikes.

I have never seen a Puzey before. Not in any of the places that deal with chinese bikes in Sydney that I have seen, and I was looking for them before I bought the Kinlon.

[felix]

Thanks for the responses everyone. I don't know much about this bike outside china so i can't really help there. I'm also unsure about the puzey/galaxy connection but it really looks like they're the same bike.
there's a thread on chinese bike forum with pics of the galaxy factory down in guangdong and of the water cooled version coming out later this year. judging by the pics it really looks the exact same as the puzey:
http://motorcycle.sh.cn/viewthread.p...&extra=&page=3

[CrazyCarl]

Felix,

First class write up mate! Both well organized and illustrated!

You also seem to be pretty serious about the photography. What kind of setup do you use?

The water-cooled version of the bike looks pretty trick. Dual radiators too! Would be good to stick that engine in a commuting rig.

I second ChinaV's idea of going up on tooth in the front if possible. You'll get much the same effect and not have to alter chain length.

CC