Anyone ride one of the inexpensive bikes made in China ?

[sign216]

I think Tecumseh has been gone for a few years now. I seem to remember they went broke trying to compete on price with the Chinese small engine manufacturers (which Honda, B&S, and Kohler really don't try to do). IIRC Ridley motorcycles did use an adapted B&S Vanguard V-twin.

Last I heard, Tecumseh was still in business, but just a shell of its former proud self.  Now putting Asian engines in its machines.

The old Tecumseh side valve snowblower engines used to very popular w the kart racers.

[bad Chad]

Don't think anyone mentioned GPX yet, https://gpxmoto.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=5

They have a good selection of 4 stroke or 2 stroke, air cooled or water cooled, smaller wheels vs. normal sized wheels, etc. 

Each time I've looked into bikes like this I end up with the best idea is a nice used Japanese bike.   

I start off looking at ~$1200 Amazon bikes.  Mostly a bunch of crap parts, poorly designed, poorly assembled, so would require a lot of work to sort out and keep running well. 

Then look at the Hawk at around $1500, which is a wee bit better than the $1000-$1200 bikes, but again, lots of low quality/design parts thrown together.

Then next thoughts go to the CSC TT250 at around $2300.  US importer, stands behind their products, a bit more picky about all the parts and how they work together, very responsive with parts and upgrades.  So with this one it is more likely to work OK from the start, and just some cheap stuff to deal with as you go (like pathetic quality chain).  So a bike you can buy ride and it will need work/attention at about the level as a ~20 year old Japanese bike.  But as for fun riding, hum, not that great.

So then up to GPX, the XTR T4 250 LC 21x18 is $3100, US importer with parts/support, finally a bike that actually works and is fun to ride.  But wait a minute, now you are at $3100 and really you are still getting a not so great quality Chinese bike.

Then over to craigslist, find a Yamaha XT225 with 900 miles on it and asking $2500.  Or wow a DRZ-400 for $1800.  If you really want to get dirt serious, several 250cc 2 stroke dirt bikes for under $2500.

A friend of a friend got their kid one of the $1100 ish Amazon bikes ... dad not so mechanically inclined, neither is his kid ... they had a good time uncrating it and sorting out how to get it together ... watching youtube videos ... I think it took them 2 weekends to get it all together (vs. the 2 hr times on youtube, but they weren't in a rush, didn't spend all day on it, etc).  It worked for ~4-6 weeks, then had problems, has now sat for 3 months as they don't really know how to sort out the problem(s) and don't want to spend money paying someone to fix it.  Maybe one day they will spend a few more weekends together and get it sorted out.  Any maybe that dad/son bonding time is pretty cool and worth $1100.     Maybe this will inspire the kid to gain some mechanical skills/knowledge.  Who knows.  But certainly not the best plan for a cheap fun bike to ride around on for years and years.

I'm guessing you have not spent much time on a CSC 250?    I have 2600 miles on one I bought new a few years back, and have had exactly ZERO parts break or fail.   I ride it 90% on the road, I'm 250lbs and I constantly beat on it.   Chain still working fine, maybe I'll need a new one next summer, maybe not, but if I do it will only eat up $30.   
I don't ride motorcross with it, but I do take it off road and have fun, and then ride it home a 60mph, and it's happy as a clam.
My point is, it's built far better than you are giving it credit for. Is it equal to a Yamaha XT250?   No,  but for $2900 less, it is a hell of a lot closer than it should be!

[Moparnut72]

Tecumseh built good engines.  I have one on my wood chipper. Runs great and quite powerful.
kk

[ajpjive]

I’m going to go against the love for CSCs thus far. I bought one of the first round TT250s back when they were first releasing them. $1900 + freight/paperwork, talk about a deal! I’d been looking for a small side street and dirt road commuter. It wasn’t bad, it was mainly just ‘meh’. Lots of loose fasteners out of the crate. Fairly underpowered, but felt quicker than it was due to the light weight. Stock chain and battery were pretty lousy. Not amazing off road, but good enough for a $2k motorcycle. At the end of the day, the bike was fine, but I wished I’d bought a used DRZ or similar instead. Thrilled others are enjoying their TT250s though, and I’m hopeful the more recent models have just gotten better.

[SemperVee]

 Could not be more impressed with my G/F Kymco Spade 150 CC FI motorcycle.  Reminds me of old standard MC of the 80's. Actually made in Taiwan but has corporate office in South Carolina.   New $2700 with 2 year warranty.  Runs Great for grocery getter.

 

[mobiker]

Could not be more impressed with my G/F Kymco Spade 150 CC FI motorcycle.  Reminds me of old standard MC of the 80's. Actually made in Taiwan but has corporate office in South Carolina.   New $2700 with 2 year warranty.  Runs Great for grocery getter.

 

I've had the impression that Kymco was closer to the Japanese than the Chinese in terms of quality and support. No real reason I think this except what I've read on the interwebs, and the fact that Kymco actually has a dealer network. A couple of years ago I was at a local grocery store and they had a line of Chinese scooters for sale for $700. I wondered at the time where people who bought these thought they were going to get service on them, or if all the sales were to very self-sufficient people. Or it most buyers ever gave it a thought.

[SemperVee]

 We started her with a 300cc Kymco scooter and was so impressed moved her to the MC as the scooter was abit overwhelming for a novice rider.  Dealers are about as plentiful as MG. Not saying much but parts are available and stone reliable with easy maintenance.  They provided engines for both Honda and BMW mc's I had been told.