New Adventure type Bike

This finally got approved in the states. Built by one of the better Chinese manufacturers, it will be a "fix-it yourself deal, although supposedly they are making arrangements with independent shops for warranty work. Before flaming the "cheap Chinese" bikes, realize a lot of the metrics sold here are manufactured by the big names in China. A two year warranty w/unlimited mileage(second year is parts only), low price, lighter weight, and fully equipped, they have my attention. Maybe not my money(yet) but my attention. http://www.motorcycle.com/manufacturer/csc-manufacturer/2015-csc-cyclone-rx-3-review.html

Seems like a near miss on almost all points. A little heavy, a little tall, a little weak.

Maybe Fox, but at $3500 it is the cheapest bike in the non existent category. If it runs alright and the parts are available/not falling off all the time, I could see this doing well. The tire/wheel choices are a little odd but if someone starts making tires for it, that isn't a big deal. The power is not bad for a 250cc non-competition bike (my 09 XT 250 was like 16 hp). The weight is a tad high but not any higher than my XT would have been with that gear on it. Also, did I mention it is cheap? My XT new is over 5k with almost 10 fewer horses and not nearly the gear. Stay off the freeway and this thing might be a real winner.

From reading that review this thing seems like a good bet on paper. I think the hurdle it has to overcome is being a Chinese bike for a lack of better terms.

Yep. That is true. I will buy one if I am looking for another dirt bike/gravel touring type bike. $3500 is stupid cheap.

I hope it does well then Honda can get off its butt can build the bulldog and sweep the segment.

Looks cool, and based on the motorcycle show here last December, ADV bikes are the thing right now. Best of luck to them, they are going to have to overcome the stigma of other the other Chinese and Korean bikes that never really got a foothold here.

Aye, it's the cheapest. $500 less than Suzuki, $1,500 less than Honda or Kawasaki. So on a dollar point, it's the winner.

It's also 100 pounds heavier. 100 pounds. That's not chump change.

It comes with lousy tires, and no ability to do anything about it because they are odd-ball 15" rears. You can fix this with 17" wheels, but that's going to cost you $250 for the hub and rim. You buy the tire and tube and mount it yourself, this isn't any sort of complete conversion kit.

But it's got luggage! Yes it does. Tiny luggage. That trunk is about the size of a yard sale cash box. The panniers aren't much more. Nothing was mentioned about their durability and water tightness either. Need to take them off? That's not happening quickly because they don't have quick release mounts. That is not a plus feature.

Brakes are weak, suspension is mushy and harsh. Not exactly a great handling bike as a result. A distant runner here compared to the offerings from Honda/Kawasaki/Suzuki. All of their similar sized adv bikes handle pretty darn well, and stop well too. No mention I can find on the interweb about how well this CSC does when taken onto fire roads and such. I suspect it's not great, especially with those tires.

Still, the all around total package isn't bad. No, it never hits a single high spot except for being cheap. It's heavy, it's weak, the brakes and suspension aren't very good. But none of it seems terrible either. So, you do get a mediocre entry bike that can probably do the job well enough for most riders who don't intend to ever demand much of their bike. Nothing wrong with that! Folk who like to feel hairy chested by riding down a dirt road will be delighted. And they can carry their baggied sandwich in one pannier, and their water bottle in the other.

"Zongshen claims 25 crank horsepower at 9000 rpm and 17 lb-ft. at 7000 rpm from the fuel-injected, liquid-cooled, SOHC, 4-valve Single..."

Oh man I can't wait to go adventure-touring on this thing. No really sounds great. Bet this thing just shrugs off altitude changes. Throw a couple day's food and some spares on, tent, etc etc. I'm probably 200lb with my riding gear on, and then some touring gear to enjoy my adventure on, this is perfect.

Maybe the wrong crowd here, but over at ADVrider there a tons of people converting 250Ls and XT/TTRs for this purpose. Guess what, when you put on luggage (small but there) and a decent head light (I am assuming this one is OK) a few other odds and ends your 250L weighs over 350 lbs and required a lot of work and money to get there. Cut the guys some slack, the market is there. I just hope the product performs as advertised.

Hmmm...

My 64hp sport touring bike, loaded for a week long trip with me on it can just maintain 60mph going up a mountain pass at full throttle. No chance of me passing anything or having enough power to get out of trouble.

A 25hp bike of questionable quality sounds perfect.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

Maybe you carry too much stuff

Trans_Maro wrote: Hmmm... My 64hp sport touring bike, loaded for a week long trip with me on it can just maintain 60mph going up a mountain pass at full throttle. No chance of me passing anything or having enough power to get out of trouble. A 25hp bike of questionable quality sounds perfect.

64 hp and full throttle only nets you 60 mph going up a mountain pass?!?! Something is wrong there. My 45 hp KLX 650 with me, my girlfriend and gear for both of us can do better than that going up a mountain.

I think the bike looks the part, it has the fuel capacity and range, and comes with quite a bit of standard equipment. If I can't roll into your average moto shop in the US and replace a shredded tire though, it's not going to work. Give it the same size tires as the other street legal 250s and I hope they sell enough that Honda gives us their XRE300!

After the first year, I think that they will figure out to up the price by $200 and put a 17 on the rear.

There are not tons of people installing luggage on 250Ls and such, there are some. It doesn't cost a fortune or require a lot of work. Nor does it have to add much weight.

I hope it performs better than the reviews indicate, especially on fire roads and single tracks and the like.

I'm not going to falsely praise the bike just because it's a new product. This isn't "some guy" hand crafting something in his shed, this is the product of some massive corporations.

In reply to Petrolburner:

Lets see, according to the motorcycle specs website:

My CX650E tips the scales at 500lbs even and makes 64hp.

Your KLX650 comes in at 337lbs and makes 40hp.

I'm a fat berkeleyer at 6' and 260lbs.

I'd bet you need to eat a cheeseburger. :P

I'm not saying it won't be any good at all, I'm saying it won't be any good for me.

The bike I'm riding now has me bent up like a monkey screwing a football, that's why I'm buying a Stelvio shortly.

I pack pretty light. Sleeping bag, hammock, raingear, change of clothes, camp stove and cooking gear. that's about it really.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

You tour on a CX650? That's pretty cool in my book.

pres589 wrote: In reply to Trans_Maro: You tour on a CX650? That's pretty cool in my book.

Berkin' A right, it is!

CX650 Eurosport, you guys didn't get them in the USA.

Here's my beast with my buddy's 750 Kawi:

The bags are off in that picture since it was just a weekend trip but I have a full set of Vetter luggage that goes with the Vetter Quicksilver fairing.

Here's what they look like stock:

I've seen one up here that a fellow adapted CBX luggage to using Sabre hardware.

There is no factory luggage for these unfortunately.

Shawn

That thing is pretty cool! I love the stock fairing.

singleslammer wrote: After the first year, I think that they will figure out to up the price by $200 and put a 17 on the rear.

I'm halfway through the ADV thread and it looks like production bikes are coming with 17" wheels with a 19" front optional. Sounds good to me!

This bike has the 17/19 wheels. I bet the luggage weighs a ton. If I had this bike the luggage would only go on for 3+ day trips. I'm a big fan of the styling and the weight is really not that bad when you consider how many farkles are included in that spec. Add all that crap to a CRF250L or KLX250S and they would probably be pretty close.

Remember when Japanese bikes were junk?

Serious question about that since I'm not old enough to know..

Did Japan ever actually make cheap, throw-away, junk items?

Or was it just a perception that cheap stuff was made by "those dirty Japs".

From everything I've read, from WWII on, Japanese manufacturing WAS very good. I have a book about the Zero which show what a good bit of engineering it was. The Zero caused the US to have to start building fast fighter aircraft instead of flying tanks.

I have the big Toyota book which talks about Toyota building a better stovebolt six (first gen) than General Motors.

I don't think I've ever seen an item with "made in Japan" on it that really was cheap junk.

China is a completely different story.

I've seen great stuff and cheap junk come from China.

The difference that folks don't seem to understand with China is that they will make items as poorly as you pay them to.

China builds good stuff if you're willing to pay for good stuff and keep an eye on the quality control.

Appleseed wrote: Remember when Japanese bikes were junk?

Nope.