The last half decade has seen China changing the world in more ways than imaginable and the world of motorbiking is no exception.
Many motorcyclists dipped their Faustian toe into the Made in China waters with an approximately-fitting colourful aluminium anodised reservoir cap or other seemingly innocent and relatively insignificant small dinky farkle. Months passed and some brazen deal-seeking adventurers dared to up the ante and buy mid-pipes (replacing catalysers), radiators, and parts that were slightly more significant. It was understood that adjusting/correcting the pieces for rushed workmanship and poor quality was a necessary investment, but depending on use, would still work out cheaper than OEM in the end.
It didn’t take long before some isolated groups were buying Chinese toy mini bikes and taking them to GoKart tracks. So bloomed the world of pit bikes. It offered less well-off individuals and youngsters the experience of motorcycle racing/track riding in a safer environment than taking it to the streets and more affordable than a big track.
Needless to say, despite the bikes being new, they totally lacked quality, built without attention to detail, showed chinks of imperfections everywhere, were made of less than mediocre materials, and required an exhaustive protocol to make them useful and somewhat safely rideable for more than a few hours. All the liquids (oils, hydraulic) needed changing before firing up the engine the first time. Valve springs needed instant replacement. Gears and gearbox needed to be taken out and filed down properly. Anyone in the know, was aware to tighten all screws just so, not too much to break or crack parts and just such that they wouldn’t loosen, never using locktite (liquid screw-lock) for fear of either the screw breaking off in the thread or worse yet, having the chassis or engine thread break. Add to this a gamble as to what else needs changing, adjusting, upgrading. But again, when all was said and done, still worked out cheaper in the end.
Next invasive step came with the arrival of small displacement enduro bikes. Clearly imperfect ‘perfect’ replicas of Japanese bikes. For some wanting to try off road riding, suffering a steep learning curve involving the repetitive dropping of their first enduro bike, there could be an argument made for giving in and buying Chinese.
But here’s where things get a little shady. When buying a bike, there are a number of factors that come into play, many of which we conveniently sweep under the rug. We slant the odds in our excitement, blinded by a seemingly amazing price, coupled with just enough statistics, and build all the arguments necessary to convince ourselves, our better halves, and perhaps some naïve colleagues we’re doing the best thing.
A good friend wasn’t too yellow and actually bought and rides one such enduro bike. Two years into ownership, he still can’t find the sprocket or pinion he wants for the bike. The dealership saw him as a perfect mark, and went as far as telling him he has no choice but to only deal with them from the moment he bought the bike. Dealership crooks (making a killing) aside, factory customer service is a foreign concept for Chinese production, since it opposes the very modus operandi of their relying on quantity of production rather than quality.
So, aside from the actual bike, spare parts, modified parts, customer service, mechanics, resale value/depreciation, reliability, the pride of owning a machine made by an established and beloved brand, ethics behind the brand/country of production, performance, etc. are all fart-in-an-elevator topics – meaning they must be avoided, dismissed, forgotten or pretend they don’t exist. Doesn’t matter. It’s not like you know anyone who’s bought a bike and started looking at buying mods and improvements before actually getting delivery of the bike, right?
A covid or two later, another good friend began a spamming campaign in our chat, with news of a Chinese Rally ‘unicorn’ bike to rule them all. I put on my antagonist fire suit and tried to reason with him, but price, statistics, a publicity stunt of finishing the Dakar, and unending enthusiasm, made it all but impossible to appropriately communicate the poison that comes with drinking from this dragon chalice.
It may give hope of riding a Dakar to unfortunate dreamers questioning their life choices, with just enough money to scrape together a purchase of this larger Chinese enduro bike in disguise, but seriously… To actually participate in rallies like the Dakar, one needs riding skills and numerous rally points (from participating in various qualifying rallies). Then, there’s mechanical know-how needed, and a load of money is to be put forth in prep work and experience. Would the savings in price between Made in China and Made in Japan/Austria justify the sacrifices?
Spend your cash as you wish, but I’d gently urge respecting it enough to look at the entire dim-sum menu of aspects in choosing a bike, not just the info the marketing would conveniently like you to see.
Writer:
Peter ‘Safety Bear’ Bokor