Opinions on Honda Replica Dirt Bikes

[quietreef]

Hi there: This is my first post and I'd like to get some opinions. I'd like to get a dirt bike for 2 teenagers to learn on....just for riding on dirt trails by the lake. One weighs 125 lb. and the other about 175. I've been looking at Yamaha or Honda, around the 125cc range. My question is, here in Calgary there are some "Honda Replica" bikes for a *lot* less. Are these bikes adequate to learn on, or should I spend the 1-2K more and get the real thing?
thanks,
quietreef

[flynrider]

If you're talking about those Chinese knockoffs that are commonly sold over the Internet and at auto parts stores, I'd say stay away. I know way too many people that have had bad experiences with these things. The build quality is generally bad and it might not hold together after a few weeks. Parts and factory support are almost non-existent.

I was helping a neighbor trying to get one of these running last month. It died after 3 weeks of use. When we pulled it apart, I noticed that some of the gaskets had been cut from aluminum soda cans. You could still see the labels on them. BTW - anyone know why a Chinese can of Sprite would have flames on it?

[High_Side]

I am in Calgary and had bought one over ebay for $610U.S. It was the 110cc Honda clone similar to what they sell at Board Brothers but with manual shift and electric start. I've had tonnes of bikes but thought that I would take a chance given the price. It IS cheaply made but that is what I would expect for 1/4 the price. It took about 20 minutes to put the wheels and handlebars on, put fuel in the tank and hit the electric starter. It fired right up and idled awesome. Since then I have had troubles with the clutch dragging but it's nothing I can't fix with a little spare time. The chain doesn't take long to stretch either but thats pretty common for any little bike. SPEAKING OF WHICH the Suzuki JR50 I bought at the same time has been a far bigger piece of sh!te. Continuous carb problems and an even worse chain than on the Chineese special. It cost twice as much and has been a pretty big disappointment. IT is no Honda either. Buy a Honda or Yamaha if you want trouble free minibikes. If you don't mind fixing a few things and are willing to gamble, buy the cheap knock-off.
Cheers,
High_Side

[MotoF150]

I know you guys are going to tell me im full of it, but I know im right, most of the smaller kids dirt bikes either from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki are outsourced and made in China, they are made in the same factory as the Chinese knock-offs except Honda and Yamaha bikes are made at a different higher quality standards, the only dirt bike engines that are made in Japan are the Yoshy engines, and those are on the serious bigger motocross, racing bikes like the CRF250 and 450

[2wheel]

I know you guys are going to tell me im full of it, but I know im right, most of the smaller kids dirt bikes either from Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki are outsourced and made in China, they are made in the same factory as the Chinese knock-offs except Honda and Yamaha bikes are made at a different higher quality standards, the only dirt bike engines that are made in Japan are the Yoshy engines, and those are on the serious bigger motocross, racing bikes like the CRF250 and 450

Ha, Ha, Ha - you are soooo funny!

[MotoF150]

the engine on ur KTM300EX is made in India

[hoytultratec]

here we go again motof150 spreading his knowlege again

does everbody know he took aol IQ test and scored 128,

the connection just got better with you gone

[jimmym1296]

I bought my son one of the 50cc bikes from Pep Boys. It's fine for riding around the yard, learning to ride etc. Very cheap quality in most areas but if you have a little bit of mechanical inclination and bike knowledge you can keep it running fairly easily. Once they get some experience and are ready to move on, you may want to up the quality a bit. The chinese knockoffs probably won''t stand too much abuse.

[Johnj]

off topic

(off topic post removed. carry on....)

[QuietMonkey]

I had asked peoples opinions about bikes coming from China about 4 years ago when I was last in these forums. As then the opinions are wildly varied because there are SO MANY different suppliers and one word "Chinese" doesn't cover the latitude of bikes available.

Best bike I've seen in Canada:

Konker KSM200 - $3000

It fits in perfectly at the low-end of the dualsport segment. A real high-quality, high-output example is a Yamaha YZ250 SuperMotard @ $7000+ and between those two you have the Kawi KLX 250 @ $5000+ dualsport.

//monkey