Zongshen

[Guest]

Hi... I'm not really sure if you have this bike in USA but I hope you do because I found some site from zongshen dealer in America... They have dealer 20metars from my house here in Serbia
I like some of their bikes especially ZS200GY-2 because it looks nice and it's cheap... so I was wondering if anyone have some expirience with Zongshen bikes or you can tell me is it better to buy new Zongshen cross or some 5-6 years old Yamaha, Aprilia cross..... what do you think?

[Loonette]

I wish I could help you with an opinion. It's the first time I've heard of the company, and as far as things go in the United States... it takes forever for a new foreign motorcycle company to make a good impression. There have been some perfectly good looking Korean bikes in our market, but you don't see them out on the roads. We tend to stick with American, Japanese, German, and Italian bikes.

It's a good question - I just don't think many people here are familiar enough with the brand. Good luck!

Cheers,
Loonette

[TechTMW]

The chinese still have not mastered the art of quality control. This means that when you buy a chinese-made vehicle, it might work well, but then again, it might break down on you. So, If you'd like to purchase a chinese vehicle, I suggest making sure that you have some kind of dealer support in your area for repairs and parts in the event that the bike breaks.

(In other words, make sure the dealer near your house has a good Mechanic and a warehouse full of spare parts) That way you know you will have real, immediate help if the bike breaks down on you.

I would recommend this for any bike. Inherently, a 5 year old Yamaha will have better quality than a new Chinese bike. But even that is worthless if you don't have parts/dealer support in your area.

I would still recommend the Japanese over the Chinese.

[Guest]

Yeah they can service the bike..... that's good
the price is 1990€ right now... it's 200cc 15hp super moto looks very nice
for 2k euros I don't know if I can get some good used bike....especially because here 125cc-200cc bikes are very valuable

[Bachstrad37]

I agree completely with Tech on Chinese made products.

A motorcycle takes tons of refinement to get just right. It's not like an article of clothing. A good, reliable, and valuable motorcycle takes years of driver feedback to fine tune. Sure, there's basic formula and cookie cutter approach from the start, but fine tuning takes time.

The Chinese are NOT yet good at refinement. They are AWESOME at mass production.

The Japanese are masters at it. The Americans and Italians are really close to the Japanese, but playing catch up in some markets. Koreans are getting pretty darn good. The Chinese, they're toward the bottom.

I can't speak specifically to the bike in question. But I can about Chinese manufacturing process. What I'm saying will change with time. The Chinese will get better if they want to compete in the quality department. I'll buy stuff made in China at my local Dollar Store. I'm faaaar from buying anything from China that's $100 or more.

[flynrider]

The chinese still have not mastered the art of quality control. This means that when you buy a chinese-made vehicle, it might work well, but then again, it might break down on you.

I've been fixing (or attempting to fix) Chinese scooters and more recently, motorcycles for my friends for the past couple of years. Of the dozen no-name brands I've run across, none has quality that even comes close to the Japanese version that they are supposedly copied from. The warranties are ridiculously short and pretty much worthless, since there is no true dealer network. Just a bunch of importers with warehouses full of motorcycles to sell, but no parts. Most of the bikes I've worked on have died before or just after the warranty period. They are not made to last.

I'm sure that as the Chinese motorcycle industry matures, quality will improve. Right now it's at the stage of producing a motorcycle or scooter for the absolutely lowest price possible. Quality does not seem to be an important factor.

About a month back, I pulled the head off a Chinese 125cc engine and the head gasket had been cut from a soda can. I could still make out the "Sprite" label.

[Kal]

About a month back, I pulled the head off a Chinese 125cc engine and the head gasket had been cut from a soda can. I could still make out the "Sprite" label.

Is it wrong that I think that is awesome and want to know if you kept it?


Hey Chewu, welcome and all that.

Serbia? As cross as I ought to be with your Country for Eurovision

Chinese motorbikes? Think CZ/Jawa but with less parts availability. You could get a good one but you'll probably end up with one that needs work a lot of the time. However the Bike itself will be cheap.

Would I buy one? Not if it was my only means of transport.

I don't know what else to tell you - if you can scrape another 2k together you should be able to pick up one of the smaller (125/250) Japanese/Korean Bikes

[Guest]

it's easy for you to say scrap another 2k, but when you know that average salary here is 400€ than it is very very hard....
but still most of you didn't answered my question
new chinesse or 5-6 years old japanesse?

[oldschoolorange]

These guys here are pretty much recomending a japanese bike over the chinese counterpart as long as you have a dealer near you so you can get parts for it. That is going to be the main determining factor in your decision I think

[bok]

new chinese bike or 5-6 year old japanese bike?

with no other criteria, i would say the japanese bike.

now, if that 5-6 year old japanese bike has been ridden really hard and you can't get parts for it the weight shifts a bit toward the chinese bike.

a lot of mitigating factors in buying a used bike so it's tough to say, but a 5 year old japanese bike should be more reliable than a new chinese bike.