!! Chinese Bike To Join The Gang ? !! .... Keeway V-twin / RE Fallout
Вставка
- Опубліковано 9 бер 2024
- A Cold Day but hot news ...A Chinese bike test on the way, the Royal Enfield aftermath and thoughts on the Triumph 400 aesthetics.
- Авто та транспорт
Old fuel injection mechanic here. Mechanical sympathy; a rare thing nowadays. You are 100 percent correct and being fuel injected makes no difference at all. Its common sense to give a cold motor a minute or two to wake up before you shove a load on it, but common sense is becoming as rare nowadays as mechanical sympathy.
Could not agree more to all of that ! ...thanks for watching and commenting 👍
At the age of 16 years in 1967 my first bike was a Francis Barnet 250 with the AMC engine. A Chinese bike can't possibly be any worse than the bike I had. Couldn't get to work or go anywhere without some kind of issue with it. I like the current Honda 500 range and I also have a CB500x which is a great bike. Keep safe.
Thanks Mike , I'm sure it was awful ...mind you most Chinese bikes of a decade ago were truly awful too ! ... thanks for watching
I was the same as that young lad in 2017, aged 58, when I saw the Ducati Scrambler 800 Flat Track Pro. First brand new bike (Puch Maxi excepted) and still have/love it.
Great way to start ! Wish I still had my Suzuki AP50 Sports Moped !
Always enjoy your videos and your thoughts and comments. It's also interesting to read the comments section for different perspectives on the subject at hand. Adding to the algorithms to get your channel out to the masses for more subs and views. Cheers from Texas! -Steve-
That's great , much appreciated👍
You are absolutely correct I too always warm my engine up so the oil does its job.
Some interesting thoughts in this video. You have got a new subscriber. 👍
Thanks so much , you're very welcome 😊
First time here, and I’ve subbed…nice attitude😃👍
Thanks ,and welcome . I used to watch Hectors House after school as a kid😁
SCL 500 (US model) says to warm up at least 3-4 minutes. (I’m still under 300 miles.
Good vid! Liked and subbed.
Yes I have always warmed my bikes up thoroughly , glad it's still official procedure👍
Many thanks for subbing , much appreciated and welcome 😁
Great looking bikes, I wish I was 17 again (don't we all!). The Chinese stuff will advance rapidly, remember when Chinese cars were licensed old Rovers and total junk but quickly turned into the modern MG cars which have been very successful. They can make it as good as they want, all Apple products are made in China after all and they're considered the most premium electronics available
I agree Glynn they have the capacity to improve and indeed have already . I would never buy one for other reasons though , the utter soullessness of the brands , the badge engineered fakery , they just leave me cold ....and I won't even start on the CCP and globalism.... thanks , much appreciate your input 👍
Not many bikes out on this particular day. As for the 400 Triumphs they are just trying to look like baby versions of the Speed twin and Scrambler 900/1200. I do think some of the latest Chinese bikes look fairly good and so long as you buy 2nd hand they are good value as most depreciation seems to be in the first year or two. CFMoto offer 4 yrs warranty, so something like a 700clx sport (very nice looking bike imo) 1 yr old with 3 yrs warranty still remaining for under £4000 looks great value to me. The CFmoto 650's seem to be very cheap possibly because they are a slightly older model. Anyway like Japanese bikes in the 70's the Chinese stuff is getting better and can't really be ignored although I'm not looking to buy one. I prefer the older stuff so I ride a CX500 and a Moto Guzzi, I'm not looking to change either anytime soon. I'll have to try to get to the cafe at Quatt, if it ever stops raining it's not very far from me.
Hi Dave, in cold weather conditions heated grips are nice to have 😁. My son rides a Malaguti XSM 125. The engine is from Piaggio in Italy, the rest was manifactured and assembled in China. Now the firm is broke but the bike still runs perfectly.
Hi , Yes and ironically I have the grips for the CL but haven't got round to fitting them yet Now , Malaguti is a name from my past ! In fact the 1st Bike I fell in love with, when a lad at school turned up on a 50cc trail sports moped in 1976 !! It was amazing and made the FS1E's look boring. Thanks for watching.
@@WyreForestBiker The Malaguti Olympique was the moped to have. Expensive and rare on British roads, but the nearest thing a well-heeled 16 year old could get to a racing 50.
Glad you're encouraging the young lad. Any time I see a collection of motorcyclists they're all around my age (50 plus). The collective noun for bikers should be a balding of bikers maybe.
Chinese bikes have come a very long way. Keyway is one of the best. Yes they require more fettling and looking after but that's not maybe a bad thing, after all. Learning how a bike works makes better riders.
Given the price of car insurance for youngsters now I expect we'll see more of them on bikes and that's not a bad thing in my opinion.
Good luck to the lad and welcome to the club
Thank's . I like young people ( I used to be one ! ) and try to empathise with them despite being old . Most are great and just need a bit of encouragement .
Thanks for commenting.👍
Always let the fast idle drop before riding on
Good advice 👍
I think your young friend will be fine. I bought a Chinese 250 when I got back into bikes in 2017. They need more tlc that's for sure but good for a new rider. Keep a check on the chain oil and tyres. Use gear oil on the drive chain no need for expensive sprays. Clean it after picked up and buy a cheap ebay electric fence sprayer and pout in some acf and mist it all over liberally and wipe off. Acf grease on the bolts it's should be okay. I'm local and have access to sprayer and some acf if your mate needs some assistance anything for a fellow biker!
Thanks Mike that's very kind of you .. he's not collecting till the end of the month ,I'll pass on your tips .... which by the way are very sound .
Triumph have made the same mistake Royal Enfield did with the Hunter. They took a traditional bike profile and decided the badge-and-kneepad market was too narrow, so let graphic designers loose on the bike in the hope of making its appeal more youthful. In developing countries this may be good idea, in western markets it looks like vinyl hell.
Ah yes the graphics issue! .... I agree if I'd bought the Hunter I had plans for covering up the awful writing all over the tank ... thanks for watching 😊
Wind chill is the term you're looking for. Usually not much difference here but where my relations live in Winnipeg it can be -10 with a wind chill of another -10 making it feel like -20. Bike wise Mindful motorcyclist did a review of the Keeway 350 V twin. He quite liked it. I saw the other day that KTM are moving all manufacturing to China too.
Your'e right Simon ... wind chill factor. That's interesting about KTM ..ALL manufacturing, wow.
It is not only wind, but also the humidity of the air. Actually wind chill is not a factor when riding a bike, because then you are exposed to the headwind anyway.
And if you got quite an amount of tailwind, then you will feel even warmer than without any wind.
To all those running down Chinese bikes. Look what they said about the first Japanese bikes coming into the UK 60 years ago. Exactly the same bias as I've read here.
Moving to the present, look at the CFMoto 800MT. It's loaded with kit, brilliant value for money and KTM powered.(No, I don't own one. I don't like adventure styled bikes). However, I know a nice bike when I see it.
Look at it and say it's nasty and cheap.
I understand Mark ...for me my bike means far more to me than that as I explained in my recent video . If your bike is just transport to you they are an option (although long term reliability is unknown and residual values very poor which bring the 'value for money' into question) . Of course 'KTM powered' means nothing as all KTM's are Chinese products anyway ! Thanks for watching👍
@WyreForestBiker Hello, thank you for your response. Yes, agreed. You make valid points. My comments were actually aimed at those who appear to write off such machines with an immediate bias and with no apparent grounds for their assumptions. Yes, these products were nasty 20/25 years ago, but I do believe they've improved since and consequently, will get better over time to a point where they will be accepted equally as your Honda is now.
Indeed, 'KTM powered' could be considered an ambiguous statement. However, the American engineering firm of Packard must have been a company of some repute for them to be given the licence to produce the Merlin engine. I cannot imagine for one moment Rolls Royce allowing some upstart of a firm to manufacture such an illustrious powerplant on a whim. I'm sure KTM will have researched for a suitable manufacturer with the same policy as Rolls Royce did.
Thank you for the content you produce. They are highly enjoyable.
I wish you much success in the future.
@@markfranks1329 Thanks Mark , it's good to offer different opinions and all are very welcome . I have to say China is indeed capable of producing top quality, my personal experience has been that continuing quality control can be a serious issue with bogus and sub-standard parts being introduced into the manufacturing process without the knowledge of the "parent" company ( I have 2 separate examples of this from different industry's ) I would have less than 100% faith that bikes given to testers were internally identical to the one bought by customers for example ...maybe just my bias ? ... many thanks for comment.
Agree with you on the Triumph, absolutely nothing wrong with it at all but it doesn't seem to 'be' anything. A bit like a grown up CG125, I'm just jealous of course and would love one 🙏
Thanks Glynn ,glad it's not just me . Lovely but a bit 'uninspired', a 'safe' design and as I said t's most noticeable when you ride something a bit left field like my CL !
Totally agree with you on the cold starts, l always warm my bikes up, makes me cringe when people rev the nuts off a cold bike. Interesting about that lads Chinese bike, i've got my sons mate's Lexmoto 125cc at my house he wants me to look at it, l have done work on it before and l have to say the quality is quite poor. l have watched a few videos on the new Triumph 400's and they do look lovely bikes and well priced to, maybe they thought if we make them a bit quirky they won't sell 👍
I agree Mark , with carb bikes you were forced to really as they would not run properly until warm . Triumph 400's are a "safe" design I think ...nothing wrong with that but certainly safe. thanks for watching.
i have rkv 125 as second bike, the bike is run in, on a nice day, this bike made a speed on the g p s of 70 mph flat out ,and perfect all day at 55 60 mph , and had no problems what so ever with the bike, p s i do take care of the bike ,
That's good to hear Colin , Thanks for the comment 👍
Edward Turner used to say that a Triumph should look like it's doing 100 mph even when it's standing still . I think that modern Triumphs still have that appearance. Imho one of the few bikes with character these days . The 400s look like the big bikes because they are supposed to . The idea being that you start on the little bikes and then progress to the big boy machines.
Most new fuel injected bikes run so lean that they do need a substantial warm up period before you ride off . My Triumph is very cold blooded and will stall until you get it up to operating temp .
Re- your young friend. You can't put an old head on young shoulders. I hope he gets out of that situation without losing a lot of money and becoming disillusioned with motorcycles .
I wouldn't have a Chinese bike as a gift , I really don't want to help the CCP by sending them my hard earned cash and what they have to sell is mostly substandard junk . ( the non floating kind of junk ) .
I dont think I've seen a Chinese bike up here in Northern Canada .
They have them down south but even a dealer that I know well who sells them calls them "price point " machines .
Price point machines for price point people I suppose .
Ah well .
I agree with most of what you say as you will know if you watched my video on Chinese bikes among others . The junk reference is very good 👍😊
Thanks for watching and commenting ...much appreciated .
How do you explain cfmoto then Mr Canada 😊
@@kevindarkstar Well Mr " Wherever " .
I'm not really sure what you mean.
But I think I have explained my viewpoint.
I think Wikipedia might answer any further questions you might have .
BTW. The Zhejiang Chungfen Power Co , is CFM and they are the price point machine that my dealer friend sells .
The Triumph 400 would be fine for me, if it had 471 cc 😀 - so I am happy with my new CL500 😍
Lol yes that extra 70cc is everything!! ... glad you love the CL👍
I bought my first 125 Kawasaki KH125 and had it delivered to the CBT centre. Never ridden before, just didn’t think I would not be able to do it. 😂 that is what being 25 does for you. It’s a great looking bike and people have a go at him should be ashamed, if these get young people riding it’s good thing.
Yes 100% agree , I think they saw it as banter but I think it had got to him a little . He's fine though , it will be interesting to see him on it ! ...Thanks for watching.
Oh by the way the honda cl looks far more funky in a brighter colour but its all down to personal choice!.
Thanks Steven , indeed I feel the exact opposite and feel the bright blue and orange exaggerate the tank / frame position ... on top of that green suits the Scrambler vibe best in my opinion, as Triumph showed with the Street Scrambler , 1200 , and now the new 400 models. ... Thanks for the comment👍
Also not a fan of Chinese bikes, yet a cheap starter bike to learn your craft makes perfect sense, minimal outlay to get you on 2 wheels. Also owning a CL going to be biased, love the quirky looks, far to many bikes look exactly the same, so far I have not seen another CL out in the wild :)
RE problems seem to be the fault of RE itself, especially with the MotoGB being dropped as the importer in the UK, they got left with loads of bikes, now selling them off at a big discount so have temporarily destroyed the 2nd hand RE market.
Yes I covered the MotoGB debacle in my video , I agree the CL is different and in a good way to my eyes ...Thanks for watching👍
Some of the Chinese bikes are starting to get better quality wise. Not my cup of tea, but I know a lot of the younger ones are starting out on them. Now’s the time to take them under wing, and teach them to repair and fettle their chosen bikes because, they are our future selves….
100% right. I have a son and grandkids and tend to treat all younger people as if they were my own,A bit of support and encouragement goes a long way. Thanks Mr Thunderbolt 😊
6:40 with these the only thing that I always pull em on is the almost certainly mild steel matt black exhaust system which will start to look shit at the first look at rock salt!
I think you may well be right Kevin , in fact I would say the whole bike may well suffer very quickly if not kept up.
@@WyreForestBiker oh yeah that's true you need to keep on top of it, but I just look at those exhausts and that's the first thing that comes up in my head "bet that will look bad after some wet and salt"
One guy bought a container of Chinese motorcycles.They were $2,000 for 250 cc bikes .ln 1,000 miles the teeth on the gears in the transmission were worn out. Hadn't been heatreated so the metal was soft. Quality is hit and miss. They ship you crap and you are stuck with it. Look at all the Chinese electric cars and motorcycles catching fire 🔥. No thanks. RE 350 are heavy and underpowered. Selling for close to nothing second hand. RE sales in the USA have nosedived. On our highways people with a RE 350 bike becomes a hood ornament and the rider is roadkill. Longterm reliability and dependability is questionable no one has had one for any great amount of time and mileage.
what do we want from a motorcycle, it has to be comfortable, reliable and fun - but i don't want to look like a numpty so appearance is important and to some extent the sound. In fact, what we want is excitement! A lot of those RE's aren't terribly exciting. Chinese, maybe they have improved, forgive me being sceptical but buy one at your peril - I rather suspect you'll end up at the side of the road somewhere with an engine management light on.
LOL, If you watched my video on them you will know I have some sympathy with your viewpoint Thanks Ian👍
Hang on a minute......a bloke with a CL is calling the Triumph 400's bland. Mind you I can't say much, I owned a Honda DN-01 for a while and that really was an acquired taste. Cheers Dave.
Oh the DN ... now that was Honda having a moment ... !! 😀
Oh yeah.
Your thoughts about Chinese will bubble-up, literally, which is why i got a 2000 Honda VT125 just for fun! Polishing it requires sun glasses the chrome is so bright at 24 years old, something Your mate will never see in 2048!!!
I'm sure you're right , hopefully as a 1st bike though it will serve him for a while before he moves on to something else ... Thanks for watching .👍
i always warm my engine up, common sense says it's gotta be best, but i think modern bikes are so well made it prob doesnt make much difference, same with running them in, you have to try really hard to fk them up. as far as chinese bikes go, no doubt they are coming on apace & provide good value, but not for me, i don't think im a snob, but just wouldnt get the feelgood factor for one thing, but for those on a budget they have their place, so if it floats your boat then go for it. GL
I agree Bob , a bike needs to make you feel something for it 👍
The tank on the Triumph 400 doesn't sit right looks like ( to me anyway ) it has been fitted and they forgot to push the rear of the tank down properly they have even fitted a looks like a plastic in infill strip at the bottom of the rear of the tank to make the tank follow the lines of the bike.
Good point I tend to agree . I think the same thing could be said for the Speed Twin 1200... they angled the tank down for a more aggressive look but it doesn't quite sit right to my eyes... Thanks for comment👍
This is not Chinese,but Japanese.
I used to hate Chinese bikes until i looked at cf moto. Huge difference in quality compared to the old ones.these days even bmw and some of the small ktms are having engines built in china. I am old enough to remember everybody saying the same thing about Japanese bikes. Be warned the Chinese are coming lol!. Including i believe a 200hp v4 superbike.
I agree Steven ,in fact they may well make most bikes in the near future. On a wider point of view though I do see a big difference between post-war Japan and current day China and have no wish to support the CCP any more than I am already forced to .
Thanks for the comment👍