Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict
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World: The hunt for the affordable bike
| Posted on April 6, 2009 at 11:27 AM |
In my part of the world, the motorcycle industry pours out expensive, high-end, bling-blinged bikes that cost a small fortune. Hence, the hunt is on for the really cheap bike!
Even if I do appreciate a beautifully sculpted MV Agusta I must admit I have a soft spot for bikes in the odder part of the motorcycle market. Bikes that aren't necessarily good looking nor particularly popular. And the lower the price, the better. I am afraid that motorcycles are becoming a surplus phenomenon - something we get into if and when we have time and money to spare. Or perhaps it has been like this for ages, it's just me who is a bit slow... Anyway, the world needs more bikes that are really cheap because the time is right!
Cheap!
The large manufacturers like BMW, Honda, Yamaha etc seems to think that 10000-12000 euro is "cheap"(NB: Norwegian prices! Half that for your country - unless you are Dane). Their low end motorcycle offerings tend to start in that area. But I want it even cheaper. I want a new bike for 2-3000 euro.
China
Which leads me to China. Wait! Don't dismiss it that fast, there may be offerings that are worth looking at. Chinese made bikes have a poor reputation. And rightly so. Many of the producers suffer from an extreme lack of basic quality management, and their bikes tend to suck big time.
Shift
But there seems to be a shift in mentality and production quality at some of the Chinese factories. BMW has even started to produce their inline twin engine in China, and the Japanese Big Four has produced bikes and engines for the Asian small displacement market there for some time now.
Displacement
The key word is "displacement". Low displacement engines makes cheaper bikes. But is it at all possible to have a meaningful relationship with a bike with less that 250 cc? The Chinese offerings may - or may not - prove so. I have cast my eyes on the QingQi (pron. "chingchi") factory, and their offerings. I can get one for less than 2500 euro OTR. And that's in Norway. QingQi produces bikes for Suzuki, the DR 200. People have ridden all over China with them, and they actually seem to be reliable. It's only 200 cc and some 16-17 hp and will max out at ca 100 km/h with its lungs screaming - but it'll use less that 3 l/100 km and probably be easy to maintain. It even has a Mikuni carb so something must be right? Parts are readily available as it's a Suzuki, sort of.
(Ab)use
I have decided I will get me one of these and try it out. Even during winter. If it's still here after one year of my (ab)use, it may be that the quality is indeed getting better. I'll report back when I've got it and let you know how it goes!
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About 13 years ago, because of my having Harley-Davidson as a customer I surfed the internet for motorcycle manufactures in China. Rumor had it that HD was looking to do business there. The end results that I came up with was a comment by one long gone but not forgotten factory manager that China was happy to make any and all things for anybody, but what they really wanted was to have their own brands and not just make someones else's products.
To date they have a good selection of small displacment (250cc) bikes and in several different styles. They will in the next 3-5 years move up to larger engines and more sophisticated models. They will also improve the quality to a level equal to any on the face of the earth. I wonder if the value Western currancy will still make their products CHEAP!?
If you are old enough you will remember that "MADE IN JAPAN" did not signify anything but junk at one point not long ago. They have changed that as the world well knows. The Chinese have all the things necessary to do the same, and they will.
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