Most expensive Motorcycle on Amazon

berth

berth

Well-known member
That was a great video.

What a treat.

The singular issue is any kind of support network, but, likely, save for the actual labor part the support network is the internet for advice and parts.

If you're mechanically inclined to be comfortable wrenching on your own bike, it could be compelling.

The other question is reliability and longevity. How long do the Japanese 300cc motors last (I think folks have mentioned that the Ninja could use are serious TLC between 30 and 40K, but I don't know).

The other point is that there is essentially no resale value on one of these. But at $2500, it's almost (almost) disposable if you get any real use out of it.

Who knows what's going to happen to the shocks and forks. Springs are springs, pretty much (right?). If the fork seals go and you repair them, shouldn't they last a long time, or could the fork be so poorly manufactured that no matter how good you do a fork seal job, it's not going to last. I haven't the slightest idea.

The final curiosity is that there are a lot of 250cc-ish Chinese motors coming over. I've seen several different bikes built up around these things. There's a company in Wisonsin or Minnesota that builds "custom bikes" (kind of Enfield-ish in style) using these motors. They make the bike here, and use an imported motor. (These guys, Indiana -- WTH do I know about the mid-west... http://janusmotorcycles.com )

But where are the 500cc+ motors? I remember that (short lived?) Korean SV650 clone that flittered about for a while.

Is there really no motivation for the Chinese to bulk produce a 500cc+ motor? Are all of their markets effectively limited to the smaller bikes?

Anyway, fascinating tale.
 
mrzuzzo

mrzuzzo

Well-known member
berth said:
That was a great video.

What a treat.

The singular issue is any kind of support network, but, likely, save for the actual labor part the support network is the internet for advice and parts.

If you're mechanically inclined to be comfortable wrenching on your own bike, it could be compelling.

The other question is reliability and longevity. How long do the Japanese 300cc motors last (I think folks have mentioned that the Ninja could use are serious TLC between 30 and 40K, but I don't know).

The other point is that there is essentially no resale value on one of these. But at $2500, it's almost (almost) disposable if you get any real use out of it.

Who knows what's going to happen to the shocks and forks. Springs are springs, pretty much (right?). If the fork seals go and you repair them, shouldn't they last a long time, or could the fork be so poorly manufactured that no matter how good you do a fork seal job, it's not going to last. I haven't the slightest idea.

The final curiosity is that there are a lot of 250cc-ish Chinese motors coming over. I've seen several different bikes built up around these things. There's a company in Wisonsin or Minnesota that builds "custom bikes" (kind of Enfield-ish in style) using these motors. They make the bike here, and use an imported motor. (These guys, Indiana -- WTH do I know about the mid-west... http://janusmotorcycles.com )

But where are the 500cc+ motors? I remember that (short lived?) Korean SV650 clone that flittered about for a while.

Is there really no motivation for the Chinese to bulk produce a 500cc+ motor? Are all of their markets effectively limited to the smaller bikes?

Anyway, fascinating tale.
Click to expand...

BMW put Chinese motors in the F800GS, so the capability is there.

I think in general, those Chinese motors are knockoffs of some old Japanese designs that are easy to manufacture with loose tolerances, which is why they are all low power and low capacity.
 
B

bobl

Well-known member
berth said:
That was a great video.

What a treat.

The singular issue is any kind of support network, but, likely, save for the actual labor part the support network is the internet for advice and parts.

If you're mechanically inclined to be comfortable wrenching on your own bike, it could be compelling.

The other question is reliability and longevity. How long do the Japanese 300cc motors last (I think folks have mentioned that the Ninja could use are serious TLC between 30 and 40K, but I don't know).

The other point is that there is essentially no resale value on one of these. But at $2500, it's almost (almost) disposable if you get any real use out of it.

Who knows what's going to happen to the shocks and forks. Springs are springs, pretty much (right?). If the fork seals go and you repair them, shouldn't they last a long time, or could the fork be so poorly manufactured that no matter how good you do a fork seal job, it's not going to last. I haven't the slightest idea.

The final curiosity is that there are a lot of 250cc-ish Chinese motors coming over. I've seen several different bikes built up around these things. There's a company in Wisonsin or Minnesota that builds "custom bikes" (kind of Enfield-ish in style) using these motors. They make the bike here, and use an imported motor. (These guys, Indiana -- WTH do I know about the mid-west... http://janusmotorcycles.com )

But where are the 500cc+ motors? I remember that (short lived?) Korean SV650 clone that flittered about for a while.

Is there really no motivation for the Chinese to bulk produce a 500cc+ motor? Are all of their markets effectively limited to the smaller bikes?

Anyway, fascinating tale.
Click to expand...

I wonder too about a larger motor. Really, a 250 single isn't very suitable for freeways, or even open roads if someone is on your back, and you don't have enough power to get away. It occurs to me that they could modulerize the motor, that is using the same rod, pistons, carbs or injection, most of the wiring, ecu, all of it just times two. Same trans, tires wheels etc., and just make new cases and cranks. I might even be swayed to buy one.
 
bpw

bpw

Well-known member
I suspect the lack of anything bigger than a 250cc is because their just isn't enough market. These bikes/motors are mostly going to places in the world where a 250cc is considered a big bike.

While a few are being sold here, the USA and Europe aren't the main market for bikes like this. Go to South America and the Chinese 125cc Honda clones are everywhere, you can buy a new one at the grocery store for a thousand bucks.

Lots of countries also have tax/licensce/emissions laws with cutoffs around 250cc. When I bought a bike in Chile anything bigger than the 125-250cc range was really, really expensive due to taxes. I bought a 125cc Honda for $1600, but a big bike would have costs more than in the USA.
 
berth

berth

Well-known member
mrzuzzo said:
BMW put Chinese motors in the F800GS, so the capability is there.
Click to expand...

Is that a Chinese motor put in to a BMW or a BMW motor built in China?

I saw a video of them making, I think, 5 series motors in China. Pretty high tech operation.
 
Tom G

Tom G

"The Deer Hunter"
berth said:
Is that a Chinese motor put in to a BMW or a BMW motor built in China?

I saw a video of them making, I think, 5 series motors in China. Pretty high tech operation.
Click to expand...

Remember that the iphone is also produced (but not developed) in China, so it looks like they are capable of producing things.
 
J

jbawden

Well-known member
I've been doing some strange IPA influenced Amazon shopping lately (the mail man delivered a $10 box of pizza flavored Cheez-It's today, pizza sounded good and $10 seemed like a fair price at the time) so I warned my wife today that a Chinese motorcycle might show up soon...SIP-mania is a thing!
 
berth

berth

Well-known member
Tom G said:
Remember that the iphone is also produced (but not developed) in China, so it looks like they are capable of producing things.
Click to expand...

Well that's my point.

I mean, what do I know, but BMW has been getting a lot of talk about their new bikes coming from China, including the motors. But that facility that I saw that made the car motors looked pretty much as First World as any other I had seen (hardly being an expert here, mind).

You can't necessarily export a work ethic, but you can export expertise, especially when coded in to a computer controlled milling machine. And you can export processes such as quality checks that can have actual metrics associated with them to see if they meet quality benchmarks.

I have not heard anything organically one way or the other about the new BMW motors regarding what impact the Chinese manufacturing process may have had on them.
 
FXCLM5

FXCLM5

bombaclaud
berth said:
Well that's my point.

I mean, what do I know, but BMW has been getting a lot of talk about their new bikes coming from China, including the motors. But that facility that I saw that made the car motors looked pretty much as First World as any other I had seen (hardly being an expert here, mind).

You can't necessarily export a work ethic, but you can export expertise, especially when coded in to a computer controlled milling machine. And you can export processes such as quality checks that can have actual metrics associated with them to see if they meet quality benchmarks.

I have not heard anything organically one way or the other about the new BMW motors regarding what impact the Chinese manufacturing process may have had on them.
Click to expand...

LOL you shoulda seen the shitshow poo slinging thread of pirelli moving their moto mfg to china and all of a sudden all china spec tires from pirelli were just labeled as poor quality/different/bad qc etc........ the absolute funny thing was pirelli has had tire mfg in china since 2005, but we didnt get the poo thread till like mid 20teens lol.
 
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