Zongshen / loncin road trails

[ROWDY]

Has anyone tried these road trails off road?
if so what are they like?
i read an article in two wheels about the 200cc Loncin <--- i think it was
can only do 90km/h <----- RANK

just wondering if anyone has some info / experience on these and they can shed some light on the topic

Cheers fellas

[Aphex]

NO!!!!

[Maxo]

Have a read of -->http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/foru...n-bikes-44762/

[ROWDY]

hahaha
i know they're not a japanese bike
just curious...
hahaha

[NoDs]

if its anything like the one i see at uni they hav rear drum brakes =\

[Aphex]

Seriously... do yourself a favour and find an older XR or TT250. Both are almost bullet proof and will cetainly outlast the alfoil chinese crap.

[Sprint]

Originally Posted by Aphex

Seriously... do yourself a favour and find an older XR or TT250. Both are almost bullet proof and will cetainly outlast the alfoil chinese crap.

+1

http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/foru...-xr350r-63145/

S.

[shmoo]

yeah I'm not so sure they are as shit as everyone says. The guy who has the farm nextdoor to us down south has one (not a Zong but something equal) as a farm hack. He reckons that so long as your prepared to work on it to keep it running, then its ok.

[Gremlin1981]

I started out on a hummer 250. The road/trails are the same thing with the road mods attached.
They are cheap and nasty but they can be good fun. I had lots of fun with mine but they will break if you drop them (EVERY TIME) but parts are really cheap. They are a learners dirty. I once dropped mine and snapped of the rear muddy and the whole rear breaking system. It only cost me $90 for a whole plastics kit (which was cheaper then replacing the muddy by itself) and $80 for the whole brake system BRAND NEW. To replace the same thing on say a WR250 it would of cost me about $1500!

They are really good for people who are only learning to ride off road because if you break it (and you will) its very cheap to fix

[PatB]

if its anything like the one i see at uni they hav rear drum brakes =

So?

Once upon a time, not so very many years ago, many bikes had rear drums. Not so very many before that, all bikes had drums at both ends.

Oddly enough, in spite of their obvious inferiority, many of those who rode them, succeeded in not dying. Some of us are even sufficiently intact to post on PSB .

On the subject of Zongs and Lons, what do you expect for the money? They're cheap, and so should, perhaps, be compared to a ten year old Jap of uncertain history, rather than that same Jap straight from the showroom floor.

[thro]

You know that saying "you get what you pay for"?



I'll add the qualifier "... if you're lucky"

to the end of it.

if you want a bike... just don't, seriously.


If you get a cheap, older jap bike that may have a few things wrong with it, it can be fixed.

You can't really fix something that's defective as new.

[Gremlin1981]

Just FYI my Hummer of an 06 and it had twin piston caliber disk brake at both ends and she could stop on dime!

[Spock]

I looked at a Chinese dirt bike and seriously considered buying a new, road registered Loncin 230. Trouble is it just felt 'wrong'. Add to that obvious design flaws like a footbrake lever that stuck out in the breeze just waiting to be snapped off in the first off road fall.

In the end I bought a second-hand XR250L instead and there is no comparison in quality of design and finish.

btw - Look at the picture of the Hummer above and check out the gear lever - doesn't fold back and is very vulnerable to damage in a fall. And worse still, not so much with the Hummer, which has a roadbike-style linkage (what's with that?), but on many other models - the gear shaft lever might bend or break - which probably would make the whole bike a write-off given that Chinese never make the same model twice.

[Slice]

which probably would make the whole bike a write-off given that Chinese never make the same model twice.

yeah i heard the chinese are right into R&D (Receive and Duplicate)

[seandre]

gremlin, what size is that? it looks pretty small. what size are the rims?

[Machast]

nothing wrong with drums on the rear. They'll lock the wheel, what more stopping power do you need?

[ROWDY]

well
curiosity got the better of me
and i went to a couple of places to test ride.
my assumptions were correct...
let me note, i am no guru by any standards and havnt been riding for long, but i know what feels good to ride and what dosnt =)
The loncin is the worse of the two, even though its 50cc larger.
the front end felt very wonky and unstable and inspired no confidence what so ever.
The overall finish of the bike was very poor, welding etc very poor.
stuff like, didnt have a lockable fuel cap, plastic tank not fully covered with a cowel.
Looked very cheap and nasty. and rode like poo.
top of 1st 20km/h, no tacho, but i got it up to 94, and it was using a lot of effort to maintain that speed. Disc brakes front and back.
The Zongshen looked pretty well finished off. looked good (for the price you pay)
steel tank, full covered in cowl, lockable tank cap,
just everything looked better finished off. handle bars etc.
rode nice, really well i thought... until (see speedo below)
was nailing it and cracked 100 in 4th (5spd g/box)
so i was quite happy with the bike, i thought to myself, that hey id buy one.
arriving back to the 'motorbike shop' i asked him if the tacho was out.
cause i didnt think a 200cc chinese single would be capable of a comfortable 100 in 4th.
and the reply was.. "oh, i had to do a warranty job on one bike, so i put the speedo off that one one the warranty one, then it didnt fit properly so i put this speedo i had sitting in the shop, it could be wrong though"
so, i couldnt tell what speed i was actually going to see what it is like for highway comuting, i would assume very poor, same as the loncin.
from the two shops i went to, it seemed lots of people came back for 'warranty' work.
now, its got a 1 year warranty, so maybe after that 1 year you might get an average bike filled with warranty parts, that is not capable of any highway speeds etc
I didnt get to try these bikes offroad.
but again, i would assume, compared to the only trail bike i have ridden (2003 DRZ250) it would be very poor.

for $3500-$5000 you can get a 2nd trail bike, of good background (yami,kwaka,honda,suzi) that is younger than 6yrs old. And you can but heaps of aftermarket / performance parts too (incase things go bung).

i would have thought for a bike to be able to be registered and sold on australian roads, it would need to be of a higher standard.

again, you get what you pay for...

cheers guys.

hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and recieved no pinapples

[seandre]

if you want a cheap road/trail get a Kawasaki KLX250 or a Suzuki DR-Z250. Both are around the $5k mark brand spankin on the road. Otherwise, have a look in the quokka. I just got a K1 DR-Z400 with 2500kms on the odo for $3500.

[Graelin]

I have a Hummer in my shed and I did not buy it my brother did.

I cant be bothered even starting it because it just does not feel right to ride in the paddock. The front end inspires no confidence at all.

Its second hand and smokes more than a 2 stroke and I dont like it one bit.

Graelin

[Gremlin1981]

Originally Posted by seandre

gremlin, what size is that? it looks pretty small. what size are the rims?

It was a full sized pit bike so it was 17rear 19 front