Last year my girlfriends boy turned 17 and wanted a bike, so I spent months trawling various on line sites looking for something that looked in good order and that I could afford to buy, as well as insure for him.
I looked at all the major Jap brands and concluded that any in supposedly mint condition were too expensive, those that were affordable looked they had been seriously abused and had probably been thrashed to within an inch of the breakers yard. So with some trepidation I started looking at the Chinese bike market, I was pleasantly surprised to see a vast selection of quite stylish looking and reasonably priced bikes.
long story short I ended up paying £900 for a Lifan Smurai 125 sports bike, full fairing, fox eye headlights, watercooled 4 stroke engine and a pretty cool looking twin exhaust port on the head with twin pipes at the back, all in all a pretty slick looking bike, I had a 55 mile ride back from the sellers address to my place and found it easily capable of pulling my, not unsubstantial frame, round the M25 at a steady 60mph, and it would have gone faster, I was just being careful with it.
It handled very respectfully through some twisty bits off the motorway and I was all round pretty impressed.
The boy had it for a year, dropped it twice at low speed, I fixed it, all parts ordered on line and delivered inside 3 days and the thing never failed to start on the button and was an all round good buy, we recently sold it for the same amount and had something of a bidding war going on for it.
Lots of people seem to be prejudiced against them, cheap nasty materials, sloppy finish, loose manufacturing tolerances, maybe some of those things might be true in some makes, it wasn't so many years ago that was the perception of all the Jap makes and look where they are now, having dealt with one for the last year, my experience of this one was actually very favourable and I wouldn't shy away from getting one for myself in the future although it wouldn't be a 125  
So what do the rest of you think ?

                                                                                                                                                                             

Can't argue with that... Mind u having paid £700 for a 1988 cbr400 in mint condition wouldn't hav gone for anything else... My only experience of Chinese bikes was a 'shituma' and it's false neutrals, dangerous false seconds and failure to start every 3rd time- had to get various random blokes to kickstart it because I wasn't heavy enough LOL

Was a spirited little bugger tho and did sliding stops remarkably well- best thing about it was being able to slide the back end out and lock the wheel much to the dismay of my instructor..

Thankfully my cbr feels like a 125 but handles substantially better :-)

***waiting for Kaz to post about Ziggy lol***

I have to agree with you, I tore my ankle ligaments while doing a DAS so had to hold off for a while as I could nit hold the weight of a big bike, I got a skyjet (CBR125 copy) £1000 brand new from a local dealer and never in the 8 months I had it did I have an issue, drove like a dream and once run in handled himself very well, even when out with 'the big boy's'

120 to the gallon and £7 to fill the tank (2 years ago) !! Like you dropped a couple of times, but local dealer was good for parts I couldn't get off web or eBay (couple of leavers and an indicator)

Earned his name of Stuey ... Cos he was a lil baby that thought he could take over the world!

dont think anyone would argue that they're ok bought new....however we've had plenty pass through the garage with major faults of a sort you shouldnt have in a year old bike, difficulties getting parts for older (ie more than a year old) models and recurring gearbox problems in one particular model of 125.   Would say beware buying 2nd hand.                                                                                                                                                                             

Lol @ Shell   My  bike is called Ziggy and is a Chinese  2007 Zhongyu 125  ( looks the same as a Suzuki GN125, but think the engine is based on a honda ) and he's great!   I've had him about 3 years and done 11,000 km on him and I love him!      I have done lots and lots of ride outs on him, keeping up with the big boys and he corners really well, tucking in nice and tight and sweeping round the bends smoothly.   He's been to many rallies/camp outs and I've loaded him up to the hilt ( think of all the things a Chinese person packs on their bikes.. wife, 4 kids, 6 chickens, a bale of straw, kitchen sink etc!) so they are good strong bikes   Now the niggly bits....  no real problems except for bits rattling loose and dropping off ( my fault cos I redline him!...whooo hoooo! )   The exhaust manifold has worked loose a few times and a bolt sheared off inside the engine.. and engine bolt had worked itself loose and was missing for the MOT ... ooops   The indicators are held on with gaffa tape ( its my best friend!) as the previous owner broke them all off (dropped him, I presume) and they had been badly glued back on..and I've  had a rear tyre puncture, turned out the valve was faulty on the inner tube.   Also initially I was going through light bulbs at a rate of knotts! to the point where a pootle to Squires meant carrying a couple of spare bulbs and a screwdriver, but (touchwood) that seems to have been solved now, thanks to someone having a tinker with his wires   Everybody who knows me, knows Ziggy and knows how much I love riding him, even if he does have his tantrums and pops and f**ts, but that's the grin factor of my lil Ziggy Ziggy Bang Bang   I know a few people who have or had Chinese bikes and they have been very happy with them                                                                                                                                                                                 

lol @ Karey ...."just bits rattling loose and dropping off!"   that'll be like a Harley then?                                                                                                                                                                              

i remember when people used to question japanese motorcycles in the same way -  "jap crap" as a i recall (i really am THAT old!!!!) cant come up with a chinese rhyme with the same ring about it, but i'm guessing our perceptions may change in 30 years time as they have regarding japanese bikes!!                                                                                                                                                                              

Nothing against them apart from poor castings and generally poor finish durability. Having experience of Chinese cars you'll be pleased to know that the casting on those is poor too.

If they get their hands on some decent metal then who knows. The tech is there as is the will to improve and learn. They just need to up their game on finishing standards and they will have it nailed. If your after a cheap learning bike or a winter hack then why not?                                                                                                                                                                             

Yep Karey, know where you're coming from with bits unwinding, I just did them up even tighter, seemed to work ok, although I never saw an engine bolt work loose, must be a Zhongyu thing 
Mandy, Jap Crap, yep Im that old as well and frequently muttered it from the saddle of my 1959 250 Royal Enfield, aka 'the oil field' as my mates at college called it, with thier tinny RD's & GT's 

Yes the finish and fit can be a bit suspect at times but as has been said by Ghosthunter for a comparatively inexpensive learner bike or a cheap commuter maybe, Shell, 120 to the gallon !!! you probably wont go too far wrong.

I smothered the boys bike in wd40 every week and gave it a good wipe over, seemed to do the trick with keeping the rust at bay.

I quite like the look of the Hyosung GT650R but at £5200 new its still out of my range at the mo, maybe a 2nd hander at some point......                                                                                                                                                                             

I've talked to a lot of folk in the industry over the years and they all say much the same as Ghostie, that the Chinese are on a learning curve like the japanese in the 60s and 70s, and once they've got their heads round things like quality control, then just watch 'em go.

Karey     We have a similar tale to tell.....

Saw a 2nd hand 125 Haotian vixen for sale at a local post office, so went with a suitably aged yoof and the £350 he was asking for the 58 plate bike.

Got there and the 1 legged rider showed us his bike. Started on the button and idled nicely (for a 125). He explained the weld in the exhaust/rear footpeg bracket was from a spill he had, (was always going to happen with an amputee i guess) which hadnt apparently affected the rest of the bike......sooooooooooo we bought it.

after a short time.....days..... we had to rewire most of the bike. Then it ran fine for quite a while, but then the exhaust manifold top bolt snapped. I have since put that down to his spill as the exhaust is fixed at only 2 places....the rear where the weld is and the engine manifold so i reckon the manifold also took a knock which damage presented itself with the bolts shearing later.

Anyway, a click on the chinese web parts site and we recieved a new cylinder head. Problem solved.

BTW, it will soon be for sale again as son has his mod 2 next month                                                                                                                                                                               

I had many problems with my Lifan 200cc.   Immediately I bought the brand new bike the battery failed. I bought a decent German battery and got about half the price from the bike dealer towards it.   Chain and front and rear sprockets went totally after 6000 miles replaced with honda 125 sprockets and a decent chain.   Do not ride them through the winter without serious TLC. I done 6500 miles on mine and it became a rust bucket in one year. Final straw for me was bike stopped charging and I had big problems locating parts. Dumped it in the shed as I wouldn't try and sell it to anyone. Only found one insurer that would insure Chinese bikes. They've cornered the market and charge full whack for them (cheaper to insure my 900 and 1100 Brit and Jap bikes!)   I would buy 2nd hand Japanese in preference any day of the week after my experience. As others said the metal is mickey mouse on the chinese bike I have, and I'm saying that as a metallurgist!   It's going on the bonfire at our biker's Bonfire night do this November. We are starting it and running it on full throttle until it seizes! Tickets on sale soon - £5 adults children free. We also have a pyrotechnic expert in charge of fireworks with fire and rescue on hand for the H&S requirements.  Two big marquees with real good sound system in one with of course rock music. 2nd marquee is for shelter when it rains!  Food and booze available. Will put on events nearer the time. In Bedworth just 6 miles North of Coventry                                                                                                                                                                             

Well ive got a Vulcan custom 125cc and love it except for the suicide stand that lets ya down,found out the hard way when took her out for the 1st time checked on stand ok then checked again started to walk away looked over my shoulder to see her falling over ........GUTTED been told since they renowned for that with thier stands,ive since learnt how to put her on centre stand so no more taking any chances as when she went over it broke the clutch mirror bracket and also number plate mud guard so to get one now or try fix it,managed to get mirror bracket, but any good advice on suppliers wont go a miss for sure.

sal x

Sal, most Chinese bikes are imported by Llexeter, who've got a website.

Either llexeter.co.uk or chinesemotorcyclepartsonline.co.uk (same company, different websites)

HTH                                                                                                                                                                             

@ wills thanks for that chuck

sal x
                                                                                                                                                                             

All I can say is my limited experience has been that older (read over 2yr)ones are shite quality an you lucky to get a good unn, newer bikes eem to be much better although it prob varies enormously with the manufacturer still. 50s are a waste of time as they work so hard they self destuct in no time and parts can be problomatic here in UK. I had one recovered in the yard and it sat outside in all weathers with the other bikes..it soon looked about 20yrs old,rust everywhere.. BUT, wait n see they will improve very quickly as the chinese learn what the Europeans need from a bike...look out Japan!