101.5 MPG on my 2003 Ninja 250!!!

[theycallmeebryan]

I'd rather have a bike that's been proven to last over 100,000 miles with huge rider support and large availability of replacement parts

The Lifans are cheaper in pretty much all respects.

[jonathan150cc]

Replacement parts aren't a problem and they are inexpensive. I'll give you the lack of evidence for long life. But when you can buy one used for $700 and ride it around for 10,000 miles, I think it's totally worth it.

Besides, what small displacement Japanese bike is gonna stay with one owner for 100,000 miles?

[theycallmeebryan]

Originally Posted by jonathan150cc

Replacement parts aren't a problem and they are inexpensive. I'll give you the lack of evidence for long life. But when you can buy one used for $700 and ride it around for 10,000 miles, I think it's totally worth it.

Besides, what small displacement Japanese bike is gonna stay with one owner for 100,000 miles?

In about a half dozen cases, the Ninja 250.

I put 13,000 miles on my bike in a year. Its all i drive.

[jonathan150cc]

Yeah, 6 cases.
Surely we can agree that people who keep a single bike that long are the exception, not the rule.

Congratulation on riding 13,000 miles.

I'm not disputing that Chinese bikes are cheaper and require more work, but how much did you pay for your Ninja? When I had mine, it was almost $3,600 out the door. I've clocked as many miles on the Chinese scoot for a touch over $900. That's a huge difference.

[theycallmeebryan]

Originally Posted by jonathan150cc

Yeah, 6 cases.
Surely we can agree that people who keep a single bike that long are the exception, not the rule.

Congratulation on riding 13,000 miles.

I'm not disputing that Chinese bikes are cheaper and require more work, but how much did you pay for your Ninja? When I had mine, it was almost $3,600 out the door. I've clocked as many miles on the Chinese scoot for a touch over $900. That's a huge difference.

Much less than the price of a new Lifan lf200. I bought the bike slightly used, it only had 855 miles on it when i bought it.

I'm not trying to start a pissing match here. As long as the bike works properly, and it works well for the owner, its good in my book. I was just saying that personally, in my opinion, i would rather own a bike with 10x the support, part availability, and (arguably) quality. Also, i would rather own one that's been proven to be suitable for any kind of riding and proven to outlast the owner, as well as one that has a great reputation.

Having said all that... I almost bought a Lifan 200 on craigslist a short time ago for $400. My plans were to highly modify the bike into a streamliner, change the gearing, etc etc.... But the bike was sold before i could get my hands on it.

[jonathan150cc]

Well, I think for the majority of owners, the extra parts support and availablity of people who can help you out based on pure experience alone is certianly a bonus. I'll agree with you there. And I'll agree that you can certainly do more things on a Ninja 250 than you can on a 200cc "sport" bike.

My main point was just that, for the money, they are not bad bikes. Chinese vehicles always get a bad rap and they are usually spoken bad about simply because they are not Japanese. The same treatment was given to Jap bikes when they started encroaching on the Yankee bike industry and started giving some long standing companies a run for their money. I think we all know how that turned out....
I don't see anyone on this site riding an American branded motorcycle.

[Christ]

I was told by other owners to invest in Loc-Tite, basically.

[jonathan150cc]

lock washers are cheaper and just about every bolt is a 10mm head. So splurge the $4 to buy a giant box of washers.

[Christ]

Wave type, inside tooth type, or split-ring type?

[jonathan150cc]

I'm a personal fan of the split ring.