Chinabike life-expectancy?

[Fiddy@norway]

Hi guys, I'm just wondering what the average life-span for a china-made bike is? I've had my low end loncin 110cc close to 1 1/2 year now, I never bothered to run the bike in, I've only used cheap oil on it, the bike has been run in knee-deep snow, it's been in water up over the carb, it's been thrashed several laps on the local mx track, I've taken it out on forest-trails that would test even the most skilled riders and bikes, it's been run on High-speed gravel roads, I've flipped the bike uncounted times when practicing my slow wheelies and despite the bike looking like total shit with the scuffed plastic, bent bars, broken rear fender and the ripped seat, the bike runs better than ever!
the only thing that has failed was the clutch, that took me 30min to replace...
it always fires in the first kick, runs smooth, clean and doesn't smoke one bit.
have I been lucky and bought a bike from a "good batch" ?
I kind of got the impression that most low-end bikes are supposed to collapse during the first month?
Whats your experiences with the low-end china bikes? Gimme the good and the Bad.

 

[tubes380]

my pitpro has been going strong for a 1 and bit now, however i have upgraded most of the bike, not due to it needing it just cause i can

 

[Flarry]

1 year max for me, depends what you consider the end of your bike.

 

[MITTZ]

id expect mine to last a fair bit longer that flarrys! i only ride once every week or 2, ware as flarry rides every day

 

[ducar.r.spec]

it can last for as long as u want it too
its all about maintenance

 

[motoluver]

My DHZ is still going strong and Ive had that for ages now.... Give it hell everytime I ride it as well. Ive put on hundreds of hours on the Lifan 140 now and it is real low on compression and much slower then my mates 140s.

 

[M@rkay]

my bike is from 2005 and originally was a 110 motovert and the engine was blown by the guy who it owned it before me and he put a 125 in it. goes great and never misses a beat. frame is strong. ohh and the guy who owned it before me cut his left pinky off from the chain while trying to do a wheelie. ahahahaha.

 

[SnItChY]

G'day fiddy

aint seen ya ya in a while bud ,good to see ya back

mate i recone its all about maintenance,had an ol bike lasted 2 yrs and was flogged

got a few bikes now IE 3 and all are fine tho zac's is givein me cury ATM
but other than that all is fine

i still have a soft spot for cheap thrills ,and so does my wallet

 

[michelin man]

ive had my $400 (back then) 125cc MXB for 2 years, and its never missed a beat.

 

[themountain]

If you frequently change the oil and clean the airfilter ,these things hold up forever!!

 

[Fiddy@norway]

so it's a myth that the cheap chinas are unreliable? I've heard stories about people that blows theire engine the first week they have the bike, and they always blame it on the build quality. people laughed at me when I brought home my loncin and said it would last 2 days with me behind the bars,
the death of an bike to me would either be when the engine blows or the frame snaps, the bike is still going strong, I guess that only shows what proper maintenance can do to a bike and I will keep running the cheap little bastard until it totaly collapses. (and I try to go riding at least once a week)

And snitchy, got any pics of that old cr 500 of yours? I'm curious to see the bike that broke you. I'm still looking for a cr 500 of my own...

 

[michelin man]

I think half of the problem is that unlike big bikes like Honda ect. Pitbikes are cheap, and people tend to not treat them with as much respect as they would a $4000 bike. If some one was to go and get a KLX 125 they would give it a good run-in with decent maintenance. But if they went and got a reasonably good $800 Pitbike, they would either give it a crap run in (eg.not changing the oil) or not give it the maintenance it needs. And as a cheap bike it will need a bit more TLC than a highly refined MX bike.

Thats just my 2c.

 

[Dreadful]

I think half of the problem is that unlike big bikes like Honda ect. Pitbikes are cheap, and people tend to not treat them with as much respect as they would a $4000 bike. If some one was to go and get a KLX 125 they would give it a good run-in with decent maintenance. But if they went and got a reasonably good $800 Pitbike, they would either give it a crap run in (eg.not changing the oil) or not give it the maintenance it needs. And as a cheap bike it will need a bit more TLC than a highly refined MX bike.

Thats just my 2c.

mine too that makes 4 cents

 

[M@rkay]

michelin man is on the ball

 

[Fiddy@norway]

so no one wanna trash-talk the chinas? wow... I've always been told the chinabikes were total crap, and I didn't expect my own bike to be so faithful either.
you all reinforce my theory that the problem is almost never the bike, but the guy holding the bars or the wrench. even the crappiest bike can be kept running with the right know-how.

 

[orion125proseries06]

i recon if you get past the "death stage" like i think its the 1st ride till a few months in, if you get past that i recon u'll be fine, sure they have breakages (like mine did, but that was when i started to ride really hard) but if you replace them broken parts with quality ones i recon it will be fine, and as long as you do the mantainence thing i recon you will be good (if you do it properly).
and also it comes down to the loose nut behing the bars too

I CARNT SEE ANY1 COMPLAINING, MAYBECHINAS ARENT AS BAD AFTER ALL (sorry bout the caps)



thats my 5c (i found th 5c lol)

 

[lilaidstamx]

ive had a mxb 125 since last august and the only problem ive ever had was water in my carbie.