I reckon all chinese bikes are fine if you put a bit of effort in. The amount required will vary between brands
If it arrives, you assemble and immediately ride it. You are throwing caution to the wind and it probably will be a piece of crap. On the other hand if you splash out on some 'consumable' parts AND go through and fully grease and loktite everything. Then it'll be good, but if you don't put any effort in, it'll start to ride like crap in no time at all.
Every used chinese bike i've seen so far has only really been rubbish because the previous owner wasn't mechanically minded. I've gone over and rebuilt several of them, they go from being hard to start, not idling or revving properly, harsh riding, sloppy unsafe pieces of rubbish. To nicely tuned crisp engines with a decent responsive ride. That involves some work, but if its a brand new bike its quite easy! much easier than one with some hours and a bunch of rust and dirt all through it.
If it were me i'd
- Replace all wheel bearings and seals immediately - ~$25
- Remove forks, replace oil. Ensure they fit snug and operate smooth - $20
- Remove swingarm and shock, fully grease everything that moves, pack grease into the bearings. Add some spacers if the swingarm or shock doesn't quite sit flush. Don't overtighten the swingarm axle and ensure its silky smooth through its entire stroke - $0
- Replace the stock chain with a DID chain, and check the chain tension by removing the rear shock and moving the swingarm through its stroke, snug but no tight points! - $55
- Remove and thoroughly grease headstem bearings - $0
- Grease the axles so they slide in/out easy and dont need a hammer after the first bit of moisture
- Replace brake fluid front and rear - ~$20
- Fit a unifilter, or at least have a spare stock one - $30
- Replace spark plug - $5
- Replace engine oil (mineral) - $10
- Loctite EVERYTHING except axle nuts
Then, start the bike and break it in HARD. After that, do the valves, drop the oil, tune the carby. Often these are garbage. You may even need to swap it for a different carb and jet it correctly. But more often than not, the stock carby is the source of a lot of issues. But once its set right the bike will be easy to start, stay running, have no rough spots anywhere, and remain a pleasure and not a pain in the ass. Any issues with the carb that keep creeping up, throw it away and replace it. Not worth the headache
Then you'll have a mad little bike that is reliable and operates smoothly. Nothing worse than jumping on a bike with creaky stiff suspension, all the controls are sloppy, its hard to start and doesn't run smoothly. Any chinese bike can be made good with a bit of time and under $200 worth of bits. Better to do it all in 1 go than continually screw around with it
if it was next to a atomik i would ride the atomik..