Chinese ST?

MattSTlouis said:
I will take an old used Honda over new Chinese any day.
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Honda make bikes all over the world, USA, South America, Europe, Far East, Middle East, Africa, China and yes, even Japan. Who knows where they end up? Many plants export to other markets.
Just sayin. Although I'm not sayin you're wrong either.
I remember all too well the "Jap Crap" crowd in the 60's and 70's. See how that ended.
Upt.
 
Al st1100 said:
that's call a Chinese knock off :scared2:
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Allegedly. No hang on ... Allegedly ... yes thats better ..

.... so were the original Japanese bikes. Imported bikes were used to study and - lets say - 'simulate' the appearance and functions.
The story I heard was that one of the first bikes that was produced had a 'design feature' in the petrol tank. Something that you and I might call a dent.
And this turned out to be a faithful reproduction of the original - which had received a bit of a knock in transit.

But mistakes were learned, developments progressed, improvements were made and the British manufacturing continued to produce the bikes with vertically split crankcases, sloppy tolerances and questionable quality control.

And we all bought Pan Europeans.
 
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Larry Fine said:
I came up with a chain-adjustment method that minimizes slack, which should help maximize mileage, while avoiding over-tightening:

The factory recommends 3/4 to 1-1/2 inches of slack with the bike (NH750) on the side-stand, but how accurate is that? The ideal slack is as little as possible without ever getting tight, so I use my own procedure. I start by lubing it after a warm-up ride, then let it cool, maybe overnight, and on the center stand.

I remove the seat and route a tie-down strap over the bike frame, under the swing-arm on both sides, back over the bike frame, and hook the strap ends together. I then tighten the strap, compressing the rear springs, until the sprockets are in a straight line with the swing-arm pivot, which is where the chain will be tightest.

I then rotate the rear wheel several times while checking the chain for the least slack, as chains don't wear evenly. Once I find the position with the least slack, I adjust the chain for very little play, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch. That's as tight as it can be without the risk of it being too tight as the wheel moves.
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That sounds like a lot of work for something that is easy

Why not put the bike on the center stand and find the range of adjustment that corresponds with the recommended slack on the side stand? The NC700X manual gives 30-40 mm slack on the side stand. That corresponds to 35-40 mm on the center stand. The chain is not too tight and it's not too loose. I have 22,000 miles on the current chain. I generally check it now and then but it usually doesn't need adjustment between tire replacements - which I did today after 12,300 miles. For maintenance I wipe it off with a WD-40 wetted paper towel then lube it sparingly (one dipped toothbrush is all) about every 500 miles with a 50/50 mix of 80/90 gear oil and ATF.
 
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Um, end of February 2024, I stopped in at our local Polaris dealer to order Iridium spark plugs. Long behold, there sat out front for display/sale Chinese adventure, touring, race bikes. Shocked me. Poking my head around got me to say 'hmm' a lot. Interesting.
 
Well, already in Jan 2020 I stumbled over those dwarf ST copies at a dealer...

IMG_20200111_101724.jpg IMG_20200111_101735.jpg IMG_20200111_101800.jpg

Transverse V-twin, chain drive, superposed to have ABS, fairing made of hard, brittle plastic, didn't pursue it any further, never saw any out in the wild either...

edit:

located a European site with a model overview... they look more like the current NT and AfricaTwin... and the white bike ridden by the girl has an Austrian license plate ;)

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MattSTlouis said:
I will take an old used Honda over new Chinese any day.
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While the tour bike looks nice in the first post, I agree here- an old, used Honda will likely run forever with good maintenance. These days, I’m concerned about trying anything new- too much tech, not enough support from the manufacturer perspective, and fear of the unknown, I guess. All my vehicles (cars and bikes) are old, but quite reliable, and mechanically, I know them all pretty well. A new Chinese bike may be very well made but parts availability is a concern and the largest engine made (in the tour bike) is a 650 cc.
 
Erdoc48 said:
A new Chinese bike may be very well made but parts availability is a concern ...
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But since they copy all and everything chances are good that some other MFG parts will fit right away...
Kinda with Dnepr, who's owners always rebuild/improved them with OEM airhead parts...
 
Check out Hyundai and Kia. They copy the looks of every other successful car on the market.

Greg
 
I don't think so

It may happen ...someday, that Honda will sell them in the states..or something else. If they wait too long though I will be too old (getting close now)
 
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