Testing the Worlds CHEAPEST Motorcycle! 

Well I mean if you pay $1,350 and you’ve already ridden it 1500 miles, you’ve crossed the $1/mile mark

I bought 2 250 Chinese quads a few years ago. Within 3 hours, one became a parts doner for the other one.

Why does the idle sound like Mr.Krabs walking.

I had a Chinese 110cc fourwheeler, while working on the engine we found a factory glove stuck between the head and the block. No fingers though.

Best thing about this bike is when it breaks down in the woods you can light it on fire to keep warm

So basically it's a death trap for anyone not mechanically minded!

Honest and down to earth review with no BS. I like it! Thanks much!

It kinda looks like a 80's Suzuki, with a face lift!

Dude you’re a hero, that was a most entertaining video and funny in a sad sort of way. I would buy one, just for the mechanical challenge and the joy of fathoming out the problems. For the price you paid, the entertainment factor alone was worth every dime. Thanks for the video, I loved every minute, compared to the review of a BMW GS it was pure gold.

To avoid draining the oil, install a separate airfilter like a small fuel filter to the crank case breather.

I lost my shit laughing when you said "like 5 people are going to realize the significance of what i just showed" thanks for that

I bought a used enduro 2000 Kawasaki kl250 super sherpa for $700! I cleaned the carb, changed the seat, added a fuel filter and changed the oil. Top speed is 75-85 mph. RUNS LIKE A CHAMPION. It has been very reliable so far. With that being said I can get a very nice reliable used japanese enduro bike in my area for $1350.

This is not the cheapest bike in da world. Come to India

I bought one of these a few years ago, the brand name was different but it was identical. It did come fully assembled as I bought it from a dealer, however I had to go through the while bike and check all the torque settings . It’s basically a modern build of an old Honda XL motorcycle, I was told that the Chinese factory licensed the design from Honda for the engine but I don’t know if that’s true or not. Anyway, it was OK, it was much slower than a Japanese bike of the same capacity, but it was reliable and good. The engine seemed to need the valve clearances adjusted frequently, but I seem to remember 70,s Hondas being the same. For the money it was good and yes I would buy another. I did buy a different Chinese motorbike and that was a total disaster, total rubbish.. and it cost a lot more too. So not all Chinese bikes are the same and spending more does not guarantee better quality.

The old adage: “You usually get what you pay for! “. There are bargains out there just get the low down on the model. Thanks for the heads up!

i noticed the significance of what you did with the kickstand spring...... you, sir... are the REAL MVP!!!! #salute

The way I see it you paid $1300 for a crate of headaches. $2000 will get you a good used japanese bike for a savvy buyer.

That xt-250 (here in the Philippines we call it Serow 250) is a real beast...

As someone who built the first shipments of these bikes. I can definitely understand the pain of reinstalling the kickstand.

Put an oil catch can between the crankcase breather and the airbox to prevent oil from entering the airbox.

I have a CG 250 motor on a Chinese dirtbike. I would suggest you remove the EGR valve for more power. It makes a big difference with low rpm and pinning the bike. Also just run the air box with the small drain hole unplugged

I live in Panama. That is a third world motorcycle. That is pretty much all you see where I live. We have a popular name brand here called AVA. They sell motorcycles that look almost exactly like you bought for 1450. dollars. They are practical also because labor to keep them maintained is much cheaper than it is in the USA. We do have Yamaha's and Honda's in the same category but they are much more expensive so we do not see many of them. The US is not set up for these cheapy motorcycles. You need to work on them yourself if you have one of them. They are not worth putting in the shop frequently because shop rates are just too high. You need a good quality motorcycle in the US to make it practical to own it and worth the high cost of maintenance. In Panama the mechanics work for less than 10 dollars per hour under the shade tree. You can afford to get the motorcycle worked on as frequently as necessary to get the bike up to standards and keep it that way. If you live in the US, don't buy one of these motorcycles. They are too expensive to keep up because of their low quality. Shop rates are what? 100 bucks per hour?

I like your video style. It's honest, It makes me happy. Keep doing your thing!

Before buying always make sure the manufacturer includes with the bike a "Manufacturer's Statement of Origin" (MSO). You then take the MSO certificate and bill of sale to your local DMV to get the title (after you pay the tax on it, of course).

Matt , your XT250 will be heavier because its made out of metal

Thanks for testing this bike and making this video. You covered some very important issues that need to be addressed to make the bike safer and work better, and that's worth a lot :-)

“I don’t think I need to own a lathe and a welder to operate a bike” that’s all you need to know about Chinese bikes.

This has to be one of the most fantastic thorough and easy to follow reviews ever. Nice job!

_"You don't even have to use the clutch to get the front end in the air."_ Answering the important questions, lol. Awesome video here.

I have a 2017 Hawk 250 and I have done all of the mods. It's got over 5k miles and has been an amazing bike. I've rode 400 miles in one day, loaded it down with camping gear, max out at 70 mph after mods and new sprockets. This guy is short that's the only reason he'd think it's too tall. I could go on for days about why the hawk is a good bike. I've taken some rough trails, even crashed at 60 mph and rode the bike 30 minutes home after. Had the cosmetics fixed in a week after getting only what couldn't be plastiwelded back together. I still ride it everyday as my main transportation. It has an exact copy of the Honda CG engine and I've gone to the Honda dealer for engine parts to upgrade from the Chinese parts that came on it. I did a port and polish on the cylinder head and got my head gasket from Honda. Took less than an hour to swap heads. You can get all engine parts from Honda. I used the Honda service manual I found in .pdf on Google for specs. If you are a capable DIY you can handle the maintenance and mods. Motocheez, JerryHawk250 and Oddball performance (aka MegaDan) have excellent videos and tutorials. I've been a professional mechanic for 13 years and I love my chonda. You definitely need to check it over right out of the box, make sure all bolts are tight and put loctite on the important stuff. I never needed loctite I just made sure everything is torqued. Common sense people. You'll have to do the same thing with a used Japanese bike too. But if you're lazy and can't do preventative maintenance or pre ride checks then you probably shouldn't own a bike anyways. Other than that, pretty spot on review. The hawk is better quality than the tao. The luggage rack will also bolt right on the Hawk. It's perfect as a commuter bike and fun on trails. It will do long distance as well. Taking it on the trans America trail when I get home from Kuwait next year.

Basically; these make a good bike if you know there limitations. Keep it on the road, forest service roads & very light trails, don't over do it. If you want a more extreme bike, pay 5 x the price. Going to get a Tao or Hawk.Thanks good vid. seen Motocheez also.

Remember: when you buy a bike online you MUST change the oil when it arrives! Bikes are shipped with a special protective oil that's NOT suitable for riding around!

Good review. I wondered about the engine...good to hear its at least usable. Honestly it looks like a total blast for under $1,500 Not bad at all.

Anyone buying a Chinese enduro, should be buying a Hawk 250 or a CSC TT250. Your video just cemented that even more, for me. LOVE my Hawk 250! Thanks for the great video!

In India you can buy high quality bikes for this price branded as Honda,bajaj,yamaha.etc..

Seems like a very good and honest review. Thanks guy.

Like it! Have a few but expensive old timers and also 2 cheap ones which i call disposable. Well, once you get a strange noise from the engine block or timing chain/pushrods get some play that cannot be fixed due to unobtainable parts...ehm...you donate to someone who will truly appreciate it and drain the sweat out of it. At least what's left. Just ride.

I agree with that info. My dad was importing chinese bikes back in '03, and I was the 'parts manager'.. learned a lot, these '19 bikes are very similar only slightly improved designs with time. Still engine architecture copied from a Honda XL185s? I also have experience with an XT225 Serow, and currently with a Kawasaki KLR250 I just rebuilt fresh top-end, have that '00 bike listed for $2,300.. you're pretty spot on, it is what it is.

A tip when rideing mud and swamp and slick. " I know it is scary" but you gota keep speed. bikes are unstable at low speed man. Happy trails man!. Keep the rubber side down!.

Extremely well detailed video on this bike! Overwhelming detail in the links! All I can say is WOW, I wish every video was this detailed!

I have to say this was a quite an entertaining review. The joy of cheap thrills.

Great price, depends on how durable it is. Had a Chinese 125cc dual purpose bike, best part was the engine. Put it through hell off road, plastics and metal very weak, bits would fall off. Going up a steep gradient I hit a bump and the seat fell off (was standing on pegs). Couldn't stop laughing as surreal WTF moment

A cheap bike that gets the job done. You can't ask for much more than that. Great review!

Good way to easily put a kickstand spring back on 👍

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="886">14:46</a> " This bike is significantly more of a hazard to your life " lmao 🤣 that's awesome and such an honest opinion 👍 Awesome 👌

You have oil in the air box because the breather valve is defective. Replace it with a part from whatever motor they cloned. Or just cap the breather (google it). Come to think of it the engine might not have been designed to have a valve breather and that might be an add on to satisfy US emissions requirements.

I actually have a Yamaha XT225 and XT350, which are both fantastic bikes. I also have a big road bike and lots of quads, etc. I have to agree with your review, as I purchased a Chinese 150 scooter years ago. It was cheap, but had tons of problems as well. The carburetor was dirty and I didn’t realize it at first which caused the starter to go bad from overuse! This caused the switch to go bad, which caused the wiring to short!😧 The scooter rides good now, but if I didn’t have 35 years of motorcycling experience, it would never be running! Just stick with a Japanese bike! I would rather have a 25 year old Japanese bike than a piece of garbage you can’t get parts for! Just my thoughts!😜

I bought a Chinese bike in 2005, and it was nothing but trouble from the get-go. $1200 down the tube!

Buys a Chinese motorcycle, gets a Chinese motorcycle.

tvs an indian bike company has a$780 bike

Those trails look fun. Glad you're having a good time and have a safer bike now.

This is the best, honest review I've ever witnessed on youtube, thank you Matt Smith I wish others have your integrity. I also like how you gave credit to other channels.

Nothing like hoping on the bike and forgetting about everything else! Didnt know you rode!👍🤘

'Significantly more hazardous to your life', you got to love this review 😂

Great video! I think a 400 or 450 is much better for hills. Those extra cc's make hill climbing so much easier. Don't be intimidated by the extra cc's, it makes riding easier, not harder. I've had a Chinese bike and I think the components on it are junk. I rode mine on some long rides and it held up. The plastic was painted blue, so if you wrecked, the paint chipped off. I sold mine to a freind and he rode it for years and went on some long rides on it. Eventually, he bought a japanese 450 and likes it much better.

when i saw the loose steering head and cracked brake drum holder i said no way!!

Nice buy. Looks like it’s got plenty of power. Rear drum is fine. You won’t use the rear brake that much anyway and drums last forever

"hit the switch" - you got an electric starter for $1300? Win!

I love this type of engine, it's very easy to work on and modify. I have a DL150 that run's pretty well

I had the same bike, I took off the 15 tooth front sprocket for a 17, made a big difference on rpm and made me about 8+ mph.

For every flaw he found there are probably 20 that only a motorcycle engineer would spot or know of.

What a great deal $1350 delivered and then only about $1750 of my personal labor time to make it half decent......Uh NO THANKS Matt.

That trail footage was beautiful. I miss living in the Ozarks :(

Man ever since The Crew 2 i've been obsessed with motorcycles. Bought myself my first bike: the Kawasaki Ninja 650. its so fun crusing around.

Do an airbox mod when the emission police aren't looking. Not only will your oil problem disappear it will also help with the stuttering and loading up common with 2 stroke bikes.. Too much oil in the airbox will screw it up every time. I bought a CZ 400cc motocross racing bike in the early 70's. The carb sucked so it was replaced with a Mikuni. At 400 cc pulling up the wheel and riding it out in 3 gear was pretty easy and the torque was awesome. At the age of 72 my son and I went to the Mojave Desert and rented dirt bikes for the day, rode them with a former M/C rider as the tour guide and the 300cc I had would have put the 400cc away easily. In fact, the whole bike was so good that I actually thought I was as good as I was when I was almost 50 years ago..

Probably still more reliable than my clapped out 1980 Suzuki lol

You get what you pay for. When buying a Motorcycle, always stick to a good well known brand.

I just have two words for you bro: Motorcross Boots.

Awesome ! I had a 110 TaoTao quad indestructible and there are parts every where

Matt: street legal dirt bike Everyone else: dual sport

on my lifan i modded , i found most older xr parts , especially carbs., ignition , exhaust etc. , were actually what they copied when designing the bike , many, many other parts suspension included are mostly a straight bolt on , and of course better quality .

I've never laughed so hard through a motorcycle review! The last 10 minutes killed me. I freak'n love this guy. I'm almost a buyer ….almost. What a fun project. Only criticism of the review is that you should probably include the cost of additional life insurance in your price comparison.

Dude, so thorough, great articulation and explanations. Great video! After all of these issues and since I’m no mechanic, I may just have to save up for a Japanese bike lol sounds like a nightmare of fixes.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="884">14:44</a> ya this is how all bikes should be described including ebikes and modified 10 speeds with the tiny gas motor. It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye.

To fix the oil in the air box, just disconnect the hose from the air box and tape it along the side. Use a coffee filter to keep dirt out. Reconnect it if you're going to be riding through water. The PCV valve is either broken or the bike is cheap enough that it doesn't have one. Yes, it's going to leak environmentally harmful fumes to the atmosphere. If you live in California it's illegal. But with that tiny engine barely being used for 1,500 miles per year, I wouldn't feel bad at all about it.

May as well buy any year model used XT, ride with little maintenance, and hold its value. I do like the front wheel pop up on the China bike. My CRF250l and 225 XT didn't do that with ease. At least they stayed together :)

I love TXPowerSports! I was missing a headlight bolt I email them got a response the same day and received 2 replacements in 3 days.

Thx for a good honest review. Chinese cycles or atv’s require mechanically inclined owners to get the best value.

You're risking your life buying this motorcycle. That's a bold statement that sums it up.

it still blows my mind that they can build and ship a bike like that in China for he price they charge sure it needs a little tweaking and going over but it cuts the middleman out that would normally do all that for you at a cost ( that would be a dealership ) overall i’m kind of impressed i haven’t owned a chinese Enduro yet although i have had a Scooter that was pretty good for the price i tried to not compare it much with my Japanese bikes which really wouldn’t be fair to compare those totally different products as well as price ranges

Interesting ... but I'm pretty lazy ... so I'd just pay extra for the Japanese "turn key" version.

XT 250 Yamaha is my brand and choice. I would not buy this myself. Not in America. To each their own.

Having lived and worked a significant amount of time in the third world I can tell you that these motorcycles were never intended to be used as off-road recreational vehicles. They are used as inexpensive transportation (They cost significantly less than the $1300 you paid for it here in the U.S.). The average person who purchases these motorcycles uses it as their primary means of transportation. Going through muddy terrain and large mud puddles is the most extreme thing that will normally be done with them. When they are used like this then they can normally be relatively trouble-free (For a while)...Thinking that this motorcycle is up to performing like a Japanese or European off-road motorcycle is the biggest mistake. Here in the U.S. I cannot really think of any scenario that this motorcycle makes sense. The reason you normally have to wait so long for any parts here is that they don't keep spare parts. They're shipped over in containers and literally anybody who can come up with the money can order a container full of these. The fact that you actually got a part sent to you is because ... A) You kept bugging them B) They still were actively selling this model. I guarantee unless some specialty chinese brand company imports a bunch of spare parts for these...Within several years you will be make parts for everything (Or finding parts that you can swap from Japanese motorcylces). These motorcycle were never intended to be used as the average motorcyclist in the U.S. would use them. If you intend to actually use it for off-road recreational riding then do yourself a big favor and look for a deal on a used Japanese motorcycle (Be patient). The only way one of these motorcycles might make sense is if you were to use it to commute short distances (on road) to and from school or a job AND you happened to live near where the warehouse and parts were.

Here in Argentina, chinese bikes are widely sold. Most, if not all of the main motorcycle manufacturers rebrand models bought from China. But those are assembled in Argentina and then handed over to the customer ready to use. Over time, I see an improvement in the quality and reliability of the models offered. In fact, most of the top sold bikes over here are rebranded chinese bikes. Some examples of manufactures: Gilera, Motomel, Keller, Zanella, Brava I think a model similar to this one is sold as "Motomel Skua", "Keller Miracle", "Zanella ZR", "Gilera Sahel", etc You might take a look at those brands for quite some info about these bikes.

Thank you thank you thank you!!! Your review helped me greatly. I am a very tall fellow and your observation that this one rides tall SOLD me. Then your observation that the tires are a little better suited for street use was right on my list.

run the oil hose back and up , use a auto parts store filter wire ties .. ace hardware bar stool leg caps to fit over the hose to air box to seal that ..simple done on all bikes even street will dump oil in air box so just do away with it

a cheap chinese bike isn't something i would put my life at risk for.

Great video. I didn't even have an interest in these and 18 minutes flew by

That is not the cheapest bike in the World. We get bikes for as low as 500 dollars in India.

If it was easily ridden up and down the road once and a while and maintained adequately, it would probably last pretty long for the price. However, riding through the woods over stumps and through water would be hell on a bike of this quality and would quickly let you know that you get what you pay for. Excellent and thorough review!

The "Like five people are gonna realise the significance of what I just showed here" comment: Are you talking about cutting/welding/grinding and re-painting of the side stand, or are you talking about something else? Great vid btw. I always wonder about buying things like this, and it's nice to see someone doing it and sharing.

And a Wish ad before this HAHA

“The frame for the most part has stayed together” lol!

WOW. Proper title. I was sold off of this in under 3 minutes. I stayed out of curiosity of how bad it got. But lost count of how many problems came with it at about 7 minutes in. Which is completely awesome. Your review is 150% great. Because you were honest. You were not partial or hateful. Straight up the good and bad. Plenty of people have made comments about it being a mechanics bike. Yes and no. Depends on IF you like turning wrenches and fabrications. A lot of mechanics are .. we do what we have to, but prefer not to do much. This bike exceeds the latter. lol I was about to put it in the category of an emergency bike to strap to the back of a motorhome or what have you, however, it is SO bad and unreliable sounding, I cannot even put in that category. Even at this price, I would not touch it unless I was completely and utterly desperate for a mode of transportation in the middle of nowhere and had no other choices.

The PCV hose (spitting oil into the airbox) is working properly. Might not be the best implementation, as it will cause the plastic to fail sooner, but extending the hose to create a low spot will only make the oil pool up. Eventually, it'll all get sucked into the engine at once. Not sure how carbureted bike engines handle it, but fuel injected cars will bog down and spit out a cloud of smoke when they ingest that much oil at once. Best plan is to add a baffled oil catch can, which requires draining (usually every oil change, depending on size). Many people will use an air/water separator for this, which is originally intended for use on compressor lines. They're also usually clear, so you can easily check the level of oil.

In the 1970's the cheapest trail bike on the market was a CZ 175-482. 40 years later most are still running. Will this still be running in 4 years time, let alone 40??

The front tire isn't even mounted to spin the right direction for braking

1300 new? Goodluck finding a dual sport thats not 500 pounds from the 80s for under 1300.

Nice video. My daughter bought an RPS Hawk in the spring of '18 and is riding it without much agony. I was a career motorcycle mechanic in the '60s and '70s and assembled and serviced it for her. On the carburetor issue, it was much as you described on this TBR7 and all it took to make it decent was to put a couple thin washers under the throttle slide metering needle clip to make it richer - they are set up very lean, apparently to comply with emission regs somewhere. She also has trouble with the tallness of the machine, hers came with a very oversized knobby on the rear and the smaller dual purpose tire would be sufficient and help lower it. It is very tricky to find the optimum chain adjustment on them and it is important as the slack is drawn very tight with a load and could damage both the rear and output shaft bearings if not set up well.

I got my Bajaj CT100B for $585 brand new including registration, insurance and home delivery. Have put down about 35k kms on her riding her around the country and she's doing just great. That's an Indian motorcycle, if you were wondering. :)