The Surprising Truth About Those Cheap Amazon Dirt Bikes You Won't See Anywhere Else 

Uncle Tony knows what men want: The Hawk Tuah Fifty

That thing looks like something you'd see in a Mad Max film

While it is true that these engines are clones of a Honda design, the one you have is not the clone of the OHC Honda, but of a pushrod Honda which is actually a later design (intended for use in thrid world markets where the OHC engines were suffering from cheap oil and bad maintenance). To the best of my knowledge the pushrod 125-230 engine was never sold in the US. For abusive users, the pushrod engine is arguably better as it will put up with bad oil for a lot longer than the OHC engine will and has a gear driven cam. I've worked on dozens of both versions for many years in a developing nation. The XR150L engine is different inside, the bottom end of your Hawk is much more like a pre 1980 Honda XL125--lots of parts will interchange, though the valve train and top end are different as they are the later Honda pushrod design. The XR150 is actually OHC but much more like the older XR100 than it is like any of the older XL125/185/200/XR185/200 OHC engine. A quick look at XR150/XR100 and pre 1980 XL125 cylinder heads on Partzilla will show you how different those engines are. PArtzilla has no diagrams of the pushrod engines, as they were never sold in the US. Honda took the OHC engine all the way to 230cc but had to drop the kickstarter when they went bigger than 200cc. (there may have been a true 250cc trials bike engine based on this engine--not sure on that). It's hard to say how far the chinese have taken the pushrod engine, though the vast majority of "250" labelled bikes with this engine are actually 230cc. The Zongshen clones of the pushrod engine are very good, I have had very few problems with them and most of those have been due to rider ignorance. I'd be happy to talk to you at length about this or to answer any question you may have as I realise that I am being a little disorganised in this comment.

I have a 2015 Hawk. I have put 35,000 hard miles on it with no problems. Just maintenance items like grips tires sprockets chains. The speedometer is the only thing that broke. These are good reliable bikes and I reccomend to everyone, I paid $1600 delivered to my door and had no problem getting a tag. And I ride about 20% of the miles off road 80% on 4 lane highways. Great bike!

The extra 2k you spend for the Honda equates to having repair facilities, parts availability and warranty, all of which is important for non mechanics.

Forget that bike I like the dart!

Glad to see I'm not the only one scratching my head thinking wait used is as much as new. Why? 😂😂😂

Those knockoff bikes are like having a pre worn out version of the real thing

Skip the Chinese stuff! Look for a good used Yamaha IT 175/200, Kawasaki KDX 175/200/220, Suzuki PE175. Or a four stroke like your old XR200; or something like that from the other big Japanese manufacturers. You’ll be SO MUCH further ahead in the long run… Just a piece of advice from a guy that has been into dirt bikes since 1969.

I've had one of these for about 3 years. It's fun to ride, super reliable, and cheap to modify to your liking.

That's a turd.🤣

One Xmas I bought my son a Chinese 110 cc bike , after assembling it I had the first ride on it , my first impression was that it was very unstable, so much so it was dangerous, I diagnosed that the problem was the very narrow handlebars, so I put some wide ones off an old IT 175 on it , problem solved, next thing was that the rear tire had no knobs left after about 10 minutes of riding, but was lucky enough to find a good quality front and rear at the dump , I also found that the exhaust was badly choked with a restrictor , so I removed that, some time later the electric starter stopped working, so I removed that and he just used the kick starter, it was an ok bike after all that. Later on he bought a Chinese 200cc , it was top heavy and just plain heavy, the spokes wouldn't stay tight and the rear wheel collapsed, so I put a Honda wheel on it , it always had a sooty spark plug , so I unrestricted the muffler and fitted a larger diameter header pipe , as well as a hotter plug ,and that really improved the power, later on the rear shock lost all its damping , he got sick of it and sold it. One thing about both bikes was that the motors ran really good , but there will be no more Chinese bikes for us.

I bought a Hawk a few years ago, no problems so far just gotta use good gas, oil, NKG spark plug. I luv mine.

The biggest issue with buying chinese bikes is that they have little to no resale value, so even if you buy one and take really good care if it, youll be lucky to get $300-500 for it even in nice shape, where as a genuine honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Yamaha will always hold its resale value especially if kept in good condition.

You bought a crackhawk

It's like buying a helmet, Depends on how much your head is worth,$15 dollar helmet for a $15 dollar head

Bro, with the rake that thing has you will leave your nuts on the handlebar first pothole you hit when the front forks snap off 😂

I had this Honda 250 single engine in a road bike frame in the 80s. Rode it for years. I still remember that engine fondly. I remember I finally got a crack in a valve seat and took it to a friend who had a head shop and he asked are you going to sell it or keep it. Sell it I said. So he picked up a ball peen hammer and closed up the crack and handed it back no charge. It went for years for the guy I sold it to!

For 2g’s, you can get a used Honda shadow and go anywhere you want

In south america these are used as daily driver bikes. The starter relays and the cheap spark plug are the biggest problems. The steel rusts faster than a japanese bike

"According to the EPA’s data, the XR150L is powered by an 149cc OHC air-cooled carbureted Single, claiming an output of 12.5 hp at 7,750 rpm. The engine is produced by Sundiro Honda, a joint venture between Honda and Chinese company Sundiro, and produced in Mexico (where the Honda Navi minibike is also manufactured)." I would surmise they are bolted together in Mexico out of chinese parts to be able to put Mexico on the VIN as to not spook buyers by it saying China on a $4000 bike.

I have had my 125 for 5 years. I have not been kind to it either lol. Still does everything I ask of it every time. I don't think it will ever die at this point lol

I have one of these, also 5 years old. I bought mine new, registered it for street use and also use it offroad. Unbeatable for the money. The new Japanese bikes have a lot of added junk they don't need, AND almost none of them have kick start. There are a few more of these in my area too, and they are generally well liked. BTW, these use a pushrod engine with a gear-driven (no cam chain) cam with a single lobe for both valves. It was designed by Honda as a modified version of their overhead cam engine, specifically for places like Vietnam where a lot of owners didn't maintain their bikes. So Honda redesigned it to be as bombproof as possible. Research the Honda CG-125 for the story on that.

leave the unused wiring in place so you have something to strap down important parts you break off

1. Honda came out with an XR150l. It has rear drum brakes and several other deficits compared to the Hawk. Itls also built with a Joint CHINESE venture. Out the door new from the dealership its $3k to $4k. Not even close to the Zongshen Motorcycles (Hawks, Tao Tao). Amazon , RPS are just dealers. 2. I bought a Hawk 250. Out of the box carbureted , it hit 50mph. I have since put a big bore kit, regeared, adnusted the valves, put a new exhaust on and larger carb. I cant easily do 64mph. Your first experience was not relative to most on the Hawk 250 page. It was a great experience assembling, learning to work on, and has been very reliable with nearly 900 miles on it thus far with no issues. There is a channel called The Good Old Boys and he has 5000+ miles on it and its been a great bike. As well as Sean fron SRC cycles. They drowned it, buried it, and it still started. Stock gearing is for torque and 1st gear into 2nd is short and useless unless you regear it. 3. The Honda Cg125 engine (reliable) was oversized into the CG250 which is actually 229cc when you measure the piston bore and stroke. With a BBKit its 250cc. 4. Maintenance on these has been very easy including the big bore kit upgrade. 5. The analog soeedometer is a POS. There is a different zanella cluster that is more accurate which I actually have on mine. 6. @Motocult is. Fabricator that has a lot of mods for thes bikes now. 7. The forks are undersized and not inverted for cost.

Tony of course a displaced New Yorker down in Tennessee would want to ride in the woods. Cant imagine too many places to ride on staten island.

Adventure is what I would call the Ulysses. Also, hilariously, in wheelnerds, one of the hosts used to say "Any bike is a dirt bike if you don't like it"

You got a 600.00 sketchy trailer with a death trap on it.

@ 12:00 you might want that air box. There's a reason woods bikes come with air boxes and not corny k&n filters hose clamped to the carburetor. Like you always say; "I'm not gonna try and outsmart the factory engineers". 😎

I live vicariously through Uncle Tony. I did all the fun stuff back in the 70s, now I need back surgery. How he can do all he still does, is amazing at his age. He must be about 60!!

The MYTH of the superior Japanese motorcycle (or auto) is long gone. There are NO motorcycles, autos, or marine motors that don't include parts from around the world. Even the "Made in America" GM, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, etc. vehicles contain parts that are manufactured by subcontractors both here in the U.S. and from China, Thailand, Mexico, etc. There isn't a single modern vehicle on the road that would be sold without imported microchips, wiring harnesses, and other electronics.

I’ve been riding a Rupp Black Widow in the woods for 20 years. Upgraded with modern suspension and bigger engine. Ultimate in simplicity and reliability!

I've had two of them. I bought one when I was in St. Croix working a few years back. I left the Island during the first few months of the ordeal in 2020 during which I had left it in the care of a co-worker. Someone cut a hole in the fence at the resort he was staying at and stole it. When I got back I found another one and bought it, and about six months later it was stolen from a different resort that I was living at. But for a cheap mode of transportation, or for beating around the woods, or in town on, they were great for the price. You can't beat them !

I have a 87 Honda XL250R that Ive had for the last 20 years more or less. It cracked the head on two engines, so I decided to explore my options with china motors. I ended up getting a zongshen 4 valve "250" from alibaba for around $500 shipped, a few months waiting and some homemade motor mounts later, I got a brand new powerplant in my beloved old dirtbike. Works great after a good hard breakin.

Having that orange colored Dart in the background kept reminding me of actual very clean original Orange Dart GT that I had for a while. It had the black out treatment with chrome on the rockers and the GT emblems. Plus, buckets with console. It was a great example of a well taken care of original.

Dude great reivew!! I love your vibes man ima check out some more vids

The thing about Chinese products is there is a range of quality. Some Chinese made products are good and well made. The biggest problem is consistency. You may have a fairly good Chinese product, but the quality might be 8 out of 10 are good. You don't want to be one of those two. That being said the quality has gone up in a lot of products.

Trailer was easily worth $500. Great commentary on woods bike...agree minimum...less plastic crap is safer.

The new Honda is an XR150L. Made in Mexico. Under $3,000 MSRP, but $5,000 OTD. Street legal but not highway legal. And by highway I don't mean freeways. Where I live I would have to ride around 35 miles on a 65 mph county highway to get to where I could ride off road. The speed limit is 65, but it is not enforced. Normal traffic speed is 75-80. That Honda 150 tops out at around 55 mph. As for Chinese bikes, I learned my lesson about those the hard way. I won't go near one. Way back around 2007-2008 I had a Lifan LF200GY-5 200cc Chinese street legal dirt bike. The engine blew up at 3500 miles, and left me stranded out in the middle of the AZ desert 50 miles from nowhere. Out of cell phone range. In my state, unless you are on private property, your bike has to be titled, registered, plated, and insured. Even if you are way out in the middle if the desert or forest, if it is government land, it has to have all of that. If it doesn't, the fines are huge.

Is it just me...or is there a Lotta rake in those front forks...bent steering knuckle...?

I put 8000 miles on a TBR7, second chain, 3rd set of tires. Broken throttle cable is the only issue I've had. It's no Japanese 250. But if you are just bopping around back roads, dirt roads, trails, two tracks, and staying off the highway, it's fine.

Complains about Chinese parts all the time and gets a Chinese bike and praises it. 😂 then you wonder why the Chinese parts are flooding the market and can’t get quality.

Thanks for the info!

Is it just me , at 1520, i see a bent front rim and spokes. Sorry Tony, i still prefer paying a bit much and know that i will get back home safe and not trying to find signals in the woods for someone to come and get me.I ve owned Honda s Kawasaki, and Suzuki, and i still think they are the best dirts for the money. They still have parts and books for them.A clone its very hazardous to fix , with what parts? Who makes them , and for how long?.You got a good deal, for trailer and bike, i would have bought it for sure, but not going too far in the trails with it. I just know how it feels to get stuck at 11pm at night walking back home , trying to find your way back in the dark. The hawk for for a first bike for a youngster that dont go far is more than perfect.....My two cents.

absolutely, these things are a steal. $2,000 brand new. first things you want to do to it is get an aftermarket carburetor because the stock one is very lean and get a bigger front sprocket because they gear it really low. other than that the front forks are thinner and the welds are uglier but its a dirt bike and its all there and definitely putting honda ect reputation for quality up for question when deciding which dirt bike to buy

In my office park, there's 3 different import companies that sell these things along with ATVs, etc. In the month or so leading up to Christmas, there are trucks lined up to cart off bunches of these. They're cheap! Well, the weak after Christmas, they're lined up again trying to return them because half of them are defective. The warehouse across from us is good for a few fights in the parking lot, banging on the doors trying to get somebody to answer, etc.

We have a riding group in Arizona and we named one of the members "13 Bike Mike".... many of the members have a few in the stable.... I came up with a new disease "MBS" multiple bike syndrome.... to describe these guys with a bunch of bikes... and there is no cure.... but you my friend at 25 are the poster child we are glad you have recovered.....

I had a brand new 1997 xr200 Honda, nicely powered 4 stroke, never had a problem with it. Wish I’d have kept it instead of getting a cr250, twice the power with no longevity.

Looks like the front end is really raked

Building a woods bike. Took my ts90, stripped everything, Preston Petty fenders,fork brace, knobbies.. abused the hell out of it but always maintained it. 90cc? Hell I was about 130lbs

About 15 years ago I had a 125 version. It was bomb proof and slow as molasses. Pretty sure I could have jumped it into a lake and it would have run after a quick dry off. I sold it to a friend when I moved out of state but I bet it's still going. If he contacted me out of the blue to ask if I wanted to buy it back I wouldn't hesitate.

Blame it on the ADD baby !😊

This is great. I was very much considering a XR150L but was concerned about not enough power for street. Thanks for putting this out there, I see these on FB Marketplace all the time.

You are a great storyteller. I was listening to every word. I'm in California where HAWK Amazon won't deliver. New sub'd here.

You might need a headlight sometime

Subbed cause, honest review.

Last year in the Spring I bought a Brozz 250 in Army green. The only inventory left was 3 Desert Tan ones and the last Green one. So I now have the last sold ever Army Green Brozz 250! I built it, tweaked it, and only put a set of Renthal Bars on it, and an EBC Clutch spring upgrade kit in it after changing the oil @50 miles. Now it's butter smooth, runs great, and will run forever. THEN Honda saw the demand for a trail bike and came out with a 2023 250 retro trails bike. The engine on the Brozz is the same thing from a Honda from back in the Eighties, and the new engine is exactly the same! I don't ride it much as I have WAY too many other things to do, and this past week I just hit over 100 miles on it in over a year! Yes the quality is there and I'm sure i could sell it and get more than I paid for it, but it's fun as hell but will only run 70mph tops. The low end and midrange is crazy and being a very light bike, it hauls butt through all gears until running out @70!

hey what happened to the 1961 hd sportster?

Hey Tony, Tim here.......i just recently bought a Honda CRF100F, to upgrade from the 70cc China bike (it was a 4sp semi-auto like a Z-50).......i needed an upgrade as my Step-son is ready to learn a clutch......we went from mini-bike, to the 70, now the 100......i got it for $1000......its wonderful!!!......i know what ur sayin, but this "new" 100 serves my purposes perfectly, and the local big bike store is a Honda dealer, so parts are easy to obtain......it was like never used, (its a 2004) i didnt even need to wash it, it was so clean, i got a new plug, changed the oil, put new shoes on it......i'm in it for $1300.....and shud give a lifetime of use......ok, more than ur "woods" bike, but served my purposes......one kick, fires right up, has more power than i need for the yard, and my son can now learn how to shift with a clutch.......ok, guess i got no point here, just enjoying the whole thing......i bought what was a good deal, and useful for my scenario....PEACE my brother!!

Hey Tony, Do yourself a favor and keep your eyes open for a larger rear sprocket and install it on that bike. I had one and changing the sprocket made a big difference. The gearing is a little high the way it is for going thru the woods but if you change it out with a larger one it's perfect not for the street but for the woods you know what I mean. It's a cheap upgrade. Later

I am thinking about just strapping a harbor freight six horsepower I have hanging around just with an extra rim and belt drive . Simple tension with a push bar. If it goes fifteen miles an hour that's enough for the farm. Pair it to a CB 750 frame and it's a maxi bike

Hey man I'm glad you did this review. I've been curious about those Chinese bikes. Honda and Suzuki have my heart but they also have my wallet pretty maxed out 😅so these Chinese Bikes are Getting my attention

Junk... Chinese aluminum castings are brittle and weak as hell! Worked on and scrapped many of these turds.😂🤣

Uncle T needs more cheap dirtbike & dual sport content 🤘

Love a Ully. Glad to see you enjoying one. Every one is an adventure bike guy lol.

And it has a Kick start that most newer bikes don't have.

That's getting left on the trail too !

My dream car used to be a '69 Charger, General Lee livery. That was before I learned Dodge took a government handout and did NOT release the 50th anniversary midnight black Charger with the same body and updated undercarriage. They would've CRUSHED. Now I'll have to settle for a '69 Camaro having switched to Chevrolet, the only US car manufacturer that did NOT take a handout. I can't wait until China releases the $5000 2-seater passenger car that you can order off of Amazon. lol Having said that, I love my Hawk 250. Bought it a year ago and it's doing great with almost 2000 on the odometer. Less talky and more wrenchy. Would rather watch you take that stuff off the Hawk than listen to you talk about it. More Hawk videos!

My Hawk has over 17,000 reliable miles on it. It's never left me stranded. Yes, I've mostly ridden it on the road (@ 80%), but I've ridden it hard off-road excepting jumps (my joints can't take it). As long as you maintain it, that CG230 engine will last just about forever. Enjoy!

Had a 1970 Dodge Dart Swinger 340 engine in 1977. Headers, tranny valve body to chirp tires on second gear, So much fun. Except gas mileag.

I love my Brozz 250!!!!! Glad to see folk loving this’……

How much you want for that set of Golden Boys 😂 (Big thanks for the information and the lowdown on honda at the end!)

I always enjoy the motorcycle content.

I am an ASE certified Master Tech that's been in the business for some 35 years. We sound similar, in New Jersey, by the time I was 13, my friend and I had 13 dirt bikes and three wheelers in our garage.. . And I had a 1985 xr200r that I acquired with a bent intake valve.... so I went over to my steel table, and with some finagling bent the valve back and got that thing purring. This is how I acquired all of my bikes when I was younger. I remember my 82 KX80 I got, the guy had a new crank for it but he took the cases apart and got lost in Gears and clutch parts and I got it in boxes.... I had quite a few 500 two strokes, favorite being the kx500.... okay I'm getting all over the place here..... ......anyway, I was trying to tell you about the bike ride now because I lost my license years ago. My daily? It's a 750 watt, 48 volt wheel motor, re-laced a yamaha 19in wheel on back, Harley seat Harley headlight, 8 inch stretch 10 inches on the downtube, 48 inch over narrow springer, blabla, suicide brakes, has parking lights has brake lights, 96v spd ctrl, 104Vdc, it does 44.76 mi an hour on my phone GPS...... ........ yep. It's a bicycle. It was originally a huffy beach cruiser, I used eight other bicycles to you assemble this frame. I affectionately call it my Huffy-Davidson. I'll post a video of this thing for anybody who's curious to see it. This thing gets so much attention, I get tired of people crowding my bike every time I go to 7-Eleven and telling me how cool it is😎👍💯

It's basically a Honda. I have the templar x . Got it in feb. It's got 1700miles on it ....i love it

You're easily impressed.

Wow that XR 150L is nice, I hadn't seen one before.

I know myself too well to allow myself anything with less than 4 wheels, but it does make me miss my old Yamaha 350 Warrior. I rolled than thing in all four directions, the scary one was forward when the pin for the castle nut broke that held my right a-arm together while jumping, that shift in weight rolled me backwards and to the right while it somersaulted. I landed on my knee and rolled then it landed beside me. Within a minute we found the nut and half the pin, slapped it back together and I went home to get ready to limp through a shift. 10/10 fun stay safe out there sir!

Never messed with the bikes, but I've worked on a couple scooters and several Chinese ATVs. I would imagine the same holds true, there is seemingly zero quality control. You don't even know what factory they came out of because there are a few all producing the same thing to varying specs, you can have 2 with the same brand sticker on the plastics but they came from different factories. If you can get them cheap enough they're probably worth the gamble, just don't be surprised when the frames start cracking in weird places and you can't be afraid to work on it. Engines are pretty reliable, carbs on them are junk and should probably be upgraded the first time it gives you problems. On the plus side, parts are cheap and fairly universal for them so that's generally not a problem. I bought a complete generic ATV wiring harness with the coil, regulator, CDI, switches, and a bunch of other crap for $50, which fixed different problems on 2 different ATVs and a scooter.

I have 4 bikes. I have a hyper naked, a scrambler a old honda dirt bike from 86 and a KLR 650 adventure. I ride the KLR 80 percent of the time. I am now selling off the other 3. I have riden since i was a kid in the 80s.

HOWdy U-T-G, ... HILARIOUS Thanks COOP ...

I've been bing wayching your edelbrock carburetor posts, i have a 1966 Ford Thunderbird with a 390 fe. Can you please give advice on a carburetor for my car which i use as a daily driver. I was loving the VRS 4150. Is this too much carburetor? Please advise.... thanks.

The front shock rake is wild!

You need a new front rim. That one must vibrate a lot!

Front fender is nice to have after some rain .

"Watching the Butterflies" i had No Doubt...

I like this philosophical rant on woods bikes. I’ve got the ideal one. 1980 honda xl125. Starts first kick….looks dingy and has dents. Will go through anything

Don't need a lot of money to have fun. PS. I love that mini bike video. Watching from canada ontario. My kid and my nephews love you.

You have a prospective that Is totally different from myself that's what I like about your show

The original Hawk Tuah bike for the Hawk Tuah girl!

I remember when those really got big in the early 2000s We had a 110 gy6 style four wheeler and we beat the crap out of it !!! I did have to fix a few issues when we first got it. The plug wire was made with a metal core that was rusted I fixed it with an old plug wire from a car It never had any issues after that .

I bought a solid 1995 yamaha xt350. It sat 12 years neglected. With 100.00 i fixed it completely amd daily ride it to work now. Paid 350.00 for the entire bike. Its rare but you can find em still. I found mine in winter this year.

Make sure the fork bolts are lock tight. I had them come apart and did a few front flips

The kymco atvs are really great too, they are likr 3k new and unstoppable. I had one as a kid that was basically a honda 300 clone without 4x4 and it already had 15k miles when i bought it. I rode it trough the woods so fast the suspension would bottom out every day, flipped it a few times and it was still driving straight, once went mudding with it and the engine ran full of water, i only noticed when i did an oil change 3000miles later abd there was two extra quarts. After that it still worked perfect for years before i sold it

Can you get replacement parts easy or is it a bike that you ride till it breaks then have to “hot rod” it to keep it on the trail????

I'm liking those old Cherokees in the background

I had Japanese bikes, a through my youth, and then just quit riding for years, but I did get back into riding a few years ago, and ended up with a Suzuki Boulevard, and a V Star, but just didn't enjoy them. I ended up buying a Brozz, which seemed great, but I only ended up putting a little over 2,000 miles on, till it got stolen from my garage up at my farm, when I was storing it for winter. I ended up buying very slightly used Hawk that had almost no miles on it, and still had every decal on it, and it's been a really good bike. As long as a person knows the limitations of the bikes, and can do basic mechanical work to one , you can really wake them up , compared to the way they come stock ( very restricted, for emissions standards). I have a brother who has 2 Suzuki's, both 4 stroke Enduro bikes (DR, or DRZ), and he's had timing chain issues on one, and had to replace the entire top end on the other, and he couldn't have a boat load of miles on either, because he does not ride much. The CG, pushrod motors in the cheap 250(230cc) dual sport bikes are reliable, and really they are limited more by the fact they have the box tubing swingarm, and not the strongest forks, but the Honda XR150L that Tony claims is the same bike ALSO has the same forks, and swingarm. I keep my spokes in check , and have never bent a rim, but I know the limitations of the bikes. I ride for leisure, and know the bikes are not for anything even resembling hard Enduro. That being said the Honda is an OHC motor, and the bike is assembled in Mexico, but is it worth the extra money? Not to me. The HP figure on both the Honda 150, and the Chinese 230cc Dual Sports are pretty close, but the 230 is pretty torquey, AND can be woken up quickly, and cheaply with head porting, and a long duration cam, without the sacrifice of low end torque. They are not for everyone, but they are very capable of filling the needs, and providing a long service life for many. The issue of not having resale value is ridiculous, unless you are talking about the resale value of a bike boughten used, and then sold again, but if you were to go spend $ 6,000 at a stealership for a nice Dual Sport, and sell it a couple of years later, you will loose at least a couple thousand on it, and you probably would have been spending on upgrades during the two years. I see 20 year old Japanese bikes for sale often with lower mileage than with of my Chinese bikes. I also have a KPX, which is a " nicer" Chinese dual sport, and it has beefy suspension, and good rims, and is more on par with a Japanese bike. Its not got the power of a water-cooled 250 4 stroke, but it has plenty for me, and that's all I need.

Lifan makes a licensed copy of a couple Honda motors. Parts are interchangeable. Any of the horizontal motor stuff is actually pretty good. The nus, bolts, fastners, frame, etc.. is what they cheap out on. Swapping in Honda axels and motor mounts/bolts are usually the first recommend mods for these things.

I really like the trailer. Nice trailer indeed.

love the little dart