Lifan Gy200 A5

[madjbs]

They were a Lifan dealer, therefore it was Lifan's fault. End of story.

Trying to blame the consumer because they don't inform HQ is simply ridiculous.... A typical head in the sand, completely anti consumer centred business approach.

[Richard-BKK]

In a pro-active consumer centered business approach the consumer needs to be aware of its rights and need to take action when he feels that service is not correctly done.

In a pro-active consumer situation the consumer had to contact Lifan, that he (as the consumer) was not satisfied with the service offered by the dealer appointed by Lifan. And the consumer should have demanded that Lifan offered an alternative service solution.

Lifan is since today aware of the problem with the front-wheel bearing and that a dealer asked 3,000 THB for replacing it after a consumer reportedly reported 5 times a problem with the front-wheel.

Lifan did not got any feedback from it's dealer network, Lifan doesn't know the name of the dealer, Lifan doesn't know the name of the consumer and therefore cannot offer PRO-ACTIVE service.

[taninthai]

Seems lifan don't offer much at all

So Richard you still haven't answered my question about who is at fault but from reading your posts it seems to me you think it is the owners fault.

[taninthai]

Seems lifan don't offer much at all

So Richard you still haven't answered my question about who is at fault but from reading your posts it seems to me you think it is the owners fault.

[nocturn]

Well I got about 40 km's on it since I got it home, probably I will do a lot more riding tomorrow. The tank took 400 baht worth of gasohol 95. obviously when they said they gave me 100 baht worth they were telling a fib.

I got no complaints what so ever though, in fact I am quite chuffed. Of course I have to unlearn the shifting pattern of my last bike.

this one has neutral at the top and up-shifting is all downs. I have made a few embarrassing downshifts when I was trying to go faster

can you flip the linkage so it shifts properly?

25 years of riding says a reversed shift is a deal breaker

Edited March 23, 2012 by nocturn

[nocturn]

I'm not interested in a motocross bike per se, but am I correct that a motard-style bike is a motocross bike with street tires?

If so, and nice wide road tires are available, then voila!, instant 200cc motard for under 50k! That I am interested in. Great for the less than perfect roads around town with the long suspension travel.

Please keep us up to date with your impressions.

Lifan has a 250 motard that has set foot in the LOS. Maybe Richard can fill us in on the latest.

Yep, it's a warehouse I know very well and the Lifan LF250GY-7 did not so long ago passed emission testing. I'm absolute not involved with Lifan Thailand, but if I look back... I will estimate that in 3 to 4 months the 250cc will come available (as I'm known to calculate often to positive you maybe want to add a month or two).

Price will roughly be twice the price of the LF200GY-5, maybe even a bit less... The major price difference is in the 3rd party parts used, for example the Up-side-down FOX suspension fully adjustable front and rear (I was told that the suspension supplier can change, as talks are in full swing – so maybe it becomes Showa), liquid-cooling, real tires...

Anyway its amazing that the picture is already nearly10 months old, hardly touched it...

that bike looks like it has much better components. front brake, forks, swingarm all look much higher end than the 200

[nocturn]

I thought I would update a little more about my Lifan 200 cross which I bought a litlle more than a year ago.

A continuing concern I have had about the bike was the fact that the front brake disk was not at a precise right angle to the calipers. It wasn't out much, but you could see it and the brakes wore in accordingly.

I took it to the shop about 5 times over the last year about this issue, each time they told me there was nothing wrong. In my mind I began to believe that the calipers were fautly and mounted crooked. I intended to go by a new set of calipers at some point when I needed new front pads. About 2 months ago a noise developed which I thought was the brakes. It was a grinding sort of sound that came and went and particularly when I was just coming to a stop. I took it to the shop and they once again said there was nothing wrong. I even took it another local shop but because I told them it was the brakes, they also said there was nothing wrong.

I am not a mechanic, and I did not suspect what the problem reall was.

Well about 2 weeks ago up in the mountains my front wheel seized while I was going downhill on a highway. My bike dove down for a split second, and then whatever grabbed, released and I managed not to crash. It turns out that one of my bearings had been colapsed the whole time and the constant pressure on the good bearing finally forced it to seize.

Not only where both bearings totally gone, but also the chamber in which the bearing seats was ripped up as well. Here is a picture

I took the wheel back to Lifan with a bag full of shredded metal and told them I wanted a new wheel. They looked at the shredded wheel and told me straight up that there was nothing wrong; they could just stuff 2 new bearings in there and everything would be fine.

I blew up at this point, but there was no point to it, as the boss wasn't there.

Anyhow since I no longer live in Chiang Mai, I couldn't wait around to get it settled so I demanded they sell me a new wheel and I left there with a strong distaste for Lifan support and service.

From my experience, I can longer suggest Lifan as a good choice for motorcycles. My next ride will almost certainly be Japanese.

i had a tiger 250cc once and going over the rama bridge once the front fender mounting snapped and the fender bouncing up and down

that was the first of many problems and i was glad to get rid of the thing

china is ok for cheap consumer goods on ebay etc but you dont want low grade cheap parts on a motorcycle where your life wil be at risk when they fail

looks pretty dry in there too

[wantan]

They were a Lifan dealer, therefore it was Lifan's fault. End of story.

Trying to blame the consumer because they don't inform HQ is simply ridiculous.... A typical head in the sand, completely anti consumer centred business approach.

I agree with this. A motorcycle is not a fridge or a notebook. The customer can quickly die or get serious injured if something goes wrong on a motorcycle. But we are in Thailand. Life and health isn't that much worth here.

But this story could have happened with a Honda too. Lifan quality is sure not top end quality, but there are much worser bikes available in Thailand

[wana]

They were a Lifan dealer, therefore it was Lifan's fault. End of story.

Trying to blame the consumer because they don't inform HQ is simply ridiculous.... A typical head in the sand, completely anti consumer centred business approach.

Lifan quality is sure not top end quality, but there are much worser bikes available in Thailand

thats not a very optimistic thought but unfortunately its true

lifan quality is sure not top end ,but its not just as bad as jrd or a ryuka or a platinum,should we be thankful or not ? im not sure ........

Edited March 23, 2012 by wana

[wantan]

Lifan quality is sure not top end quality, but there are much worser bikes available in Thailand

thats not a very optimistic thought but unfortunately its true

lifan quality is sure not top end ,but its not just as bad as jrd or a ryuka or a platinum,should we be thankful or not ? im not sure ........

If you do not want to buy new cheap bikes thats up to you. Buy used japanese bikes and be happy. But there are people buying new cheap bikes and there will always be people doing so. So it makes sense to compare the "quality" of cheap bikes. But to be fair we should compare bikes of the same price range. It makes no sense to compare a cheap local made bike with a bike made in Japan that costs much much more

For me Lifan is somewhere below middle regarding quality.

1. High quality i would call brands like e.g. BMW, Ducati or Triumph.
   
2. Then there are e.g. the japanese bikes (produced in Japan) somwhere up to the middle in quality. Just to do a rating here. Of course some japanese bikes are top class, quality it always a matter of money too
   
3. In the middle may be something like SYM and the japanese brands bikes that are produced in Thailand.
   
4. Down to the middle in quality may be Lifan. It is a big company selling all over the world and therefore having some "real" logistic and of course some "real" QC, even if this lacks sometimes in countries like Thailand.
   
5. On the lower end i would rate some smaller companies. I do not want to name them, because we all know what happens then
   

But i still ask myself:

Where are the Lifan bikes (which are sold in Thailand) assembled?

Do they come as single parts and get assembled in Thailand? If so, where?

Or do they come (mainly) as one piece and only minor things get adjusted and checked before selling?

Assembling quality can make a huge difference. Even good quality can break down if there is poor assembling.

[JonnyF]

Little jap bikes like the Honda Wave are so cheap here, about 800 quid in my home currency, less than a decent mountain bike at home.

Anyone who buys Chinese crap to save 200 quid is pretty stupid IMO.

Same applies to buying a gy200 instead of a kawasaki ksr110 or klx250/125 or whatever.

It just makes no sense. These Chinese bikes are a joke.

Edited March 24, 2012 by JonnyF

[wantan]

Thank you for this new input and for the professional analysis of the IQ of motorcycle customers. I never have heard this argument before, really interesting

[ScubaBuddha]

Little jap bikes like the Honda Wave are so cheap here, about 800 quid in my home currency, less than a decent mountain bike at home.

Anyone who buys Chinese crap to save 200 quid is pretty stupid IMO.

Same applies to buying a gy200 instead of a kawasaki ksr110 or klx250/125 or whatever.

It just makes no sense. These Chinese bikes are a joke.

But a 200 Cross (LF-200 GY-5) is 45k. A KLX250 is 141k. That aint' no 200 quid.

[wana]

Little jap bikes like the Honda Wave are so cheap here, about 800 quid in my home currency, less than a decent mountain bike at home.

Anyone who buys Chinese crap to save 200 quid is pretty stupid IMO.

Same applies to buying a gy200 instead of a kawasaki ksr110 or klx250/125 or whatever.

It just makes no sense. These Chinese bikes are a joke.

But a 200 Cross (LF-200 GY-5) is 45k. A KLX250 is 141k. That aint' no 200 quid.

actually a klx 250 is close to 160k by the time you get it registered and plated

[roban]

But i still ask myself:

Where are the Lifan bikes (which are sold in Thailand) assembled?

Do they come as single parts and get assembled in Thailand? If so, where?

Or do they come (mainly) as one piece and only minor things get adjusted and checked before selling?

One year ago, I visited their company building in "Amata City Industrial Estate" near Bo Win/Chonburi, to have a look at the 250 Chopper.

I saw loads of assembled/half-assembled bikes in their large assembly-hall.

Even there were some (for me) unknown Lifan bikes, which are not on the market now.

I think, the bikes come "pre-assembled" in boxes, with frame and engine mounted.

And the Somchais put the rest together, like wheels, lights etc.