2013 Platinum Px250 Enduro 67,000B

[NomadJoe]

Stumbled across a display of Platinums at Home Pro in Chalong the other day, . I was very surprised to see they had PX250 Enduro's available after everything we have heard with the difficulties with getting emissions passed with the GPX ZF250 and Lifan 250 Enduro, but catching up in the other thread it looks like the GPX's are here now.

Now I will say, I have owned a Platinum before and it was the worst bike I ever owned, but that was a 2007. I am wondering if 5 years on they haven't sorted a great many of the issues. I am actually considering this bike now. It certainly looked a lot better built than my old PX175 which never seem to run for more than a day. As temperamental as that bike was, it really went well in the dirt and in the hills. At least now if it breaks down they have a manufacturer branch in Phuket town, not just a dealer. Bike comes with 5 year warranty on engine, 6 mo. warranty on battery, and 2 year warranty on frame. They claim to have sorted the parts support issues with was what was blamed for the last Phuket Platinum dealer failing in 2008.

Price is 67k baht OTD, less than half a Kawasaki KLX 250.

Some really nice things about the PX250:

Great, modern looks.

Dual exhaust note sounds like a Ducati Monster.

USD Aluminum front fork.

Fork protectors

1 down 4 up gearbox, unlike Lifan Cross.

Really nice power, seemed the same as D-Tracker 250.

Hand guards standard.

LED turn signals standard.

Digital numerical gear indicator.

The ride felt very comfortable and natural. I didn't feel this way on the Lifan 200.

Braided cables

Rubber footpegs. (My PX175 had steel cleats.)

Manly looking skid plate, but now looking at the pics it may be plastic.

Turn signal has cancel, not just toggle back to center which for me means I then signal the other way.

Didn't like:

Some of the electrics looked similar to my dreaded PX175

Some welds not tidy, but looked structurally sound.

The bike is very tall. I can barely get my heels down when I'm in the saddle, and I am 6ft. (1.83m) but I wa in my sandles. Seemed the same height as the KLX250.

Seems to come stock with full dirt tires. The salesman agreed that isn't a good idea, but it's what his boss wanted. I would have them swap those for a 50/50. They did not perform well in the parking lot.

Braided brake cable blocks gauge cluster.

The main gauges are analog, but modern looking enough. All I ask is that they work, which will be more than I can say about my last Platinum.

The Phuket dealer I incorrectly identified as a Lifan dealer in a previous thread. They are on Bangkok rd. on the way into Phuket Town on ChaoFa East, from Chalong Cir, right hand side, 100M before the fire hose circle. The salesman, Jak, speaks much better English than anyone at Phuket Kawasaki, which isn't saying much actually. Jak is supposed to be contacting me with specs and the contact info for there other branches, so I will post that when I hear from him, but I don't seem to have very good luck when it comes to getting emails from Thai's that promise to email me.

My apologies for the grainy cell phone photos.

They also had a little pit bike, street legal, and the copy Phantoms, they call the "Monaco". Looked nice, especially the powdercoated one, but since I have zero interest in these kinds of bikes I didn't get any info.

Edited October 2, 2012 by NomadJoe

[Richard-BKK]

[canuckamuck]

That is very interesting, I took a chance on a Lifan cross almost 2 years ago now and there was a couple of hiccups, but over all the bike has earned my admiration. I still have the cross, and I think I am going to keep it. At least another year or two.

So I guess it is someone else's turn to take a chance on potentially an improved Platinum production line. The bike looks really good, but likely too tall for Thailand. But it has some really great features, and the price is very good.

So someone hurry up and buy one of these things, and the Monaco too, so we can see if Platinum has mended its ways.

[pauljones]

From the looks of the welding on the frame, I'd stay away.

[Richard-BKK]

I also have serious reservations with Platinum motorcycles, but everybody can improve there act. Still 67,000 THB seems a bit much, my hope is on Shineray that they can get homologation for their Shineray XY250GY-4 motorcycle it only costs 38,000 THB (currently not road legal). I know two persons who have a Platinum, one has a PX125 and the other a PX175 and they seem happy with it, but all the bad things I hear about Platinum cannot be all lies...

The Shineray XY250GY-4 comes with 18" wheels so it should be easy to get regular "supermotard" road tires for it without the need to change the rims... The Shineray XY250GY-4 is powered by a 230cc air-cooled engine presumably made by Zongshen

Edited October 3, 2012 by Richard-BKK

[RED21]

From the looks of the welding on the frame, I'd stay away.

It's been years since I had welding in shop class, but those welds don't look good...

Edited October 3, 2012 by RED21

[thaicbr]

I also have serious reservations with Platinum motorcycles, but everybody can improve there act. Still 67,000 THB seems a bit much, my hope is on Shineray that they can get homologation for their Shineray XY250GY-4 motorcycle it only costs 38,000 THB (currently not road legal). I know two persons who have a Platinum, one has a PX125 and the other a PX175 and they seem happy with it, but all the bad things I hear about Platinum cannot be all lies...

The Shineray XY250GY-4 comes with 18" wheels so it should be easy to get regular "supermotard" road tires for it without the need to change the rims... The Shineray XY250GY-4 is powered by a 230cc air-cooled engine presumably made by Zongshen

Umm that would be a nice enough weekend bike.. Zongshen ....Same basic engine as the Tiger 250rs.. that had a decent turn of speed especially low down. interesting.

and for more info..free advertising see here... http://www.motorcycle.in.th/forum/viewtopic.php?showtopic=4888

Edited October 3, 2012 by thaicbr

[Richard-BKK]

I also have serious reservations with Platinum motorcycles, but everybody can improve there act. Still 67,000 THB seems a bit much, my hope is on Shineray that they can get homologation for their Shineray XY250GY-4 motorcycle it only costs 38,000 THB (currently not road legal). I know two persons who have a Platinum, one has a PX125 and the other a PX175 and they seem happy with it, but all the bad things I hear about Platinum cannot be all lies...

The Shineray XY250GY-4 comes with 18" wheels so it should be easy to get regular "supermotard" road tires for it without the need to change the rims... The Shineray XY250GY-4 is powered by a 230cc air-cooled engine presumably made by Zongshen

Umm that would be a nice enough weekend bike.. Zongshen ....Same basic engine as the Tiger 250rs.. that had a decent turn of speed especially low down. interesting.

and for more info..free advertising see here... http://www.motorcycl...?showtopic=4888

Actually I think the engine is the same as the Tiger X-Road 250, and advertising? In the same category you can find posts for Yamaha, Honda, Kawasaki, Benelli and Hyosung to just the once I can quickly see....

Edited October 3, 2012 by Richard-BKK

[thaicbr]

I also have serious reservations with Platinum motorcycles, but everybody can improve there act. Still 67,000 THB seems a bit much, my hope is on Shineray that they can get homologation for their Shineray XY250GY-4 motorcycle it only costs 38,000 THB (currently not road legal). I know two persons who have a Platinum, one has a PX125 and the other a PX175 and they seem happy with it, but all the bad things I hear about Platinum cannot be all lies...

The Shineray XY250GY-4 comes with 18" wheels so it should be easy to get regular "supermotard" road tires for it without the need to change the rims... The Shineray XY250GY-4 is powered by a 230cc air-cooled engine presumably made by Zongshen

Umm that would be a nice enough weekend bike.. Zongshen ....Same basic engine as the Tiger 250rs.. that had a decent turn of speed especially low down. interesting.

and for more info..free advertising see here... http://www.motorcycl...?showtopic=4888

Actually I think the engine is the same as the Tiger X-Road 250

umm ok.. for some reason i was not impressed with that one. Lack of power.

[Richard-BKK]

I agree that the Shineray/Zongshen 230cc engine is not the most powerful, but the difference is that the X-Road 250 was priced at 99,000 THB (but road legal) and the Shineray XY250GY-5 is only 38,000 THB (currently not road legal). If the Shineray would pass emission testing and becomes legal it will probably cost 1000 to 2000 THB extra to get the motorcycle registered. Of course the Shineray is currently not road legal and I have no idea what the Thai importer is planning

Edited October 3, 2012 by Richard-BKK

[NomadJoe]

My apologies to Kuhn Jak. He had sent me an email yesterday to an account I don't check often enough. He also called me today to make sure I got the email. He actually found this thread and wanted to correct one error I made...the warranty is 3 years, not 5. He is interested in feedback. My main concern is the full dirt tyres that come standard, but I am curious what others think.

He sent me this and will be getting more things translated for the foreign market as time goes on. I'll see if I can't get a dealer list as well.

[apetley]

Judging by the pic from the rear the twin exhaust is pretty lopsided.

[NomadJoe]

Judging by the pic from the rear the twin exhaust is pretty lopsided.

I noticed that too but I think it is just the angle I took the photo at.

[martindavies]

155kg dry?

[wantan]

155kg dry?

No, with topbox loaded for the weekend party

[martindavies]

155kg dry?

No, with topbox loaded for the weekend party

Then that's ok then

[NomadJoe]

155kg dry?

Thai language specs say 130kg. Same as a KLX250.

[BSJ]

From the looks of the welding on the frame, I'd stay away.

Those welds are what we with a bit of welding experience have always called cocky sh1t. Please do not spend good money on these 3rd rate machines.

[BSJ]

As a cheap bit of fun up country I would pay 38000 baht for one of these.

[Rancid]

Well, considereing you said the Platinum was the worst bike you ever owned it only makes sense you would look at buying another one. I mean who wouldn't want to get screwed twice. To quote, but this time it is different. Chinese are utterly dedicated to quaility and not quick profit, I say go for it. If you experience deja vu, just ignore it.

[NomadJoe]

Well, considereing you said the Platinum was the worst bike you ever owned it only makes sense you would look at buying another one. I mean who wouldn't want to get screwed twice. To quote, but this time it is different. Chinese are utterly dedicated to quaility and not quick profit, I say go for it. If you experience deja vu, just ignore it.

Yes I realize it seems contradictory, (actually I lied, a 1993 CBR400RR I had in 2007 was way worse.. forgot about that one) but really it was mainly the electrics that was the problem. Never could get that sorted. Overall I liked the bike. It's just the charging system that was absolute <deleted>. The odometer quit working too if I recall, but the engine was strong and gearbox had no major moments. I didn't like the clutch pull on the 175 though. Very short friction zone. On the 250 felt like a whole different set-up. Still, the 175 was a blast in the dirt and hills, but a bit more power would be perfect. With presumed improvements, local manufacturer branch support with warranty and less than half the price of the KLX, yeah, I may be the guinea pig. For some reason I have never liked the feel of the KLX. That is one thing that was in my head as I raced around Home Pro on the PX...how effortless it seemed to ride than the KLX's and D-Trackers I have ridden. With the bad roads and at times bad weather, it's a perfect bike for Phuket IMO. I really can't stand driving the little Yammy much longer. I'm really regretting selling the Ninja 650R before my last trip home.

Edited October 3, 2012 by NomadJoe

[David006]

I have a 2006 PX175.....has 500kms on the clock..frickin great 53k baht washing line....once bitten mate?

[motocrosser]

Go on nomad get one,if good i might be the second person!

[Sateev]

Well, considereing you said the Platinum was the worst bike you ever owned it only makes sense you would look at buying another one. I mean who wouldn't want to get screwed twice. To quote, but this time it is different. Chinese are utterly dedicated to quaility and not quick profit, I say go for it. If you experience deja vu, just ignore it.

In 1965, Honda was making mediocre bikes that didn't leak a drop, but the alternative was leaky Lucas-electric'd British bikes, that handled well. Fast forward five years, and Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki were still making bikes that didn't leak, but now had suspensions as well, were light, and beat any British bike in the same class...

A lot can happen in five years.

[NomadJoe]

I have a 2006 PX175.....has 500kms on the clock..frickin great 53k baht washing line....once bitten mate?

Yeah I don't know of a happy 06-07 PX175 owner.

[motocrosser]

What color bikes does he have in phuket and what is price on the road,possible to test ride one there?

[NomadJoe]

What color bikes does he have in phuket and what is price on the road,possible to test ride one there?

Black and orange. 67k out the door. Plate in 2-3 weeks. One is set up for a "soft test ride" ie no gas in tank. They hang a water bottle full of gas off the handlebars which is connected to the carb.

[thaicbr]

What color bikes does he have in phuket and what is price on the road,possible to test ride one there?

Black and orange. 67k out the door. Plate in 2-3 weeks. One is set up for a "soft test ride" ie no gas in tank. They hang a water bottle full of gas off the handlebars which is connected to the carb.

Wow ... safe

sent from my ..................#

[NomadJoe]

What color bikes does he have in phuket and what is price on the road,possible to test ride one there?

Black and orange. 67k out the door. Plate in 2-3 weeks. One is set up for a "soft test ride" ie no gas in tank. They hang a water bottle full of gas off the handlebars which is connected to the carb.

Wow ... safe

Works well for short test rides. I was popping wheelies with no problem. Not sure what you think would be unsafe about it. Oh wait...it's thiacbr and a thread about Chinese motorcycles.. understand now.

[NomadJoe]

What color bikes does he have in phuket and what is price on the road,possible to test ride one there?

Black and orange. 67k out the door. Plate in 2-3 weeks. One is set up for a "soft test ride" ie no gas in tank. They hang a water bottle full of gas off the handlebars which is connected to the carb.

Just found Kuhn Jak's number. 081 367 5356. He speaks English well.