Lifan 250 V Twin (Owners: up-to-date reviews & thoughts please!)

[Sumarianson]

Being as I have owned one since 2013 I think that I would be knowledgable enough to comment.
In short, these are great value bikes and I dont know why I don't see more of them on the road. The parts are easily obtainable and cheap. The bike runs very well, you must keep the air filter clean though. The clutch is not the best but you get used to it. It easily beats the PCX and looks better for much less. I like the retro look. I have had the bike 5 1/2 years and it is cheap to run and no trouble.
I changed the tyres to Michelin after 4 years. The battery I also changed and upgraded after 3 years.
All in all a great bike and highly recommended. I have had many bikes in the UK and Ireland. Honda, Kawasaki, and others. This is great for Bangkok if you like to ride. If you want to go to the mall and back then a 125 or PCX suits.

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[Sumarianson]

I bought one and basically you get what you pay for. I would certainly not recommend them to anyone else

So what did you find wrong with it? Remember it is not in the same price bracket as a Yamaha V250 and cannot be compared to such.

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[Sumarianson]

You dont know the bike so why the negative comment? You are spouting off in ignorance. If you want to pay large sums of money for a name then do so. I am looking at something that is cheap to buy, cheap to run, and so cheap that if it is wrecked in an accident at least I dont have to worry about the cost to replace it as it would be cheaper than insuring it for the last nearly six years. [emoji9]

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[AllanB]

Sold my Lifan X-Cross 200 to a Russian guy, he arrived to collect it with his GF and they each had a 25kg rucksack with them and I was shocked to think they were going to ride home, a 500km trip.

 

Anyway, I fitted the old pannier rack i had made, back on the bike and they strapped everything on, front wheel almost off the ground and they set off on their .....3,500km tour of Loas and southern Thailand.

 

Got an email from them a couple of weeks later sayiny "2,000+km in and bike is fine."

 

Crazy Russian!! A good 200kg payload with not a great weight distubution......

 

The reason I sold it, not enough power for 2, bought a CRF250, but that's another story.

[ktm jeff]

Allan , youve had that Honda nearly 6 months now. Have you or the dealer managed to get it running right/smoothly yet. You said it was bad below 4,500 rpm. Has the vibrations improved any. It should have 6 or 7 BHP more than the Lifan , but not the low rev torque , which is what you said you missed. The Honda also weighes a lot more. Sad you sold the Lifan.

[Baldrik]

On 8/26/2018 at 8:56 PM, Agusts said:

What is 250D stands for...!  New model...? 

I heard of 250P which has fuel injection as oppose to carb, but what is a D version.... 

http://www.lifanmotos.net/product/tzc/2017-03-23/42.html

 

LF-250D aka V16 is a more modernized version of the LF-250B.  Front and rear disks, led headlights, etc.

[Agusts]

On 8/29/2018 at 6:18 AM, Baldrik said:

http://www.lifanmotos.net/product/tzc/2017-03-23/42.html

 

LF-250D aka V16 is a more modernized version of the LF-250B.  Front and rear disks, led headlights, etc.

Looks nice,  redesigned body too,  front disk have holes for ABS,  but it does not mention ABS in the specs...!  ?

 

But only 120km max speed, I guess it's heavy... 

 

Any idea of price...?  

[Issanman]

 

[Agusts]

It looks the part, but i guess hard to get parts and service in los,  I wish lifan would have more dealers... specially in the south.

 

Some amazing bikes coming out of China next year, check out MoMo Motorbike on facebook...

Edited September 28, 2018 by Agusts

[Pepper9187]

Aaaah the Chinese bikes *sighs*, always looking good....until everything starts to fall apart.

[AllanB]

On 8/28/2018 at 11:05 AM, ktm jeff said:

Allan , youve had that Honda nearly 6 months now. Have you or the dealer managed to get it running right/smoothly yet. You said it was bad below 4,500 rpm. Has the vibrations improved any. It should have 6 or 7 BHP more than the Lifan , but not the low rev torque , which is what you said you missed. The Honda also weighes a lot more. Sad you sold the Lifan.

The dealers here are a waste of space, my first mod is going to be a 13t front sprocket, give that a try. After that remapping the fuel, as when it is cold it seems to have more torque. I assume that is the rich running boost. I may be wrong but the vibration felt like labouring.

 

I am very sad I sold the Lifan, but can't keep both, as for "bits falling off" nothing fell off mine, it was great little bike. I wish they would do a 350 single, copy that Aprillia I had. 

[Pepper9187]

 

On 8/28/2018 at 5:05 PM, ktm jeff said:

Allan , youve had that Honda nearly 6 months now. Have you or the dealer managed to get it running right/smoothly yet. You said it was bad below 4,500 rpm. Has the vibrations improved any. It should have 6 or 7 BHP more than the Lifan , but not the low rev torque , which is what you said you missed. The Honda also weighes a lot more. Sad you sold the Lifan.

 

I rented the CRF250L in chiang mai few years ago, that bike is incredibly .... slow and under-powered i could not believe how "bad" it was.

It was like 4 years ago and the bike had a couple of years (not much, it had less than 20,000KM on the clock), seems they have now improved the engine, anyway terrible memories of that bike, i remember the vibrations very well too, or at least my bones do.

 

Apparently changing the sprocket + putting and exhaust and air filter is a must do on that bike if you want to get any power out of it, or at least for the older models.

[ktm jeff]

AllanB. I know from experience, just how bad some Honda dealers are. Is there an independent mechanic that can take a look, without invalidating the warranty.  I'm no fan of Honda for several years, since their quality went downhill, but your bike sounds like it has a genuine problem.  You have years of riding experience, so it's not you imagining a problem. There is a problem.  Is it valve clearances, or even valve timing. Just because it's a new bike doesn't mean it can't have an assembly problem. This engine has had fuel injection problems, so is the fuel pressure correct. Does it have the crank problem as the 283cc engines do. Does the fault lie with engine balance. Has Honda used their cracked big/main bearing design on the engine. Something internally is wrong and needs a proper technician to look into it. Not a Honda clown. Good luck with it. Honda quality isn't what it used to be. 

[ktm jeff]

Pepper9187. Single cylinder engines can vibrate a bit, but Allans is bad all the way up to 4500 rpm. Power wise they are not too bad,  although low rev torque is low. The Kawasaki KLX 250 is a much better,  lighter bike, but still not as smooth as a multi cylinder engine. 

[AllanB]

19 hours ago, ktm jeff said:

Pepper9187. Single cylinder engines can vibrate a bit, but Allans is bad all the way up to 4500 rpm. Power wise they are not too bad,  although low rev torque is low. The Kawasaki KLX 250 is a much better,  lighter bike, but still not as smooth as a multi cylinder engine. 

The CRF does have a little vibration, but that band is only about 1000rpm and not a big concern, the real issue appears to be fuelling as when cold (running richer) it runs much better. When it is warmed up the problem manifests itself in the form of "labouring" at anything below 4,500rpm.

 

Since I switched from the Lifan to Honda I have had to change my riding style. The Honda has to be revved, the Lifan had a lot of low rpm torque. At the other end of the rpm scale the Lifan ran out of puff at around (est) 4,000rpm, at 5,000 the Honda gave you a power punch in the back.

 

So yes, a 13t sprocket is the first thing when I get back.

 

I think it is down to modern engine design, my ex-wife bought a Renault Megan 1.4 which allegedly had 75bhp, but you were almost at valve bounce before the power kicked in. I hated that car. I now have a common rail CDTI diesel van which has a nice wide power band from 1500-3000rpm, so gear changing is not constantly on my mind.

 

I spend half my time looking at the Honda's tacho.

 

As I have said I wish Lifan would make a simple 350 single....with a conventional gear pattern.

 

I do feel it is down to engine design, Jap engines have always needed revving..because they could and now climate change regs demand they lean them down to bugga all fuel. The Lifan is an old design...old is better.

 

....gee I am lost without spellcheck.

[Pepper9187]

Ahahah i had a megane 1.4E engine (e stands for ... energy).

 

What a piece of garbage, i "rolled" it a a snowy / icy road, the beast was suffering too much anyway, i put her out of her misery.

[AllanB]

On 9/16/2018 at 3:08 AM, Issanman said:

 

I am not a big fan of image instead of substance, if you are going to do this it should be 500cc or more. Yamaha started this thing, with the Virago, but at least they gave it 500cc+ as the starter models. I know they made a 250 but that was later when the bike was proven.

 

A crusier is a great idea but there is no substitute to "kubic inches"...and 270 degrees.

 

The Chinese are going for western markets, so "come on cookie boy why you no rissen?"

[ktm jeff]

AllanB. If it's a fueling problem from the factory, decided if your going to change the exhaust, or any other modifications, then have a EJK fueling processor / tuning CDI installed. These, along with a professional rolling road tune, would help many emmision strangled bikes, not just Honda. I'm afraid I can't help you in finding where to take it, I'm in Chiang Mai. 

[AllanB]

On 10/5/2018 at 6:14 AM, ktm jeff said:

AllanB. If it's a fueling problem from the factory, decided if your going to change the exhaust, or any other modifications, then have a EJK fueling processor / tuning CDI installed. These, along with a professional rolling road tune, would help many emmision strangled bikes, not just Honda. I'm afraid I can't help you in finding where to take it, I'm in Chiang Mai. 

I think you are right, I don't expect miracles from the 13t sprocket and than I am going to have to do some mods. There is a lot of stuff on Youtube about the EJK kit and maybe I am going to have join the 21st century.

 

What is the cost of the EJK in Thailand?

Edited October 6, 2018 by AllanB

[Issanman]

The new Lifan 250 V-twin is now on the Thai Lifan website.