2008 Lifan GRX 250cc

[paxfaux]

I'm not even sure if the GRX is part of the model name.  I am talking about the 250cc lifan sport bike that looks like a bmw.  I have also heard it called the kung fu on the rabbit motor scooters site.

basically i want to know...   if speed and performance are your thing, is it worth it to spend the nearly 1000 more to get an extra 50cc (and and extra cyclinder)?


what are the pros and cons of the lifan grx 200cc vs the 250cc?

also have some questions about the 200cc  - the guy i am planning on buying from  (motorcycles-wholesale.com) says that the bike is a OHV (push-rod) i have read that there are OHC versions, he says that they do not make them that way anymore, is that true?

Does anyone know anything good or bad about Motorcycles Wholesale or Gordon Whittet the owner?

can you pull a wheelie on either the 200cc or the 250cc?

I am a first time bike buyer and on or the other of these seems like my best bet. 

if anyone has any suggestions on places to gather some unbiased info on either of these cycles i would appreciate it, thanks for your time.

[Buyingchina]

I'm not even sure if the GRX is part of the model name.  I am talking about the 250cc lifan sport bike that looks like a bmw.  I have also heard it called the kung fu on the rabbit motor scooters site.

basically i want to know...   if speed and performance are your thing, is it worth it to spend the nearly 1000 more to get an extra 50cc (and and extra cyclinder)?


what are the pros and cons of the lifan grx 200cc vs the 250cc?

also have some questions about the 200cc  - the guy i am planning on buying from  motorcycles-wholesale.com) says that the bike is a OHV (push-rod) i have read that there are OHC versions, he says that they do not make them that way anymore, is that true?

Does anyone know anything good or bad about Motorcycles Wholesale or Gordon Whittet the owner?

can you pull a wheelie on either the 200cc or the 250cc?

I am a first time bike buyer and on or the other of these seems like my best bet. 

if anyone has any suggestions on places to gather some unbiased info on either of these cycles i would appreciate it, thanks for your time.

If speed and performance are your thing the difference between a China 200cc vs 250cc is not note worthy.

Heres a link to info about the dealer you mentioned:  http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/293/ripoff0293236.htm

Unbiased info: spend some time doing research on any bike or dealer you choose. There might be a little bit of bias out there, I think. Your best bet is the old saying "cash and carry" , you see it, you like it. you buy it. Any cost saving idea's can go belly up, I know this first hand.

Hi. I don't know of any one that ever bought that (kung- fu)  bike, but I think its been on a dead list of unsold bikes at Rocketa for quite a while. Could be a bike thats drop shipped by them for any one lucky enough to snag a buyer! If you can find out the model year that should tell you the story.

Rockete link:  http://www.roketa.com/product/2628/0/24973.shtml


Edit: I just took a look and the pictures look like a copy/ paste job. That's a good way to do it if you don't have possession of the bike. The question would be, who actually owns the bike? And who has parts? Wheelies? I did those on a 10 speed bike before I ever had a motorcycle, but that's a distant memory of my younger past. Maybe some one will come forward with that info using a 200cc sport bike, like the LF 200-iii. Any volunteers?


Thanks. Buyingchina

[bellinbuffalo]

In RE:
 - the guy i am planning on buying from  (motorcycles-wholesale.com)

I bought two bikes from  Lifan- motorcycles-wholesale.com

and it appears that he just takes the orders for Rabbit Scooters
they are shipped from rabbit and all parts, etc have to go through Rabbit
(which takes forever) I am not impressed as yet with the follow through but if I Had know this at the start
I would have bought directly from rabbit at least they give you a phone number
Lifan wholesales has ignored my repeated request for one leaving me at the mercy of email
I sincerely hope he gets on the ball soon and gives the service that he advertises
as I am very loyal to merchants that do what they promise to do

[Buyingchina]

In RE:
 - the guy i am planning on buying from  (motorcycles-wholesale.com)

I bought two bikes from  Lifan- motorcycles-wholesale.com

and it appears that he just takes the orders for Rabbit Scooters
they are shipped from rabbit and all parts, etc have to go through Rabbit
(which takes forever) I am not impressed as yet with the follow through but if I Had know this at the start
I would have bought directly from rabbit at least they give you a phone number
Lifan wholesales has ignored my repeated request for one leaving me at the mercy of email
I sincerely hope he gets on the ball soon and gives the service that he advertises
as I am very loyal to merchants that do what they promise to do

motorcycles-wholesale.com : 12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

Lifan- motorcycles-wholesale.com :12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

Rabbitscooters.com : there (posted) old address (I have paperwork) was Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

WWW.Pocket-bikes-wholesale.com: 12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

This is just a tiny bit of the really interesting stuff that can be found on the WWW! Kind of reminds me of the classic movie "The Wizard of OZ",  or should I say The Wizard of Whittier ?  Who's really behind the curtain?

Buyingchina

[skadamo]

This is not an uncommon practice on the web.  It is great for a business because it creates a perception of a saturated market.  And also more chances to rank on google.

Google will get wise to it eventually.  Hopefully it is being done in a way that does not break google's guidlines or there could be penalties to those sites.

[almonpoole]

If speed and performance are your thing the difference between a China 200cc vs 250cc is not note worthy.

Thanks. Buyingchina

This is somewhat true but not the complete story. The difference between a 200cc and a 250cc is about 1.5 to 2 hp depending on the brand of China motor being used.

Because the 250 is about seventy to eighty pounds heavier that the 200 you will not notice hardly any performance difference in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. Howerver in 4th and specificly in 5th that extra 1.5 to 2 hp is the difference in about 7 to 10 mph stock vs a 200. On a China bike struggling to make 100mph this becomes a 7 to 10% gain which is huge for a China bike of such low displacement.

We do lots of mods to try and get an extra 3 to 4 hp out of the 200cc engines so they have just enough power to hit 100mph on a flat road.

If you decide on a 200cc engine and you are looking for optimal power output I suggest the following mods,

1: Rejet
2: Replace the air intake
3: Replace the exhaust with a performance exhaust

Also you can switch to a performance coil, performance head, etc, etc. In some cases it is better to start out with a 250 or larger bike.

If you need more speed than 100mph at or close to redline I suggest you buy a larger bike or at least a 250 with a higher compressions ratio where the hp is made in the higher rpms like a Ninja 250 or a Hyosung 250.

I hope this is somewhat helpful.

[paxfaux]

If speed and performance are your thing the difference between a China 200cc vs 250cc is not note worthy.

Heres a link to info about the dealer you mentioned:  http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/293/ripoff0293236.htm

Unbiased info: spend some time doing research on any bike or dealer you choose. There might be a little bit of bias out there, I think. Your best bet is the old saying "cash and carry" , you see it, you like it. you buy it. Any cost saving idea's can go belly up, I know this first hand.

Hi. I don't know of any one that ever bought that (kung- fu)  bike, but I think its been on a dead list of unsold bikes at Rocketa for quite a while. Could be a bike thats drop shipped by them for any one lucky enough to snag a buyer! If you can find out the model year that should tell you the story.

Rockete link:  http://www.roketa.com/product/2628/0/24973.shtml


Edit: I just took a look and the pictures look like a copy/ paste job. That's a good way to do it if you don't have possession of the bike. The question would be, who actually owns the bike? And who has parts? Wheelies? I did those on a 10 speed bike before I ever had a motorcycle, but that's a distant memory of my younger past. Maybe some one will come forward with that info using a 200cc sport bike, like the LF 200-iii. Any volunteers?


Thanks. Buyingchina

thanks for the advice.  So you are saying that the "kung-fu" is sort of discontinued?  I noticed that the pics he had of that pic were the same as ones i saw of them at a show.  sounds like the acceleration difference between the 200 and the 250 is little or none so probably not worth the extra money for me. 

[paxfaux]

In RE:
 - the guy i am planning on buying from  (motorcycles-wholesale.com)

I bought two bikes from  Lifan- motorcycles-wholesale.com

and it appears that he just takes the orders for Rabbit Scooters
they are shipped from rabbit and all parts, etc have to go through Rabbit
(which takes forever) I am not impressed as yet with the follow through but if I Had know this at the start
I would have bought directly from rabbit at least they give you a phone number
Lifan wholesales has ignored my repeated request for one leaving me at the mercy of email
I sincerely hope he gets on the ball soon and gives the service that he advertises
as I am very loyal to merchants that do what they promise to do

damn, thats to bad to hear taht.  Did you at least get the cycles?  it sounds like the poster on the ripoff website never got a bike.  I was planning on calling the dealer before making a purchase anyways so i guess that would have saved me.  Going by what the guy says on his website (motorcycles - wholesale) he sounds like a really great dealer, but i was of course skeptical.  Guess i will have to keep looking. 

Anybody happy with a particular dealer?

[Buyingchina]

With every on-line seller there are happy stories and sad stories. This is the nature of buying on line.

I think that buying from an established seller with a retail store is the best bet since a  2 to 3 hundred dollar savings won't matter when you get stuck by a seller that won't honor their warranty. You wouldn't pay up front and pick up a damaged bike would you? Well online sellers can show a web page full of parts, and that doesn't mean that they have them in stock when needed, or at all for that matter.
Many of these sellers don't have possession of the products they sell and will never admit it. I have seen sellers take a customers money for a bike and when its received they find out it was bought from another seller or maybe an importer warehouse. All of these guys have some really good and believable excuses when you catch on and start asking questions like why is my bike a different brand then what I ordered? Why are my parts the wrong brand or color when you continually display the correct parts as being available?
Online sellers have an interesting warranty that read carefully actually tell whats NOT covered. And after you read it you will realize that almost nothing is covered by their warranty!
The idea is to make you think you have a good warranty and the clever way its presented instills consumer confidence. A classic example is the 3YEAR WARRANTY! This is absolutely the most  ridiculous claim to date! Just ask a real biker, or bike shop.
 Before buying a bike try to order 3-4 silly little inexpensive parts (a bulb, a foot peg pad, a dip stick gasket, and a spring for the foot brake) to see how good their service really is, make sure they are wear parts that are specific to the bike you are thinking of ordering, this way they can be used or sold later.

Edit; My contact at Rocketa that I buy parts through said that "Kung Foo" sales have been dead flat due to price and their "Fugly look". It was never told that its been discontinued by either the manufacturer or Rocketa. Usually Rocketa  runs a closeout (discontinued) sale to dealers. This usually generates sales to help liquidate stock on models they want to clear out. As far as I know Rocketa doesn't sell to the public.
Please remember, the description "Fugly" was not mine. I think its kinda nice, but a slightly unusual looking bike.

 "You get what you pay for, and it's usually less than expected" -Buyingchina

[almonpoole]

motorcycles-wholesale.com : 12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

Lifan- motorcycles-wholesale.com :12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

Rabbitscooters.com : there (posted) old address (I have paperwork) was Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

WWW.Pocket-bikes-wholesale.com: 12260 E. Washington Blvd unit A Whittier, CA. 90606

This is just a tiny bit of the really interesting stuff that can be found on the WWW! Kind of reminds me of the classic movie "The Wizard of OZ",  or should I say The Wizard of Whittier ?  Who's really behind the curtain?

Buyingchina

It's Alfonso Gomez!!!!

[paxfaux]

With every on-line seller there are happy stories and sad stories. This is the nature of buying on line.

I think that buying from an established seller with a retail store is the best bet since a  2 to 3 hundred dollar savings won't matter when you get stuck by a seller that won't honor their warranty. You wouldn't pay up front and pick up a damaged bike would you? Well online sellers can show a web page full of parts, and that doesn't mean that they have them in stock when needed, or at all for that matter.
Many of these sellers don't have possession of the products they sell and will never admit it. I have seen sellers take a customers money for a bike and when its received they find out it was bought from another seller or maybe an importer warehouse. All of these guys have some really good and believable excuses when you catch on and start asking questions like why is my bike a different brand then what I ordered? Why are my parts the wrong brand or color when you continually display the correct parts as being available?
Online sellers have an interesting warranty that read carefully actually tell whats NOT covered. And after you read it you will realize that almost nothing is covered by their warranty!
The idea is to make you think you have a good warranty and the clever way its presented instills consumer confidence. A classic example is the 3YEAR WARRANTY! This is absolutely the most  ridiculous claim to date! Just ask a real biker, or bike shop.
 Before buying a bike try to order 3-4 silly little inexpensive parts (a bulb, a foot peg pad, a dip stick gasket, and a spring for the foot brake) to see how good their service really is, make sure they are wear parts that are specific to the bike you are thinking of ordering, this way they can be used or sold later.

Edit; My contact at Rocketa that I buy parts through said that "Kung Foo" sales have been dead flat due to price and their "Fugly look". It was never told that its been discontinued by either the manufacturer or Rocketa. Usually Rocketa  runs a closeout (discontinued) sale to dealers. This usually generates sales to help liquidate stock on models they want to clear out. As far as I know Rocketa doesn't sell to the public.
Please remember, the description "Fugly" was not mine. I think its kinda nice, but a slightly unusual looking bike.

 "You get what you pay for, and it's usually less than expected" -Buyingchina

Wow that actually really good advice, thanks!  Probably wouldn't have thought of that myself.  Don't worry, you didn't offend me with the 'fugly' comment.  I haven't made up my mind if i like the look or not and if i cared to much what other people thought i probably would not be interested in a 200cc chinese bike

But just so i know, the only real disadvantage (and it is a major one) of buying a discontinued bike is that if something breaks it will be hard if not impossible to find replacement parts?

I am still considering the chinese bikes, but i saw this: http://www.buyhot123.com/productinfo.asp?id=5226

I saw another site, global something, that looked exactly the same.  I got to it from a link on another site that was supposed to be for classified ads.  I thought it was going to be a used bike. 

whats up with that site.

thanks guys and especially buyingchina, you are giving great support.