The Chinese Motorcycle

[Mortblanc]

The Chinese motorcycle is parked in the shed for a bit.

The battery is kaput!

I have a new one on order, should be here in a week. It is still ridable, since it does have a kick start feature, but WTH! I'm 70 and that particular operation is not appealing at the moment.

I did kick start it that last trip before I parked it temporarily. So I am considering it ridable in a SHTF situation. Probably better for a 17 year old to be stomping that pedal though.

Which brings up the thought, every problem I have had with this bike has been due to the electrics. You would think it was a British car from the 1960s!

All in all, I much prefer my Chinese scooter to the Chinese motorcycle. Rides better, handles better, has better cargo capacity and runs just as fast.

Yes, regret to say that the way the motorbike is geared and set up the 50cc scooter is just as fast overall after I "tweaked" it substantially. Yes, one can derestrict a 50cc and get top speed of 45/50mph on the flat. Increased acceleration also.

If I had it to do over I would probably select a 150cc full size scooter over the motorbike. The scooters you guys get as 125cc are offered as 150cc over here since we do not have graduated licensing. Every license is a "full license". A 150 will run 55-65mph without mods.

Then for an additional $50 you can replace the jug/piston and take them to 175cc. $25 will get you a decent increased performance aftermarket scooter carb that one can adjust and re-jet properly. So for less than what you guys would call 75 pounds you can double the HP, torque and revs.

[Mortblanc]

Well, it is once more spring, and that means changing oil in the fleet and getting out on the roads and trails again.

Over the winter I succumbed to temptation and bought a used 150cc scooter. I got it just after 1st of the year, rode is a few miles to check it out and parked it for the winter.

A couple of weeks ago I got both it and the China-bike out of the shed and changed their oil and filters. I also re-jetted the carb on the scooter, opened the airbox and installed a "performance exhaust". The specs said it came with 10 HP but I think I have squeezed a couple more from it.

GPS indicates I am doing 65mph on it and have a 0-30 time of about 5 seconds. It keeps up with traffic everywhere but the motorway with no real effort and it would cruise at 50 or so all day long. In my area it is illegal to take anything on the motorway less than 250cc. The 150cc scooter is faster than my 250 cc dual sport.

On top of that I have about 40 liters of storage space under the seat and I have installed a top box on the rear rack that will hold about 30 liters more. It is a very nice grocery hauler. Fun too! Very frisky.

[Midnitemo]

BMW g310 has been part exchanged for a larger Roadster BMW , Africa Twin went in the same deal , but in place of the 310 i have bought a little Honda ANF125 Innova to use as a Motorhome scooter/ bug out bike , it came with an interesting back story , it was 17 years old but had only clocked 175 miles , it had previously belonged to film props company and had just been used lightly on film sets(most of the mileage had been pushed not ridden) tis a great little bike 9 bhp 4 gears , weighs 99kg wet, electric and kickstart , 0.7 ltrs for an oil change , screen filter for the oil and washable filter for the air , 100mpg is achievable , i've put about 700 miles on it since i got it , great little machine that traces its ancestry back to the mighty Honda Cub.

[Straight Shooter]

That’s a nice little bike ! MN .....you done well mate , good all rounder .....I am very envious !

[Mortblanc]

That is an especially nice bike MM. Have you replaced all the hoses? After sitting 17 years I would not trust them, tyres either. I'm sure you already know that, don't mean to be condescending.

Those horizontal Honda engines from 50cc-125cc have 70 years R&D in real world miles to their credit. More of them sold than any other engine ever created. The Australian Postal Service has put billions of miles on their fleet of "Posties". At something like 10 years use they would auction them off and some folks have over 100K kilometers on their machines and consider then just broken in.

There is a guy down in Devon named Nathan that runs a place called Dorthy's Speed Shop (he has a website). Dorthy was the name of the 110cc Postie he rode from Oz to London about 15 years ago. He organizes postie bike tours and such. Also an A2 light adventure bike rental service so people can try out an assortment of bikes before making a purchase.

The Australian Postal service has not had a bike that would hold up to their use since they abandoned the Honda. Right now they have gone to electric scooters and are hopelessly disappointed in utility and range.

[bigpaul]

Dorothys Speed Shop is in Braunton, North Devon not that far from my front door.

[Midnitemo]

Yes I read his book , Nathan Millard , i'd love a ct110 postie bike but they are hellish expensive to buy in the UK , i bought my bike from a Honda main dealer so it got a full service new rear tyre (perished I guess) and a year's fresh mot , i paid probably the new price when it was manufactured but as it has been out the UK dealer line up for about 8 years now i thought it was worth it , there is another cub available now but it is a single seater and more than double what I paid at 3.5k , love this machine , not quite as good as my CG but very close , i have stocked up on consumables just in case , and they are incredibly cheap , £10 for a drive chain , £8 for rear brake shoes , £10 for front pads , £25 for front and rear tyres ,(interchangeable with the CG) I now have 2 well proven shtf bikes in the shed

[bigpaul]

lets hope you can still get petrol after the SHTF!!

[Midnitemo]

2 large jerry cans equates to a conservative 1000 miles of use(probably in excess of 1200) that could be a year or more of use , i have 6 jerry cans and numerous 5 ltr plasticans i could fill but currently i just keep the two brimmed

[bigpaul]

time limited.
trouble with smaller bikes or any bikes come to that they make a lot of noise, post collapse that will be heard a long way off.
and what kind of condition are the roads going to be in post collapse? even tracks will be subject to erosion and damage.