Would you consider this for first bike? By twowheeler (Read 1,528 times)

[twowheeler]

www.killermotorsports.com/IceBear_250cc_Street_Bike_p/ib-pss-250-p-f.htm

[cyborg]

I wouldn't mind it now,,,and a very good starter bike yes

[rockinez]

Only if you are willing to be your own mechanic.

First bikes should be a bit more dependable. Yamaha, Honda. Not a Vespa or China Scoots.
An old used Yamaha is a better first bike. Honda if you can afford it.

if you are an experienced auto mechanic, you may want to give it a try. If not you will not like the number of hours it takes to get a China Scoot in good enough shape to be dependable transportation.

Also you want the 257cc engine, not this one.

[rapidjim]

Mar 13, 2014 0:34:26 GMT -6 rockinez said:

Only if you are willing to be your own mechanic.

First bikes should be a bit more dependable. Yamaha, Honda. Not a Vespa or China Scoots.
An old used Yamaha is a better first bike. Honda if you can afford it.

if you are an experienced auto mechanic, you may want to give it a try. If not you will not like the number of hours it takes to get a China Scoot in good enough shape to be dependable transportation.

Also you want the 257cc engine, not this one.

I agree and disagree with this.

There are many folks that have bought chinese machines as their first machine and have done very well with them and there are others that have not had. Some of the issues that have happened are more along the lines of either not knowing what they are doing or just not doing it. The main key is to make sure that a GOOD PDI is done, whether you do it or have it done. Where Yamaha and Honda are good machines, they are more difficult to work one and parts are more expensive. Also there can be difficuty finding new parts for the older machines. Been there done that. There are a lot of used parts on places like EBay but, that can be a crap shoot too.

New vrs Used, when buying new at least you have a warranty. Of course that also depends on the dealer ( on or off line ) that you buy from. Some so called dealers could care less about after the initial sale service others are quite good. I can speak from experience that the Ice Bear ( the distributor not a dealer ) in CA does stand behind their warranty. The trick sometimes is getting your dealer to do their side of work involved in the warranty process. When buying used, you have to be careful that you are not buying someone elses headache. There are some great machines out there, you just have to take your time and look at what your buying. If you are not familar with what to look for, take someone with you that is.

IMHO, Ice Bear makes a great product for the money and stands behind what they sell. The trick is finding a dealer that does the same. Low price does not necessarily mean you are getting a good deal.

[kz1000st]

I think I speak from some experience here. First off this is not a scooter clone, it's a clone of a Honda Rebel engine at 233cc, two cylinder and probably five speeds. My "bike", Rocket is a clone of a 50cc Honda and has been almost bulletproof. Most stories of Chinese "Motorcycles' have been good ones. Rocket has been as good as any Japanese bike I've owned in terms of fit, finish and reliability. I don't have any evidence but my feeling is that Chinese bikes are much better than Chinese scooters. There's nothing but good reports on mine, Bi Metros and many Chinese dirt bikes. Cycle World just did a review of the SSR SR-250 dirt bike. They didn't use the word cheap, unreliable or poorly built once saying something like, "at $3600 this is a good alternative to much higher priced, similar size machines." If you like it, buy it. I don't think you'll be disappointed. You won't find a cheaper, recent vintage Japanese 250 for less.

[twowheeler]

IVE got the bug...the speed bug!

[Bashan]

It shifts? Yeah, I'd do it as a first bike. Now I'm talking motorcycle. If it was a scooter and didn't shift..first bike? Nope.....sorry. But I gotta tell ya, just twist and go these days, especially with the Super Sonic SYM? Ya gotta love it.

[cyborg]

sym is a very good brand,,,looking to get the wolf classic myself,,,,this weekend is a land rover discovery tho,,,so the wolf is going to be on hold for a couple weeks to a month

[rockinez]

The 257cc Linhai engine is the most important thing to me. This engine is only available in a Linhai or Yamaha scooter. Check around and you will find the 233cc clone has quality issues.

I agree the PDI is very important. Finding a dealer that actually does a good PDI is not so easy. I paid for a full PDI on mine in 2008. I ended up re-doing everything the dealer said he did, but did not.

If you can be your own mechanic, go for it. If not be prepared to be rejected by most scooter repair shops. They just will not work on China Scoots at a lot of places.

[kz1000st]

The 257 Linhai is twist and go, this motor is a motorcycle engine with a manual clutch and foot shift. I haven't seen a knock on Chinese motorcycles in quite a while. But now you've stirred my interest.

OK, I just searched the web and while I don't see any specific sites warning you away, there are a couple of references to problems. Now my attitude isn't unknown about this. Most "Problems" are stupid owner faults who didn't bother to check for loose bolts or look over the bike like a dealer would. There was a video on Youtube but this computer isn't running it. Below are the usual "Buy a used Japanese bike. Everyone I know who has one of these has problems" quotes without a specific issue mentioned. Not to insult anyone but I always have my doubts about those quotes. Any Brand Name dealer could sign on, pretend to be a regular person and warn away people to further their own goals. Frankly I've called out a few and all they do is drag out dated facts.

If it were me I'd go for it. From the few user statements it runs like a Honda 250 ought to for half the price, new.

[rapidjim]

Mar 13, 2014 22:09:50 GMT -6 rockinez said:

The 257cc Linhai engine is the most important thing to me. This engine is only available in a Linhai or Yamaha scooter.

Hmm not to sure what to say about this. Being "Policitically Correct" I guess you are correct in your statement.

However..........

The VOG 250, 260 and 300cc found in such Chinese machines as the Tank 260, Roketa 250B, Xingvue Vog 260. Ice Bear 300cc and others are a Yamaha/Linhai designed motor. I have sold all the above machines and have not once had a motor issue except when a customer overheated his because of a broken coolant line. Also the shop service manual we use is the Yamaha YP250 Majesty, for these Yamaha/Linhai designed motors.

Another point, the original poster was asking about a machine that has a clutch and a manual transmission, to my knowledge Yamaha/Linhai ( clone or otherwise ) are not available with a manual trans. The closest thing out there is an Ice Bear 300cc trike that has had the transmission gear case in the motor, modified for Forward, Neutral and Reverse.

[kz1000st]

I finally got the video to play. While I sympathize with the guy I'm hearing the same tune. "Make sure you check that all the nuts and bolts are tight." Duh, so what else is new? I see this bike is from Ice Bear so I'm guessing it comes with good hardware and not soft, cheap bolts. I would still buy it if it were me. It's been on my Hmmmm list for awhile.

The video is on youtube. Search Roketa MC-113 reviews.

I also found this one. He doesn't sound quite so annoyed with it.

[davec]

Just an FYI
I have the 300cc (Linhai) Ice Bear Trike, and have never had any issues with it.
I did have a coolant line get a hole poked in it, (routed around a square edge) but an easy fix, but never any other issues.
and, if the weather stays like this, I might just get to ride the dern thing.

[davec]

Dude is not happy with his

[kevinharrell]

Mar 14, 2014 12:49:56 GMT -6 davec said:

Dude is not happy with his

But, he does not seem too unhappy with it either. He seems as though he is one of those people who wants to get a bike in a box, open it up and go without checking out the tightness of the bolts etc.