I stay in Uganda a lot and have an MTR125 (same as a Senke CG125, which is a copy of a Honda CG125) and agree with most of the other posters - they are good, CHEAP bikes.

The big lumps (engine, wheels etc) are very strong but the fiddly bits (chains, wheel bearings etc) tend to be cheapy stuff that needs replacing more often than on a German/Japanese bike. But spares are everywhere and every village seems to have a bike mechanic so it's not a huge issue.

I paid $400 for my indeterminate-aged bike. They are available new for around $900. Secondhand Japanese bikes are available here but are MUCH more expensive, and not necessarily more reliable - they will have led a hard life and may not have been serviced and repaired correctly.

I quite like the idea of riding around Africa on a bike that cost the same as a pair of tyres for a BMW GS!

How about paperwork?
 

Hey guys,

Very interesting what you did Oceanjoy :)

I'm also a big adviser to buy local cheap bike :)

Question is about the paperwork, howdoes it go to
1) register the bike in Mombasa? DO you need to be resident there in the first place?
2) once itis properly registered, how do you get a carnet? do you need any in that case?

We will be following your comments with great interest!

Gautier

A friend of mine runs a few Jialing bikes for him and the supervisors on a farm in Zim. He runs them for a year or two the replaces them - that has worked well - they have not had big issues.


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indian bike
 

Hi,

I'm travelling since a couple of months on a local bike as well. It's not a chinese one but an indian one called TVS. It's 125cc and i just passed the 10.000km without any big problems.
I think regarding spareparts you might be better off with the boxer or Haojin.

My bike is registered in Congo and i got a carnet issued for it in germany.

Let me know if you need more info.

I will be flying into Cape Town the middle of December. I am trying to find a reputable chinese motorcycle dealer there, can anybody recommend me one.

I would love to be as best prepared before I arrive so I don't spend a lot of time looking for a dealership when I get there. I hope to get a dual sport/enduro type chinese bike.

cheers

Try the Wilddogs forum, and far more traffic for South Africa

Search the Gumtree and OLX.za classifieds, tons of bikes advertised and you will get an idea of the brands on offer.

However, a word of advice : not all Chinese brands are equal. Do your homework on which manufacturer made the bike you are looking at and do some googling on its reliability and capabilities.

For example, I had a 200cc Zhongshan dual sport in the Philippines, which is the most fun per $ bike I have ever owned. Rebranded in Philippines as a Motorstar MSX200II, but sold by Zhongshen as a 'world bike' in 150cc and 200cc versions in other countries.

You want to check availability in other countries, if parts and support is an issue.

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Nextlife, if you have you mind set on Chinese then I would recommend looking at "Motomia" dealer in Cape Town.
There are a bunch of other chinese bike dealers - they all just rebadge - so not sure what brand of bike it really is.
Anyway Motomia seems to have the best quality. I would not bother looking at other dealers. Indian made Bajaj can also be found but are scarce.
Second hand to be found in the R7000 - R10000 price range ($550 - $800).

Have you thought about a second-hand low km's JAP bike instead?
Yamaha or Honda 125cc. You can get many good ones in the R10000 to R15000 price bracket. ($800 -$1200).
Going JAP would be my advice if budget allows.

Earlier this year we completed a 20.000km trip across South America on brand new 200cc Chinese motorcycles.

We counted about 110 failures in 5 months. 30% of the time we spent looking for spare parts an getting the frame or engine mended. If you are not familiar with how to fix regulator, ignition, carb., or changing a piston I would recommend buying a proper bike.

However, (like mentioned earlier) maybe not all Chinese bikes are like ours.

Interesting thoughts, folks.

I rode the wheels off a Lifan GY-5 (200cc enduro) in Canada for a year and change, and then got a Konker KSM200 (a Quinqui copy of the DR200) for another year. Both bikes were stone reliable.

Since then, I've often wondered if this was the best way to travel developing countries; it's all you see on the roads in the Caribbean. If you were really ambitious, you could even pony up the dough to buy a Honda CG125 motor to drop into some of these chassis, I'm sure.

I also wonder how much sense it would make, if you were shipping a bike, to purchase a DR200 and then just repair the odd broken bit with Quinqi parts along the way.

I think if I was headed down to the bottom of South America, I'd be very tempted to fly to Mexico and buy something there for the rest of the trip.

Also note that some posters pointed out Indian bikes can also be affordable alternatives, although I personally have no experience with them in Canada.

I'd consider a Sym Wolf 150, too -- I think they are fairly common around the world, and fairly affordable, and pretty reliable (made in Taiwan, not China). I think if I was buying a new bike in Canada to ride south, it'd be high on the list.