I live in Costa Rica, and have an KLR650, which is a great bike for long distance travel, once you set it up the right way. I also have an Yamaha YBR125, which is made in China, but it seems OK after two years of daily use. since the KLR is so heavy, I was thinking of buying a lighter dirt bike for my venturing off road in the boonies. I went to the Yamaha dealer, to check the new 250 and 125 dirt bikes, and the mechanic warned me of oatmeal materials, the wheel hub of one bike cracked two times on a new bike, perhaps a pebble striking it. Yamaha has a name to keep high, I don´t get it. We have many strange brands chinese made bikes now. The Bajaj seems OK, another mechanic told me, but they don´t make dirt or dual purp. bikes. So now I was looking at what is available locally, and this Jailing 150cc came up. Jailing JH 150GY-2 is the name. And it has a kickstarter too, which is a great thing to have. On the KLR, I have had problems with the Regulator, and then you are stuck, unless you can push start it. down hill that is. Anyone has experience with this model. It seems that we cannot expect longevity with to-days quality, but let´s say five years problem free operation? Or 50 thousand kilometer? Thanks, Jake.

Good question! Like you I'm curious too and have been looking - not riding - at a couple of Chinese offerings. Among other bikes I also have the new Yamaha Tenere in which I find the materials to be everything but oatmeal, so I'm kind of puzzeled by your mechanic's comment. Mech friends of mine have warned me against the Chinese products being of oatmeal materials, though. But this was a couple of years ago - maybe things have changed for the better? I'm very tempted in trying out the Jailing. If it manages 50K it'd be a lot of bang for the buck. (The Bajaj is Indian, btw.)

EDIT: I did a search on YouTube for QingQi, which is a Chinese bike on offer in Norway. The company is ISO certified in a number of areas so I thought maybe they make bikes that actually lasts. Then I came over this video which makes me think twice of a Chinese bike. Then again, this is of another brand - but maybe worth a look in any case.

YouTube - Why You Should Not Buy A Chinese Dirt Bike

__________________
HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

I second that, and I am chinese myself.

I have the privilege to have lived in Asia, N. America, and Europe, and I observe the difference in doing business in all these regions. Europe is by par the most involved in testing, re-testing bikes. Plus there is a huge culture (magazines and companies that test the quality of products) on providing feedback. There is also a demand for those feedbacks because european and american consumers focus on both price and quality, not just price alone.

Unfortunately, the mentality of most chinese companies focuses on volume alone, because they know they are famous with their cheap labor and low price, so pushing volume is the only way to make a profit. Testing culture is virtually non-existent. Don't get me wrong, there are chinese companies that focus on quality, but the general culture currently is just to make a quick buck by selling crap which looks like something worthy, and it is understandable that we consumers would treat the whole lot as lemons when there is just one lemon in the lot. In addition, they are still not the innovative kind. Yet, they copy foreign designs while using cheap materials and cutting corners wherever they can cut costs irrespective of longevity and safety. So you end up with a bike that looks decent and seem to have the necessary components but it's a garbage.

Granted, they just started and they are trying, and I have no doubt that they will eventually get to the internationally acceptable quality. However, I would not want to be their guinea pigs because it is my well-being we are talking about.

The Jailing bikes have been around here in Costa Rica for abt. two decades, so I kind of trust the brand, but...
Besides the KLR, I have a small 125cc YBR, and although it is made in China, I am satisfied with its performance.
It costs about the same as the JH150GY, around 1800 dollars here, so that is quite affordable. But the new Yamaha 4stroke 125 and 250 dirtbikes I saw at the dealer here seem not up to standards. The wheel hub on a brand new one was cracked badly twice, and had to be replaced twice. The engine material looks also suspicious to me. Too much commercial pressure from the cheapo competition?
So not all Chines made bikes are automatically bad. But there are a lot of brandnames that may not last long.
I start to feel I need a light and nimble bike over the top heavy KLR650, as I do not plan on long distance travel anymore. I already live in a "developing country," and there is enough adventure to be had right here. I don´t like highway driving, I like the gravel and dirt roads, leading to nooks and crannies no one knows. The main roads in Costa Rica are two lane roads, winding through the mountains and villages, too many trucks, too many speed limits, every kilometer there is a different sign, 40, 60, 80, and back. The cops stand around a corner and hope you will go 50 in a 40 zone. KM! No fun. So I put up my KLR for sale on the sale thread. Jake.

Pls keep us updated on how things turns out if you decide to go for the Jialing, Jake. I sincerely hope that the Chinese can bring us affordable low capacity bikes with acceptable quality. I for one do not need the latest in CANBUS technology. A straight Mikuni carb and a nice 250 cc will do it for me thank you :-)

__________________
HansP
All you wanted to know
about riding in Norway

That's my been my opinion of the Chinese automotive industry for a few years now. I've had the misfortune to work on a few Chinese bikes and the most common complaint seems to be around poor quality bolts and fastenings. They've also got chocolate wheel/steering head bearings and badly machined gasket surfaces.

There's a dealer on Westgate Rd in Newcastle, Tyne & Wear that is selling Chinese-made dirt bikes, very similar in appearance if not exactly the same as the one on that YouTube video. There's no way you could mistake it for anything made by a Japanese manufacturer, even the ones making their budget bikes in China. I've seen better quality castings acheived by amateur enthusiasts in backyard workshops, i.e. the footpegs wouldn't even survive a light drop. Funnily enough, the off-road bikes seem to be using exactly the same frame as their sportsbike offering :confused1:

I have been using this china made bikes for a while now Demak 150cc and i actually do motorcycle touring taking tourist around Borneo. it never gave me problems so fare. i have travel on this bikes 3400km it took me 18 days..i guess i was lucky. i guess its what i did before taking it on a long tour..the 1st thing is to inspect the bolts and bushings and the electrical components. i changed absorbers and bolts to high pressure bolts and even the handle bare to alloy. than i did a off road test of 250km before i a was satisfied with the bike. i guess it was the preparation. nowadays i do 1400kms touring on this bikes with my japanes guest. off and on road around north borneo.

So i guess its not a really bad bike but you have to make sure pre checks before taking it on a long ride.

check out the website: MOTORCYCLE BORNEO TOURING and MZ 125 SM/SX Owners Guide

You are best answered by going to, and joining two Chinese forum sites:

MyChinaMoto.com - Chinese Motorcycle Community and Resources and ChinaRiders.net - Your online China Bike community

The guy who started mychinamoto rode a long trip through China on a Jialing 150 dual sport.

Qingqi's motard and dual purpose bikes are essentially Suzuki products as Qingqi OEM's Suzuki's small engined bikes, such as the DR200.

A new bike that seems to show alot of promise using a liquid-cooled 250 is from Galaxy Motors. The model is the XTR 250

Puzey of South Africa have their own XTR 250, and might use Galaxy's manufacturing plant in China. The XTR 250 seems to be the next high-quality Chinese bike after the Qingqi to be released. More are on the way, so don't count the Chinese out.

The original question about the jialing is to not expect it to be a Honda, but should be easy to work on. With the help of fellow Chinese motorcycle owners on Chinariders.net and/or mychinamoto.com will keep you going.

Here is an article about the XTR 250 MX bike--the enduro and motard are pretty much the same bike, so will hold up like the MX bike

http://www.pitsterpro.com/uploads/docs/XTR%20250.pdf

Borneo--your blog is interesting--I would love to visit Borneo some day, and take a motorcycle tour there!