Yea, it's definitely still "early days" for these bikes. The good news is every subsequent generation of bikes seems to improve. Many here may have read various ride reports of guys buying China 125's and 250's in S. America and riding round. Just a few years ago these bikes DID fall to bits ... and not just bad paint and rust.

But they seem to be getting better. I've give them a couple more years. Even then, I doubt they will match Japanese fit and finish or build quality. You get what you pay for.

For me finish and build quality aren't that important if the engine hangs together.
The rest, I can deal with myself, do my own upgrades. Things like crap bearings can be replaced with quality ones, wiring can be upgraded where needed.

Step by step ... the yellow peril is upon us.

Not a lot to do about the fork legs chrome rusting though. At the moment I would prefer a secondhand CRF250L to this, in supplement to a quality issue I don't like China's human rights, equality and actions in the South China Sea.

I avoid buying Chinese whenever possible.

I like the effect the aggressive pricing has on traditional motorcycle manufacturers and have noted with interest the globalisation of factories - but I factor that in to any considerations. I checked out an old Toyota Avensis with an eye to buying and it was simply the worst Toyota I've ever seen with the dash cracked by the sun and a load of rattles - made in the UK....

Chinese bikes, at least in the US, are ALREADY there! The Haosen Hawk is selling for about $1300 to $1400 shipped to your house. Dozens of owners reporting good things about them, and some are actually taking them on trails and one guy even took his to a mild MX track (he crashed a couple times, so his broken parts are his fault ). The downside to be seen in the early days--these are NOT California legal as far as CARB--on road or off-road and a few other states, most notably Pennsylvania. Some are still getting plated in New York.

The true test is one guy on Chinariders is planning a trip from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia where he lives, to Yuma where I live, and south to wherever everyone seems to ride to here on Horizons--tierra del fuego. He already bought his bike and is playing around with accessories for a long trip, and has upgraded his sprockets from the stock off-road oriented 15/50 to 17/45 and the stock carb to a Ebay 'Mikuni' as even the ebay 'Mikuni' carbs allow the jets to be played with (using Mikuni jets) while the stock PZ-30 Keihin clone carbs do not. Since he has about $1500 into the bike up to this point, he plans to make it a one way trip and has even called the trip a 'ride and dump' as he plans to fly out of Argentina.

Since I have had success with Chinese bikes as commuters, I am contemplating buying one and riding with him from Yuma through Baja to Cabo, and back, alone. Then again, I might find someone coming north to ride with. I am quite confident that my bike won't have major issues if any at all--least of all the engine. Keep in mind, we aren't planning US interstate speeds, nor planning on recreating either of the Baja 1000 races--the SCORE or the newer 'retro' one that has been revised not too long ago.