How bad are Chinese dirt bikes?

deuce

deuce

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My best friend's son asked his mother for a motorcycle for his 11[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday and of course she blames me. So for his birthday I bought him his own helmet and gloves and promised to take him on a friend's crf70 since buying him a motorcycle was not an option. We spent the entire day on two 70s and had a blast. He was surprisingly comfortable on it and was jumping curbs and standing on his pegs in no time (it was actually pretty scary how good he was).

SO now I'm obsessed with getting this kid a bike and have been scouring kijiji and craigslist ads for something cheap or that needs some work so I can spend the next couple months fixing and customizing it for him for Christmas. I've been told to only buy Japanese but 10 year old Honda's are going for $1000 and anything closer to my price range is Chinese.
I'm trying to figure out whether it would be worth waiting for a project-worthy Honda to come up for sale for a few hundred dollars or to buy him a cheap Chinese dirt bike that he can bang around, learn on and outgrow.

My question to you guys is: how bad are Chinese dirt bikes really? Found one on kijiji for a ridiculously low price and very minor issues but I've only heard bad things about Chinese made bikes but he's going to beat it and it'll just be a starter until he shows enough skill and a true commitment to the hobby before his mother and I dish out for a nice Japanese dirt bike.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! And if anyone has an old 70-100cc dirt bike collecting dust somewhere or needs work, there's a future rider who's running around the neighbourhood telling everyone he rode a motorcycle that would love to have one of his own.

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One thing to consider is how fixable the dirtbike will be.
On one hand, he will likely outgrow it in a few years, but on the other hand if something does go wrong, are spare parts available?
 
Parts availability?

Dirt bikes get beat up, and need parts....
 
crap.
same as a pocket bike for 250-300
my son wore out his 50cc china quad in about 20 hours of riding. pull cords brake, brearing seize up.
best bet is buy a used older name brand bike, it will last longer, perform better, and you will be able to sell it if u want. a 20 year old dirt bike will sell for more then a 2 year old china bike for a reason.
 
SkyRider said:
iphones are assembled in china. they sell a ton. regardless of where it's made. it's QC that counts.
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big difference between made in china for another company, designed and made in china lol
if you don't believe me google some chinese cars crash tests
 
I've had bad luck with Chinese made bikes. Brake pads appear to be made of cardboard, they lasted literally hours. The rubber parts had a very strange aroma, kind of reminded me of creosote (Think the smell of railway ties). Plastics were quite brittle and broke easily at the boss where the screws were threaded into them.

Made in China isn't bad in and of itself, just be careful that there is sufficient quality control. If it has a big name on it, then the big name should stand behind it. If the name is something weird that you've never heard of, I'd recommend staying away.
 
The bike I mentioned in particular is a 'Daymak'... I've only ever heard of their e-scooters and they seem to have a dealer/distributer right here in Toronto http://daymak.com/pages/contact looks legit..ish?

I've also browsed through some forums and this particular company also has parts for a "Gio" or "Giovanni" brand which I've come across before. Anyone have any experience with Daymak/Gio?

If parts are available to order and the price is right (so much so that even if the bike just falls apart it won't be the end of the world) how bad could it be? He won't be doing any stunting and he's a skinny kid so can't imagine him stressing shock/forks too much... Just want to get him some saddle time and get him to commit to the responsibility that comes with owning a valuable and fun thing that could at the same time hurt you very very badly.

Thanks for all the help/advice so far :)
 
I bought a 125cc for my son. The engine runs pretty strong but needs a little work fine tuning the carb to get it running properly. Some loose screws and stuff were tightened down and it seems to be running fine after a year of ownership. The front wheel bearing might be giving up the ghost but that's an easy fix (so I've heard).

For the money, I'd say it was worth it. I couldn't find any traditional dirt bike for less than a thousand myself so I took a chance on a new chinese bike.
 
Are you referring to the fact that I care about my best friend's kid so much that I'd go out of my way to let him have something I wish someone did for me when I was his age?

If so **** yeah :D I freakin' love that kid.

And I'm a girl. But thanks for your imput.
 
deuce said:
The bike I mentioned in particular is a 'Daymak'... I've only ever heard of their e-scooters and they seem to have a dealer/distributer right here in Toronto http://daymak.com/pages/contact looks legit..ish?

I've also browsed through some forums and this particular company also has parts for a "Gio" or "Giovanni" brand which I've come across before. Anyone have any experience with Daymak/Gio?

If parts are available to order and the price is right (so much so that even if the bike just falls apart it won't be the end of the world) how bad could it be? He won't be doing any stunting and he's a skinny kid so can't imagine him stressing shock/forks too much... Just want to get him some saddle time and get him to commit to the responsibility that comes with owning a valuable and fun thing that could at the same time hurt you very very badly.

Thanks for all the help/advice so far :)
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I've had the honor of trying to fix up a Daymak 250cc pithog.

Piece of crap, imo. Needed special screw drivers and wrenches to take most of it apart (the one I had anyways...)

This one was about 5-7 years old, so experience may vary. They might have changed things to more universal bolts since then.
It was also cheaply made (reflection the price) and broke easily. But considering the kid would only be doing light stuff (not hooking jumps off of 10ft high ramps at speed) I'm not sure how long it would last.

You could get a very cheap, possibly broken, jap dirt bike and use the opportunity to fix it over the winter the teach the kid how to wrench on a bike.

If Daymak is still like they used to be; I'd say wait for a project worthy jap because you'd spend less time fixing it up than you would constantly fixing the Daymak.
 
Sabex, don't take me wrong, but I thought you'd ride something into the ground before you'll try to fix it (i.e. see your own signature)?
 
ViperZ said:
Sabex, don't take me wrong, but I thought you'd ride something into the ground before you'll try to fix it (i.e. see your own signature)?
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Not my daymaks. They belonged to family.

And the reason my GS died had nothing to do with the way I drive it; it was just a case of bad luck.

Admittedly, I did neglect the bike a lot (except the engine and draintrain, I made sure that was taken good care of.); but in the end it was someone else's rifle that got the killshot.
I'll probably treat my next one better.
 
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For me, I'd stay well clear and buy a used Japanese bike. While you will have to pay more, there is more of a guarantee that once you fix it up and cast out the gremlins, the thing will keep running well.

Do your research and google Daymak motorcycle and you'll see many reviews posted. There are forums dedicated to Chinese bikes, so search and ask there.

I have ridden a couple of motorcycles in China and they greatly vary in quality. Daymak is not a major brand name in China. The more reliable Chinese brands have old licenses to copy Japanese designed engines and bikes. These could be Ok. In China there are so many roadside places to repair your motorcycle, and they can easily replace parts. Here in Canada parts will be difficult to find.

Dirt bikes get beaten up fairly often, so buy quality or you'll be wrenching/waiting for parts more than riding.
 
Just the number of ads on kijiji for these things that all seem to need something fixed is enough for me.

A buddy had a chinese minibike that I managed to make rideable but in no time something jammed and they sheared the drive sprocket off the rear hub, busting most of the cast bosses that were threaded for the sprocket bolts.

And kudos for trying to help the lad get wheelin'
 
My friend sold Daymaks. He brought one to a ride we were on. It was his Son's.
It lasted about an hour.
Could not be fixed on site. Wires leading to the CDI were made from the factory too short.
They were pulling out of the harness from day one.
 
Give me a full sized chinese mx bike, let me ride it at a rough mx track and I guarantee I'll have broken something that would never break on a real bike.

Its not hard to find a decent Honda 70 or similar... You will pay more, but you will likely never have an issue with it.
 
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