dynax

I have an interest in model railways and Hornby outsourced their production to China quite a while ago, and in the early years they did have QC issues, but now within the last 8/9 years the quality is phenominal and are producing some great highly detailed models, anyway nowt wrong with a good debate

I don't have an issue with people slagging down a particular brand, but tarring all with the same brush is not very sporting, it's like saying all german car drivers are w**kers because you had a smidsy with an Audi driver, my bike is chinese and have had no issues whatsover in the 17 months i have had it, yes i may have been lucky but many UM owners have had no issues either That's cos you're a sensitive soul who treats your Xena politely whereas most of us thrash the tits off our bikes. Maybe living in a throwaway society hasn't helped with regard to looking after things like bikes, " oh it's okay it was only cheap i'll buy a new one" it's this attitude that has been the downfall of good quality products, and again it is Joe public that is mainly to blame, they don't want to spend and then take care of things to make them last, then when it breaks they blame others for their carelessness, it's about time people stopped bitching and get their fingers out and learn how to fix and repair things, so you have a bike with a rusty frame, well repaint the thing, it has dodgy electrics, learn how to use a multimeter, the more i think about it the more i get dismayed at the lack of actual ability of a large proportion of the human race who can't do jack except whinge i'm off now to play with some wheels and tighten some spokes up ready for the new rubber for Florence

I don't have an issue with people slagging down a particular brand, but tarring all with the same brush is not very sporting, it's like saying all german car drivers are w**kers because you had a smidsy with an Audi driver, my bike is chinese and have had no issues whatsover in the 17 months i have had it, yes i may have been lucky but many UM owners have had no issues either Name me one Chinese bike or brand that matches Japanese levels of quality and reliability? You can't.....because none exist! And they've had long enough to get their shit together! Consequently tarring them with the same brush isn't "not very sporting"........it's reality! It's based on fact! I never mentioned about comparing to japanese i don't dispute that, there are however varying degrees of quality and often in the same factory where these machines are built to a budget, if you really want to have a go at someone then blame it on the importers and distributors they are the ones that set the standard, these are the ones that set the budget and the factories build to that budget, increase the budget and you get better quality, and biggest to blame are joe public they want everything for nothing, so at the end of the day dig deep spend more and get the quality and reliability you are wanting it's that simple

I don't have an issue with people slagging down a particular brand, but tarring all with the same brush is not very sporting, it's like saying all german car drivers are w**kers because you had a smidsy with an Audi driver, my bike is chinese and have had no issues whatsover in the 17 months i have had it, yes i may have been lucky but many UM owners have had no issues either

No i haven't and that's a scooter not a moped

Get the sen a moped i'm having loads of fun just fiddling with mine, will have even more when i get to ride her

Not knowing anything about them what does that mean, is it rarer, more valuable? possibly! but it does make her a 60's model rather than the later 70's and seems quite rare in the UK but still a few around in Italy

Not ALL chinese made bikes are the same

So what's the new name? Mona? No she is stil Florence, and i think i can date her at 1967

Update: Florence is not a Califfo De Luxe she is in fact a Motorino Atala Rizzato and dates back to the 1960's possibly late 50's

i will just buff them up and retain their patina

Ideally you would test ride as many as you could, it is only when you ride them you know if it feels right, also don't get too involved with variations in the models, yes some have had improvements from previous models but some would argue that they ruined a bike with them, until you begin to gain experience you will not know what is and what isn't good or bad about any particular bike, go around a few dealers sit on few make a shortlist take them out for a test ride, make notes on each bike on what you like how it felt etc, or just buy something you like and just enjoy the learning curve and take the rough with the smooth

Hello and welcome

Put Xena on charge, will be going to halford's later for a spoke wrench and some more brake and carb cleaner

Yeah i think i will just do what i can with them, just ordered all new rubber for them, and with the other bits i have bought i am just a few quid under budget now, so any more spending will only be if absolutely necessary

Just ordered the tyres, inner tubes and rim tape £72 inc courier delivery so not too bad for both wheels, that i hope is the last of the big spending, with the purchase price of the bike i am now into £297

As above i can't decide which way to go on these wheels, if i was doing a concours restoration i would get new rims and spokes and job done, as i am keeping the " rat look " and new rims would have me go seriously over budget, my options are to clean them up best i can or give them a satin black paint job, over to you some before and after a clean up.

Fantastic!, this has to be your best one yet [mention]XTreme[/mention] the scenery is outstanding and the bridge just sets it off nicely

Ordered a replacement air filter and cover, the wheels however are too far gone to polish up, i could buy some new rims but at over £40 a time i will make do with what i have and either clean them up best i can, or possibly paint them in satin black i haven't decided yet, i will need to buy some new rubber as it is so adding rims to the budget is going too far, had it running again and the lights work surprisingly well, had the headlamp bezel off and it looks as though a sidelight bulb is missing it looks like it holds a torpedo type, will have a look online for a schematic if i can find one, well that's it for now really till i decide on the wheels

Hello and welcome and well done

Hello and welcome

Did you go out for a Chinese? No i had southern fried chicken and curly fries from sainsbury's instead

It probably looked worse than it actually was , i had to start it with the throttle partially open and this afternoon will have a go with the idle adjustment and see if i can get it to tick over better as i also need to see how bright the light are, as i might install a battery to smooth out the power to the lights

Thanks everyone, well here's to the next 5 decades

Hello and welcome