Voge 500DS

[John M Fife]

Hi, does anybody have a Voge 500DS. I would be grateful for any thoughts or views on them. All bike reviews I have viewed on YouTube has said they are good bikes for the money, however I am just a bit unsure on bikes from Chinese manufactures.  Thank you

[MikeHorton]

I think they are marketed by Lexmoto. They seem well speced compared to some base Chinese models. I'd so some digging and see where the engine is made it might be loncin they used to make engines for BMW. For me it's not just about cost it would be stuff like dealer support and service intervals as they can be quite low on Chinese bikes. If its a mainstream dealer that has more recognisable brands I'd be more satisfied they they have put the bike together with some care and attention than a smaller dealer that may only deal in Chinese 125s. 

Maybe take a look at the benelli trk502 and the cbx500 see them in the flesh and hopefully get test ride. Honda maybe able to offer deals like last year's low Apr finance, £500 test ride initiative and 3 yrs free servicing etc. Look at it all and weigh it up sometimes a cheap purchase price can be offset by other factors. 

Nathan the postman  the blogger likes the voge but I personally think they are too new to judge their longevity. They could be an Interesting contender in the 500 market I like the benelli and seem to be good value. 

Edited February 6, 2022 by MikeHorton

[Bender]

Check service intervals, you may find  you will spend a lot more time and money than expected, it's chinese so could depreciate quickly. 

 

Old saying, pays money and takes your chance, ask all the questions, ride one for more than 5mins, gearing is pretty short so could be pain on long ride, will changing sprockets invalidate warranty?. 

 

 

[Deadstar]

I've just bought one, I was about to buy the Honda CB500X but having seen the Voge started to look into it a bit more. I couldn't find a bad review, in fact most of the reviews are very positive. £4999 with top box and paniers, build quality seems to be very good. As to riding, I have absolutely no complaints so far; I can't seen any real difference between the Voge and The Honda. Service intervals are short, first one at 500 miles then every 3,000. It may well depreciate at an alarming rate or it might not, only time will tell. In the meantime, I have a bike that I'm very happy with and has cost about £1,600 less than the Honda .

[MikeHorton]

Glad you like it so far, keep us in the loop and as usual put some pics on here. Would be good to see a comparison with the voge, cb and benelli together they are all pretty similar I guess. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Given the state of the world I am thinking it's about time we started asking if we want to be so reliant on China. They seem to be a bit too cozy with Vlad the Mad for my liking.

[S-Westerly]

For a whole raft of reasons of which only one is quality or lack.of it I will go out of my way to try and avoid buying anything made in China.  Note I said "try" as its damned hard and for somethings almost impossible to avoid buying stuff made in China. 

[MikeHorton]

The problem is large corporations and most governments have sold into producing and manufacturing in China to reduce costs and rarely pass on that saving to the consumer. If you look at most bikes a large percentage will have Chinese origin items or raw materials on them. 

It's hard for cash strapped consumers to take the first step and stop buying whe. Those further up the chain have created the mess and still invest in China. 

The government was hell bent on Chinese 5G investment even after advice not to go down that route. I'm sure a lot of behind the scenes arm twisting was done before that change of heart. 

Most government computer hardware was until recently of Chinese origin. 

[Gerontious]

I’m not convinced that any Chinese made bike that is not being manufactured to the standards demanded by the big four or larger European manufacturers is a “good buy”.  And. To be honest a £1600 differential is not much over the term of a loan whether that’s over 3 years or 5. Where you can guarantee that you will have zero problems with getting the bike serviced. Warranty claims being dealt with. Recalls being notified. Easy access to parts and especially accessories. And there is no gamble on trade-in or private sale values. I get so tired of the constant line from owners of these bikes trying to resolve a problem and then the wholly inadequate answers we are forced to provide. Because usually there are no easy answers readily available or someone we can point the owner towards and have confidence that the problem will be resolved quickly and painlessly.

 

look again at the Honda or whatever big brand sells an appropriate alternative and think very carefully. Very carefully.

[MikeHorton]

Yep I agree there and service intervals on Chinese bikes can be crazy but they seem to be catching up in terms of quality time will tell I guess. Triumph moved production abroad I'd be Intrigued to see if their profit margins have changed or stayed the same. 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

1 hour ago, MikeHorton said:

Yep I agree there and service intervals on Chinese bikes can be crazy but they seem to be catching up in terms of quality time will tell I guess. Triumph moved production abroad I'd be Intrigued to see if their profit margins have changed or stayed the same. 

I read that Triumph are increasing UK production to meet demand.

[MikeHorton]

That's good news as they still have a production line it was a shame when the bulk of production moved away. 

[Alistair D]

I have been riding one for the past 6 months, got 2021 model brand new with luggage & top box £4999, which was the introductory offer back in 2021..was lucky to find one 2021 sitting at the dealership in Oxfordshire in April 2022. Being a Honda fan boy, I was about to buy the 500x. At first I was a skeptic about Chinese brands. But after test riding, I was amazing by the handling,  performance and the build quality.  By no means its perfect & certainly not refined like a Honda. It's got great build quality,  sound amazing, better than Honda 500x. My only complaint is the vibration at 65mph & above.I commute to work to central London 56 miles each day.  Touch wood no hiccup. Short service intervals at 3000 miles is a bit annoying 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Alistair D
Additional updates

[MikeHorton]

9 hours ago, Alistair D said:

I have been riding one for the past 6 months, got 2021 model brand new with luggage & top box £4999, which was the introductory offer back in 2021..was lucky to find one 2021 sitting at the dealership in Oxfordshire in April 2022. Being a Honda fan boy, I was about to buy the 500x. At first I was a skeptic about Chinese brands. But after test riding, I was amazing by the handling,  performance and the build quality.  By no means its perfect & certainly not refined like a Honda. It's got great build quality,  sound amazing, better than Honda 500x. My only complaint is the vibration at 65mph & above.I commute to work to central London 56 miles each day.  Touch wood no hiccup. Short service intervals at 3000 miles is a bit annoying 

Chinese quality is improving, as you say the 3000m intervals for servicing  need to be improved 

[Dave Hall]

I bought one in March, the build quality is good, average fuel is between 70 - 80mpg. the engine does vibrate from around 70mph and was really bad above 80mph, I now have covered 4,000 miles and the vibration is reducing. It is a great bike to ride, the handling is amazing with its Pirelli Angel tyres. - KYB upside down forks, The brakes are the best I have ridden with (twin discs) with the exception of my BMW K1200GT which had servo assist. I sold the BMW to buy the Voge as the weight of the BMW was now too much for me.

My other bike is a Honda NC750X the build quality is no better than the Voge, in fact in some ways it is better, Honda use horrible plastic fasteners to hold the plastic panels together, Voge use proper dome headed bolts. So far I am very pleased with my cheap Chinese bike.

[MikeHorton]

3 hours ago, Dave Hall said:

I bought one in March, the build quality is good, average fuel is between 70 - 80mpg. the engine does vibrate from around 70mph and was really bad above 80mph, I now have covered 4,000 miles and the vibration is reducing. It is a great bike to ride, the handling is amazing with its Pirelli Angel tyres. - KYB upside down forks, The brakes are the best I have ridden with (twin discs) with the exception of my BMW K1200GT which had servo assist. I sold the BMW to buy the Voge as the weight of the BMW was now too much for me.

My other bike is a Honda NC750X the build quality is no better than the Voge, in fact in some ways it is better, Honda use horrible plastic fasteners to hold the plastic panels together, Voge use proper dome headed bolts. So far I am very pleased with my cheap Chinese bike.

They seem to be upping there game. What are the service intervals like? I'm sure it's not an issue if they are shorter if you do your own servicing