Looking forward to seeing the Chinese bikes.

[Simon Davey]

Congratulations @Throttled, that's quite a machine by the looks of it. 

Which colour did you go for?

[Tiggie]

Looks good 

[Mawsley]

On 09/03/2025 at 11:09, Throttled said:

How much Chinese would you accept? 

 

 

None. None Chinese.

 

They need to open dealerships and have brands that last longer than a summer and keep supplies of spares stretching over a decade in the UK before I'd ever consider it. That, and I've not known a single one that has managed to withstand an English winter.

[Capt Sisko]

 

1 hour ago, Mawsley said:

They need to open dealerships and have brands that last longer than a summer and keep supplies of spares stretching over a decade in the UK before I'd ever consider it.

It's worth looking at the availability of spares.
https://www.motor-x.com/oem/v-c1002v-2

 

I haven't clicked on every category, but 99% of what they list just isn't available. That would worry me. A simple spill could take you off the road for a long time if you have to wait for spares to come from China (assuming they genuinely are available).

[muldoon74]

A fair few KTM and BMW engines are made in China... 

 

Just saying.. 

[muldoon74]

25 minutes ago, muldoon74 said:

A fair few KTM and BMW engines are made in China... 

 

Just saying.. 

Adding to this my 2023 CB125F was made in Thailand.. Not the hotbed of Engineering excellence people imagine but its absolutely awesome for reliability and build quality (at its price point of £3049 on the road)... 

[bud]

8 minutes ago, muldoon74 said:

Adding to this my 2023 CB125F was made in Thailand.. Not the hotbed of Engineering excellence people imagine but its absolutely awesome for reliability and build quality (at its price point of £3049 on the road)... 

But that was made with Honda overseeing every part of the operation.

Even with brands like triumph who build bikes in Thailand. It's not quite as good as what is produced in the UK. But that is the cheaper end of the bikes sold.

[Throttled]

21 hours ago, Simon Davey said:

Congratulations @Throttled, that's quite a machine by the looks of it. 

Which colour did you go for?

 

Black is the only option available at the moment, and I think it is the nicest of the limited colour range.

[Throttled]

15 hours ago, Capt Sisko said:

 

It's worth looking at the availability of spares.
https://www.motor-x.com/oem/v-c1002v-2

 

I haven't clicked on every category, but 99% of what they list just isn't available. That would worry me. A simple spill could take you off the road for a long time if you have to wait for spares to come from China (assuming they genuinely are available).

 

There is a reasonable range on eBay, from Italy, that appears to be from dismantled bikes. As for spares in general, ever since the pandemic there have been supply issues for lots of spares. There are long waits for parts for Hondas.

[Throttled]

16 hours ago, Mawsley said:

 

None. None Chinese.

 

They need to open dealerships and have brands that last longer than a summer and keep supplies of spares stretching over a decade in the UK before I'd ever consider it. That, and I've not known a single one that has managed to withstand an English winter.

 

Benelli have been on sale for a few years now and have had no such issues. Morbidelli is now a tie in with them. Find one and see just how well made they are. There is also going to be a lot of sharing of parts and parts that are not Chinese. If I need a new shock, it comes from Japan.

[RideWithStyles]

But again a lot of money and effort goes just to save a few quid, the only way to make a return is to either have low profits on each unit and a long term plan to keep quality or higher profit on each but higher chance of backlash or claims harming credibility and profit later on.

The best of return is if they are made closer to your main market and sell the bulk there which would off set shipping lesser units  everywhere else, one thing shipping and thousands and thousands of smaller goods in a container like phones than a bigger unit like a bike or car is a different thing.

 

If the cost is low and its good enough to satisfy for its price point, the customer will be happy and the long term returns/rewards continues.

if the cost of the bike/running cost is higher, yet sees cost cutting/shoddy work and poor reliability then your less likely to want to return to that brand.

which I’ll say many like benelli fall into that at the moment, while RE with the int just about avoiding it.

unless you a die hard supporter or got more deposable income than sense.

 

its of course a balancing act and how much you value one part will offset the others, its just how much screwing over “the board” wants to do… 

 

20 minutes ago, Throttled said:

 

Benelli have been on sale for a few years now and have had no such issues. Morbidelli is now a tie in with them. Find one and see just how well made they are. There is also going to be a lot of sharing of parts and parts that are not Chinese. If I need a new shock, it comes from Japan.

Benelli’nese have and still do have numerous problems with the bikes and their company infrastructure for customers after sales!
i known I owned one four years and have previously posted my problems with them….do you wish me to relist them And the current one and exdealers experience and how they work?

 

.

[S-Westerly]

Bikes are like most things - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[ChrisBiggsUK]

32 minutes ago, S-Westerly said:

Bikes are like most things - beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

How dare you post a sensible comment on the internet!  

[Mawsley]

2 hours ago, Throttled said:

 

Benelli have been on sale for a few years now and have had no such issues. Morbidelli is now a tie in with them. Find one and see just how well made they are. There is also going to be a lot of sharing of parts and parts that are not Chinese. If I need a new shock, it comes from Japan.

You've just added Italy into the China mix.

 

The issues I had getting parts for my Guzzis and Jeep doesn't fill me with confidence that Benelli would be any better. I had a loan car for six weeks while waiting for a replacement ignition barrel for the Jeep. My Guzzi Cali Vintage was off the road for over two months when I gave up waiting for the parts and sacked it off. My Cali EV also saw me on a loaner for an entire summer as the footboard never came.

 

As I said, until China warehouses parts in the UK I'm not remotely interested.

[RideWithStyles]

The Italian bits were ok .

Pretty much most of the bits that went wrong were the Chinese parts: clock x1 nearing x2, main light unit x2 nearing x3, whole exhaust system x1 nearing x2, frame nearing x1, pegs and levers x2 no matter what cleaning was being done, pillion hand rails x2, loads of bolts x2, nearing loom x1, ignition barrel was going,

Engine was ok at first but after a year two started to vibe a lot, year three it was jack hammer and started to move about on the side stand, Convinced the engine was going to shoot a crank in my face soon near the four mark, the seat comfort wasnt great after a few months as the foam began braking down and was terrible to put back on.

3months waiting was the minimum.

Luckily most of the woes didn’t quite stop the bike from being used but the ignition and loom went on a disco session 80 miles from home/mechanic wasnt fun at the time.

It was a nice looking bike, brakes were brilliant (Brembo) if not abit over powered, handbar (cant remember the name exactly but had a p? but it wasn’t chin or Z in it) was good, even the cheapest oem Pirelli tyres that were ok (I changed them to Michelin then Avons, forks not bad, shock was usable but could of been better, chain and sprockets coped reasonably well with salted roads.

The last picture of and the moment I sold the bike:

 

Edited March 27 by RideWithStyles
Piccy

[Throttled]

22 hours ago, Mawsley said:

You've just added Italy into the China mix.

 

The issues I had getting parts for my Guzzis and Jeep doesn't fill me with confidence that Benelli would be any better. I had a loan car for six weeks while waiting for a replacement ignition barrel for the Jeep. My Guzzi Cali Vintage was off the road for over two months when I gave up waiting for the parts and sacked it off. My Cali EV also saw me on a loaner for an entire summer as the footboard never came.

 

As I said, until China warehouses parts in the UK I'm not remotely interested.

 

That just confirms there is are some supply shortages across the board, affecting multiple companies. I would not expect a huge in the UK parts supply for a bike that is only just going on sale now. That the identical bike is being sold in China and the far east means there is likely a wait for some parts, but there will not be major supply issues.

 

[RideWithStyles]

Release date was 2017, mine was a 2019 and had it over four years, supply was still an issue over my tender and the last dealer confirmed the same thing and nothing had changed with their infrastructure before my mind was final.

Edited March 28 by RideWithStyles

[Guest]

I see the propoganda, brainwashing and hypocrisy is strong with this thread.

My yound padowan.

[Guest]

On 27/03/2025 at 00:01, muldoon74 said:

A fair few KTM and BMW engines are made in China... 

 

Just saying.. 

i agree, everyone trusts China to make everything else in their life, and i mean  literally everything, but for some reason not motorbikes at half the price? It's taking hypocrisy to the next level.

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

On 09/03/2025 at 11:09, Throttled said:

How much Chinese would you accept? The bike that caught my eye is the Morbidelli C1002V.

 

 

It is an Italian brand, resurrected by Keeway, who also resurrected Benelli. The C1002V has German tyres, Japanese suspension, German wiring loom and ABS, Spanish brakes and a search online finds that spare parts come from Italy, but where there are made is not clear. The HQ and design studio is in Bologna. According to the website, "Morbidelli is a division of MotoGB", a UK company that supplies parts and bikes to dealers across the country. 

 

I get the ethics, but would that stop you buying an Indian manufactured Triumph, which has a RRP far lower than anything else in their range, because of cheap Indian labour? How protective are Indian labour laws? 

 

Motorbikes are international brands, with only H-D and Ducati coming to mind, as makers who are pretty much entirely based in one country, with ownership in that country as well. Everything else sources parts from and has ownership links with other countries.

Triumph manufacture in Thailand, not India. Royal Enfield are manufactured in India. 

[S-Westerly]

10 hours ago, laughsatcats said:

i agree, everyone trusts China to make everything else in their life, and i mean  literally everything, but for some reason not motorbikes at half the price? It's taking hypocrisy to the next level.

Actually I don't trust China to make a damned thing and whenever possible try not to buy something from there even if it costs more. 

[ChrisBiggsUK]

As long as someone is on two wheels, I don't really care what they choose to ride.  We all choose a bike we like and hop on it to feel the wind in our ever receding hairlines, the adrenaline coursing through our ever expanding (sideways) bodies and the vibrations of the engine rattling every one of our increasingly aching bones.

Two wheels good.  Four wheels bad.  I think Orwell said that.

[Throttled]

1 hour ago, S-Westerly said:

Actually I don't trust China to make a damned thing and whenever possible try not to buy something from there even if it costs more. 

 

The bike I am buying was made in China, Germany, Japan and Spain. It was designed in Italy and is put together in China. I suspect if you delve into how many manufacturers make their motorbikes, you will find that multinational involvement to one extent or another. Brembo brakes alone, make so many bikes a little bit Italian, but they also make the brakes and parts in the Czech Republic, USA, Mexico and Thailand.

[S-Westerly]

That's as maybe and I wish you well with your new bike regardless of where it's made and what badge it wears on the tank. If you get as much pleasure from yours as I do from mine you'll be doing alright.

 

However for various personal reasons I will not buy a bike made by a Chinese owned company nor anything else if I can avoid it.

[billysugger]

1 hour ago, S-Westerly said:

However for various personal reasons I will not buy a bike made by a Chinese owned company nor anything else if I can avoid it.

As most of you probably know, I have a stoma, do have to wear a bag to collect output. In the summer these can become uncomfortable, so this year I thought I would buy some covers. I looked online, as they don't seem to be available elsewhere unless on mail order,  and found some fairly decent ones, so duly ordered them, thinking nothing of the postage time. They're made in bloody China.