Voge quality

[IndigoJo]

I was in a bike gear shop a few weeks ago and I asked one of the staff what he thought of Voge bikes. He said he couldn't really say what he thought while he was at work, but ask him later etc. In other words, don't touch them.

 

I've seen a lot of rave reviews on YouTube and I know they're press bikes and they're never going to flat out say they suck, but they seem to get a joy out of riding them, which you don't always see on YT reviews. A lot of the things which are extras on Japanese bikes (e.g. crash bars) or are frustratingly left off are there as standard, there are branded quality components like brake calipers, luggage as standard on the adventure bikes, and the engines are based on ones they supplied to Honda and BMW. Yet ... I've seen others say the frame is poor quality, or the welds badly done and other stuff like that. Corners cut to get it out of the factory on a budget (and at that price with premium bits, the rest must be really cheap).

 

Who's right? Anyone inspected the frames etc to see if they're decent? Articles anywhere by people who know what they're talking about and aren't speculating?

[Simon Davey]

My only impression is the same as you, they look fantastic so why not buy one? Although, I did see a YouTube reviewer who actually owned a 900DX(?) , and couldn't be negative about it, even after  a year of use.

Like you, I think if the bike above uses the same Loncin engine as the BMW 900, has all the well known branded components such as brakes etc, then sedriously why not.

For the critics to then only say "yeah, but, no, but right, the frames are poor," surely has to be hearsay.

My local BMW dealer stopped dealing BMW, and had the Voge 900DXS in the showroom, he said they'd be dealing in the summer if I wanted one, but I got my V-Strom on 0% finance, which was to good an offer to pass up.

 

The only thing to really consider is the support from your Voge dealer, if your happy with the dealer setup, then it's all good.

 

[Throttled]

I think that the build quality of the new wave of Chinese bikes, from Keeway, Voge, Benelli, CFMoto and Morbidelli is very good. They also use parts from European and Japanese makers. As for long term reliability and how well they cope with UK weather, that is not yet fully established. I know an ex-salesman from a motorbike dealer, who said they had fewer problems with the CFMoto bikes, than the KTMs they sold, with CFMotos made in China and the KTMs in Austria, and they share parts. He also rated Keeway as a pretty trouble free brand, or at least cheap to sort if they did go wrong.

[RideWithStyles]

For me I’d still sTay away from them for a few more models years later for them to improve if this was to be your only bike.

 

yes some parts are shared or sourced by third party.

My actual experience with this type of bike (benelli) was certainly poorer. the parts and build quality, frames, paints, electrical loom, metals , lights (You could tell which came from where). worst I’ve had over very used jap, Brit or Italian bike previously.

 

I know the ex dealer and workers the bike came from didnt have a positive reply about them or the business practices. 

the good/better bits were the brakes brembo, forks and shock (moc &Sachs), it sounded nice but it was on its second and showing need for a third exhaust during my tenure. Fuel economy was very good but very snatchy at times.
Not all engines are under license, and the few that are are not usually the same as the ecu and software will be different or generic.
 

[vstromming]

I do love how people bash some of the "cheaper" brands yet act completely ignorant when their extremely expensive BMW/KTM/Ducati/Triumph etc breaksdown.  

 

Would I go near any of the really cheap Chinese 125s?  God no. 

 

Would it put me off something like a Voge 300 Rally?  Absolutely not. 

[S-Westerly]

Each to their own. Any bike has potential issues and dealers with less than stellar reps. You make your choice for whatever reasons. If you want one, like one then buy it. If you don't like them don't buy one. 

[Throttled]

Taking into account how common they are, I hear more about BMW breakdowns than any other make.

[DJP]

As ever with Chinese bikes, it comes down to how good the back up is going to be: Are you going to be able to get spares when some obscure part goes kaput in a few years time?

 

For me, the jury is still out on that one. The Chinese still don't have proper dealer networks and the bikes are now too expensive to be considered disposable.

 

So for now it's a "No" from me.

[bonio]

Yeah, I agree. If you're buying new or newish, then you have to have a 100% reliable dealer and a decent parts supply chain.

[Fozzie]

I've heard Voge are actually just Loncin. 

 

Loncin have been in the game a long time, they notably produce a lot of engines for generators, but more importantly to this discussion, BMW use them to make a lot of their engines. 

It wouldn't shock me if their range was eerily similar to the BMW bikes they also produce engines for. 

 

That would suggest their mechanical reliability is likely to be similar to those BMW models, the big question mark is going to be on the electrics. I'd be more cautious if the bike in question was littered with electrical gubbins, a digital screen is ok, so is ABS. But anything more than that adds a bit of risk, in my mind at least as they are unproven. 

[S-Westerly]

My issue with anything Chinese is the quality and I'm not saying they can't do decent quality just in my industry I've yet to see it. Case in point we needed to replace a leaking sea valve. (low pressure but fairly high velocity). Korean valves were $4000. Chinese manufacturer came in at $1700 so you can guess what the company went for. Unfortunately after a mere 2 months a flaw in the casting has become apparent and it's now leaking once again. Add in the cost of the fuel involved in changing this valve if we buy 2 of these it will have been damn near the price of the better quality version which would have lasted at least 10 years.

[Hairsy]

My experience with the Chinese is that they are very literal and deliver to requirements.

 

That means that if they are given a specification which includes an explicit requirement for quality then they will deliver it. Apple have shown that. If they are given no requirement for quality but are given a requirement for low price then you'll get exactly what you asked for.

 

It's the age old engineering conundrum ... do you want cheap, light or strong? You only ever get to choose two.

[veracocha]

Binoculars. For 25 years I have bought only the very best binoculars available, Swarovski. Latest purchase close to the price of a low mileage Royal Enfield Meteor. I forgot to take them on my latest trip to Scotland so I had no choice but to buy a pair of Chinese binoculars in Penrith. I have owned every alpha binocular there is and I can honestly say that most people wouldn't be able to tell the optical difference between the Austrian offering and the Chinese one. Hours of viewing tell me they are within 2% of the quality I see through the Austrian glass. They are catching up make no mistake.  

[Davidtav]

I think that’s a good point about the dealerships. But my nearest Suzuki dealer is over 100 miles away

[RideWithStyles]

There’s a certainty with brands, of trust and quality, it costs and a profit margin is good. But the volume is a lot lower so to have a claim against it eats into that very quickly and your credibility will be damaged.

if you can’t keep your head above water with claims left right and centre your not going to last.
Nice saying that but how often do these expensive bikes breakdown? 

The other aspect works if your in china if it’s very cheap and throw away commodity, with high volume that can work for those closer to main source… so if the Benelli was a grand of two at most new and still had a three year warranty or so and the reliability was quite near the japs/euro/uk probably id buy into that and replace every four or so years but that doesn't work for a lot of people here.

 

if you bought a Chinese brand tv for £300 and a Sony with same spec for £600, if they both last to 10-20years without faults or failure then the Chinese one is better value as old age or defunct technology makes them obsolete and ready to recycle. But if the Chinese failed one, even halfway or more it actually costed you more plus with prices rising all the time so false economy.

 

now if you did a similar thing with bikes but they have a actual resale value where as TVs have very little.

if I had to pay out what was needed for the benelli - if those parts were still available even after 3-4years of sale, over the course of my long termed would have had to pay out half or more of the original purchase price and the value of the bike was under 2 thousand when I was lucky to px it.
So for the whole money out lay if I had to pay that out really I could have gotten something a lot better though on first thought it wouldn’t be possible and less visits to the dealer but I didn’t mind chatting to them.

that’s the other thing of if even a known brand with some credible background for a good few years then just decided to make some thing else doesn’t mean they know WTF they are doing….case in points - google to cars, Dyson to cars, Peugeot to cars and more modernly Tesla to cars.

only a few brands have merged as somewhat successful Suzuki (middling), bmw focused on engine vehicles, to a point Kawasaki and fairly strongly Yamaha.
when I was at the dealer looking at the benelli, even the dealer advised to avoid the FB Mondial….backed by piaggo yet owned by a Chinese component supplier.

so out of the five bikes non Chinese bikes we’ve owned long term the second most troublesome bike I’ve had was a used Daytona 955 (not the utter most reliable one of triumph) at that point was something like about 14yr old when I bought it , lucky for me did it after they collected the bike but before they PDC it had a charging issue which they sorted out properly, now even if I had to pay for it them (stator and reg) and the bike in whole would have been less than I paid out for the benelli depreciation only  before any parts and further out lay it required if I had to pay them…and I would have had a valuable bike to sell even if the only trouble it gave me was I had to buy a new battery every two years without fail.

yet the one Chinese one which I liked btw gave me by far the most trouble than 5 other used bikes put together.

 

 As others say, do what you want and may luck be on your side (we aint a mean lot) but if not do not be surprised if the worst happens.