China now making 2 stroke dirt bikes!

[Rota Ash]

check this out , i know it's only a little 50, but would be a cool little bike for a kid.

http://mikilonaustralia.com/gs_395

[Charles Owens]

It says "Quaility Suspension and rear brakes" does that mean the front brakes are garbage?
Either way I would have loved one of those as a kid I'm sure.

[TMKIWI]

I hope they are better built then some off the chinese bikes i have seen 

[eprovenzano]

I hope they are better built then some off the chinese bikes i have seen 

I was thinking the same thing...  from the pictures it doesn't look too bad

[maicoman009]

For the price of $550.00 I don't think you could go wrong especially for a starter 50cc. bike! If my boy was still 5 to 7 yrs. old I'd give that little bike a shot.

[Rota Ash]

for 550, you could put it in the bin when your finished with it. you would prob lose more than 550 on a jap bike

[JohnN]

Designed in New Zealand and built in China, these two stroke machines from Mira are slated to be built using Direct Injection!!

Have not heard much about them over the past few months, but if this turns out well, it could be something to change the tide...

http://www.miramotorcycles.co.nz/

[msambuco]

The chinese bikes my friends bought cheap for their kids were a waste. Cheap yes but shifting was down to upshift and up to downshift. Worst part was the very very weird handling. Once the kids got real bikes they began to have much more fun and their riding ability greatly increased quickly. Better off with a used big four or KTM as starter bikes. JMHO.

[scotty dog]

You have to be pretty careful what type of chinese bike you buy, my daughter has a little 110cc quad and its a pearler have never had a drama but my wifes bike is a lemon, the engine is prety sturdy but the electrical system is a shambles, bloody thing has never gone properly. If parents know what they are doing they can be good for there kids to learn on and see if dirt bikes are what there kids want to do, it can be costly if you buy good bikes and your kids ride em a dozen times then get sick of it.

[TMKIWI]

My sister got the kids a chinese quad when the kids were young.
First one was given back after a month under warranty. It would never start and most of the bolts vibrated out.
The second one only lasted abit longer  It broke down just about every day.
In the end my father and I refused to fix it, cause that was all we did when the kids wanted a ride.
My sisters rational for buying it was its only $800 with a warranty. Well a warranty is useless if they never go and the next one is the same. It was eventually given away.
A mate of mine got his kids a Suzuki LT50 second hand. Payed $600 for it. Used it for 4 years and sold it for $500.
I know which is the better deal.
Same story for other friends 2 wheelers.

The chinese will get their act together one day but i would give them more time before i look.

[DangisMX]

One guy I know had a Chinese ATV. One day he lost a front wheel while riding. And i mean literally LOST. Axle snapped and his wheel basically passed him and his quad (well at that point it was a trike ). We had lots of laugh, but it's a good thing he wasn't going fast or jumping stuff, it could have been much worse. To sum up, I would never EVER buy ANY Chinese motorcycle for ANY price (unless it was free ). I saw too many Chinese scooters and small displacement "motorcycles" that really are a shame to mankind .

[JohnN]

It seems that a bunch of you guys are not old enough to remember when the term "Made in Japan" meant what you had in your hands was crap!! 30, 40 or 50 years ago, very little that came out of Japan could be considered high quality. What they had was a work force that could build things quickly and cheaply.

This is the same sort of situation that China finds itself in now. Yes there is a great deal of "crap" coming out of China, but most of it is sourced by outsiders to the country... the company that I mentioned earlier is sourcing machines from China, that I would bet are of much higher quality than the machines you have  experienced.

I have personally seen some very high quality products come out of China. So the fact is they have the capability of building excellent products.

But there is a big ass BUT.

For a motorcycle, that price is not going to be under a thousand dollars!! Come on a whole motorcycle for less than the cost of a good set of mx wheels?? What would you expect?

Now if they built a motorcycle that retailed for a normal price, that was of high quality, you would probably be looking at a price that would be approximately 75% of what the Japanese bikes sell for. If someone was really smart and they purchased the old molds from one of the Japanese companies and reproduced a couple of year old model, you could be looking at approximately 50% of the retail of the Japanese bikes.

Thinking that a bike you can buy for under a thousand dollars (or even under 2 thousand dollars) will not buy you something that would last...

Sorry to burst anyone's bubble!!

[Coop]

It seems that a bunch of you guys are not old enough to remember when the term "Made in Japan" meant what you had in your hands was crap!! 3

Haha, I am only 38 but I always think of this comparison. I know right now many of the Chinese bikes are less than stellar when it comes to quality control. But just like Japanese bikes, Korean cars, etc I think they will get there eventually.

[eprovenzano]

It seems that a bunch of you guys are not old enough to remember when the term "Made in Japan" meant what you had in your hands was crap!! 30, 40 or 50 years ago, very little that came out of Japan could be considered high quality. What they had was a work force that could build things quickly and cheaply.

Sorry John I do remember that...  I also remember when they made quality their 1st priority, and I also remember how quickly things changed.  Not to throw stones. but remember in the late 70's early 80's if you bought a new Harley, you needed to buy two...  one to ride, the other for parts to fix the new one that would break down on the way home.  Yes things have changed... 

Now if they get direct injection to work....  hmmmm

[Chris2T]

along the same lines, i was stationed in South Korea in the early 80's. We once took a tour of the Lucky Goldstar Electronics factory (they eventually became known as LG). Let me tell you the antiquated CRAP they were making! I mean walking through that factory was like going back in time to the 1950's! All of us were shaking our heads at how primitive their products were. Fast forward to the late 80's when the Hyundai cars came to America. COMPLETE CRAP again. Well, LG and Hyundai now are state of the art. And China has the potential resources to far exceed anything South Korea can produce. China may be crap now but i'd definitely keep an eye on them..