A journey into the wild world of Alibaba motorcycles (repost for those who weren't awake at 2am)

"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee) 05/24/2020 at 13:25 • Filed to: two wheels good, Alibaba

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After seeing Torchinsky’s post about his new car, I decided to see what they had for motorcycles. Man, there is some crazy stuff in here. Some of it is wild, some of it is kinda reasonable. Anyways, here’s what I found. A good chunk of it has minimum order numbers, meant for dealers, but there’s plenty of stuff that can be bought singly.

The site is just chock-full of these UJM-Lite clone thingies. Most have a 125cc 4-stroke single-jingle, likely Lifan. The unit prices are crazy low, even after shipping they’re as cheap or cheaper than the cheapest scooters on the market.

And of course where would we be without a Harley clone?

Most of the listings are fairly complete, too, with decent translations and full spec sheets.

Plenty of knockoff Cubs and Vespas and the like. Note that you can buy a single “sample” for an increased cost despite the minimum order of 50

What are the chances this gets you a real RE?

Plenty of brandless Scramblers and Cafe Racers to go around.

Hol’ up, does that say diesel?!?!

Single-cylinder sportbike. Definitely not oxymoronic.

An actual police bike with lights and sirens. Huh.

I will literally eat my shorts if this is a genuinely licensed Repsol livery.

And, uh, huh. I’m struggling to come up with something snarky to say about this last one. Sure it won’t be much faster than a moped but it’d be a hell of a lot cooler. A brand new motorcycle for the same price as the cheapest running hunk of junk on craigslist sounds like a good deal.

AestheticsInMotion > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 01:48

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So.... Which one are you getting?? Or maybe they're like kittens, and you're supposed to get two at once..?  

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > AestheticsInMotion 05/24/2020 at 01:57

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did you see the diesel one???

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 02:50

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Wow I wonder how long any of these would work, it’s like Harbor freight motors . My neighbors son just bought some Korean bike from an auction, it looks like a turd.

Tripper > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 06:44

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Helped a friend assemble a scoot/moped one of these. We could never get it started :(

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/24/2020 at 06:57

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I dunno, Korean stuff tends to be fairly well built compared to a lot of Chinese stuff.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 07:00

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The Cub would be cool! Taiwanese maker Sym makes (or made? Not sure if they sell do) one that’s actually received pretty good reviews. Taiwanese bikes are actually supposed to be decent.

We wouldn’t be able to import any of these in Canada...they wouldn’t meet the 15-year import rule and are otherwise not legal as they were never Federalized to our safety requirements.

http://www.justgottascoot.com/symba.htm

I would love to see somebody get that diesel bike and see what it’s like! :D

DipodomysDeserti > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 09:07

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Not sure I’d ever hop on a bike that was probably built by slaves in a concentration camp, even if it looked like half the quality built bikes on my local Craigslist.

Cash Rewards > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 09:19

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So, do we all vote in which one were getting, then get the discount for bulk purchase?

zipfuel > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/24/2020 at 10:16

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I’ve been wondering lately about how getting bikes approved for sale in Canada works - especially regarding electric ones which would have no emissions hurdles.

They’re a hell of a lot simpler than cars; basically you need just need to cover off lights, brakes, glazing, controls, fluids , fuel system and noise .

I’ve watched a bunch of YouTube of people in the states buying bikes from China off Amazon or Alibaba so presumably they did the neccesary homework for that market.

https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._1038/page-13.html#h-1226572

I’m also intrigued by what and “enclosed motorcycle” is and the “three wheeler” section looks like you get to skirt a bunch hard car stuff . Th e low speed vehicles are a joke and barely have to cover anything.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 10:19

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“ I will literally eat my shorts if this is a genuinely licensed Repsol livery”

Its probably "Rerpsal"

Jim Spanfeller > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 10:27

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You got me browsing this myself, and I just gotta say...

SCREW ALL OF THOSE, I WANT THIS ONE!!!!!

I mean there’s no way it actually has a v10, but it’s the closest you’ll ever get to owning a real one. Plus, if we can get 5 Oppos to buy one, they’re only $888 apiece!

TheJWT > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 10:47

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I wanna see a Tiger 2000 New Style vs. Ducati Supermono battle of the single-cylinder sportbikes

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > zipfuel 05/24/2020 at 11:36

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The other thing with motorbikes and vehicles with less than 4 wheels here i s that the rules for them can vary by province.

For example...I really want to import a Piaggio Ape TM. You know, one of those little 3-wheeled utility truck things the Italians use everywhere on the small streets of the city. In most provinces (like Ontario), they are legal to import under the 15-year-old rule and register, etc.

...but here in Nova Scotia, I was told only certain ‘non-single-track’ (i.e. three-wheeled, apparently) vehicles are road legal here, which makes me sad...

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/24/2020 at 11:52

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The Syms are actually license-built. I highly doubt this one is.

Alao, what eve n safety standards can there be for motorcycles? You're kinda screwed in a collision no matter what.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 12:05

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Well, safety as in lighting, etc I guess I am referr ing to.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/24/2020 at 12:11

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It looks like these have everything.

JeffCronin > Jim Spanfeller 05/24/2020 at 13:10

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Customized logo if we get 130!

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 05/24/2020 at 13:24

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Compared to these yeah. The one he got is a Hyosung, when I looked them up it said they were more associated with making ovens and refrigerators. They are pretty cheap and it just doesn’t look like it will be very good. 

NojustNo > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/24/2020 at 13:54

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The hyosung bikes are actually pretty good. This crazy colored one must have sold but has been up for months .

https://offerup.com/item/detail/829199716/

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 13:57

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Thanks!

The play here has to be to select the Sample one with a frame opening big enough to accept a Hayabusa engine...

sn4cktimes > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 05/24/2020 at 14:09

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I had a Hyosung as my first bike. Was a 250cc. Was good to learn on, hard to resell as there’s no brand   name association like Honda etc. Never gave me any problems except one bad connection to the headlight which blew a series of fuses on my ride home from work one night. For the price compared to a brand named bike... I think she did just fine. I wouldn’t buy another one now. But it was fine at the time. Not sure if the still do, but they used to make parts for Suzuki. 

Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com > DipodomysDeserti 05/24/2020 at 14:47

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Same, m y helmet alone   costs more than most of these bikes... If I include the Cardo, GoPro, and transition PinLock ; all except the RE.

I don’t really fit on anything smaller than a mid weight, so these are all a no from me.

DipodomysDeserti > Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com 05/24/2020 at 15:02

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My only running bike right now is a ‘71 CB175 with rear sets and clubman bars. I have to stretch before riding it.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 17:30

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That very first one you posted appears to be a barely-rebadged Suzuki GN125 (early ‘80s-? ), but with a proper milk crate rack.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Dead_Elvis, Inc. 05/24/2020 at 18:30

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Huh. They probably sold the tooling to “Kavaki” after discontinuing the model. I would almost trust that bike, then.  The assembly might be slipshod but it’ll be solidly engineered at least.

Dead_Elvis, Inc. > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 05/24/2020 at 19:07

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I think Suzuki still sells the GN125 in a few markets, or did until very recently. If it’s the same tooling, it’s probably pretty beat.

Memory says that the first Hyosung 650 v- twin sold in the US was built using Suzuki’s 1st gen SV650 design , but with sloppier more “generous” tolerances.