Pocket Bikes: Are these Chinese knock-offs any good?

ironbeak

ironbeak

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Oct 1, 2003
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2001 Yamaha FZ1
An example of what I'm talking about

I met a guy in SF who has one & says he loves it... no problems thus far. Says it has been very reliable and their claim of 40mph is realistic. He also says there's a shop called GTM Performance (local) that sells replacement parts. I was pretty reluctant to buy an Italian model for $1000-1500 (or more), but $475 after shipping?? That's more like it. Besides... To date, I really haven't really been amazed with Italian craftsmanship. (In relation to Japanese, anyway.)

So what's the verdict? Sensible purchase, or piece of worthless Hong Kong rubber dogshit?
 
If these are the ones they raced at the track.. then they're not that bad. The setup at Stockton was probably not good for their motors. On one occasion this one bike started to leak fluid on the track.

Check out the monster picture post on the forum from last Sunday's race. I posted a pic of the bike. I didn't get too much info but instead of Ebay might as well pic it up from a local seller for $400. Pretty much outta the box it's race ready. I was amazed. I might have to get one for the kiddies.
 
I have neighbors that rip 2 of them up & down my street, I believe are the same. Tho' they bought theirs from the SJ Flea-Market for a little over $400.

SMRRC has an open class for these bikes too and they are a blast to watch. I have been considering getting one of these for my kids to ride and now have more of a reason to buy.....Race my YSR and one of these kewl Lil' Pocketbikes. :teeth
 
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eddiemcrider said:
I might have to get one for the kiddies.
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That's what you're saying now, but let's see how far that goes before you're entering yet another class. :laughing
 
eddiemcrider said:
If these are the ones they raced at the track.. then they're not that bad. The setup at Stockton was probably not good for their motors. On one occasion this one bike started to leak fluid on the track.

Check out the monster picture post on the forum from last Sunday's race. I posted a pic of the bike. I didn't get too much info but instead of Ebay might as well pic it up from a local seller for $400. Pretty much outta the box it's race ready. I was amazed. I might have to get one for the kiddies.
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Foolio! You beat me to the post :p

Matt said he may change the track configuratiuon to accomodate these Lil' bikes because it is just too much track for these things, guess we'll have to see.
 
Yeah, but what about the quality? Eddie. I saw the pic of the tiny dead blue bike on page 3 of your race photos. I'm pretty sure it's the same. But you're right. I don't think blasting at top speed around an outdoor track is a good idea. Probably better suited for a very small track... even indoor, where you're not going balls-out for too long and can give it time to cool down now and again. (Or pissing off the neighbors for a few minutes.)

Dead blue bike, right?
 
Yeah that's the bike, but honestly I didn't get the whole story. The bike was running around in the pit afterwards. I bet a hose came off. I believe weak_link was running around in the pits with it. Eric? You out there? Care to chime in...
 
ironbeak said:
An example of what I'm talking about

I met a guy in SF who has one & says he loves it... no problems thus far. Says it has been very reliable and their claim of 40mph is realistic. He also says there's a shop called GTM Performance (local) that sells replacement parts. I was pretty reluctant to buy an Italian model for $1000-1500 (or more), but $475 after shipping?? That's more like it. Besides... To date, I really haven't really been amazed with Italian craftsmanship. (In relation to Japanese, anyway.)

So what's the verdict? Sensible purchase, or piece of worthless Hong Kong rubber dogshit?
Click to expand...

If you haven't already, check out PocketBikePlanet and go to Cagllari/Daytona under Manufacturers. You'll find a lot of info there regarding common issues out-of-the-box.

I was impressed to see these PB's finish the race at Stockton and in their own class.

Hmmm. May be I should get one and race it so I don't have to sit around and wait 2 hours to race my Derbi. :laughing :teeth


BTW...

eBay $375 average (shipped)
Local $400-450 average
 
2 of my friends and i have the chinese knock-offs, they're not that bad. you definetly dont feel as bad about the cost when you eat it and the mini farings get scratched. they're kinda torqy(sp?) i'm waiting for my friend to wield on a wheelie bar for me cuz i dont wanna scratch up my tail anymore.

fun for doing burnout and mini doughnuts while goofing around in a parking lot.

havent had any problems so far, my back tire gets a little flat every now and then (maybe from all the burnouts) but other than that, they're fun.

definetly bang for your buck.
 
Re: These are sick

DVS DEA said:
For about the same price you can get this...

nice pocket bike
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:barf those tires are crap.... and the HonYamKawaHa stickers need to go.

What do the pocketbike gurus have to say about these bikes?

The ones at Stockton came with race slicks for $ 4 Franklins.
 
worth every penny.. and if your just using it as a parking lot toy its awesome...:p
 
I was blasting around on one but I have NO idea what the hell is was. Other than way sketchy and fun at the same time. My wife was sure I was going to loop the damn thing. I almost did, actually. I think the guys names were Keith and Ryan but they live down in Montery and don't follow barf. A post on the stockton email list may yeild some results. They only paid around $400 so probably the same type of bike
 
CRX1770 said:
worth every penny.. and if your just using it as a parking lot toy its awesome...:p
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Racing the little fookers was fun huh CRX1770! Keep practicing so you can keep up with me homie, I'd enjoy SOMEWHAT of a challenge for once!!! :laughing :laughing :teeth
 
where you the guys I spoke with at the Chevron last night? with the two PB's a blue one and a red one? I was surprised they came with slicks and everything. where do you guys ride around there?
 
Max Smiley said:
where you the guys I spoke with at the Chevron last night? with the two PB's a blue one and a red one? I was surprised they came with slicks and everything. where do you guys ride around there?
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Come on Phil only $400.... that's "pocket" change for ya :laughing
 
why buy a knock off when u can have the real thing i have a blata elite 11 for sale and the blata are 5 time faster then the knockoff
 
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