Servicing/Repairing Chinese bikes

[Joe n Jess]

Hola!
I'm in Columbia and my budget allows me to purchase a near new AKT TTR 200 or and older Bajaj Pulsar to travel the gringo trail down to the bottom of South America.
Is it possible to find spare parts for the (Chinese manufactured, Colombian assembled) AKT? Or is a 50,000km Bajaj more reliable?
Thanks in advance!

[NewbRider]

If you say AKT in any parts shop outside of Colombia they'll say "no, no hay"... But if you're determined you CAN find what you need.

The pulsar is available mostly everywhere. I'd probably go for the pulsar if you get it checked over first and it's ok (get the compression tested).

[Katabatic]

The AKTs are re-badged Zongshen motorcycles. They manufacture over 1 million motorcycles a year. You can find the same bikes in almost every country in South America, just under a different badge name. Parts availability was one of the reasons we chose these bikes.

We bought 2 new AKT Adventour 250s (Known as the CSC RX3 in the US) and rode them from Colombia to Patagonia with no major issues over 20,000km. We sold one to another traveler who put another 20,000km.

Regarding parts availability, we never needed any but I did look around lots of major cities for a spare clutch lever and shifter and found that many places would have to order even basic parts. Your best bet would be to outfit your bikes and pick up any spares in Colombia before crossing the border. This goes for tires as well. A good 18 inch front 50/50 or dual sport tire proved very difficult to find. Cuzco, Lima, Santiago and large cities in Colombia would be your best bet for those.

More info on the bikes here:
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...dventure-97543