I hang out on a few forums, including Motorcycle Philippines and Advrider.
The research I did on MCP for purchasing a Motorstar (rebounded Zongshen) MSX200 - II is where I did the engine number decoding.
Lots of Chinabikes in the Philippines...
Advrider is mostly useless for Chinabike information, 99% have never even sat on one, all you get is the usual 'you're risking your life to ride one' mostly advice.
There are a few threads on 250cc touring that can be of use, again mostly the riders are on more expensive machinery.
I've been enjoying touring more on the smaller machines than my old BMW GS and other big bikes. My 125 will take me almost anywhere the bigger bike could, and many places it couldn't.
It costs 10s of $$ to fix after most falls, instead of 1000s, and if the worst happens I can get a new one for $1600, which wouldn't even cover shipping, taxes and insurance on a big bike.
It takes longer to get places on an open road, but in most of SE Asia running much over 90km/h is way faster than the general traffic and increases the risk of an accident.
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