Know anything about Zona Motors Bikes????
 

Im currently in Lima, Peru, looking to purchase a cheap chinese bike to ride around South America.
Will be happy if it lasts me the year.
Any information on these bikes would be appreciated.
Thanks

Know nothing about Zona, but based on owning / researching chinabikes in another country, see if you can identify the OEM.
Usually they will stamp the motor with the OEM name somewhere.
Also check parts like the exhaust and so on.
Finally check the Vin / engine number, the manufacturer will be identified by a 2 digit prefix you could probably Google.

For example ZS would be Zongshen.
The engine number usually identifies the bore and capacity, number of cylinders, and purpose of the motor (I have a decoding scheme on another forum).

Sometimes an importer / distributor will stamp their name on bikes from multiple manufacturers, sometimes just one.

In my case, my importer brings in some excellent bikes from Zongshen, some 'ok' bikes from Zongshen and others, and some from Jialing and others that have a very poor reputation.

Once you've identified the manufacturer and model, Google that.

Some other pointers: is the same model sold / supported in the areas you will travel?
Is that model fairly common on the street? Here a lot of bikes are used commercially (taxis, couriers, and so on), usually the more reliable models.

Does the bike fit you and is ergonomically sound? I've found a lot of chinabikes have basic flaws like kickstarters that dig into your leg, brake pedals that leave very little room for feet, are physically cramped compared to others in the same class, and so on.
One reason I love my YBR125G Yammie is that everything just fits and works right, no fuss (I'm 188 cm).

Also, if at all possible check for vibration and ease of control usage.
I owned a 125 chinabike last year that about vibrated my feet off the pegs anything over 50 km/h, and rented another that refused to change gear unless you kicked it like a mule.
Stuff like that gets very irritating on a long trip.

Having said that, many of them are excellent value for money. A 125 scooter I bought for $900 was very good, and my current 200cc dual-sport I would take anywhere, the highest fun to $ ratio bike I've ever owned.

Whichever you get, buy some locktite and get a few basic tools, and spend a day going through the bike checking as much as you can.
I found that most of the stuff from the factory was fine, but whatever the dealer and local assembler had their hands on was questionable.

Thanks for your feed back Tigershel. You dropped in some great ideas regaring the OEM & VIN #'s I didnt even think of them.. You say you are linked with another forum, with some kind of decription formula? please tell us?? I may have a problem with the erganomics as the dealer wont allow a test drive. so There for I am doing as much web surfing as possible. Im still on the Chinese bandwagon althought my make has changed to a YINGANE PK250.
Thanks again Tigershel

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.