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3 Jun 2020
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Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Norfolk/Suffolk border
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Zontes T310X
Nice looking little Adventure style bike.
Sensibly priced
What do you peebs think?
Anybody got one?
Can share their experience.
Not on my radar but interesting
Apart from 3000km service intervals!!!! Crazy
Last edited by floyd; 3 Jun 2020 at 18:13.
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4 Jun 2020
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Join Date: Aug 1999
Location: Vancouver Island, Canada
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I've never heard of Zontes before; I had to google them to find out more.
The MCN review is pretty mediocre... I think if I were travelling any distance I'd spend the extra money to get a known brand with known parts and service.
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-...es/t-310/2019/
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Bruce Clarke - 2020 Yamaha XV250
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4 Jun 2020
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R.I.P. 25 November 2021
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Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 688
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Quote:
Originally Posted by floyd
Apart from 3000km service intervals!!!! Crazy
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If it makes it to 3000 km in the first place. 
Just the usual Chinese junk.
Mezo.
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4 Jun 2020
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Don't forget what they said about Japanese bikes!!!!!.
The Chinese are a cummin 
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4 Jun 2020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brclarke
I've never heard of Zontes before; I had to google them to find out more.
The MCN review is pretty mediocre... I think if I were travelling any distance I'd spend the extra money to get a known brand with known parts and service.
https://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-...es/t-310/2019/ |
I wouldn't take any notice of them, or the glossies.
They have a publication to sell.
More interested in how many valves they have or if one is 2 mph faster than another
Owners reviews only. Imho anyway.
Apparently 3 years in design and trials
Check the tube u.
They come out quite well.
I have seen one for sale 6 months old. 1200 miles. With hard cases.
£3200, got it down to £2900, that's £1500 off
Tbh I offered £2500. May be worth a punt at that. Maybe not 
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4 Jun 2020
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Their 125's are good for China, decidedly average against the Japanese big four. A case of paying less now but maybe having more hassle later. Using their own name instead of buying a defunct European brand also made me more interested. My conclusion was they were close but not there yet. Look at the corrosion on one at three years old compared to a Honda.
I'm currently having as little as possible to do with Chinese products, but that's a political thing that has no place here, except to say I've stopped looking.
Andy
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4 Jun 2020
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zontes
for the cost you could buy far better 2 year old bikes , don't be fooled by all the cheap extra's for that money cb500x better by miles
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6 Jun 2020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Threewheelbonnie
Their 125's are good for China, decidedly average against the Japanese big four. A case of paying less now but maybe having more hassle later. Using their own name instead of buying a defunct European brand also made me more interested. My conclusion was they were close but not there yet. Look at the corrosion on one at three years old compared to a Honda.
I'm currently having as little as possible to do with Chinese products, but that's a political thing that has no place here, except to say I've stopped looking.
Andy
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Trouble is Andy, inadvertently you buy chinese every week I bet. They are sucking us in. Then they will bleed us dry.
India too
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15 Oct 2020
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Portugal permanent, Sweden during summer
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Chinese bikes
Mainly refereing to ATK in Colombia/South America.
https://www.aktmotos.com
I get the impression that
* Persons that have bougth them and used them for touring South America are happy with them.
https://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hu...-200-la-101134
* Persons that have never seen one of these, are sure they are crap.
But that is my personal reflection.
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19 Oct 2020
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DON'T...
I'm currently working on a few warranty issues on Zontes bikes that a shop here used to sell.
They are utter sh*te...
Really cheap chinese JUNK...
Bikes with less than 5,000 miles with burnt stators, seized up everything and failing electrics.
Chinese bikes are in my experience a total lottery. And I believe that comes from complete lack of quality control of their assembly and the really cheap components they use.
If you buy a brand new one then you will probably have 12 months or a long trips use out of it.
Would I buy a second hand one...... NEVER.
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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.
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19 Oct 2020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
DON'T...
I'm currently working on a few warranty issues on Zontes bikes that a shop here used to sell.
They are utter sh*te...
Really cheap chinese JUNK...
Bikes with less than 5,000 miles with burnt stators, seized up everything and failing electrics.
Chinese bikes are in my experience a total lottery. And I believe that comes from complete lack of quality control of their assembly and the really cheap components they use.
If you buy a brand new one then you will probably have 12 months or a long trips use out of it.
Would I buy a second hand one...... NEVER.
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Would it be helpful or even possible to draw up a list of Chinese built bikes with a good reputation for quality based on actual first hand experience of owners? I have seen posts from people who have used them mostly in South America who have had great experiences and others who have had a nightmare. My own experience is limited to my Honda XR125 which is made in China and is everything you would expect from Honda in terms of quality, I have also had a couple of Indian built Heros while there and found them to be well built, reliable bikes and would certainly include that brand on any list of cheaper motorcycles that are worth having.
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19 Oct 2020
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Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Back into the hamster wheel again, in Oslo - Norway. Did a 5 year RTW trip/250 k kms, 2014-2019
Posts: 1,479
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mark manley
Would it be helpful or even possible to draw up a list of Chinese built bikes with a good reputation for quality based on actual first hand experience of owners? I have seen posts from people who have used them mostly in South America who have had great experiences and others who have had a nightmare. My own experience is limited to my Honda XR125 which is made in China and is everything you would expect from Honda in terms of quality, I have also had a couple of Indian built Heros while there and found them to be well built, reliable bikes and would certainly include that brand on any list of cheaper motorcycles that are worth having.
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The problem with this as I see it is that chinese made bikes comes in a huge cluster of brands, names, models which many are just exactly the same bike model as another, just with totally different names and badges in different continents and countries. Saw a lot of AKTs in south America, didnt seem too bad although not as good and reliable as japanese bikes made under license in south America.
CF Moto brand seem to be the better one. It gets quite good reviews from western expats who lives in China. One guy took one of the models and rode it from China to London and back to China again without too much hazzle. CF Moto also has a well known ATV range I think....
https://global.cfmoto.com/MOTORCYCLES.html
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19 Oct 2020
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I guess many people on trips buy brand new Chinese bikes. And they're likely to be fine for the average trip of South America. Even cheap shit should last a three month trip up and down the Pan American.
Everything on them is cheap and fragile. It doesn't need explaining.
It's a gamble you take with everything built to an extreme budget in factories with very poor working conditions and no quality control.
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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.
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19 Oct 2020
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
Even cheap shit should last a three month trip up and down the Pan American.
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I wouldn't bet on it, not quite the same but I bought a $100 bicycle that only had to last for a fortnight's holiday on Oahu and do a circuit of the island, the bloody chain snapped after 3 miles and at the end of my holiday every bearing on the thing was knackered in no more than 100 miles, absolute junk.
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22 Oct 2020
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Why would you bother when you can get a Royal Enfield Himalayan brand new for £200 more? I know which I would expect to last longer and to have a spares supply globally.
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You will have to do without pocket handkerchiefs, and a great many other things, before we reach our journey's end, Bilbo Baggins. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you. The world is ahead.
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