YCF...Talk to me

[5 ton]

I ride a 96 Harley, 2017 XR650L, and a 2018 Kawasaki z900rs (one at a time, of course).  Went shopping for grandkids bikes and picked out a CRF 50F, CRF 110F, AND CRF 125F Big Wheel.  Then I saw the YCF  brand, same shop, in the back.  For the cost of the CRF 125F, I can outfit all 3 grandkids with machines, gear extra.  What's the deal with these French? Chinese made? Bikes?  Looking for what I think we all are...reliable fun with factory or aftermarket parts to keep a durable, long lasting machine out of the shop and on the trails.

Any thoughts???

Im Old, so if this is posted in The wrong place,  just forget about it.

 

 

 

 

[chadzu]

I am not familiar with YCF.  It is hard to give you solid advice without knowing which factory in China built the bikes.

There are some very good ones and some that are not that great.

The good thing about Honda is that you know the quality is good.  You have a dealer/parts network to rely on.  And when the grand kids have out grown them they will retain a higher value and be easier to sell.

My kids have all grown up using Chinese pit bikes.  I always picked them up second hand for really cheap usually due to some simple problem that the owner couldn't figure out and couldn't get a shop to touch "that chinese POS".  That always worked in my favor because they are really simple machines and parts are easy to get once you figure out how to work the system.

[dfast]

The Chinese bike have come a long way, yes you have to make sure all bolts are tight little stuff like that But those pit bike engines are part for part Honda clones and have proven themselves most of the bad stuff was years ago, If your buying at a dealer your most likely in good shape, they dont want to deal with bikes that are going to bring them pissed off customers, charge backs warranty headaches for the money its hard to beat 

[5 ton]

Chadzu and dfast... thanks for the feedback.  I went and got All red bikes today.   Ycf looked ok, but...I keep stuff a long, long time.   Still have my first bike, an `82 XR80.   YES, it runs.  Ycf looks like a good bike to ride and move on from after a season or two, at a huge loss.

When the grandkids are bigger, I'll ride them amongst the cows...

Will keep my red bikes for dirt, harleys for lookin cool close in, and kawa for going fast or far.

Again, thanks.

 

[dcg141]

Curious myself. Here is the website for the US. Looks like the importer is in FL. YCF USA  Says they have their own factory in China, whatever that means. I'm sure they mean they are trying to have some oversight at one of the factories everyone else uses. The issue with all these bikes are in the details. Small things that are poorly done with no real work around. As a dealer its frustrating. Sell a unit and it comes back with a small issue that requires some re-engineering. At least these units look like they come with an airbox that's not an afterthought. 

Edited October 26, 2019 by dcg141

[dcg141]

On 9/20/2019 at 7:30 AM, chadzu said:

I am not familiar with YCF.  It is hard to give you solid advice without knowing which factory in China built the bikes.

There are some very good ones and some that are not that great.

The good thing about Honda is that you know the quality is good.  You have a dealer/parts network to rely on.  And when the grand kids have out grown them they will retain a higher value and be easier to sell.

My kids have all grown up using Chinese pit bikes.  I always picked them up second hand for really cheap usually due to some simple problem that the owner couldn't figure out and couldn't get a shop to touch "that chinese POS".  That always worked in my favor because they are really simple machines and parts are easy to get once you figure out how to work the system.

That pretty much nails it. Unfortunately for me as a dealer most customers do not have your mindset so I end up spending way to much time in the shop correcting issues that should not have happened in the first place. Bikes are inexpensive and so are parts but fewer and fewer customers can do any of their own work and expect a bike coming from a dealer to work as well as a CRF or a TTR.