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-   -   Don’t hate me because I am beautiful, Sexy and Chines. (https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum/klx-250s-71/don%92t-hate-me-because-i-am-beautiful-sexy-chines-37921/)

cmott426 05-06-2012 04:21 AM

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Don’t hate me because I am beautiful, Sexy and Chinese.

I have 5 treed acres and I want to build some tight single track trails (too tight and narrow for the KLX). So I have been looking for a mini bike (Pit Bike) for some time. Not wanting to spend too much money I was looking at the Chinese products. I know the quality (fit and finish) is not quit up to par with the name brand Jap bikes, but I think for the money they are way ahead. I bought my kids a Chinese made 110 4 wheeler 5 years ago and is still going strong. I found the one I wanted, an Orion X3-R 125. It looked to be a decent bike for the price, $1,039 with free shipping to my door. Inverted adjustable forks, disk brakes front and rear, tall bars, 14” front tire, 12” rear, etc. Just before I decided to buy online I searched craigslist and found an X5-R 125. It was the Monster Energy Ryan Villopoto Edition with a ported and polished head. On the Orion website it is $1,450 with the port job. So I decided to take a look at the used one before I bought online. Long story short, I bought the used (very little use and it shows) one for $800. I think I got a sweet deal. All the kinks where all worked out by the previous owner like putting it together and adjusting everything. He was an older guy and said he put on about 10 hr. on it. He needed the money to buy an RC Car.
Here are some key features:
Inverted Forks with rebound adjustments. Very stiff, they handle great. 6.5” of travel
Rear nitrogen filled shock with progressive linkage. About 7 inches of travel. Very stiff spring but handles very well.
Front and rear Disk brakes. They WORK!
Lots of aluminum parts. Triple clamps, gas cap, front and rear wheels and hubs. Aluminum ¼ throttle. Exhaust pipe, WOW does it sound amazing, nice low bark.
Pro Taper high bars with Scotts grips.
Genuine Kawasaki KLX110 seat, the previous owner added that. I also got the original seat.
The engine is really strong, lots of low end torque. It will pull the front wheel off the ground with ease. The ported head is supposed to add 2 HP and they claim 10.75 HP stock. Who know what it really is. I do know it is stronger than my wife’s old TTR-125. The suspension is way better too. For comparison the KLX110L is $2,350 with drum brakes, less travel and lower seat height. Yes I know they have a better service by dealers and “maybe” more reliable but for the price I don’t think I went wrong. So for $800 I am very happy with this bike.

zomby woof 05-06-2012 07:25 AM

I almost bought one of those for a local race series, but decided that I already had enough on my plate. I owned a cheaper version for 2 years and was very happy with it. Bought it for $400, and sold it for $400.

Pogiboy 05-06-2012 12:20 PM

Its all about proper maintenance. Chinese or any other brand bikes. As long as you like it. Thats all that matters imho. Great buy!

dan888 05-07-2012 03:22 AM

Ha ha ,, Looks way cool for sure. !!! Those little bikes are fun, I have a blast on my sons Honda CRF 70..
Dan

deej 05-07-2012 02:38 PM

I would snap that bike in half before I got out of the driveway. LOL

LikesToThump 05-07-2012 05:43 PM

I rode my buddy's Orion 125 last fall, it was pretty cool...

But the trannys shifted like a POS... personally turned me off to the model.

How are you liking the tranny in yours? maybe they have improved, his was a year or two old I believe.

Between that experience and my others with random knock-off bikes; I will never buy anything that's not made by the big four. That's just my opinion though.

cmott426 05-08-2012 01:55 PM

I rode it for a few hours last night, it is such a blast to ride and flick around.

Deej, This bike is tough. The frame is really beefy. I jump further and higher than I ever have on my KLX with this bike. It is very nimble too.

LikesToThump, The tranny shifts just fine, just like any other bike. It is geared a little low. I might go down a tooth or two in the rear. It seems it is just the opposite of the KLX, needs higher gears and the suspension is a little stiff. If I could find a bike made by the “Big Four” that had the same features this bike has for the same money I would have bought it. The quality of the brakes, suspension, frame and the power are all on par or exceeds anything you could get stock from the “Big Four” at a 1/3 the price.

2veedubs 05-09-2012 03:05 AM

You get what you pay for, I hope you have good luck with your new bike. My nephew has an Orion nice enough, but seemed to have alot of cheesy bits.

rgoers 05-09-2012 03:20 PM

Yeah... no thanks! If it says "made in China" I avoid it like the plague!

That reaction comes from my days at Xerox dealing with the Chinese... Seems we'd order a part, spec a tolerance, and have to ship the parts back THREE times in order for them to get it remanufactured correctly. The Chinese are known for not being able to understand that a .0001 tolerance does not meant .005, or .01... it means .0001!

I'd much rather pay more for something that is going to last, than to fund the growth of China!

As another aside... my wife is a teacher and had SEVERAL foreign exchange students at her school. Without exception - the Chinese students had a real bad opinion of the US in general. They were very vocal about how Americans were "stupid" and that we owed our existence and prosperity to China. It left a very bad taste in my mouth for anything Chinese!!! Whenever I can, I refuse to send my dollars over there...

That's my $.02. YMMV


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