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Just been looking at bikes to replace my X7, which was sold yesterday, came across the Honda CB400SS and I can certainly see that Shineray/Mash etc., have obviously spent an awful lot of time on design input, presumably while looking at the Honda CB400SS catalogue?

china doesn't design much, its all copying,

and not a bad idea,
look where it got the Japanese

anyway, just how many shaped bikes can be built before its all been done before, ?
we must be getting somewhere near there now....

gtd65 wrote:Just been looking at bikes to replace my X7, which was sold yesterday, came across the Honda CB400SS and I can certainly see that Shineray/Mash etc., have obviously spent an awful lot of time on design input, presumably while looking at the Honda CB400SS catalogue?

I think you'll find that both bikes are themed on something a little older....



This is a '61 Matchless....

I don't see the Matchless really but I understand where you are coming from of course .

Now that I'm working in South Africa, I've been made aware of the Crosby TT400.

It's simply a rebadge of the Mash Road Star 400, roughly £2700 new here. But I find a similar model for sale in the Philippines for not much more than $2000!!!!

Anyway, it was interesting to read that the original Honda CB400SS, was actually built for Honda, by Shineray...... And Shineray make the Mash/Crosby/Genuine 400 bikes.

Here is the Crosby variant of the Shineray:

http://vcustomcycles.co.za/web/index.ph ... uct_id=336

I finally made it up to Centurian (Near Pretoria) to have a look at the variants of the Crosby TT400.

Here's the pics of the bikes.

Flat tracker/Scrambler edition:


Standard Retro Design:


Bonus Pic!


They had a less than one year old bike with roughly 6,000km on the clock that was used to test drives and it for sale at R38,000 (that's the price they were introduced at, according to online sources!)

If I said it wasn't wearing very well for the age I think that would be very fair.

The left side foot-peg rubber was almost worn through, presumably due to boots changing gears, the electrical lead rubber grommet that goes into the engine had split apart and the saddle at the rear looked like it was starting to fail. There was also some signs of what looked like rust in some of the frame welds. There's not really a winter as we know it over here, so that wasn't too impressive.

Other than the appear of higher than expected wear rates the bikes looked pretty decent and have a nice sound to them.

I have been living in China for the last few years, and I have many friends in the business of manufacturing in China for European and US companies.
Most of them, and most Chinese people will happily pay a premium to have something NOT made in China. It's basically a trust issue. No matter who the company are, there is always someone in the supply chain or at the factory who is happy to compromise ethics and standards to make a few quid. The company specifying what the build should be and the quality of construction can not control every single person, guarantee that certain things aren't outsourced, or if there is a problem, that it is dealt with and not hidden.
That's not to say it doesn't happen elsewhere but when 99% of Educated Chinese will not by their food or goods from anything that's produced in China, you know their is a systematic problem. Also you can guarantee 100% that anything you make there will appear on the grey market, it's a price people are happy to pay for the immediate rewards. Most of my friends are scaling down manufacturing in China and looking at ASEAN or bringing more manufacturing back home as the cost of labour in China is no longer that compelling.
For buying Chinese vehicles, just look at the Landwind, and ask if you would want your family in that when it crashes.

I think you make valid points.

I've bought two Chinese bikes so far, the Rider's Super Cub and a Lexmoto ZSB.

The Super Cub is pretty cheaply built but for the price I paid I've no complaints at all and it's been totally reliable other than a couple of exhaust trim bolts rattling out and a leaking fuel sender float that was replaced with a wine cork.

The build quality of the ZSB is actually very decent for an economy model, it's been 100% reliable so far but I'm not impressed with the tyres in the wet (only take it out on sunny days, like the Super Cub, so not a big deal) and the saddle is a bit uncomfortable. The engine is fairly gutless and unrefined but it's suitable for bimbling around the back roads on a sunny day.

I've yet to get to the point where I'd consider buying a Chinese car, as the prices they sell at are too close to the (reliable & well known) Korean competition and nothing they sell appeals to me.

Time will tell how the Chinese bikes pan out but from what Ive read, it appears they are generally very reliable if maintained properly.

Well they make IPhones in China, so they must get it right sometimes