It
was designed
in England, manufactured in Taiwan and China and sold all over the world; now, the Megelli 250r may be coming to Canada.
Word
on the street is that SAGA Power, mostly known for their enduro
and scooter line brought in from China,
may be looking to add the fully-faired 250cc sport bike to their lineup this summer. The company is
shipping sample units in this spring for testing.
The
bike is supposedly very light (weighing in at less than 250 lb), but
the quarter-litre, liquid-cooled, two-valve single isn’t about to deliver scary power to rice rocketeers — company reps say it
puts out around 26 horsepower. That drops it behind the competition with
Kawasaki’s popular Ninja 250 putting out a claimed 33 horses. Front brake is a single two-piston caliper (rear brake features one
piston), wheelbase
is 1,349 mm (just over 53 inches) and
transmission is a five-speed.
The
styling is slick with T6 aluminum trellis frame and swingarm, underseat exhaust, and swooping bodywork, but it remains to be seen what the paint and metal will look
like after enduring a few months of the Canadian climate — previous
Chinese
motorcycle
imports have not fared well under these conditions.
Megelli
says their bikes are sold in about 30 countries, so the upstart UK-based
company must be doing something right and their European engineering may
give them an edge over other bikes built in China. However, it
will be interesting to see how the Megelli sells if SAGA decides to
import the machine.
Of course, no pricing has been set, but the 250r was sold in the States under the Q-Link name for $3,499, so we’d expect to see something around $4,000 Cdn, which would put it about $500 below Kawasaki’s Ninja 250 that still sets the standard
among small-displacement sport bikes.
Question is, is the small-capacity sport market getting too crowded with bikes such as Honda’s CBR125, Hyosung’s GT 250R, and Kymco’s new 150cc Quannon sport models? We’ll see.
I call bullshit on the KXF250F panels being $55 tx included…US$$ maybe but definately not in Canada…
Sold my Lifan after a year for two reasons: 1, The suspension was not up to snuff (detailed in my previous article on here) and 2, It was far less capable on the highway than the DR650 I found for a pretty good price. I’d still love to have one, as I enjoyed working on it – maintenance was a breeze – and it was fun to customize.
The Lifan wasn’t my first bike either. But until I bought my DR650, it was my most trouble-free. However, Chinese bikes aren’t for everyone. But then, neither are cruisers or sportbikes.
To Zac: I didn’t start with the Konker. This is my 4th bike in 20 years. Other financial priorities made me buy a cheap bike. It starts like a charm and I use it everyday for commuting. But I decided to fix it using only aftermarket parts. Why?: 1 piece of body panel (cracked when I fixed a Yamaha rear rack), ordered from Konker = $90 + shipping. 2 pieces of KXF250 aftermarket body panels $55 taxes included, to a dealer in the neighborhood. B.t.w. Why did you sold your Lifan after a year? Just asking…
Third – you make a good point that some Chinese importers can gouge on parts, or that the parts may not be available. But by shopping around on the internet, you can avoid most of these problems. I never had any difficulty with this issue with my Lifan. Parts were available locally for a reasonable price, and if not, I could always order them from several different sources online, many of them competitively priced.
Chinese motorcycles aren`t for everyone, but they aren`t something to be scared of.
Second – there are plenty of parts in the aftermarket catalogues that fit these bikes. You just have to know what you`re looking for. Websites such as http://www.chinariders.net or wwww.mychinamoto.com provide excellent cross-reference lists for OEM Japanese part numbers that will fit on Chinese bikes. I know this because I used these lists when I needed parts for my Lifan. Your Konker is very similar to the Suzuki DR200 and many parts should interchange.
To the fellow complaining about a lack of parts available for these bikes – in my opinion, that`s not really an issue, and I`m speaking from experience, because I owned a Lifan for over a year, and your Konker is probably better supported than that bike.
First, most people buying these bikes aren`t looking to sink thousands into aftermarket parts, or they would have bought a Hondazuki to start with. There are still many universal aftermarket parts like bark busters that fit these bikes.
Links are created those space codes like %20 by itself, you need to erase those “%20” codes in order to see the photos.
Sorry for many posts, but it’s weird!
Andy,
Re-post links for Megelli photos:
[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs429.snc3/24740_110465368992004_100000856248595_70335_7060398_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs449.ash1/24740_110465372325337_100000856248595_70336_749602_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs449.ash1/24740_110465378992003_100000856248595_70337_817706_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs429.snc3/24740_110467368991804_100000856248595_70365_7735095_n.jpg[/img]
[img]http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs429.snc3/24740_110467382325136_100000856248595_70369_6987470_n.jpg[/img]
>>> fixed images -ed
I bought this Megelli 125R $5000usd (4-stroke engine) on Jan 2010 and also the bought the Aprilia RS125 $6800usd(2-stroke enigne) on April 2010. For the quality, I can tell the big differences bettween Megelli 125R and the Aprilia RS125. I dont want to compare the power here.
Take a look at them here (I took the pictures them while in Vietnam):
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs429.snc3/24740_110465368992004_100000856248595_70335_7060398_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-sjc1/hs429.snc3/24740_110467382325136_100000856248595_70369_6987470_n.jpg
Andy,
Calgary, AB, Canada.
And the resale value will be a joke. :cry
Doesn’t matter how well built the Chinese bikes are, someday will need parts like everyone else (oil filter, brake pads, battery). And if you take a look in the catalogue parts of the general importers, you’ll find pieces only for the 4 Japanese brands, BMW & Harley. So you have to be lucky enough to:
1). After one year still have the dealer around for the service;
2). Own a Chinese clone of a Japanese brand and mach the parts yourself; or
3). To be forced to pay double and command your parts directly to the bike’s importer.
I know what I’m talking about, because I own a Konker.