The California Scooter Company has added another motorcycle to their lineup, the TT 250 dual sport.
Long known for importing modern replicas of the old Mustang scooters, CSC has moved into the world of dual sport and adventure riding. First, they started selling the rebadged Zongshen RX3, the only quarter-litre adventure bike sold in North America. Now, they’re selling a dual sport 250 as well.
The TT 250 is built around a different motor than the RX3; it’s powered by an air-cooled 250 counterbalanced single, with a five-speed transmission. We haven’t had a close look at the engine, so we can’t tell you if it’s derived from an existing Japanese motor or if it’s an original Chinese design. From what we’ve gleaned online, and from what the photo indicates, it does seem to be CG125-derived, which is a good thing; the best Chinese engines are probably the CG derivatives. It also appears to be carbureted.
CSC says the TT 250 weighs 140 kg, but they don’t say if that’s a wet or dry weight. It has both electric and kick start, and comes with handlebar-controlled accessory outlets under the seat, and a 300-watt alternator as standard, something the Big Four still don’t offer on some larger 650-class motorcycles. The bike has a 21-inch front wheel and 18-inch rear, which should make it easy to find decent tires. The front suspension uses USD forks, and the rear suspension is adjustable, but that’s likely just preload.
US pricing for the TT 250 is very good at the moment; CSC has announced an introductory price of $1,895, if buyers put $1,000 down. They say the bike will be 50-state legal by this spring, and that standard pricing will be $2,495. There is no word on whether they will bring it to Canada; that probably depends on how well the RX3 does here.
Although it looked as if they were readying for a takeover of the industry a few years ago, Chinese bikes have once again fallen off the radar. It will be interesting to see where CSC takes their products, especially if they’re able to provide the warranty and customer service care that so many other importers neglected.
I would agree a lot of Chinese products are junk. Especailly products I used to buy from Dollar stores. You get what you pay for.
I bought a TT 250 few weeks ago and plan to do a fly and ride next spring from Toronto. Chinese manufactures build to order/price. For the TT250, CSC upgraded the stator to 300 watts and cut cost on the tachometer.
[…] also informs us they’re bringing their budget TT250 dual sport to Canada. It’ll be the same deal as their RX3: Customers will pay the same price as US […]
From my examination of Indian motorcycle blogs (I have owned two Indian made bikes, both of which gave excellent service), the primary issue for owners is fuel consumption. If it doesn’t get 150mpg, it won’t sell. Anything under 80mpg has to be a sports bike. Even the Indians despise Chinese motorcycles, which don’t have manufacturing or spares support sufficient to keep owners mobile (and this includes their whole family). The Chinese manufacturers have not proven they have learned anything yet. I buy many things direct from China and usually they are good, but their motorcycles have a lingering smell.
I would consider this for $2K if a reliable local ‘Canadian’ source of parts and technical support were available. But if it remains disposable ‘vaporware’ I’m not interested. I’ll take a 3-5 yr old Japanese dual-sport for the same money anyday.
Although, I expect parts and service support account for a large portion of the cost of Japanese bikes. Honda’s current XRL650 is a 30 year old bike, and could likely be sold for half the price if Honda didn’t have to warehouse parts for it.
The exchange rate screws this comparison for Canada, but even still: at $2400, I’d take a 3-5 yr old Japanese bike too, but they just aren’t available around here. If you want something under $3000, it’s almost always at least 10 yrs old and in need of some fixin’.
Supper
no thanks,not cheap enough to ride and throw away.
Other online sources are stating it will be available in Canada May, 2016. I like the looks, but am turned off by the lack of fuel injection. Whatever happened to the CMG Konker 250, by the way?
The CMG Konker is only 200, but there are some updates coming. A clue; it’ll be called the KLonkeR
In the photo, the rear tire looks almost as big as the front.
Caveat Emptor….
That’s the truth. I bought my first China bike with both eyes wide open, and it worked out well for me. I have told everybody since to only buy one if you know what you are getting into. If you’re comfortable with the limitations, they can be a great buy. If not, then you’ll end up another frustrated customer like so many others.
“an original Chinese design” Isn’t that an oxymoron at least where motorcycles are concerned?
From the photo it looks like a copy of the Honda XR200/185 engine.
From a photo, I look like Brad Pitt. That is to say, I look like a blond white male of roughly equal height. From that photo, you can see that it is a vertical piston engine with one exhaust valve. If you can see that it is a copy of an XR200, then my friend you need to apply to the forensic department of CSIS.
China send rockets into space, and manufacture more cars than the US, both of which are done using indigenously designed hardware. One day soon, people will stop saying shit like this when they realize that *most* of the products made in Canada and the US are, sadly, copies of other products made all over the world.
Michael, I always figured you for more of a George Clooney type of guy, and as for copies of products made all over the world what about poutine and screech ? 🙂
Some things are best left unreplicated…
Agreed, the Chinese are very capable of high end engineering and manufacturing such as their space program and railway equipment.
So far they don’t seem very interested in deploying much of that engineering know-how to motorcycles. It makes sense by the way as their greatest market is domestic and if that’s what the consumer wants why escalate the technology (and cost of production) unnecessarily.
They are typically derived from Honda’s CG125 motor, ultimately, which is very similar to those ones you mentioned.
But, they do have motors they’ve designed in-house, which are original. They might have similarities to pre-existing designs, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Motorcycle manufacturers have been doing that for over 100 years.