[ainsleytrimix]

Cheers, good advice. No way would I want anyone to turn up at my house. Its OK if its someone on this Forum, but sod anyone else !
I will do an advert here first, you never know.

 

[Ship]

I have sold on here - bikes and bits ..... all picked up, no trouble ..... but only people that are 'known' .......

 

[AstronautNinja]

Yea I'd be dubious of very new members tbh

 

[bigkuri]

I think I’d rather spend some cash on a Honda refresh. It’ll cost less than the GPX. You own it already and know the bike. It’ll last well and still hold some value.

Plus that GPX is only going to go down in value, likely to the point where service consumables cost more than the bike.
The XR400 on the other hand hit rock bottom value about 21 years ago, and the only way is up.

 

[Ship]

Although it would be better to systematically destroy the GPX rather than a tidy XR400 ........

 

[bigkuri]

Made to be used...

But true dat. The only conclusion is a bigger garage.

 

[Ship]

As per the mathematical justification formula for bikes needed 'number owned + 1'

 

[ainsleytrimix]

Well you are right, the optimum number of bikes is n+1
However, I have a couple I'm just not riding, so I really should sell them and buy something I'm more likely to at least ride once a year

I've already build an extra garage to house some new toys, so its not space I need, its time.

 

[alexko]

These GPX bikes seem very cheap and looking at a couple of reviews, they don't seem to be made of third world rubbish held together with cheese bolts.

Given that I would only use it in addition to my KTM 690, its not going to do much in the way of miles. Seems a viable alternative to an extremely risky and expensive KTM, or an expensive (insert any other Euro 2s here).

What do you guys reckon - mad, bad or value for money ?

Cheers

£6000 should easily buy a post 2020 250/300cc Beta, KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas with no more than 60hours from any of the brands listed above. Tree reasons why I would buy any of these instead of a brand new GPX.
-Easier to sell in the future.
-Prices are bottoming out at around ~4k, therefore ~2k loss even if you keep it for 3-4 years.
-Much easier to buy parts. (plenty of dealers for these well known brands)
Robbo tested the GPX as a cheap alternative, and even after upgrading 1/3 of that GPX, he still preferred the KTM for proper tough racing.
Just my 2p...

 

[AstronautNinja]

Yea

£6000 should easily buy a post 2020 250/300cc Beta, KTM, Husqvarna, GasGas with no more than 60hours from any of the brands listed above. Tree reasons why I would buy any of these instead of a brand new GPX.
-Easier to sell in the future.
-Prices are bottoming out at around ~4k, therefore ~2k loss even if you keep it for 3-4 years.
-Much easier to buy parts. (plenty of dealers for these well known brands)
Robbo tested the GPX as a cheap alternative, and even after upgrading 1/3 of that GPX, he still preferred the KTM for proper tough racing.
Just my 2p...

Pretty much my reasoning.

 

[ainsleytrimix]

Mmm, all good points, but if I did spend say 6k on a 3yr old bike with say 60hrs - I would need to be very careful that I'm buying it from someone who has looked after it and not thrashed it to death.

Possible, but still something that needs to be factored in. What are my chances of finding something looked after to the standard Id like ? On the plus side they probably have all the extras bolted on
I'm not bothered with resale value as I don't intend to sell the bike, unless I don't use it. I'm not planning on racing it, so don't need to spend much upgrading it, just some handguards, perhaps one or two other bits, but probably a few hundred quid.

Anyone got a bike that's not thrashed and not old that I could buy ?

 

[alexko]

Mmm, all good points, but if I did spend say 6k on a 3yr old bike with say 60hrs - I would need to be very careful that I'm buying it from someone who has looked after it and not thrashed it to death.

Possible, but still something that needs to be factored in. What are my chances of finding something looked after to the standard Id like ? On the plus side they probably have all the extras bolted on
I'm not bothered with resale value as I don't intend to sell the bike, unless I don't use it. I'm not planning on racing it, so don't need to spend much upgrading it, just some handguards, perhaps one or two other bits, but probably a few hundred quid.

Anyone got a bike that's not thrashed and not old that I could buy ?

Just be patient, the right bike with the right owner it will turn up at some point...
It is very important to remove the resonator and check the condition of the cylinder and also remove the airfilter and check for dirt. (some are replacing the filter for sale but cannot be bothered to clean the area)
TBH not a lot of parts on a 2 stroke and apart from the cylinder/crank not that expensive to replace.
Clutch (not really that expensive and should last 160 hours even if raced)
Crank Seal (again not a fortune to replace)
Starter motor, not that cheap. However, brushes should last ~200-300 hours.
Mate in Romania won the expert national championship on a bike that had the piston replaced at 120 hours and stock suspension. He sold the bike with original clutch at ~180 hours.
Other mate bought the bike that finished 2nd in the Pro class, this bike had ~250 hours (OK, this one had a new piston every 70 hours) ...mate used it for another 100 hours without any major issues.
Watch some videos to see the abuse those bikes are getting on 2 miles long uphills. (3rd gear flat out)
If you read the forums, most bikes should "explode" between 50-100 hours of riding on graded green lanes

 

[ainsleytrimix]

Cheers, my only experience of 2 strokes was back in the early 90's with an old Kawasaki 250 motocross bike. I had it for probably 2 years and must have rebuilt it 7 times. Till finally a bit of the piston punched a hole in the crank case. So I bought another exact bike and used the two to build one that started up and ran for 5 mins, then sold it and got a brand new CRM - AR, then after a year of that sold it for my Honda XR 400, which still runs fine today

 

[andygbsmith]

So an update on my friends GPX experience. He bought it with no miles and one year old.
he has covered 2000 miles and the bike is in bits now. Partly his fault but the crank seals have failed and he didn’t check the gearbox oil regularly so has toasted the gearbox and obviously all the shit in the oil has gone through the motor.
stil wouldn’t have expected a Japanese bike or a KTM to do the crank seals in that mileage amd it’s all Green laning.
importer reckons he can get the bits so time will tell

 

[Pindie]

There’s a reason they are cheap!

 

[andygbsmith]

I agree he only bought it because it was cheap. Already needed new wheel bearings because they were poor quality as well as the power valve stepper motor failing.
its not a cheap bike now. I wouldn’t touch anything Chine yet.
give it a few years and more than a couple of people doing a few miles before we really see what they are like.

 

[AstronautNinja]

I agree he only bought it because it was cheap. Already needed new wheel bearings because they were poor quality as well as the power valve stepper motor failing.
its not a cheap bike now. I wouldn’t touch anything Chine yet.
give it a few years and more than a couple of people doing a few miles before we really see what they are like.

All just sounds like a reason to buy a 2 year old ktm or similar tbh

 

[andygbsmith]

My 300 KTM only had one issue in 3 years and that was a simple fix. I won’t be buying Chinese any time soon.

 

[ainsleytrimix]

Could you not by two GPX bikes for the price on one KTM

 

[AstronautNinja]

Could you not by two GPX bikes for the price on one KTM

New for new yes. I'd sure as shit rather buy itsnotginger's 2017 350 husky for 4k than a brand new wing wong bike for 5k