Chinese bikes have been a part of Western motorcycling for decades, but it seems that in the most recent one – especially in the last five years – China’s manufacturers have dramatically stepped up. So much so that it kinda feels like a trick. Is it?
Let me take you back to the July 2025 issue of Bike magazine. Turn to page 50 and you will find an article written by yours truly with the headline, “Cheap For a Reason?” that looks at the abundance of high-spec made-in-China motorcycles that are flooding the UK market. I did a lot of research for that article, speaking to a number of dealers and industry insiders, and I’ve found myself mildly obsessed with the topic ever since.
So, are Chinese motorcycles really as good as they appear to be? In isolation, the answer to that question is: “yep, pretty much.” They are better than they’ve ever been, ridiculously high-spec, and insanely affordable. For example: roll a Suzuki V-Strom 800 DE and a Voge DS800X Rally out of their respective showrooms, place them side by side in a vacuum of time and space, and the Voge is the easy winner: more power, more torque, more tech, and more accessories – all for £3,000 less.
But if you read my review of the 2026 Voge DS800X Rally, you’ll note that, ultimately, I would choose a secondhand Suzuki over a brand-new Voge. Why? In part because motorcycles don’t exist in a vacuum of time and space. Chinese bikes have – for the most part – ‘arrived’ in terms of quality, but there is a ‘value vs. trust’ question that still feels unanswered.
Winning at spec-sheet bingo
The value side of things is easy to see. On paper, Chinese motorcycles are killing their competition. Especially when it comes to brands like Voge and CFMoto. Bikes are packed with components from well-known and respected brands like Bosch, Brembo, Marzocchi, Nissin, KYB, and Pirelli. These are the same brands that “traditional” manufacturers use and brag about using.
More than 200 individual companies in China produce bikes and bike components, so it’s impossible to make any kind of statement that applies to all of them, but, overall, build quality is light years beyond the Chinese products we were seeing even 10 years ago. It is certainly ahead of most of the Indian-made motorcycles that are in the UK market (Royal Enfield is the big exception there). The core mechanicals are no longer made of “Chineseium.”
Engines, too, are impressive. Gone are the days of manufacturers churning out a bajillion styling variations built around the same cloned Kawasaki parallel twin. CFMoto and Voge offer engines that were designed or heavily influenced by KTM and BMW, but increasingly Chinese manufacturers are offering their own proprietary and unique powerplants.
Consider the P51 concept that Benda displayed at last year’s EICMA: a 250cc boxer twin that is integrated with an electric motor to be able to claim 62 bhp and 74 lb-ft of torque. That is wild stuff, man. No one in Japan or Europe is doing that.
Cheap for a reason: the art of predatory pricing
I’m going to jump up and down on the third rail here and point out that the main reason Chinese motorcycles are so insanely affordable is due to aggressive and possibly illegal market penetration pricing.
Market penetration pricing is the strategy of initially setting the price of a product low for the sake of generating interest. Pretty much everyone does this on some level. In its most aggressive form, it becomes undercutting: deliberately setting prices lower than competition with the intent of driving said competition out of business. Many countries have competition laws aimed at preventing extreme undercutting.
People selling Chinese motorcycles will point to lower labor costs, strong supply-chain infrastructure, and efficiency as an explanation for why the bikes are so cheap. Those aspects are true, but it is also true that Chinese manufacturers are undercutting the “traditional” competition.
Giants like Loncin (Voge) and Qianjiang (QJMotor, Benelli, Keeway, Morbidelli) churn out millions upon millions of two-wheelers a year. They are successful enough elsewhere that they can afford to run their European (and American) divisions at a loss for a stunningly long time.
But it is not just success in other markets that allows Chinese manufacturers to operate at a loss. There is also the element of Chinese state subsidies. China’s government has overtly stated that it wants to be the world’s manufacturer of everything, and has invested heavily to that end. It throws money at manufacturers in the form of help with land, raw materials, energy, and so on – even R&D.
The assumed long-term threat is that this act of undercutting will ultimately squeeze “traditional” manufacturers to death. Certainly that’s happened in other industries. Check your pants: where was your underwear made?
Whether all of this is actually illegal, however, is a bigger question that leans deep into the world of shouty politics. Certainly the Trump administration thinks China’s playing a dirty game. So does the European Union. Just last week the European Commission proposed a “Buy EU” plan that, according to the Guardian, is aimed at “[reversing] Europe’s industrial decline, setting a target that manufacturing will represent 20 percent of Europe’s GDP by 2035, up from 14.3 percent in 2024.”
Others might say that Chinese manufacturers are simply playing to their strengths, and that there’s nothing wrong with the Chinese government cheering for the home team.
The final 10 percent
Let’s say you don’t really care either way about Chinese business practices, nor the whole other kettle of fish that is the Chinese government’s long history of human rights abuses. There are still reasons to pause when it comes to buying Chinese motorcycles.
The first comes in the fact that the brands aren’t quite there when it comes to the difference between a good motorcycle and a great motorcycle. As I observed in my review of the Voge DS800X Rally: “Chinese manufacturers are very good at offering respectable alternatives… but they still haven’t managed to figure out that final 5-10 percent.”
In the past few months, I have ridden bikes from Voge, QJMotor, and Morbidelli. All of them were good but suffered from an almost intangible lack of refinement. Whereas a manufacturer like Honda has been making very good complete motorcycles for as long as I’ve been alive, QJMotor, for example, has not. And that shows in tiny little ways: engine character, handling, the feel of certain components, or the placement of others.
There isn’t always something to point a giant red arrow at and say “THIS IS THE PROBLEM” but there is an accumulation of tiny little things that make you think: “They should have worked on this a little more.”
The jerky throttle mapping of Chinese ride-by-wire bikes is a good example of this, or the horrible UX of their bike menu software.
The counter to this, of course, is to go back to the first paragraph of this article. Chinese manufacturers have made huge strides in just the last five years. There’s no reason to say they won’t make equally big strides in the next five years.
So, you know, maybe wait five years to buy a Chinese bike?
Want a good, affordable bike now? Buy used
The pandora’s box of Chinese distribution
Three years ago, I suspect most of us would have looked at CFMoto and thought: “Aha! This is the one. This is the Honda of Chinese motorcycles; the brand that’s going to stand out in terms of quality and innovation and set the pace for others.”
But then the whole KTM thing happened, CFMoto lost its European distributor, and it’s since fallen off the radar in the UK. Go to CFMoto’s UK site and there is very much a feeling of “We also sell motorcycles,” with the primary focus being on ATVs. Just eight motorcycle models are available in the UK, compared with the 31 models that the brand actually makes.
This is a situation that underlines the fragility of Chinese manufacturers’ distribution model.
The third-party model
Chinese brands rely on the third-party distributor model to sell their bikes. This means they partner with a local distribution company, who then sells the bikes via independent multi-brand shops. Effectively, then, the bikes are being sold like TVs. You don’t go to a Hisense dealership; you go to a store looking to buy an affordable TV and come home with a Hisense.
The benefits of the third-party distributor model are largely on the side of manufacturers. Almost all of the grunt work falls on the shoulders of the distributor: government paperwork, logistics, warranty claims, and the actual selling. The distributor buys bikes from the factory and the factory pretty much washes its hands of everything from that point on.
The distributor sells the bikes through a network of independent shops, who benefit from the system in the sense that they aren’t required to maintain a certain type or amount of stock, nor adhere to various aesthetic showroom standards. In theory, this indirectly benefits the consumer in the form of lower costs.
The consumer also ostensibly benefits in terms of access. You will find that Chinese motorcycles are sold in more locations than “traditional” brands.
Direct franchise model
That’s because “traditional” brands like Triumph or BMW or Harley-Davidson generally operate through the direct franchise model. In that situation, the manufacturer does the work of sorting through red tape, importing, distributing, etc. Parts, warranty claims, and technician training are handled directly by the manufacturer’s UK headquarters. And across-the-board standards are maintained in showrooms – from the type and quantity of stock available, down to where things are placed and how staff are dressed.
The direct franchise model ultimately earns manufacturers more money, but it also gives them more control in terms of reputation and problem solving. From a consumer point of view, you’re paying a little extra for nice uniforms and approved shelf fronting, but you’re benefitting in the sense that the people dealing with your bike – be it in terms of warranty claims or servicing – definitely know what they’re doing, have the parts to do it, and will probably be able to do it more quickly/efficiently.
You’re only as good as your distributor
So, let’s go back to that example of CFMoto. In the United Kingdom, once the KTM distribution deal fell apart, distribution of the brand fell into the hands of a company that had hitherto dealt with four-wheelers for children and ATVs – products that sell in a completely different volume to a completely different audience.
You can buy CFMoto motorcycles in 70+ locations in the UK (more than twice the number of Harley-Davidson dealerships, for example), but, as noted above, only a quarter of CFMoto’s motorcycle offerings are available. And if you’re interested in buying a 450MT you’re probably going to find yourself on a waiting list.
This sounds harsh – I’m sure the people at Quadzilla are good folks who work very, very hard – but based on what I’ve seen, CFMoto’s distributor currently lacks the depth of experience and resources necessary to support a brand that pitches itself in other countries as competing against “traditional” brands. How effectively and efficiently will they be able to support warranty claims, for example?
CFMoto’s partnership with its new distributor is, in fairness, less than a year old, so things may improve. (Indeed, earlier this year, Quadzilla hired industry veteran Andrew Painter explicitly to have him “focus on strong partnerships, dealer support and long-term growth.”) But right now I’d be inclined to avoid CFMoto.
On the other side of things Voge, QJMotor (and its associated brands) and Moto Morini are all supported by MotoGB and its subsidiary Moto73: a massive distributor that has more than 25 years of experience and – across all its brands – sells upward of 20,000 motorcycles a year.
“Only Honda sells more bikes than us,” explains MotoGB Warranty Manager Rod Geskell. “It’s not a sexy strapline, but ‘We’ve Been Making Motorcycling Affordable For Over 25 Years’ is certainly true.”
I’ve been to MotoGB’s headquarters in Northern England and wandered through its multiple buildings stuffed with bikes and bits. Just last month it signed the lease on an additional, larger warehouse.
If I were buying a MotoGB-imported bike I’d be more confident about getting hold of parts, but it’s still the case that, like any other independent distributor, MotoGB has no real control over the quality of your dealer experience, nor the training of the people working on your bike.
Supply chain roulette
It is also the case that an independent distributor is more beholden to the whims of manufacturers’ factories. Remember, once a bike is in the hands of a distributor, the manufacturer has gotten its money; the incentive for deep aftersales support is seemingly diminished.
If MotoGB, for example, doesn’t have a proprietary part in any of its massive warehouses, all it can do is send requests. It has no control over how quickly respective factories will respond to those requests – if at all.
When I pitch this concern to Rod Geskell, however, he suggests that I’m catastrophising,
“The likes of QJ and Voge are enormous companies with very, very deep pockets. They’re already big fishes in a very big domestic pond and they’re ready and willing to go swimming in the global ocean… not because they have to but because they want to,” he says. “They don’t need export sales, they want the kudos and prestige of export sales.”
OK, but the UK is such a relatively small market for the likes of Voge and QJMotor; what if they get bored? What if UK import laws make it more of a hassle than it’s worth and they decide to just walk away?
“Whilst the market here in Good Old Blightly isn’t big, the European market is,” says Rod. “And it’s a prestigious market to be in. Voge and QJ intend to be a thorn in other manufacturers’ sides for a very long time to come.”
Indeed, Voge is outselling several major “traditional” brands in Spain. In Italy, Benelli regularly sits at the very top of sales charts. In France, the Voge DS800X Rally was one of the best-selling motorcycles of last year. Chinese bikes are hugely popular in Germany, too.
In other words, even if Chinese manufacturers turn their back on the UK (which Rod says is unlikely) they’ll still be a major player in the rest of Europe. As such, there’s a better chance that parts will be available from some European distributor somewhere.
Chinese motorcycle depreciation: the resale problem
You should never buy a motorcycle on finance, but you should especially never buy a Chinese motorcycle on finance.
Chinese brands suffer pretty severe depreciation. For example, a brand-new Benelli TRK 702 will set you back £6,399. Searching used bike sites, I’m able to find very good-condition examples from 2024 that have only 1,000 miles on the clock and cost £2,350 less. That is a 36.7-percent decrease in value in two years.
If you were to buy a TRK 702 on finance, you’d be upside down in the loan almost instantly.
The counter-argument to this, of course, is that motorcycles are not investment products. Anyone who suggests otherwise is a fool. And, indeed, since the financial value of a motorcycle is not intrinsic but simply what someone else thinks that motorcycle is worth, the rapid depreciation in value of a Chinese motorcycle is not necessarily reflective of its quality but the latent xenophobia in Western society.
So, should you buy a Chinese motorcycle?
Betteridge’s law of headlines states that “any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word ‘no.’” The question stated in this article’s headline is an exception to that rule. Partially.
I personally feel a lot of discomfort when I consider buying a Chinese motorcycle. That is predominantly down to moral and ideological positions that I hold. I don’t begrudge anyone for wanting to be successful, but I am uncomfortable with China’s stated goal of being the manufacturer to the world.
Yes, I understand that if I want my children to be safe I pretty much have to buy a car seat that was made in China (87 percent of car seats are made there), but that doesn’t mean I have to be OK with it. Having everything come from one country – any country – feels geopolitically unsafe.
And it adds to the employment challenges for all the countries that aren’t producing the world’s stuff. As someone who has lost two jobs to AI, I can assure you: the white collar/tech jobs that they promised us would replace manufacturing roles are not that stable. Robots can and do perform an abundance of repetitive tasks but large-scale manufacturing still needs a lot of people, and wouldn’t it be nice if some of those people lived in your own country? Or a neighboring one?
HOWEVER, put my old-man sentiment aside, and buying a Chinese motorcycle is probably a good idea if you are the right kind of buyer.
Firstly, you should be the sort of motorcyclist who pays for their motorcycle outright. If you’re not paying cash, you’re making a mistake.
Secondly, although the bikes are foundationally sound, you should be the sort of motorcyclist who’s able to overlook little imperfections. The low prices of these bikes make that a lot easier, admittedly.
Lastly, you should be the sort of person who doesn’t really care about receiving a “premium” dealership experience.
Related to that, you should be the sort of motorcyclist who feels comfortable making assessments about the quality, professionalism, and trustworthiness of a given motorcycle dealership.
The nature of the third-party distributor model is that every seller of a given brand is going to be different. There is no guaranteed consistency. Some independent shops, of course, will be awesome – offering an overall service that’s better than what you might get from a franchise dealership. But some will be run by charlatans and thieves.
The only way to find out which is which is to put in the groundwork of researching a dealership and getting to know the people who work there. Do you want to put that much effort in before even buying a motorcycle? Some people do, some don’t.
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