Chinese Clones!

[alantf]

Just noticed..... There appears to be (in the first picture) a speedo like on the gz, and also a speedo on an instrument cluster on the tank. :??:

[bpdchief]

I think before replacing the tires on my GZ I'll try to find some Qlink wheels those are sharp

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by bpdchief

I think before replacing the tires on my GZ I'll try to find some Qlink wheels those are sharp

With a little luck you may find a center stand too.

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by Fawlty

Here is a very similar bike. The make is Qingqi (never heard of it). On the face of it looks like a good deal at 1000 Euros.

http://motos.coches.net/ocasion/qingqi/ ... 435329.htm

There are a lot of add-ons on this bike. Crash bars front and rear, floorboards with a different brake pedal, bags, windshield, higher bars make a GZ look ill equiped but I'm willing to bet that it would all fit the GZ if a source could be found close to home.

[5th_bike]

That headlight though must be plastic, like the Honda's.

[bmxr123]

Burkbuilds,that's interesting! And i have definately experienced this "slight variation" with aftermarket parts, seeing as how i have owned a chevy silverado , s10, and an 04 chevy trailblazer that ALL featured the 4.3L V6 vortec motor. Duralast will often sell the same water pump for all of these vehicles, but YOU must provide your MODEL-SPECIFIC gasket set for the pump and thermostat housing..i have also installed a set of ceramic brake pads in my buddy's 01 accord that HAD to be modified to fit, but were sold for fitment on that vehicle. From a business perspective i can understand the need for universality when engineering a mass-produced product, but these companies have to take into consideration direct consequence. Forcing a mechanic to delve into the dark arts of "fabrication" is by some people's standards unacceptable. The next time that mechanic goes to change some brakes, he'll remember what a pain the ass the Everwear pads were to install and will steer himself and any wallet-wielding customers away, regardless of the year make and model of the vehicle. With mechanics, you sometimes only get ONE chance.

[Water Warrior 2]

And then we have the old scenario of modifying a regular tool instead of buying a specialized tool to do a simple job in a tight space.

[bmxr123]

yeah seriously!!!!!

I would start posting pictures of these "casualties" but its just gonna raise my blood pressure.

:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[burkbuilds]

bmxr123, I'm right there with you. I work on my own vehicles too. The automotive industry has a lot of quirks. Last Fall I toured a VW plant with a group from my Engineering school. Very interesting to watch them put the entire engine and drive train together on the chassis, then the entire body drops down from above and bolts into place. No wonder they never worry about how hard some of those parts are to replace, they didn't have any obstructions when they were assembling it.

You are also right in saying that most mechanics aren't going to give you a second chance if your aftermarket parts don't fit correctly. I worked for a division of NAPA, and they are primarily focused on selling to shops and mechanics directly not as much to the do it yourself type of mechanic like myself. NAPA was very aware of the position you stated and they took a lot of care to try and get it right. I am not saying the other copanies don't, but I only have first hand experience with NAPA. I've seen several occasions where we'd bring cars into the warehouse, put them up on the rack and the engineers would be out there installing the parts themselves and then they'd drive those cars themselves, sometimes for weeks to make sure there were no problems. I'm not saying they never had any issues, I'm just saying they took their work seriously, and a lot of those guys were not only engineers, they were big car buffs and they loved working on or restoring cars. They certainly were not just guys who got an education and then sat in an office all day and never got their hands dirty.

When I worked on reverse engineering a part, I did most of the work, but there were two other engineers that reviewed everything I did, and then they'd send it back to me for further "tweeking". It was a seriously reviewed process before those plans ever went out for manufacture. They took the safety and functionality of the part very seriously and they also were very concerned about how it was manufactured, what quality of materials went into the product etc. They had people that were at every manufacturing plant on a daily basis, checking parts, making sure quality controls were in place, making sure no one was trying to substitute inferior materials or workmanship. Then after the parts were made and shipped to the US, we randomly selected some of each parts and tested them again in our lab, sent the metal out for metalugical testing to insure compliance, etc.

Having said all of that, we still got parts returned from people who were not happy with them for one reason or another, and then we researched each and every return to see if we missed something or if it might have just been an installation error.

I'm sure most aftermarket companies have similar systems to try and reduce unhappy customers and insure compatible parts, but even doing all of that, when you sell millions of parts you will inevitably have some failures.

[northsidegz]

nice cafe racer there bmxr!

My butt would never fit in the seat though. LOL.