Check this out....

http://www.cbxmanmotorcycles.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=GV650

I'll bet those clever Chinese are working on a Rocket Clone even as we speak...

Yesterday afternoon I checked one out in person, as in rode one. It mimics a V-Rod but not. It don't sound anything like a Hardley. It's a 650 V twin and runs like a 650. I'd compare it to the old Virago, it sounds more like a Virago than a Hardley. Fit and finish wise, everything goes together well and the chrome looks deep and durable. I absolutely don't care for the digital dash or the pod it resides in. To me, it's butt ugly. I only took the bike around the block (about 1 mile). I stopped at the Polaris dealer in Monroe for a plug and oil for my Honda Foreman 400 and he sells a couple Chinese brands and had one on the floor and a demo. Honestly, I'm kind of fond of the 250cc Chinese scooters. They are priced substantially less than the Yamaha's or Honda's and the Yammy's and Honda's are probably made in China or Thailand anyway.....Can't even buy Japanese quality anymore.....
 
If you research Hyosong, you find out that they have been in business for a long time. One dealer who sold them told me they make some of the low end bikes for the major Jap brands. I can neither confirm or deny this, but the bikes do look pretty well made.
 
The more I dwell on it the less I believe that the Chinese would copy the R3. They are interested in making a volume selling motorcycle, selling it markedly below what a comparable bike made elsewhere would cost. HD'a are wildly popular here and abroad as well as scooters so that's their focus. R3's are a niche bike, not a volume bike. I'm sure the Chinese have researched the market very closely.

One noticeable thing on the Chinese 650 is the gas filler cap. The R3 sports the exact same cap and beauty ring......wonder where Triumph is getting the filler cap and ring from....?
 
Am with Raymond on this. I'd buy a Bonnie T100 right away. The problem is that my references (and yours?) are painfully dated. The "V-Rod rip-off" referred to earlier on in this forum ain't no rip-off to most aspiring bikers. I mean teenagers. They have never seen a V-Rod. Or if they have, they've not paid attention to it. At least not as a mount they could possibly relate to. A late thirty/early fourty wealthy man's toy. Jamie:cool:
 
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