Buying a motorcycle on the internet can feel like a bit of a gamble, especially if you choose to give your money to online retailers like Amazon especially since mainly obscure Chinese brands adopted the online sale tactic. You never really know what will show up at your door. Thankfully, a few brave people out there choose to see what buying a bike from Amazon is all about and share their experience with us. Something something better them than us, right? That’s what the guys at Bikes and Beards did, as we documented a little while back. Now that their Amazon bike is assembled and running, how much abuse will it take?

On February 28, 2020, Bikes and Beards shared its experience of buying a $2,495 Chinese motorcycle from Amazon on YouTube. The guys documented everything from the delivery to the mild assembly to the first ride. Things looked promising considering the price point, but was it just a matter of a good first impression or is the bike actually that good?

The team decided to put the little KPR Lifan 200 through a 72-hour marathon of hardcore tests to see whether it can resist a beating. The goal was not only to put the bike through its paces but also to leave it running for three days straight, including overnight. 

They redlined the engine for a full hour, exposed the bike to a hot air blower to mimic a desert ride, towed a 6,500-pound van on half a mile to test the clutch, took the bike on a rugged off-road trail covered in rock and potholes and even jumped it a few times to challenge the suspension.

The only real issues they ran into was when they tested the engine’s resistance to heat at which point the bike shut down and when they took it off-road and the rider took a tumble, flipping the gear shifter backward. In both cases, however, the guys managed to restart the bike, flick the shifter back to its original position, and keep things running.

At some point during the test, they even changed the oil to synthetic to give the bike a fighting chance and of course, because the challenge was to leave the bike running for 72 hours, the oil change had to be done without cutting the engine. The guys mention in the video that the bike ran for up to five minutes without oil and that the engine kept going despite that.

So what’s the bottom line? It turns out that buying a bike from Amazon might actually be worth it. The KPR survived the test and the guys at Bikes and Beards even had to admit that they were pleasantly surprised with it. So maybe this is something to consider if you’re looking for a cheap starter bike to learn on. 

Top comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
Comment!
Got a tip for us? Email: tips@rideapart.com