The Chinese are Knocking
The question is should you invite them into your garage?
I was recently lucky enough to have the QJ Motor SRT900SX on a long term loan from MotoGb, courtesy of Ram. I was trying to look at the bike from the perspective of a motorcycle trainer rather than a leisure rider. I wanted to see if the bike made sense, if it could stand up to the rigours of every day riding in all conditions. In total I had the bike for 6wks covering approx. 2500miles and I must say I was impressed.
Firstly the bike has great presence, on the road other road users make way for you and so they should as the 97bhp parallel twin with a 270deg crank is really eager. Overtakes are effortless and acceleration is strong. The note from the engine is a good noise, especially when the bike is being asked to dig deep. Generally the finishes are as expected. Yes you can see a few corners have been rounded off if not exactly cut when compared to a premium brand. It has a large, very large tank and pretty reasonable fuel economy.
The riding experience is good too. The Marzzochi suspension all round is more than competent and adjustable for preload and rebound and I never found the handling wanting on any road wet, dry, warm or cold. The tyres, budget adventure tyres from Maxxis, that most would probably dismiss, were also well up to the job and again I cant remember a squeaky bum moment in any of the miles I covered. Heated grips and a heated seat all added to rider comfort as did the general riding position. The bike normally comes with three piece aluminium luggage, but my loan bike was missing this. The TFT screen gave you all the information you needed but nothing more and there were only three riding modes and you have to be stationary in order change them, which is a shame.
The bike wasn’t perfect though. I found the quick shifter to be a little temperamental and eager to swap gears or find a false neutral even when I wasn’t! Other than that the experience was enjoyable and there were no gremlins popping up based on an £8000 ontr price. Yep that’s correct eight grand on the road and I didn’t have to make too many apologies because of the budget price either. Is it a bike for everyone, no. But could it be the bike for you? Yes I believe it could. Worth a test ride at least.
