Is it Finally OK to Buy a Chinese Motorbike?

You may have become aware of a hubbub that’s been growing about a new bike – the Voge DS 900X (below).

If not, Voge is the latest, and possibly greatest bike so far from China. In fact, it’s so good, with an engine virtually identical to BMW’s F900GS, plus Brembo brakes, KYB forks, a big TFT dash and masses of spec including standard aluminium three-box luggage, all for just over £9000, it raises the question: Have Chinese bikes finally got the established brands beat?

In many ways they have.

A bit of background: Voge is still largely unheard of because it has only been around since 2018. It was launched that year as the new premium motorcycle brand of Chinese giant Loncin, which itself has been around since 1983, has over 9000 employees and currently produces over 2.5 million motorcycles and 3 million motorcycle engines annually as well as components for car brands such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford, Audi and Volvo.

That latter bit is crucial. Loncin has also been partners with BMW since 2007 when it began making the F and G series engines. In 2017 Loncin launched its own single-cylinder adventure bike using the 652cc engine from the old G650GS. Now, under its new premium brand, it’s gone one step further in launching the 900 DSX globally which uses not only the current F900 engine but beats its German ‘partner’ on spec and price, too.

No wonder the internet and social media has been flooded with impressions and questions about China’s latest. Our own report from the UK launch was glowing, and there are also reports of the DSX being a best-selling sensation in places such as Spain.

Nor is the Voge the only Chinese bike making waves. CFMoto is increasingly held in high regard for bikes such as its latest 800MT which, due to its similar partnership with KTM, uses a parallel twin motor derived from that of the 790 Adventure (which it also now makes for the Austrian firm) and also uses KTM’s styling house, Kiska, and some components. The 450MT is a cracker, too.

And that’s before we even mention the likes of Moto Morini, Benelli and, most recently, Morbidelli, which are all now Chinese owned and built, but now marketed under bought-in ‘heritage’ brands.

So, the first real question is: ‘Is this latest breed of Chinese bikes good enough?’ And on the strength of the 900 DSX the answer has to be ‘Yes’. Its 895cc twin, at 96bhp, may be down on the 900GS’s 105 and not as refined, but is close enough; its cycle parts are match if not better and its standard equipment blows it away. When was the last time a Chinese bike made a BMW feel basic? The Voge DSX does…

OK, but the DSX is also still an unknown, often disparaged Chinese bike, so are those features and value (if you spec up an F800/900 to the same levels as the DSX the BMW is around £5000 more) enough to compensate for those Chinese ‘doubts’?

Probably ‘yes’, too. No, the Voge is not as refined, its electronics not the same, but there’s not much in it and mapping upgrades are available. Yes, my BMW dealer is known and five miles away, my Voge one not and 30. While residuals and reliability are unknown, too. But at this price and with these components how bad can it be?

Plus, there’s also the question of ‘brand value’. People generally like the BMW roundel, ‘Voge’, so far, means very little at all…

But there’s one final thing, too, which Chinese bikes have yet to overcome. When testing the DSX I quizzed a BMW owner who was impressed and liked the bike but added he still wasn’t a fan of Chinese products, not for their quality but for the Chinese regime and politics behind them. At that point, having grown up in the 1970s, I was reminded of my grandfather, who experienced WW2 and, with memories of Japanese atrocities, vowed to never buy a Japanese car…

So, are we about to switch to Chinese bikes in the same way we switched to Japanese one in the ‘70s? The overall answer, on the strength of the qualities of the DSX, is probably ‘yes’.

On the basis of a few factors such as dealers (which are certain to improve and less and less of a factor these days) for some it’ll be ‘no’. And for a further few who have an issue with Chinese politics the answer may be ‘never’.

But think on this, too: Perhaps there’s no choice to be made. With BMW, KTM and more already manufacturing in China and with much of the component industry sourced from there, many of us are already buying Chinese bikes, we just didn’t realise…