Comments on: POCphil on the CF Moto V5

By: illnoise

illnoise — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:18:00 +0000

Since Matt H revived this thread, thought I’d mention the recall on US-sold 2005-present CFmoto V5s.

http://www.allworldauto.com/recalls/NHTSA_10V027000_2009_CHG_CF250T_V5_recall_102595.html

I admit It’s sort of an unfair technicality, and one that plagues any vehicle that blurs the line between motorcycle and scooter, but it also seems like something that the US importer should have known about from the beginning. It’s not dangerous if you know what you’re doing and what you’re riding, but I can see it creating a dangerous situation if a rider accustomed to motorcycles rode the vehicle and didn’t know that it didn’t follow the standard m/c brake setup.

By: matth

matth — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:22:14 +0000

oh,and if you wondered.
i am riding and racing bikes since 1974 up to national level.
doing all my preparations and repares myself.
that makes it 36 years.
guess that qualifies me a little bit to give my impressions?

By: matth

matth — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:16:31 +0000

tested the chopper for a week in South Africa.
up north in Pretoria.high altitude(1800m above sea level)
in the summer.day temperatures reaching 35c.
city driving(hard).
highway cruising for 120 km non stop.
NEVER so much of a sign of overheating.
easily overtaking trucks,pick-ups and slower moving (highway)traffic.
pull away from standstill is surprisingly strong easily beating the traffic.
very usable power range for city driving.
very strong and torque.took the chopper up to one of the Forts in the city.
the road is very steap.my friend in a Kia 1400 saloon could not keep up.
and we were 2 up on the chopper!
handling is very soft and comfortable.
never bottomed out!
(i weigh 95kg and our roads have greatly deteriorated to say the least)
handling is very neutral and easy.
brakes very good.
fuel economy not bad(given my very fast and aggresive ridingstyle).
the price very cheap.
overal impression:
great overall package and super alternative mode of transport!
something different and definitely a headturner.
especially with the radio on.
and if reception is bad!?
plug in the memory stick with your favorite tunes.heaven.
especially in a sunny country like South Africa.

By: Jaystronghawk

Jaystronghawk — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 21:11:16 +0000

Am sure Phil was being honest about his experience with the V5 waited until I had 125 miles on the one I just purchased. I bought this one for the wife as she used to ride but has had both knees replacement surgery and got it for her to get her confidence back to ride or not.. For the time being will leave of any dealers names where I purchased my V5 but I paid 150.00 for complete up and running and ready to test ride to him. At 50 miles changed all the fluids with ones I know that work well. Although had no probs with it as it was, such as oil leaking running hot and the suspension was fine took me around curves at 50 MPH that only dare to do at 60 MPH on my Sportster.. I do agree if looking for more than 60 MPH Good Luck unless weigh maybe 110 lbs getting up to 60 with my 185-190 lbs was a chore will admit the last ride took today with over 100 miles the engine is easing up and getting broke in so may make 65 MPH if don’t mind waiting a while to get there. From the looks of the Muffler now the Carb is definitely set on the lean side but to be compliant in all 50 states thats to be expected. Around town it was a joy to ride no fighting the clutch and pushing the rear brake to hold yourself on an uphill angle. For a Beginners Bike would recommend it. It’s not overly comfortable but better than I expected for the price. (2700 out the door with windshield as well) The Footpegs are suffient but are many aftermarket pegs that wouldn’t make a changeout very difficult to achieve. I also hear there is a Upgrade for this whether a Supercharger, Turbo or just a Bigger Carb and Different Exhaust have not been able to find out but if this is true and could achieve speeds of 80-85 MPH would be far happier with it. To sum it up think is well worth the 2700.00 spent to find out if wife wishes to continue riding. If not think would keep it anyway just for puttering around town to the tune of 60MPG for the price of gas…

By: sarge91

sarge91 — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 12:36:14 +0000

I know this is Dec. and the last entry was in May but I just found this site and read the review/comment of the V5.
I purchased a Helix clone the Freedom/Fashion 250 made by CF Moto in June from extreme- scooters.com (great service)and had it shipped to my house where I assembled it. The assembly was very easy and they included a 1.5 amp battey charger and after installing the battery the bike started on the second try with only .5 mile on the odom.
The digital dash worked great and I didn’t have any overheating problems. I took it on the interstate and while it would hit 75mph it would vibrate through the seat but was very smooth at 65mph. I averaged 65 mpg and knowing that this is just a 250cc I can’t expect much more from it.
Unfortunately after 5 months and 1800 miles it was backed over in the parking lot at work by a trailer and the insurance co. towed it to a Honda shop where they did a complete tear down to check it out and found that their body kit was an exact fit and the other parts of the bike were interchangeable also. The bad part is that the labor was so high that they had to total the bike even though the frame and engine were in tact.
the bottom line is while I can’t comment on the V5 specifically , I can say that my CF Moto was a good bike for the time I had it and at almost $3000 less than the Brand name Honda with less features , I am very satisfied with CF Moto. I know they ripped of a logo and while I am in the military and a patriotic American I can point out a few American car companies that ripped off ideas and worse in automotive history, tucker story comes to mind.
I am sure China’s patent and copyright laws are a little lacking which will cause this type of thing but, I think you will see some better products coming from this and othe Chinese companies in the futureas they deal with t he U.S. more.

By: MCDOCTOR

MCDOCTOR — Fri, 11 May 2007 08:44:26 +0000

Our shop bought 5 of the V-3′s. We also sell many other China units. The 250/260cc motors are underpowererd and are in many other Dune buggies, Scooters, UTV’s and 4-Wheelers. Our goal is to figure out where the missing power is. We are using this forum to find others knowlege or history on this subject.
So far we have gained only 4 M.P.H. of top speed on the V-3. We have changed jetting, open the muffler slightly, advanced the cam timing, and increased the secondary clutch spring.
We are about to go deeper, I feel we need to pull down the top-end , raise the compression, try to find a better cam and possiblly find an adjustable ignition.
Putting this unit on the center stand and revving it up, this thing should spin 85-90 M.P.H. but has no power to do so. We suspect gear ratio is also a problem. this is mainly a Honda Helix motor but , Honda uses a much smaller tire/wheel.
We did run an older Honda Helix against the CF Moto and it was only 2-3 M.P.H. faster.
I have talked to CF moto U.S.A. and they seem eager to find out my results, so if anyone has possitive input, please contact me though my web site or e-mail.

By: excaliber

excaliber — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 07:04:20 +0000

I am a manager of a moped\small engine\motorcycle shop in Hawaii. I specialize in 4 stroke Chineese ‘clones’. The above review sounds pretty accurate and is typical of the kinds of problems I see everyday on these kinds of bikes. Warranty? What warranty? None to speak off, certainly no labor. We do not SELL a lot of Chineese bikes, we SERVICE them. Would I recommend one? Yeah, maybe. They CAN be a good buy, cheap, look good, etc. But I would CERTAINLY pay for the ‘premium’ assembly and hope they ‘test ride’ it as long as they want! Many times problems don’t show up until 50 or a 100 miles down the road. Electrical problems (such as the temp switch not working) are VERY VERY common! If the motor DID blow a head gasket, possible, it was an electrical fault. Now begins the ‘finger pointing’ of who did what ‘wrong’. Typical of a “Chineese Warranty”. LOL

By: heytame

heytame — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:24:09 +0000

Just an interested party. It is wonderful to find a product that is reputable and it get harder every year to find that in the United States. I have the V5 and I LOVE it. I get complements, it’s easy enough for a baby to operate, it is perfect for back and forth to school for me, it’s perfect for running my son around, it has comfort issues BUT for the 70 mpg I can afford to be a little stiff. I have never had an overheating problem, no oil is leaking, and I don’t fuss with the stupid radio==just pop a flash drive with all your favs into the mp3 player. It should be obvious that the speakers are presentation only but you can listen pretty good while you are buzzing through town (which is where you should be on this thing!). I have gotten over 70 (72mph) but I have to admit that I believe the speedometer is a little off. That doesn’t matter because I prefer to stay off the “crazy lane” whenever possible, it is a bad place for any motorcycle. What I DO like is that it has enough snot to get the hell out of the way if need be. I’m not sure if it’s obvious but speed demons shouldn’t be looking at a 250 anyways. So, I just wanted to let some people know that there is always a misfire here or there but (knock on wood repeatedly) I have a very satisfying product in the Baron V5 motorcycle. Thanks.

By: Big Al

Big Al — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 21:00:08 +0000

Couple quibbles with the review:

1. Baron’s retail outlet is Bargain Jim’s, not Big Jim’s as stated in the article.
2. The CFMoto bikes are known to have temp gauges that read hot, even when they aren’t. Was this bike really running hot, or was it the gauge? I tend to think it’s as Lev described and the head is blown, but I’m curious just the same.

Couple thoughts on Baron’s response:

1. “Obviously this dealer of big brand bikes has an agenda.” a) What constitutes a big brand? b)What is the agenda? I would think a dealer’s only agenda is to sell and service bikes. If they are bashing a particular brand it’s because they either can’t make good money on them, or they get so many warrranty claims (dealers are rarely fully compensated for warranty costs) that is isn’t in their interest to sell the bike in the first place. I had a dealer friend tell me recently that Kymco was dead to him. I was shocked to hear that statement from someone who had been an ardent supporter of Kymco in the past. Curious, I asked if there had been a change in quality. No, the problem was they didn’t have a good product in place for the new 50cc rules. For him, it’s about having product he can sell and stand behind. Many scooter dealers around the country carry multiple brands — it’s motivated simply by the need to sell product. Doesn’t matter what the name is on the side, if they can sell it and stand behind it, they’ll be your biggest fan.

By: Brooke

Brooke — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 22:56:42 +0000

hillarious. If the baron did his homework he’d know that POC scooters were among the first to bang the drum in support of several chinese brands. Snobbism? I think not. Typical childish Baron response? But of course! The broken leg analogy? Here’s a hint: Don’t sell broken scooters. Keep it coming! It’s always good for a laugh. We’ll see if these burned bridges ever need to be recrossed. I am doubtful.

By: baronmotorcycles

baronmotorcycles — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:21:50 +0000

We referred the customer to this shop because the shop wanted to sign up as a dealer with us. The shop’s job was to diagnose the problem, not to write a review. As is evident from this post, the problem was never diagnosed and the review was written. When we referred the work here, we thought we were dealing with professional mechanics. As it turned out, we were dealing with journalist wannabes. This is a little like having a gym teacher fail someone for not being able to run 100 yards even though the person had a broken leg.

This is another fine example of scooter snobbism. We called Phil when the bike was in his shop and suggested several remedies, but his response was that he just wanted the bike out of his shop. Overheating is not normal for CF Moto bikes and at the very least he could have diagnosed where the problem really was. Judging by the fact that the fan thermo switch was defective, the real problem was probably that the bike got overheated and the head gasket blew out. We have not seen the bike yet, but it looks like it’s on the way to us now for the proper repair.

As for comments that Kawasaki has better support, yes Phil, they do. That’s why we are looking for dealers and repair shops across the country so that we would have excellent support as well. Your shop was supposed to be one of these support shops, but I guess now you’re not interested. It’s easy to burn bridges.

Comparing V5 to a Kawasaki is like comparing apples and oranges. The bike is not designed for speed. It’s a leisurely bike with an automatic transmission. It will not win races, but it’s a very comfortable bike for someone looking for a shiftless commute or a beginner. Having said this, I personally had a V5 up to 70mph, so your claim of not being able to go over 60 in addition to low power, only reinforces my suspicion of a blown head gasket.

Phil never even tried to order parts from us, so his comments of “limited parts supply” are bogus as well. Obviously this dealer of big brand bikes has an agenda.

By: CFMoto’s new logo at Ken and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

CFMoto’s new logo at Ken and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:31:53 +0000

[...] One of my old post on CFMoto’s logo attracted some attention. Today 2 Stoke Buzz pointed to the logo as “solid clue towards the amount of careful thought that went into the machine“. [...]

By: Brooke

Brooke — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 07:20:47 +0000

fun stuff!

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 06:11:02 +0000

I noticed that they had stopped using the â€œhybridâ€? logo on their website.