Cold, Cold Days!

Its the beginning of February and apart from one twenty mile blast, the Vixen has remained tucked up nicely in the shed.

First impressions are good.  Similar riding position & feel to my old GY which I find suits my stature perfectly.  Engine is responsive and there seems less vibes being produced by the motor, just wishful thinking or maybe the OHC engine does improve things!  Speed I kept down to a modest 45mph, not even run in yet so nice and gently for the time being.  Exhaust note is ace - louder & deeper than my old bike and reminding me very much of an old British single.

I say 45mph as that is what was indicated on the speedo, will check at some point in the future with GPS to confirm its accuracy.  The clock is calibrated in mph only, and interestingly attached inbetween the speedo unit and the drive cable is a small blue anodised adaptor, presumably a reduction unit gearbox of some kind which I would imagine converts kmh to mph.

Temperatures forecast of -10 C tonight so that's just where it will be staying - for now at least!

Hello and Welcome..........

to my Vixen VX250 blog - a sort of on line record I intend to create about the trials and tribulations of owning a Chinese built trial bike.

The VX250 is my second (well third really) China bike, having previously owned two Lifan LF200GY-2 bikes (the latter one being a donor machine).  Well it takes all sorts I know but I really like them - the simplicity of design which makes for easy maintenance and repair, coupled with attractive purchase prices both new and pre owned, where tales of parked up and broken down bikes are all too common - ideal for me as a cheap and plentiful source of spares which is readily to hand.

I live in the UK, in the heart of the Black Country in the West Midlands to be precise.  For all of you 'out there' from all corners of the globe I will elaborate a little.  A once prosperous and proud manufacturing region consisting of heavy industries such as Steelworks, Foundries, Coal & Limestone Mining etc - now sadly all long gone and if not in major decline.  If you feel you need to know a little more try Black Country and this will hopefully give you a small insight into the place from which I am very proud to call home! 

Right the Vixen, or Bashan as it really is.  Chez's Bikes of  Nottingham (who are particularly nice and very helpful people) are the official importers of Vixen bikes into the UK - so put simply if its branded Vixen it has come from here.  That said, their supplier is Bashan who are quite well know on the China bike scene, originally for their dirt bikes and latterly and much more commonly their quads.

Day One

Delivery came and went as smoothly as you can imagine and now, in all its glory its here!

First impressions are a very close resemblance to my old GY's but with a few differences, battery relocated to the opposite side, better quality seat, larger fuel tank, different instruments (as is the norm for pretty much all China bikes), larger diameter forks, aluminium exhaust can and now the best bit - a 250cc engine!

I say 250 with much apprehension!  Log book details state 249cc, owners handbook 229cc but after some 'Googling' it seems commonplace for 250's to actually be 223cc - or Hondaroid copies as they are commonly known.  Not direct copies at that - just very very similar with a bit of China Technology thrown in at various points best know to them - at least that's my interpretation!