I Say...... Sell some mini's and Buy a new Lifan.. I sold a few of mine to get one. I've put 3k on it since August all on the street.. I love it!
Don't even bother with the older clones.The Older ones don't seem to sell for much less than the new Lifan anyway. I am Pretty sure Lifan is the only Chinese company making them right now anyway. People just put their own name on them, Like Hooper imports and Trailbuddy.
Shop around, Some dealers may have some scratch and dents or demo models for a better price. I Still have around 35 or so Vintage mini's but I have always wanted a ct-70 style bike.
I have been watching the clones since about 2000 when they started filtering over here. I Wasn't that Impressed. I think there were maybe 4 companies making them and they all had varying levels of quality. I saw a few Lifan 70cc ones a few years back but didn't have the cash. They looked very nice back then and they look very nice today.
I paid about $950 for my New 2008 Lifan around July of last year and I have about 3000 miles on it now. I Spent $40 on new sprockets because the bike is geared very low. After the gear change it happily cruise at 50 mph all day long. I have not had any issues with it and it came with a 1 year warranty on everything but the wearables. Paint is great, Quality is outstanding. There's Fellow on Planet Mini's with a 06 that he uses as his daily rider on Florida that has Over 10K on the original engine. He has had to do some maintenance on it but nothing crazy. Tires , Tubes a fuel line. Stuff like that.
Its just plain fun to ride a mini on the street.. I Have also made a ton of money renting it out to buddies to take their Motorcycle riding test on at $50 a pop.
I think just about every state you have to have a M class for anything 50cc and above. It is super cheap to insure so that shouldn't be a issue. They All come with a MSO so its very easy to get it Titled and legal. I Spent maybe 5 minutes at the License office after I Got mine. I Had More of a Hassle with My New Triumph at the License office.
It gets around 80-100mpg as well.
I'm really happy with almost everything Lifan makes. They and their sister companies Spend a Ton Of Money with My Company here in the USA so its easy for me to open my wallet to get a few of their products.
I Will always be a Old School Minibike guy at heart, But After My next few Builds I Am getting a New Lifan Z50 clone to go with the 110.
