“You need to do careful research on the King Long drive-line, which seems to be European, ■■■■■■■ engines, either ZF or Voith gearboxes, DANA axles and Michelin tyres but whilst some components are european others are built in China under licence. Overall though, whilst they certainly won’t have Setra or Van Hool too concerned, at the cheaper end of the market they seem well worth a look to me.”
The 4-pot Euro 6 engine in the British-built DAF LF is made in China. ■■■■■■■ has a big joint-venture factory there. I don’t know about the other bits & pieces in the King Long driveline, but as you say some may be assembled using European designs and some components in factories in China.
There’s a chinese takeaway in Manchester Road, Bradford called Double Happiness…
I had two of these tyres fitted on the steer axle once and they were no trouble.
Dunno what mileage they did and weight was not an issue.
Wheel Nut:
Remember Bridgestone and Japanese Dunlop. They were taken off bikes before they left the showroom, they were that bad, they would last for 30 years but were lethal in the wet. Bridgestone are now the tyre choice of many fast motorcyclists and all of the F1 teams. I wouldn’t be frightened of all Chinese tyres, but would draw the line at those with funny names. You can bet your life that within 5 years, most new cars will be running on bwack wubber from China
Bridgestone also supply all the Moto GP teams. F1 has switched to Pirelli, but not without ‘issues’ (tyres apparently fitted the wrong way around bursting - you’d think the F1 boys would get that right).
Remember the old Yokahama motorcycle tyres (or ‘Whispering Death’ as we called them in the trade)?
I don’t think they make motorbike tyres any more but I’m told their car tyres are ‘premium fitments’.
GasGas:
Remember the old Yokahama motorcycle tyres (or ‘Whispering Death’ as we called them in the trade)?
I don’t think they make motorbike tyres any more but I’m told their car tyres are ‘premium fitments’.
Nylon has its uses, but not on tyres Yes forgot about the Pirelli in F1
Double Happiness is my firms current choice of tyre, I have a full set on the tag axle and a couple on the trailer and they last better than the previous brand we used (another cheapie make the name escapes me now). Only problem we have found is when their fitted to a steer axle you get bad vibration around 50mph, so we no longer fit them on a steer axle.
We do alot of site work so an expensive brand tyre is just as likely to get torn up as a cheapie brand, that’s why we use them.
I’m lucky in that although we do a lot of site work we still buy decent tyres and do usually get them to wear out rather than blow out. I was unfortunate enough to inherit a truck from another driver that had had a Green Dragon steer put on it, they’d spent a ton of money on tyres recently and decided to put a budget one on.
For something that looked as round as all the others it was bloody horrific, used to rattle and shake the truck to bits. Funnily enough that was one that got damaged and couldn’t be repaired
Wheel Nut:
Remember Bridgestone and Japanese Dunlop. They were taken off bikes before they left the showroom, they were that bad,
Not being as old, the first things to come off a hardly used (something like 118 miles in 3 years) MZ ETZ 150 I bought second-hand were the OE Pneumant Tyres. Replaced with a set of Dunlop K82s. Pneumants back then were as bad as…
GasGas:
When I ran a motorcycle shop, we used to supply Cheng Shin tyres for our more price-sensitive customers.
they were known as CST…Cheap [zb] Tyres…for some reason they subsequently changed that to Maxxis!
…the above-mentioned Chin Shiners.
Teflon tyres capable of mega-mileage, but zero grip.
I’ll have to take a look at some of the random tyre/remoulds at work…
GasGas:
When I ran a motorcycle shop, we used to supply Cheng Shin tyres for our more price-sensitive customers.
they were known as CST…Cheap [zb] Tyres…for some reason they subsequently changed that to Maxxis!
Maxxis sponsor a lot of off road motorsports events now.
How about these re-manufactured Tomahawks for a bit of fun?
I often wondered if GasGas came from the bikes
Oh yes, there’s a GasGas 250 Pampera in my garage.
Amazing hybrid mini enduro bike with a trials engine. Only weighs 90 kg with a full fuel tank.
Everyone laughs at it, but it goes places where no ordinary trail/enduro bike can. Feels more like a mountain bike with an engine when you ride it.
GasGas:
When I ran a motorcycle shop, we used to supply Cheng Shin tyres for our more price-sensitive customers.
they were known as CST…Cheap [zb] Tyres…for some reason they subsequently changed that to Maxxis!
Maxxis sponsor a lot of off road motorsports events now.
How about these re-manufactured Tomahawks for a bit of fun?
I often wondered if GasGas came from the bikes
Oh yes, there’s a GasGas 250 Pampera in my garage.
Amazing hybrid mini enduro bike with a trials engine. Only weighs 90 kg with a full fuel tank.
Everyone laughs at it, but it goes places where no ordinary trail/enduro bike can. Feels more like a mountain bike with an engine when you ride it.
I was spotting at a trial and there were a couple of lads on the OSET electric bikes, they are amazing with so much grunt. They had an OSET demonstration at Donington Park recently, the torque is fantastic.
Back to tyres though and I do like the description of Chin Shiners
GasGas:
I suspect there’s a great future for Electric trails bikes
Chin Shiners is a good 'un.
Those coloured tyres look a laugh…are they legal?
Apparently so, there are road tyres, sport tyres and trackday tyres listed. Reports say there is a lot of silicone in them and they grip well but let go without any warning. They are also remoulded from used carcasses, so I would be wary of them on a fast bike unless they were my old carcasses. I first saw them at the last Moto GP at Donington Park and seen a few scoots and bikes fitted with them since.
Yes forgot about the Pirelli in F1 
