The Huoniao HN125-8 / Haotian Vixen, Value For Money?

Honda CM125

Huoniao HN125-8

I was spending £280 a month in petrol for my car back in April of 2008, that was just going to work and back, luckily for me I had a free hidden parking space at work and since I started work so early and finished so late I did not have to worry about the congestion charge, but still the thoughts of paying out over £3000 a year just on petrol was pissing me off, so I decided to look for a cheaper mode of transport. This led me to the Huoniao HN125-8.

After hours of Google searches with “Cheap Motorbike” I stumbled across an E bay Phenomenon which was cheap Chinese imports. These are exactly what they say on the tin, a cheap carbon copy of a Japanese bike with the emphasis on cheap! Now don’t get me wrong, when I say cheap i mean money wise, my Huoniao cost me £599 + £65 delivery, Its Clone the Honda CM125 costs (if your still able to buy them) a whisker under £2000. So what did i get for my £664 I hear you ask, I got a motorbike, a brand new cheap Chinese motorbike, a cheap mode of transport, exactly what I was looking for!

The Beginning

On the 08th April 2008 I handed over £664 of my hard earned cash to LS Imports LTD (I had bought it from their EBay shop), Now just to set the record straight, I know they might not have the best reputation and they may have had a couple of disgruntled buyers but I am not one of them, I had no problems with them at all, they were nice, friendly and accommodating and I felt happy to contact them with any questions and would be happy to purchase from the again (this time with a discount :-0).

The Huoniao cost me £599 inc Vat + £65 delivery to my door but what you must remember is that you will have to put (parts of) this bike together as it arrives boxed and on a pallet. I borrowed this picture from a website in April but I cant seem to find it now to link to it (so thank you) but this is the way my bike came.

Borrowed Picture

So 2 days later I received all my bikes details in the post (you will need these to register it) and that evening my pallet arrived.

I am not in the slightest mechanically minded so this was a challenge but it wasn’t so bad as the majority of the bike is together, it took me by myself about 4hrs to put it together as you can see in the pictures but what I will say is take your time, I am very impatient, especially with a new toy but trust me on this, no instructions come with the bike so your best off taking your time. If you are the type of person who needs instructions they are available here but at an un-believable price

My bike stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

My Finished Bike

If you Google “Huoniao HN125-8″ you will get a few hits but most of what you read will be bad about the bike, don’t feel disheartened, this bike is a good bike but some people have had bad experiences with it like Jamie van Dyke who had terrible trouble with both the bike and LS Imports and Lincolndod’s blog who has had difficult experience’s, but If you take your time and put this bike together with care and attention you should not have problems.

My suggestions.

1. Superglue every nut, bolt and screw you can find then tighten as much as humanly possible.
2. First WD40 and then grease every connection, connection block, switch and anything else you can see, pay particular attention to the cut off switch on the side stand as this is renowned for giving problems in the rain (Ive never had a problem with it though).
3. Tighten, tighten, tighten.

You will have to register your bike with the DVLA at a cost of £55 + £15 for your fist years tax but to register it you will need to Insure it, Now when it comes to Chinese imports most bike insurance companies wont even spit on you let alone quote you, so just go to Rampdale who specializes in insuring Chinese bikes.

Once you get insured bring all your details to your local DVLA to register your bike, this can take up to 2 weeks if your unlucky (giving you plenty of time to go over the bike again and again to tighten and Greece). Once registered they will send you the forms you need to get a licence plate made and once you have that bobs your uncle.

Go easy on it your first few times just to get used to it.

Some More Suggestions And Reminders

The speedo is in KM/ph and M/ph but the counter is in KM only.

Change the oil after the first 100km to get rid of the crap it was shipped with.

Change oil at 500km and spend some time tightening.

Change oil and spark plug at 1000km and then oil every 1000km after.

The tyres are cheap (Nylon) and designed for Chinese roads and weather so if it rains you will slide, I suggest you get a decent set of tyres.

Take care of the bike and it will last along time, You have 3yrs before it is due an MOT so by that stage you could throw it away and buy a new one.

Conclusion

I have done just over 3500km on my bike and it hasn’t let me down once. My total cost has been:

Huoniao HN125-8 £599

Delivery £65

Registration £55

1yrs Tax £15

1yrs Insurance £220

CBT £120

Motorcycle cloths (Jacket,boots,bottoms,gloves,helmet) £185

Total: £1269 which includes a years insurance, cloths, etc.. and is still £730 cheaper than buying its equivalent Japanese counterpart.

Petrol for my car over the past 5 months would have cost me £1400, Petrol for my Huoniao over the last 5 months has cost me £118.68.

I have bought a motorcycle, Insured it, Taxed it, Bought all the equipment I need for it and fuelled it all for less than what I would spend on petrol in my car.

Now Thats Value For Money

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