![]() ![]() There are still some big power sports dealers trying to make a go of it though, like TxPowerSports. There were a few Chinese companies that tried to do things the traditional way - a US office, an attempt at a dealer network, a real website, and a booth at one of the big motorcycle shows - but the huge global economic turmoil in the waning days of the Bush years washed away most of these. A lot of these were being brought into the US by the container full, with dubious chances of getting them registered for the street and no factory support. ( Andrea could also buy a used Hondamatic 400, just sayin' - Ed.) RELATED: CSC Launches RZ3 Naked Bikeįor a long time, before the big recession, the market was flooded with Chinese minibikes, dirt bikes, moped, scooters, and even street bikes. If it has to be an automatic, there are new scooters at the price point even from the big three Japanese companies, and the Taiwanese Kymco K-pipe has an automatic clutch (though you do have to shift the gears), is nearly real bike sized, and has an MSRP of just $1,999. A $4200 Honda Rebel 300 is going to seem a lot cheaper than a Chinese bike that was $1000 less but doesn't run and no one will fix. I would only say yes if there is an established shop in your town, with a service center, currently selling these bikes. There are only a few new bikes available in that price range, and fewer motorcycles still with an automatic transmission. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, that doesn't appear possible at the moment. Now, If the question was should you buy a brand new CF Moto V5 Automatic, which appears to have had a retail price of $3299, the answer is a lot closer to yes. They have no website, and there doesn't appear to be any dealer network. ![]() Of the handful I can find for sale online, some even listed as 2010 models, not a single one is shown to have a foot brake. All 6,400 V3 and V5 bikes sold in the US from 2005-09 were recalled and were supposed to have been returned to dealers to have a new foot controlled brake installed. In addition to the lack of power, because of the lack of clutch, CF Moto fit all the V3 and V5 bikes with scooter like rear brakes on the left side of the handlebars, which ran afoul of the DOT standard in the US for a motorcycle. Eventually you will get up to freeway-legal speeds thanks to the bike's roughly 15 horsepower, but it'll take a long time to get up to the manufacturer's claimed 80 mile-per-hour top speed. The CF Moto V3 and V5 were two different styles of the same basic bike - a 250cc, liquid cooled, nearly full sized-motorcycle with the advantage of a scooter-like CVT transmission. First, should Andrea buy this particular bike, the 2005 CF Moto V5? To that I would still have to say no, with as much emphasis as I could, and here is why. ![]()
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