Hi slydog, myself and others on another thread Vbike 250 V4S Discuss this same engine with the model # 171FMM engine. The engine is made by Lifan, the best quality China made engine. If you look closley at the head of the bolts on the engine you should see the LLL trademark for Lifan. It's a very good engine. Even the top dollar Jetmoto's 250 uses it.

 

Hey I know that Lifan is a good Chinese engine, but wouldn't you say that Jianshe is better?

I read an interesting post by a Chinese guy who said this a month or two ago:

"I'm a Chinese. I work for a Swedish company as purchasing man in China. According to my experience, you should consider big brand Loncin,Linhai or Hawai. The are professional in ATV manufacturers. If you worry about the parts supply, I suggest you can try to contact Visail indsutry (Group) Inc. when you have parts problem with dealer. Visail is a parts manufactuers group. They supply parts to Lifan(The No.1 exporter of motorycle/ATV in China).Zongshen(partner of Harley and joint with Piaggio),Loncin(partner of BMW),Jialing(the Joint venture wiht Honda) and Jianshe(The joint venture with Yamaha). Personal opinion, Jianshe is the best ATV maker in China,but it's price is high for its YAMAHA engine. Loncin or Linhai is the second. Hawai is new in ATV manufacture.But it grows fast.And it makes details of the products in good way. The performance/price rate is the highest. I also recommend you could buy parts from Visail directly. I'm sure the prices of some parts are lower than from your dealer,even add the shipping cost. When you buy ATV, you must know who is the right maker. Jianshe is the best at 400cc up ATV. Locin and Linhai are good at 250cc. Hawai is under 200cc. For your situation,I suggest you buy a loncin250 or Linhai 250. "

Now, I had no idea that these Chinese companies were partnering up with the brand name manufacturers. I really found it interesting...

OffRoadNoob

 

I remember reading that post some time ago. I searched for Visail Industry (Group) Inc [China] to no avail. I could not find anything on it. Hope someone has better luck.

The Lifan engines on the other hand have many sources for parts, like Ebay, the companies American Lifan and Canada Lifan to name a few. Just my opinion.

 

Thanks for the info Coloradotrailrider but from my research it appears Lifan does not actually make 171FMM engine and it is possibly a copy of the Lifan 167FMM engine used on ST250-10. I thought maybe the 171FMM is an OEM Lifan engine just rebadged, but according to Lifan they do not do that. I posted a response over on the Vbike 250 V4S..........thanks.............Slydog

 

Coloradotrailrider, did you Google Visail Industry? I did a Google search and got this link: http://www.visail.com/visail/index.asp

 

Thanks SilveradoSS, I used the MSN search engine, should have known better. I'll check the site out later today.

 

I agree - there are so many "Haters" out there, and they're pretty vocal. I just got my Hi Bird - and I'm VERY happy with it. We rode some tough trails already, and we're takin it out again this weekend.
I know I'm new, but I would advise anyone who buys a Chinese ATV "out of the crate" to listen to the dealer's advice on putting it together, and take 4-5 hours to go over the ATV with a wrench and some loc-tite BEFORE you ride it. It's worth it.
I haven't had any real issues - knock on wood - but I'll post everything I can and read up - I appreciate what you all are tryin to do here - I remember when my Mom and Dad bought one of those "piece if crap" Toyotas in 1969 - everybody gave them so much grief - but we know what has happened since.
Who knows if the story will play out the same way with the Chinese ATVs, but it's good to know this forum is here -

 

Glad to hear you are enjoying your Hibird, my Father-law has a 2006 200cc. We have yet to get it out yet but it seems very nice.

 

I like the photos of your ATVs - they look great!

I don't know if this will help, but here's what happened on mine - keep in mind, I had no accidents or anything break because of this, but it's worth taking a look before you get too far into a trail:

The bolt/nut that holds on the rear end - the nut is under a little rubber cap on the right side of the bike, mine worked itself loose on the trail - got back to camp and put loc-tite on it

The nuts/bolts that hold on the front wheels, bottom control arm, right side, holding the bushing/bearing in the control arm - the nuts loosened up - same thing, put loc-tite on 'em and kept riding

The bolts holding the steering column in place - just below the handle bars - same thing, they worked loose, so I loc-tited them and tightened 'em back up.

I'm goin out on some trails again next week, between now and then, I'm takin off the plastics, and loc-titing everything on the bike. Also, the stock handle bars made my wrists ache, so I'm gonna replace 'em (well, I kinda have to, because I bent mine when I rolled the ATV in the mud!) You might get away with adjusting yours. Also, kczukiman sent me a link for some wheel spacers on ebay - just do a search for "ATV wheel spacer" and you'll find 'em - I'm putting a set of 1.5" spacers on the back wheels and turning my front wheels around to give my 'Bird a wider stance.

I gotta tell ya - I am extremely happy with my Hi Bird, I can't wait to go riding again!

 

Thanks for the info.I had done alot of reading on the Hibird and other brands some time ago, I learned about the importance of using locktite on everything. Very good to know. Needless to say we did all the nuts and bolts on his and mine.

This is and awsome forum for information, lots of MIC owners here willing to share their experiences and important information.