# CHINA'S NEW JHL 250 GETS PUT TO THE TEST! **Channel:** Dirtbike Magazine **Source:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C1A3lzZ-T8 **Transcript page:** https://www.withtranscript.ai/video/2C1A3lzZ-T8 ## Chapters - 0:00 — Introducing the New Chinese Motocross Bike - 2:45 — First Ride and Engine Impressions - 9:10 — Handling, Intended Riders, and Setup - 10:26 — Availability, Models, and Final Thoughts ## Transcript **[0:00] Speaker A:** I didn't know these things existed before. About a week ago. **[0:50] Speaker A:** Hi, I'm Ron Lawson. Thanks for joining us. We're here at Glen Helen today with a very special bike, something very new. I didn't know these things existed before. About a week ago, news kind of leaked out. Jhl, first Chinese manufacturer to earn points in MXGP competition. Quite a milestone for Chinese motorcycles. We know there's a lot of haters out there. By the same token, all those people are probably texting about it on their iPhones. But one way or the other, China's here, China's here to stay. And this motorcycle is a perfect example. JHL started up kind of in the shadow of Kove and ZX Moto, the two more established motocross brands that have been competing out of China. This particular bike has a motor that very similar to the one in a Kove 250, which we did a little bit on a year ago. If you look at it, it kind of looks a little bit like a Honda motor. **[1:39] Speaker A:** As we know, Chinese motorcycles, they kind of start with something that exists and they kind of tweak it, make it their own. If you look at the chassis on this, the frame itself, very similar to an older ktm. It has a steel backbone. If you look around the top, shock, again, very KTM like. As far as non Chinese parts, quite a few of them on here. Kyb suspension, did dirt. Star rims, Nissan br. This also has a Bosch ignition, a little bit different from the one on the Kove. We're going to ride the thing, figure out exactly where it sits in the grand scheme of things. We're not quite sure if it's up to the horsepower levels of the Austrian and Japanese 250s. We're going to find out. One of the things that's very important to keep in perspective, the price. As we all know, Chinese bikes, they kind of have to come in under the market. **[2:25] Speaker A:** They have to undercut everybody else because they don't have the established names. This bike phenomenal in that respect. $5,999. It's like $4,000 less than a KTM. We know that they also have a 350 based on the same motor, and that's the actual one that earned points at the Chinese GP last week. Can't wait to go. **[2:45] Speaker A:** R. **[3:01] Speaker B:** Sam. **[3:33] Speaker B:** Ram. **[5:41] Speaker B:** It's. **[7:43] Speaker B:** Okay. So last thing you heard was Ron was gonna ride this thing. I stole it from him and I took it and rode it. Don't worry, we did let Ron ride it a little Bit but we've got a, a bunch of testing on it now. Harlem, you'll see in the video whipping it sideways, going for it. I got to spend some time on it, make some adjustments. I'm impressed, definitely impressed with this motorcycle. If you would blindfold me and say, hey, this is a previous generation ktm. It's just slow, I would kind of agree with you. Overall handling definitely impressive right out of the box. Kyb components. Not sure exactly what Joe has has done, if the suspension's been done or what, but I'm not your target. 250F guy 511, almost £200. But for me, handling wise, very predictable. When it comes to the engine, we're going to compare it to the Kove because they're basically the identical engine. **[8:33] Speaker B:** The Kove has a little bit more over rev than what this does. This doesn't really have any more bottom. I would say the 250F realm, it's going to be on the slower side and it's. It, it peaks out really fast. If you hit the rev limiter trying to kind of clutch it and bring that power back up there. If you shift it before that rev limiter, it will carry that next gear fairly decent again. It's. It's on the slow side, but the Kove has a little bit higher ceiling. It seems like it will let you go a little bit farther and click that next gear. This one. Like I said, if you go past that rev limiter spot, you're kind of struggling to get back up. So you are going to be shifting it a lot. **[9:10] Speaker B:** Stable chassis. It's very for me, pretty confidence inspiring. It's kind of one of those, those play bikes that you ride around on and you just feel like you're ringing its neck. Kind of feel like a hero because you can hit just about anything. It's gonna go straight out here. These are the, the sand tires from Kenda. I believe this is what comes stock on them. The track today in some situations did work really well. I felt myself sliding around. But it's for soft sand and way softer terrain than what we're riding on today. Overall Nissan component, the KYB suspension, it feels very similar to a ktm chassis wise. The motor is going to be I would say maybe more kind of Honda ish, but on the slow side. So this bike is going to be for the entry level Guy, maybe a girlfriend, a wife or a kid. **[9:57] Speaker B:** Coming up from a smaller 85 moving up to a 250F. Yeah, a serious racer. I think down the road, maybe that might be able to happen. But this is for your entry level guy or your guy that's on a budget and just wants to ride a dirt bike and have fun. I'm impressed. **[10:11] Speaker B:** Definitely looking forward to riding it some more, doing some more testing. Again, this is a what we would call maybe a pre production or it's. It has shown up before the production models. This is Joe's personal bike that he's letting us ride. So thank you very much for that Joe. **[10:26] Speaker B:** But if you want to find out a little bit more on this, I think you can go to USA Motor Toys llc. They might have a little bit more information or there might be a dealer near you, but you can call. I know Joe's the guy that takes some of those calls. Call him and find out where to get one. Joe was saying that there's a total of six different models coming in, some of those being 350cc water cooled engines and I think there's a 350cc air cooled engine. I'm excited, like I'm definitely excited to ride those motorcycles and try those out. Right under $6,000 for the average guy. Maybe something you're looking for. It may not be and there's going to be people in the comments talking about they wouldn't buy them, you know, blah, blah. I'm all about getting people on motorcycles, having fun, getting people out there catching the same bug that I got and then maybe they do upgrade to something a little bit more expensive down the road. **[11:13] Speaker B:** But I'm all about it. Thank you to USA Motor Toys for bringing this bike in and bringing it to a new segment and having more options. If you got a little bit more time on your hands and you want to check out maybe the Kove that we've talked about, hit that video thumbnail and don't forget to subscribe because when you subscribe it alerts you saying that there's a brand new video out and we got new video coming out all the time. We'll see you next time.