Bashan Brozz 250 Off Road Test - A Chinese Dual Sport Adventure Ride: Review in Progress, Part 2

So we're here today seeking redemption. Pretty awesome. Well, this is a hell of a torture test. We can get around, but you're just going to have to be careful, okay? Oh, two deer, two deer. That's the end. Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Dorkside. I am the Dork in the Woods, and today we are going to do an off-road test on my Bichon Bras 250 Recon model. That's right everyone, I am the Dork in the Road, and I want to be your internet riding buddy. And I'm better than your regular riding buddies, because I'm available whenever you want, and I come with the mute button, so please consider subscribing, and don't forget to turn on those notifications so that you know when I post awesome new dual sport and adventure content, just like this. So I'm up here in the woods. We are near House Rock Campground above Sweet Home Oregon. And today with my helper, my companion, my best riding buddy, Lil Dork. Say hi, Lil Dork. Hi, Lil Dork. There, it's better. And we are finally, at long last, getting out into the woods to test the bras on the logging roads and side roads that you guys see me riding on all the time. This is the exact spot where I discovered I had lost my brake reservoir cap last time and could not go riding. So we're here today seeking redemption in the hopes that we can get out, ride this bike, and give it a little bit of a test today. So I want to show you what we got going for you. So Lil Dork is rocking the GoPro Hero 4, my old GoPro Hero 4. So she's going to get you some third-person footage. So she'll probably ride behind me today instead of in front of me like she normally does. So are you ready, Lil Dork? Yep. What are you most excited about today? Just exploring and seeing if you fall down. Here we are, the maiden forest voyage of the Bras 250. So I've done a road test, a sort of extended road test video. So my thoughts, you can see in the video, which I'll put here-ish, I think, up here. So today, we're out to test the Bras in the off-road arena. This is not a full review. This is an off-road test. So I'm calling it a review in progress in concert with the first video. And then I'm going to do a third, sort of final thoughts, actual review video for all of you. This is more of a stream of consciousness adventure, just impressions and seeing how it does in the woods as we go. So that's what you're going to get. It's not going to be a formal, sort of organized review. People have asked me about the suspension and is the suspension squishy? I will tell you right now, it is not squishy. In fact, it's hard. I wish it was squishier. That's my first impression, because it definitely is not soaking up the little bumps the way that my 250L does. I have a tendency to ride too fast on these roads. So this is a 250cc Chinese dual sport. There's two ways to get it. You can buy one from a dealer. If you can find one near you, then you can find out where those dealers are by contacting Peace Sports in Georgia. Or you can order it shipped directly to your house for $1,950 total. But you have to assemble it. It comes in a crate. So Lil Dork and I assembled this bike. I've got a video of that, which I will link for you. I've never assembled a motorcycle before. I don't consider myself incredibly mechanically inclined, but I managed to make it work. If I could do it, almost anybody else could. My main dual sport is a CRF 250L. It's a 2016. So that's my main point of comparison. I've ridden a few other dual sports. I've ridden my dad's DR200. And honestly, in my opinion, that's the bike to which this one compares. This bike has a much wider, more plush seat than most dual sports. I've read and been told it's memory foam. I'm not sure if it is technically memory foam or if it's a generic version of memory foam. I don't know. I think it needs to break in a little. But it's definitely more comfortable than the hard plank-like seats on the other dual sports I've ridden. Who is this bike for in terms of this type of riding? So if you are a dual sport rider, we're going to get some snow. Awesome. What could you do with this bike and what kind of rider would be happy with it? And I still think this forest road type stuff is going to be great for it. I don't know how it's going to do on anything more technical or more complicated than this, just because the suspension is pretty stiff. But here's a really pretty waterfall. This is where Duck Fan and I stopped that time and had cigars in the snow. Pretty awesome. Oh, that's me. I don't want a picture of me. This is my thumbnail photo right here. Well, it's nice to have some snow, huh? So that's a nice little roadside stop. This bike, I think, is going to be a great first dual sport bike, somebody with not a lot of riding experience, somebody that wants to get up into the woods but has never done it before and wants an unintimidating motorcycle, or you're not sure if you're really going to want to lean into it and so you want something cheap so you're not out a bunch of money at the beginning. I think it's going to be a great bike for that. It's going to be an excellent motorcycle for, jeez, the snow is way lower than I thought, kid. All right, we're going to get some Brazzaville snow, I think. What do you think, kid? This is an opportunity. So I'm going to see if it's just this corner. Brazz in the snow footage, there's probably not a lot. So these are the stock Chinese dual sport tires. Well, this is a hell of a torture test. Yeah, so it looks like this is our road. So the snow is much lower than I suspected. So I guess we're going to hit up some side roads today. We're not going to get up to our awesome, awesome viewpoints today, kid. Let me see if this will stand up on its own in the snow. It will. Awesome, dude, because I got to try to turn it around. Fortunately, this motorcycle is very light. Look how deep it is. But I made it this far. So it has Chinese 9010 dual sport tires, which is kind of crazy. So I did want to get it in the snow. So this is so you can get a sense. This is how far I came in the snow right here. And I'm going to have to turn around and come back out. There's a lot of snow right here. And it's just going to continue to be like this. I mean, it's it's a foot deep right here. Easy. This is where our snow venture ends for today. But that's OK, because we just passed two really good side roads that I want to check out. Here you go. Here's a good shot of where we're at right now in the snow, Taito. The kickstand is not down, by the way. That's how deep in snow it is right now. Here's the problem. So I'm going to have to go backwards because I don't have enough forward to get turned around. It's OK, because I can always kickstand and turn it. See what we can do. Shit. OK, well, here's a problem. Can't get up on top of the snow. It's definitely lighter than the 250L, but not light. OK, there we go. Pretty deep. We're moving, though. So honestly, these tires, not bad. Oh, there you go. Oh, now you dug yourself in a hole. OK, well, that's fun. How many people have ridden a BRAS 250 in the snow? I think the viewers would like to see you ride my bike. What? I'm trying to see how deep the snow is. Yeah, maybe a little wobbling. Slow down there. First ever BRAS in the snow in the universe. Probably not ever, but in Oregon, maybe. Look at your wheel. It's all packed in there. Sorry, kid. That was fun, though. So I'm just going to take the first side road I see. You're cool with that? That snow escalated quickly because look, this is like 20 feet away. There's not that much. Let's try this side road because we're here and it's already sort of overgrown. So it's going to be rad. I think this kind of goes just to a campsite because I know there's a cliff over there, but let's go look. Let's find out. Coming? All right, here we go. So, yeah, this is just the landing camping spot. But, ooh, the mountains look good from here. Look at that. Wow, pretty. All right, let's go back down and find another road to check out. Back on the main. Keep your eyes peeled for sides. There's some beauty. That's that campsite again. Some snowage. I don't know if I got you a good view last time, so I just want you to see it. There it is. It's pretty. It's quite a spot. Definitely flowing a lot more than it was last time I was up here. That snow is melting up on top. It's becoming spring. If you haven't yet, I would love to invite you all to join us in the Dork in the Road Discord. It's kind of like our own private chat server where the community comes together. Talk about bikes and video games, set up rides, share videos and stuff and really just generally hang out and BS. So everyone's welcome. Riders or not. I'll post a link in the description for you. Let's go up this one, Lil. Oh, yeah, this is steep. Again, it won't come across on the camera, but pretty steep. You doing all right, Lil? There you go. So she'll climb in first gear. Oh, God, I thought this was the end. I was going to be pissed. It's not. So this is pretty rocky, kind of technical. So it's bouncing me quite a bit. It's like I said, that suspension is pretty stiff. Nope. This is as far as it goes. All right. Well, that's the end. So coming back to you, this one looks pretty abandoned, too. That's not good. We can't have two impossible roads. OK, we can get around, but you're just going to have to be careful, OK? You with me? All right. Oh, there's lots. This is not much of a road. OK, actually, this is the end. So I don't come up any further, kid. Yeah, because there's a big trench. So as far as this side road hopping over branches and stuff, it's good. I will tell you one advantage. One thing I do like better for this kind of riding is it's a little lower to the ground. So I'm far more comfortable, far more comfortable waddling and stuff. And it's lighter, so it's easier to whip around, move around if you have to than my 250L or a lot of, I think, comparable dual sports. So that's one advantage in its column for this kind of slow exploration. All right. Well, we're back to the main. So let's hope for us on different side here or there. We're going to take this right. Well, here's some semi scenic vistas for you. Semi. It's pretty anyway. I want to confess something to all of you about this bike. When I found out I was getting it, I was stoked because I wanted to get, you know, I'd seen attention deficits videos on it and I wanted to try one out for myself. I thought that was a cool little idea, but I did not expect to think it was awesome. I'll be honest, I bought into the hype about Chinese bikes and now they're unreliable and no fun to ride and all that. And so I was prepared to deliver a review for you that was full of caveats like, yeah, if yeah, it's good for it could be worse kind of thing. But so far, I mean, everything I've thrown at it thus far in the 148 miles I've put on it, it has exceeded my expectations. I will sell you that on every front to the point where I am seriously considering making this little dorks next bike. You know, that little dork is important to me and I wouldn't put her on anything that I felt was unsafe. We're going to go this way or unreliable because I don't want us to get stranded in the woods with a bike that doesn't work. That should tell you a lot about how I feel about this bike so far. So what I've read and been told is that these bikes are based on 70s era Honda technology. It's kind of a clone of that and that they exist all over the world. South America, actually tree across the road right here. China, Thailand. And these are the bikes they ride every single day. We're going to go the other way. We're up here. We're up here to explore. There's a quail. There's a pheasant right in the road. Yeah, I think it's a pheasant. Oh, this is a camping spot. I didn't know it was here. OK, good to know. It's a neat little bike. I think it will exceed your expectations. I will tell you that much. It has exceeded my expectations. I've done zero mods to it. It's 100% stock right now. That's how I want to test it. 208 Forest Road, 208. Look at this mud. Sweet. Oh, this is not as good of a road as I was thinking. That's good. I want to get some sh!t out of your road. Yeah. Wow, kid, check it. Yeah, this is more what I was after. Oh, two deer, two deer. Look at them just walking. Yeah, I knew they're not going to show up on the camera, but there you go. So if you need a vehicle to see wildlife, the Bichon Bras 250 will get you there. And the CRF 110. Oh, branch. Oh boy, I'm tempted to try to jump this, but I don't want to bust off the footpegs landing on them. Oh, muddy. Now, this is a lot more fun. Yeah, so this kind of riding great for it, great for it. Oh, whoa, yeah. Awesome. Got a little air. So can you jump it? Yep. Did it actually come off? Did it look cool? Whoa. Awesome. OK, so confirmed you can jump a Bichon Bras 250. I don't have any third person footage of me jumping, so that'll be good. It's not going to be super impressive, I'm sure, but proof of concept anyway. It's pretty muddy right here, be careful. So here's some muddy trekking. So these tires, honestly, they're wearing quickly, but traction wise, they're really good. I'm impressed with them. Better than you would expect from Chinese tires that you can literally buy for $10 a piece bulk from Aliexpress. Good job. Yeah, that's the end. That's the end. Oh, look, a little waterfall. Here's that waterfall. It's pretty cool. We're just turning around, checking it out. What's this? Non-dairy creamer. Awesome. Yeah, I never know because dairy creamer, that's no good. Oh, I bottomed out the front. Oh, I totally bottomed out the front. I hit that a little hard. Whoa, 60s. There's some beauty for you. Oh, my butt is wet. That'll happen. That will happen. Oh, yeah, I bottomed it again. OK, good to know. So it doesn't do so good on the sudden ups. It needs a drop off. OK, more mud. Yeah. Suspension is definitely a weak point, I think, on this bike. It is too stiff for normal riding, like you're going to notice it if you hit a regular run of the mill pothole and stuff, but not stiff enough when you try to do more extreme stuff like me trying to jump off these little drainage hills and stuff. So I've heard you can swap out the oil in the springs and get a little bit more stiffness out of the front. So that's something maybe to consider if you're planning on doing more hardcore. But my guess is the majority of people that are thinking about this motorcycle are not thinking about going off jumps and taking it on super technical trails. They may get into some of that stuff, but they're not going to hit it at speed. This motorcycle is incredibly well suited for someone who wants to get out and do this, explore the forest on a motorcycle, but mostly side roads and some light slow speed off the beaten path. The majority of what I do, honestly, this bike is plenty for. But if you want to do trail riding or more technical, hardcore stuff, or if you want to jump and stuff, you're going to want something just a little sturdier. However, this thing has impressed me and has been more sturdy than I thought it would at every turn so far. So I may be underestimating it a little bit there. Again, still my these are just my in the moment impressions. If you want to dip your toe into the world of dual sport riding, but you're not sure if you're going to like it or if you want to invest a whole bunch of money, this is the way to go. And the bike's so inexpensive that you can beat on it and not feel bad about it. It costs half as much as, say, a DR200 like my dad's bike. But at least from what I can tell so far, it's 70 or 80 percent as capable. So no, is it exactly the same? No. Is it as good? No. Is it going to be as reliable? No. Is the build quality the same? No. It's not exactly the same. But again, that's an apples to apples comparison. And that's not that's not what you need to be doing. You need to think about value for your dollar. So for two thousand dollars, it's an insane value. Look what I'm doing. Even if it only did this, even if it would only be enough for you to go putt putt around the woods with your friends or a good bike to teach a new beginner on, but it's also fully street legal and you can ride it around town, commute on it, whatever you need to do. And it's got all those other fun features like the alarm, which I'll probably never use, but some people might find that handy and a remote start. You know, all of that stuff. It will start in gear, by the way. I tried it. It has exceeded my expectations at every turn. It was easier to put together than I thought. It's more fun to ride, more capable. The carb has not been as annoying as I thought it would be. I just jumped the damn thing. Not amazingly, but as high as I've ever jumped any other bike. It's got the oomph down low if you want it. I haven't lugged it or failed to climb a hill yet today. The tires it comes with are really good. The traction is good. It's fun. I really think you could whip this bad boy around confidently, especially as a beginner, because it's light, easy to handle, easy to get your foot down, and it's not super powerful. It's not powerful enough to hurt yourself or get into trouble. It's beginner friendly because you make those stupid mistakes and it won't penalize you. It doesn't have the power. I think it's a good bike. I think you if you ride one, you'll be pleasantly surprised. I have been. And that honestly is high praise because I don't know what I expected, but there is a lot of talk about Chinese bikes and the quality and quality control and all that. So my final conclusion, at least for this video, is basically what I just said. Off-road performance, pleasantly, surprisingly capable. Definitely good for this putting around stuff. Stay tuned. The plan is to deliver a full review for you, combining my street and dirt impressions, but that's my dirt impressions for today. So I just wanted to share that with you, bring you guys along. We're back to the snowy spot where we had to turn around before. So we're probably going to turn around again. Whoa, whoa, you're spinning. Almost there, almost there. Hey. Old Dork's going to get some snow ventures. You got to just spin it, kid. Just let it spin and put your butt all the way back on the seat as far as you can. It's the only way to get traction. Bring it. Look at you go. Yeah, snow's flying. She's got it. There you go. That's the deepest snow you've ever ridden in. I hope you enjoyed our adventure today. Little Dork, big shout out. Big thanks to Little Dork for being my camera operator, my third person camera. So we got some good shots there. I hope I can't wait to look at the footage. Kudos to her for riding in the snow. Deep, deep snow for the first time. She's ridden in small and not so deep snow before. But we're going to head back down to the truck, I think, and make our way home. So the bra survived its first day in the woods. Like I said, I'm impressed with it beyond what I expected and look forward to the full comprehensive review coming very soon. But for now, I just want to say thank you very much. We appreciate you. And yes, this is the same spot again. We've just been riding up and down this five mile stretch of road. And as always, please do not forget to be excellent to each other. Thank you. Excellent! Give it a little more gas. All right, you can stop anytime. We'll clutch it. It's a brake. I just rode a bike with a clutch. Feet up. A little more gas. You're good. A little more gas.