Cheap Thrills from the New Chinese Enduro

Fancy getting off-road, but don't want a tatty used bike? This could be the answer: the £2750 Shineray XY250GY-2 Enduro.

The Chinese trailie ticks all the right boxes, making 24bph at 8500rpm from its four stroke single and weighing just 125kg. It's a new release for 2011 and comes in two other identically specified versions: the Motorcross and Supermoto.

Powered by Shineray's own version of Honda's NX250 engine, the liquid-cooled bike is a direct rival to Kawasaki's KLX250, over which it has a 2bph advantage.

The KLX's influence is obvious, with the looks of the Shineray hardly differing from its Japanese rival: there's the same exhaust styling, the same angle of headlamp, side fairings and swingarm. More appealingly, the twin-piston front brakes have clearly taken inspiration from market-leading models and are barely distinguishable from those used on KTM's machines. It's even got stainless pipes, a claimed top speed of 75mph and a balancer shaft to keep the single from getting too vibey.

Among the pines of Norfolk's Hit the Dirt off-road track the bike proves itself extremely capable, even in the hands of an off-road novice. The power is smooth yet punchy and readily available throughout the rev range, with a decent pull available in second from near stationary speeds - useful when you've misread a corner and need an embarrassment-lessening boost.

The suspension works well too, turning dips, ramps and drops into targets rather than obstacles. Blasting through pot holes and craters is a real thrill and the twisty woodland trails can be attacked like a go-kart track. Whether the 250 would be quite as capable taking on steeper gradients or more hardcore endure courses is up for debate, but that's more due to the capacity than the quality of the engine.

What does having a question mark lurking is how an affordable off-roader will withstand the abrasive muck and grime it'll be plastered with every weekend. The plastics flexible for the inevitable drops and the team who import the bike - a small group of British off-road enthusiasts called Zing - have been running an XY250GY-2 for the past year and claim it's stood up well to the treatment. They're planning to enter the bike in enduros this year to show off its capabilities.

The seat height is a towering 958mm in comparison to the KLX's modest 890mm . It's not unusable for those under 5ft9in, but it's certainly more approachable for those above average height. Being a shorty myself it just involved the use of tip-toes and clever employment of mounds when pulling up.

You'll need another £70 needed to make the bike road legal. With the KLX250 coming in at £4549, its easy to see the appeal of this neat, novice enduro bike. It begins to make even more sense when you look at the motorcross machines offered by the Japanese manufacturers which offer far more performance but cost between £4493 and £6500. Zing is also promising a larger engine to follow on from this model in 2012.

Verdict

The Shineray 250 is a capable, entry-level endure bike you could comfortably ride to your nearest byway, tackle all but the most severe off-road terrain on, and then ride home again. With the amount of fun this bike provides it's easy to see why non-competitive off-roaders would balk at paying a Japanese manufacturer £1800 more for the same kicks. This is the kind of affordable off-road tool a lot of British riders will love.

Dan Aspel Motorcycle News 06/04/2011

• Shineray XY250 four-stroke


• Undercuts rivals by £1800


• Verdict: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★