let me start out with my review of the kikker 5150 200cc that i just picked up and put together.
The packaging from what i have seen on the website is pretty good, however i have read quite a few posts over at the kikker forums stating that there bike arrived with a few minor scratches here and there but nothing major or to the point where it needs to be returned. Now i can't speak on the packaging first hand because i purchased my kikker locally from bobbertime in NJ, most local dealers do not stock the kikker 5150 200cc only because the 200cc model is on back order and the ETA is about 3-4 weeks but you can and from what i have read some have been lucky to get them in 5-7 days when ordered directly from kikker in Cali. Now the only reason i was able to get mine locally because the owner of bobbertime was in the middle of putting one together for himself (he had about 30% of it complete) and was nice enough to sell it to me (he had disposed of all of the packaging) at a reasonable price and give me a set of ape hanger handle bars and dragsters that you will see in the pictures below. This kit will fit into an SUV, station wagon, or MAYBE even a really large spacious sedan when unassembled. Don't buy a 110cc kit and swap in a 200cc motor the frame is beefier on the 200cc.
Assembly: as i mentioned above the bike was about 30% done when i got it, the front end was put together, and the rear fender was installed. The quality of the frame is really good for something that i believe is made in china, the welds look really strong and well done. The fitment of the motor was easy but not too easy, it required some shimming of the front lower motor mount, a little bit of hammer swinging, some small scale grinding with a dremel (nothing major), and a little bit of patience. The chain is a 520 chain, pretty damn heavy, difficult to bring together only because of the chains mass not because of poor fitment (it actually fits very well), the rear wheel was a little tricky to put on but if you follow the directions and illustrations provided via e-mail (about 65 pages but lots of helpful pics) you will have it together in no time. The front wheel is where the speedo attaches and the speedo sender is actually a spacer for the axle, but i choose not to spend the extra money on a speedo, so i had to get my own spacers (1/2" washers from home depot worked great) long story short i got the front end put together with little fuss after i got the spacers/washers needed. The electrical was a bit tricky, the bike uses a body ground and the handlebar switches need to be grounded to bare metal so (i am good pretty good with electrical) it took me about 2 hours to figure out why the **** none of the switches were working and there is no mention of this in the instructions. Well my bike is flat black which means the switches case never touched bare metal because of the paint, so a little sandpaper did the trick. Charge the battery fully before installing on the bike, its a ***** to put in last, and if not charged enough it wont recharge while riding. On a scale of 1-10 with 1 being easy and 10 being difficult i give this a 6.5 this is very doable but if you don't have a good variety of tools and mechanical experience already it will not be an easy process. 10 for a newbie 6.5 for experienced tinkerers (is that a word).
The ride: This bike to me (first motorcycle i ever drove) is pretty damn fast sorry i don't have anything else to compare it too as this is the first bike besides my MB. The engine is very smooth (it is a hi-bird 200cc made in china 4 stroke engine with surprisingly good quality from what i can tell) revs freely, and sounds really good with the straight pipe, the carb is made in japan, and seems to be very good quality, easy to start no choke needed, kick start or electric start is your choice it comes with both installed. The Brakes work pretty good (hydraulic front and back on the 200cc models, 110 models have drum rears and hydraulic disc up front) Though the rear brake seems to not fit on the rotor properly (i think i may have the wrong bracket or caliper i am looking into it) but it does its job and no binding. I can't really comment on the bikes handling as i have nothing to compare it too and i have not registered it as of yet so i kept it on my dead end street for the test drives.
Here it is the meat and potatoes below.
