Voge 300 Rally.

300rally mainIt really doesn’t matter who makes this bike, it looks fantastic to say the least. A small capacity, dual-purpose, motorbike with splendid build quality, designed for off-road fun at an affordable price, and we couldn’t agree more.

The name on the ‘tin’ is Voge, a high-end subsidiary on the huge Loncin Empire, from China. Loncin has been around since the mid 90s and they’ve been heavily involved with BMW, making many components from large capacity scooter components to the manufacture of engines, so they know a thing or two about build quality to say the least. It’s well worth a visit to www.loncinindustries.com to see their vast range of new machines and other interesting projects.300rally group01Anyway, what we have here is the new Voge 300 Rally with a 292cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled, four-valve, DOHC, fuel-injected engine. It produces a claimed 28hp and 25Nm, enough to send it to an indicated 135km/h, not to mention frugal fuel consumption figures, which is also an important attribute in today’s world.300rally group02Regarding electrics, there isn’t that much, which I liked, besides ABS which can be turned off (easily) by means of a simple button on the ‘bars. It does have a USB port on the side of the small LCD instrument pod, for charging things, which is a useful addition. And when we took the seat off we discovered that electrical experts, Bosch, make the ECU, which possibly accounts for the near perfect fueling, either on or off-road.300rally group03Due to its off-road prowess, you’ll notice the Voge 300 Rally is a tall bike with a seat height of around 900mm, depending where you find the specs. This does have the benefit of generating a considerable 280mm of ground clearance, ideal for a spot of rock climbing. Once in the seat it does sag a little but if you have Hobbit legs you might struggle, or maybe not, we’ve seen short riders at the Dakar before. Now onto a major talking point, the suspension…

A year or two ago, I rode two Voge naked bikes on The Bike Show (Ignition TV), where the suspension was a bit ‘suspect’. Well that has most certainly changed with the Voge 300 Rally, it’s rather good on all counts and, dare I say, felt as good if not better than the Honda Rally equivalent (I never thought I’d say that about a ‘Chinese’ bike!). Loncin/Voge has most certainly upped its game in that area ten-fold and I’d predict becoming even better in the near future.300rally group04I’m not the biggest fan of off-road antics but I did enjoy a few hours doing so, much more than with those huge adventures bikes that we test. With 11-litres of fuel onboard and all the other fluids needed, the Voge 300 Rally comes in a lightweight 158kg. Combine this with a surprisingly torquey motor and it astonished me how easily it climbs steep hills at low rpm. Just point it where you want to go and it’ll go there, very impressive! The controls are also very light to use, as in the throttle and clutch action, including the sweet six-speed gearbox too.300rally middleTo keep in the dual-purpose theme Voge has chosen the ‘correct’ wheels sizes with a 21-inch front and an 18-inch rear, which opens the door to many off-road tyre choices from all manufactures. The 300 Rally though is shod with Timsun tyres, which I’ve never heard of but worked admirably in all conditions, including wet roads. The large 5.10x18 section rear (150/160) does look very purposeful from behind, sitting on a wide and strong looking spoke rim.300rally group05Other standard parts on the 300 Rally include hefty crash-bars, hand-guards, sump guard, toothed footrests and a small rear rack to carry stuff on your travels, items that many ‘other’ manufacturers charge extra for. You really don’t need to buy anything else to go exploring and even the exhaust has a pleasant ‘thumping’ beat to it, which was nice.

Regarding build quality, it’s right up there with anything in this class. All body panels fit snuggly, the paint/decals are well applied with a hint of metallic in the yellow parts, and we all liked the wheels with a ‘half-moon’ yellow on the black which looks very cool when you follow the bike, a bit like some of the Husqvarnas.300rally group06By now you must be waiting for the inevitable fault-finding moan. Well I’ve tried and can’t really find one for what this new bike offers. Voge is imported and distributed by the owners of Big Boy/Go Moto and the like, so spares and support will never be a question should you be wondering.

I’ve now left the best part until last; the price. Where bikes like the BMW 310 GS, for example, are well over 100k, what do you think this splendid Voge option will cost? No you’re wrong. They’ll be on sale to the public within a few months and, depending on the exchange rate, one will cost a mere R66k +/-, quite simply an absolute bargain for such a capable, dual-purpose bike and we couldn’t recommend owning one more – it’s perhaps Rally Time!

Images: Sudoku.

Go to www.samotorcycles.co.za. for more information on Voge SA and to locate your nearest Voge dealer. 300rally last


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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