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Sinnis Trackstar - Rolling review


Sableye
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Hello!


I bought a Sinnis Trackstar in July 2012. I am keeping a rolling update of how it fares on the intertubes, and will repost my stuff here too. Aside from the first post, I will try to be concise with all my updates (done every service / 2000km). If the bike falls apart and rots, y'all get too hear about. If not... Well... Guess Sinnis can get some credit if its due ^^


First Impressions


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/956743335.jpg


The negatives.


The welds on the frame. They don’t look terrible, but they are certainly not as clean as the big name bikes. I am however paying half the price, my expectations were not high to start with. It doesn’t look like its going to fall apart. 'It will do'.


There is no fuel gauge. Knew that before I bought it. No biggy.


The speedo has MPH and KMH, but the distance is in Km. A touch annoying for a Brit who digs his Miles. :)


The manual is written in Engrish. I reckon Sinnis could do with converting the manual properly to English as it isn’t long and really does read badly in the badly translated form its currently in. One annoying example, the running in section. It says to keep the bike below 5,000 rpm for the first 800km, but the bike does not have a rev counter and it gives no indication of how fast you can ride in any gear to stay below 5,000 rpm. Not helpful.


It is incredibly slow. Literally 5th gear shift happens about 25mph - 30mph. Max speed you would actually want to push it too is somewhere between 50mph - 60mph. This is a super slow bike, however! Its 11bhp, 125cc 4 stroke, tiny (as yet untested by the masses) bike. If you bought this bike for speed, you are an idiot. :)


The last thing, Sinnis deliver their bikes in crates to the dealers. This can lead to some scuffing and bumping. On mine the front left indicator was bent. It does work. It will be replaced for free when I take it in for the first service. I am told this has happened on a few Trackstars. It does work, but they couldn't get the replacement in time for when I wanted to pick it up (and I am impatient dammit! NEW TOY! :) ).



The positives.


Without a doubt it is the bees knees looks wise. Nearly everyone I have met has liked the look of it despite the Sinnis badge (generally meaning Brit-Anese bike and everyone thinks it will rust before my eyes).


Its turning circle is ridiculously small. You could turn it on a penny.


The equipment, although basic, isn’t that bad. Its been a dry summer, and it rained the first day commuting on it. I was expecting to be sliding everywhere on the new tyres, but I didn’t notice any slipping. The brakes are a front disk brake, rear drum brake and both seem capable.


This is my first time with mirrors as high as the Sinnis' and the view behind you get is great.


It comes with a 2 year warranty which can be honoured if you have the first 2 services done by the dealer then do the rest of your servicing yourself. Bloody heck that’s heck of a bold warranty to offer. If they do honour it, fantastic. If not, I will tell you if I need to call on it. :)

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First Service Report :


Motorbike Model : Sinnis Trackstar


Mileage

1002 km

602 miles


Max speed during running in : 30mph?

Max speed the bike feels unstrained : 40mph-45mph

Max speed the bike goes : 60mph-65mph

Max speed the bike goes off a cliff : Maybe 85mph-95mph - Untested


Notes :


Chain needs tightening every 500km (300'ish mile).

Front left indicators may come bent (common fault, replaced for free by dealer).


Negatives :


The Engrish manual.

Paint rubs off engine a little where boot rubs it. *

Speedo is in MPH/KPH - Odometer is only km.

Sinnis do not respond to emails at all. **

Frame welds are a touch messy.***


Positives :


Good fuel economy (about 90 - 100mpg).

High mirrors give excellent rear view.

Tiny tiny turning circle.

Looks good.

Wide bars make incredibly easy steering.

Very lightweight.



* Best fit explanation I have for the missing paint. Not 100% certain though.


** Sent an email to 3 of 4 email addresses on the website so far with no replies yet.


*** A touch overly critical, the bike certainly doesn't feel like its going to fall apart any time soon. Its entirely looks perspective.

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Yeah , very well written mate. Keep an eye on those welds and try to get a look at the lower steering head bearing, some of em are delivered with free rust, but no grease. Also keep an eye on the exhaust system. The first sign of rust, clean it off and paint with barbecue paint. Good luck mate and great start :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

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Thankyou :)


Will take some piccys of frame welds tomorrow ^^


On rust, I have a keg of ACF 50.... And a paint roller... I reckon it should see me through winter... :P


I do think the bikes built a bit better than that, but taking no chances ^^

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Posting delivery of welds pictures :)


I can see no cracks or weak spots, it just looks a bit messier in 2 - 3 spots than the rest of the bike, and compared to my previous bikes which had no welds as messy as these.


Nearly all the welds look fine, except the following spots.


Grab rail


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/1461996_orig.jpg


Around suspension


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/7540279_orig.jpg


Rear pegs


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/3385543_orig.jpg


Nothing looks like its going to fall apart. It just looks messy is all. The rest of the bike is pretty fine with welds, and theres nothing else really messy about the bike.


Some other welds from about the bike.


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/2001855_orig.jpg


http://www.sableyes.co.uk/uploads/1/1/5/3/11538867/6391775_orig.jpg


Sorry about the dirt and dodgy mobile phone pics :)

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Yes, but the way a weld looks tells you how strong it is. You should not HAVE to grind a weld down if it's done tidy. It's obviously all done by hand as opposed to robotic welding. This means it's quite possible to get a 'duff' weld on a bike (not picking on yours in particular).


None of those look like they are about to fall apart, but you are much more likely to get corrosion in the holes and voids, plus in a bump, more likely to pop apart. Personally I wouldn't worry about it apart from checking for corrosion more often.

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(not picking on yours in particular)

 

Pick on it all you like (as long as its fair picking :) ). At least theres some information / discussion on the bike for the next prospective Sinnis buyer who finds this rolling review, so they arnt buying blind :)

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  • 1 month later...

Rolling review update on the Trackstar, I gotta retest the MPG thing, 125mpg is deffo excessive! Secound Service update. Nothings fallen off or rotted... Yet! :cheers:


Bolded the updated bits.



Motorbike Model :


Sinnis Trackstar


Mileage

2888 km

1794 miles


Max speed during running in : 30mph?

Max speed the bike feels unstrained : 40mph-45mph

Max speed the bike goes : 60mph-65mph

Max speed the bike goes off a cliff : Maybe 85mph-95mph - Untested


Note on speed - On running in pre 1000km, I was gearing up too 5th about 26mph and it felt natural and unstrained. Between 1000km and 3000km, I was gearing up too 5th about 33mph. Kinda obvious its gonna be different after proper running in.


Notes :


Chain needs tightening after first 500km, then every 1000km (600'ish mile).

Front left indicators may come bent (common fault, replaced for free by dealer).


Negatives :


The Engrish manual.

Paint rubs off engine a little where boot rubs it. *

Speedo is in MPH/KPH - Odometer is only km.

Sinnis do not respond to emails at all. **

Frame welds are a touch messy.***


Positives :


Good fuel economy (about 90 - 100mpg, may have gotten 125mpg on Shell V Power, re-testing this).

High mirrors give excellent rear view.

Tiny tiny turning circle.

Looks good.

Wide bars make incredibly easy steering.

Very lightweight.



* Best fit explanation I have for the missing paint. Not 100% certain though.


** Sent an email to 3 of 4 email addresses on the website so far with no replies yet.


*** A touch overly critical, the bike certainly doesn't feel like its going to fall apart any time soon. Its entirely looks perspective.

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  • 2 months later...

Muchly enjoyed the read, particularly enjoyed "Max speed the bike goes off a cliff : Maybe 85mph-95mph - Untested"

Hahahaha!

I was coveting a shiney new red Sinnis Vista for my first bike, but my dad beat me to it with the beefy Kymco Zing :up:

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  • 5 months later...

Keeping my eye on this. Quite fancy one but was bitten by a Hyosung Hyper 10 years ago Korea should have been a half decent place to manufacture bikes. I wanted it to be good - but it was crap.

Chucking at the welding. Back in '78 we used to laugh at the bird droppings that constituted welding on Yamaha's. They didnt break, but looked scruffy. As for the trackstar please keep the updates coming. Cheers and ride safe.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...

I bought one in December to use as a winter hack. My mates think I'm mad, but I'm loving it. 100mpg+ and 70mph is possible and it looks quite funky. It's better than worrying about salt damage to my CBF1000 or dropping the CBF on an icy road.


I'm a year round, highish mileage rider (10,000 miles plus each year) and this little bike is a hoot. I've covered it in a mixture of ACF, high melting point grease, Agriwax and anti-seize so it should survive the salty North East roads reasonably well.


I've had some issues - droopy front indicator on delivery, the front brake fluid dropped alarmingly but has stabilised after top up, the rear indicator cables rubbed onto rear tyre after they slipped through the retaining clamp and the oil filler cap fell out after the 1000km service! BUT.......Sinnis replaced the indicators, without question inside of 24 hours and after 10 weeks it's covered 1700km and I've loved every minute.


I fitted a 30/30w halogen bulb, a set of heated grips (R&G) to keep my digits pain free and a volt meter to monitor the charging situation. The good news is that even with the lights on and the grips running flat out, the meter shows 13.5v plus across the battery.


I even stayed with two sports riders (CBF6, GSXR6) yesterday after they passed me on the approach to one of my favourite bends. Okay when the bend opened out they were gone in an instant but it was fun, slotting the little 'un into a safe, offset position through the left/right flick flack.


There's no doubt that there are some awful Chinese bikes out there but................this little Sinnis ain't one of them.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 year later...

Ooops! Got distracted by shiny things and did not return to the forum. Sorry!


The bike recently semi passed away. It clocked up 67,500km 'ish (41,000 mile in real money) before the sump plug plate cracked and it suffered a seized engine. For a £1500 I think that’s quite good. Its lasted better than my neighbours CBF and has nothing else really wrong with the bike. Also it takes any GN based engine which can be had for less than £100 on ebay, to £420 for a brand new engine. Deffo a future project for the next time I have a week off work.


The welds never did break up, but the electrics hated anything out of the norm happening to them. Every theft attempt seemed to leave me with half a dozen gremlins appearing over the following weeks. The electrics and even the wiring holders appears to be more advanced on newer models with hoops all over the frame holding the loom on the Sinnis Retrostar, Cafe, and Scrambler.


If anyone wants to know the ins and outs and good and bad over the last 3 years, I can either copy pastes several large posts that I wrote about the Trackstar to here or provide links to them.

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  • 4 months later...

Read your review and went out and got a Trackstar. Your right the welds are rough, it's not quick (50mph topspeed) but I am about 5,11 and 17.5 stone! Fuel eco is amazing! 16 miles a day, 5 days a week. £5.00 a week on fuel!!

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Good review thanks!


I'm buying a sinnis Cafe from a dealer not far from me, looks amazing, need to read more on the specs maybe run it a little bit, don't want to get a bike that sounds like a 50cc moped (you can never tell!) when i get it i will do the same and add a review (With my limited knowledge!) along with some pics.

 

Oh wow, this is a blast from the past! :laugh:

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Good review thanks!


I'm buying a sinnis Cafe from a dealer not far from me, looks amazing, need to read more on the specs maybe run it a little bit, don't want to get a bike that sounds like a 50cc moped (you can never tell!) when i get it i will do the same and add a review (With my limited knowledge!) along with some pics.

 

Oh wow, this is a blast from the past! :laugh:

 

Forged

Edited by Glorian
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