SINNIS APACHE 250 (2014 - on) Review

Overall rating

At first glance the new, good looking Sinnis Apache 250 Supermoto suggests Chinese built bikes are getting closer to the mainstream. But look closer and not THAT much has changed.

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As with many Chinese bikes, it’s easy to criticize the new Sinnis 250. It uses an old engine (albeit one that’s now fuel-injected), the styling and build quality isn’t great, and, after riding it, neither is the handling.

On the flip side, it’s cheap and cheerful transport for under £2500 and comes with 24 months' warranty, and if that is all you need and just want to go from A-B cheaply then it starts to make sense.  

Ride quality & brakes

Straight line stability isn’t bad but throw in some fast corners and you get a wheelbarrow effect from the front, a slight wobble or weave.  Below 60mph you don’t notice it as much and you can throw it around with ease. In traffic you can dart into gaps, bounce over speed humps and generally make light work of the inner city gridlock.

However there are still flaws.

Try attacking a few corners and it gets a bit vague. The damping is poor, as are the tyres which offered poor grip and lacked any feel even in near-perfect warm, sunny conditions. I hate to think what they’d be like in the wet or on a cold winters’ morning.

The racy looking ‘petal’ brakes weren’t much better, either. You need a real handful of lever to stop proceedings, not the one finger I was expecting from the large 300mm single disc.

Engine

The engine is from Suzuki’s ancient GN250 which wasn’t that great when new last century and is as exciting as the Antiques Road Show, but it’s bullet proof and should take a hammering.

It’s a little agricultural with a few vibrations thrown in for good measure, will sit happily at 60mph all day long but at 65mph hills become your enemy and 70mph is nearly flat out.

Reliability & build quality

The colours may be bright, but up close the level of finish is below average and I wouldn’t like to think what one would like look after two years of teenage abuse and a harsh British winter.

Value vs rivals

Equipment

The clocks look dated, the gear change indicator is an afterthought and the tyres woeful. Get the idea?