CAN-AM SPYDER RT - Cycle Torque

CyCle Torque TesT – laro 250 Cruiser
RIDING GEAR: Vemar helmet,
Rivet Monsoon jacket, Triumph
Portland gloves, Draggin Jeans
Metros, Spyke Matador boots.
TesT By dennis penzo phoTos By Chris piCkeTT
Using a now established engine platform
Laro has taken the plunge and released its
own branded product.
Laro lashes out
LARo Motorcycles and
accessories make no
bones about it, the 250
Laro cruiser is designed to
be an economical budget
motorcycle capable of a
little bit more than just
tootling around town.
If you want bling and high
performance there are plenty
of other machines out there
which fit the bill.
But this little cruiser isn't
designed to compete with
the machines at the top end
of the market, although,
having said that, the
distributors have enough
confidence in their product
to put a two-year unlimited
kilometre warranty on it.
Not bad for something that
you can walk into a shop
and buy with your credit
card.
But where does this
confidence come from? How
do they know it will last long
enough in the real world to
make it a viable proposition?
Part of this answer lies
in Laro Motorcycles and
Accessories’ owner Anthony
Famularo's intimate
knowledge of how the
Chinese market works.
Having started his
connection with Chinese
motorcycles back in the days
of Arqin Motorcycles he has
learned many tough lessons.
In fact Laro has since taken
on all the responsibility for
warranty and spares for
the Arqin bikes in Australia
since the brand disappeared
from the local market.
The other thing Famularo
has done is visit Chinese
factories so often that he's
even got a basic working
knowledge of Mandarin.
"I've learned that you have
to know who you're dealing
with every step of the way,"
he told Cycle Torque.
"And you can only do
that if you are actually
there talking to them and
negotiating directly.
"It's no good just finding
a factory which produces a
cheap vehicle and shipping
it in by the container load.
"The Australian market
is much more sophisticated
than that. You need to
have an economically
priced vehicle but it also
has to meet certain basic
requirements of reliability
if you're going to survive in
the marketplace."
There are several other
brands of bikes in Australia
which use basically the same
engine, some air-cooled, and
the later models with liquid
cooling like the Laro, so this
configuration has been
around long enough to develop a
small market for itself.
Laro has a partnership with Lifeng
who manufactures the components
in Wen Zhou and assembles them in
Shanghai.
Laro also has teamed up with
Lifan to distribute their products in
Australia.
The first Laro branded cruiser is
Instruments are minimalist, but there’s
five warning lights in the speedo dial.
powered by a 250cc twin cylinder
liquid cooled four-stroke engine.
Although it’s maximum power
output is 14.8Kw (20hp) it can
manage a top speed of around
135kmh.
on the stand
Despite its small engine capacity
the bike is purposely pitched at the
cruiser market with its raked front
end topped off with flat bars on
high risers.
The seat is quite comfortable
and the pillion has a backrest for
comfort.
The cruiser styling cues continue
with the bobbed rear mudguard and
the bike comes standard with crash
bars, which are easy to remove. Two
bolts at the top and one each side is
all it takes to do away with it.
on the road
Our test started in Sydney when
we picked up a new machine with
very few kilometres on the clock.
So, by way of introduction, we test
rode a bike that had been run-in and
with aftermarket pipes, which didn’t
sound too bad.
Then we took the ultimate test
through peak Sydney traffic, then
onto the F3 Freeway and up to
Newcastle.
It was a pleasant surprise to find
that the gears didn’t jump and the
clutch didn’t stick even in heavy
traffic on a very hot afternoon. It’s
a five-speed gearbox with a chain
drive.
The Laro 250 does accelerate quite
smoothly and the brakes can handle
the work in traffic even if the rear is
a drum brake and the front a single
disc.
The suspension is pretty basic with
no adjustment on the front end and
preload only on the twin shock rear.
Its performance was adequate.
The front wheel is an 18-inch five
spoke alloy with 90/90-18 tyres and
the rear a 130/90-15.
So, that was the first test passed
with flying colours. The next step
was the freeway. Bearing in mind I
was riding a brand new machine I
kept it pretty much to 100-110km/h
freeway speed limit, although it was
obvious the bike had more left.
The twin pipes have a solid little
note without being overbearing.
King/queen 30 - APRIL seat, 2010 backrest looks good…
Footboards on a 250 cruiser! Massive risers and flat ’bars.
APRIL 2010 - 31