WK Colt 50 - Background and Review....




So in August of this Year, my 19 year old 6N VW Polo died a horrible death... 😔
( It failed it's MOT and was too costly to fix !! ) 
Getting to work and back was becoming a bit costly on London Transport and I was forced to look for an alternative.  
I came across this bike purely by chance as I was looking at a Car on HP and this just happened to be on the same page. 

So I decided to get one... 😊
Here on after is the adventure we shall call : 
" Taming the Colt "


Below follows a fair and honest review of the bike. 

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So, here we are...
I've been trying to write this for a few days, gathering as much information as I can about the bike and trying to combine that with my brief riding experience so far; to put it all in a fair an honest review.
I was hampered a bit as there's not alot of information available on the bike as it's a new import for 2017 and you really have to dig deep to find what you need.  Some of the information may not be correct and if you know any different then please let me know in the comments.

First things first : The Bike itself...

Well the bike itself is Chinese, Hang on a minute..
Before anyone starts rolling their eyes let me explain something.
In the early 70s the Chinese took a Triumph Engine apart and copied it, much to the dismay of UK riders and some motor companies.
A Triumph engineer got hold of one of these engines and stripped it himself to see what all the fuss was about, guess what he found ???
The Engine itself was constructed and honed to a greater quality than the original and performed better.
Now I know alot of you reading this will cuss Chinese Bikes but the truth is this:
They are sound and in most cases BETTER constructed than you think!!

The Orignal model is Constucted by a Company called YingAng and designated
 YG125-21A - Little Monster ( 125cc Engine ) It is a mash of Honda Grom and Ducati Monster Styling and is sold under different guises depending on where you come from in the world.




( Taken from the  Website -  Yingang Monster )

In the US it's Marketed as the SSR Raskull


I'm sure there are a lot more but for the purpose of keeping this review small
just the two above will be mentioned.

So as you can see the Colt 50 from WK has a few differences.
The 125cc Engine is omitted for a smaller 50cc one allowing it to be learner friendly in the UK ( as its a 50cc it can be ridden on a Scooter License )

Here are the spec from WK's Website:

FEATURES





ENGINE

DISPLACEMENT
COOLING 
MAX POWER
MAX SPEED
TRANSMISSION
STARTER

FRONT BRAKE
REAR BRAKE
SUSPENSION


SEAT HEIGHT
WHEELBASE 
DIMENSIONS
FUEL CAPACITY 
LATTICE STYLE TUBULAR FRAME
LCD DASH
LED INDICATORS AND TAIL LIGHT 
DIGITAL GEAR INDICATOR
NEUTRAL GEAR LIGHT

SINGLE CYLINDER
4 STROKE
50cc
AIR COOLED 
2.2kwW/6,000rpm
45KPH
4 SPEED MANUAL
ELECTRIC AND KICK

HYDRAULIC DISC
HYDRAULIC DISC
FRONT - USD TELESCOPIC FORK
REAR - MONOSHOCK 

760mm
1210mm 
1770 x 750 x 1020mm (l x w x h)
12 LITRES 


Here comes the interesting bit.... For some reason not one of the companies i've spoken to can provide me with any technical data on the engine as it's not the one listed with the supplied user manual.  Yingang haven't responded to 4 emails, Whatever Wheels in Blackburn ( who I purchased from ) don't seem to have anyone who knows what customer service should be ( sorry guys but it's true - 3 emails, facebook messages and still no answers ) and WK Bikes have only confirmed that it is a 50cc but have provided no other info - to be fair to WK I don't think my email was clear enough.
I wasn't willing to wait any longer as I wanted to get this done.

So after a bit of digging here's what I managed to find out about the Colt's Engine :


Manufacturer:Chongqing Yingang Technology (Group) Co., Ltd. (China)
Engine:YG1P39FMA-AWheelbase (mm): See WK Chart
Displacement (cc):48Dimensions (mm): See Above
Power (kW):2.2Gross weight (kg): Unknown
Seating capacity:1Curb weight (kg):  Unknown

This information came from here and matched the engine ID completely.

A few points must be observed :
I ran the bike in HARD to seal the rings properly as per Mototuneusa
The above engine says 48cc not 50cc
The overall weight of the bike will be lighter that the original/Razkull as 125cc is not present.

So what's the bike actually like??



I love it!!! It's a good bike to ride as a learner, or for someone who's driven a car for ages and wants a starter bike to get accustomed to riding on the road but doesn't want a twist and go: This is a 4 geared Bike!
The build quality is good, it's a sturdy unit that surprised me when I got on for the first time.  It's sits low so it's not difficult to keep your balance on or indeed maneuver at low/slow speeds.
Brakes are very responsive as is the clutch and the throttle is nicely weighted.
I found it difficult to get into neutral for the first week but once you learn the correct amount of pressure to apply it became easy.  Gear shifting is a touch clunky however not difficult but you need to pay attention as I found myself in the wrong gear on more than one occasion
( that's probably just my inexperience to be honest )
I'm not too keen on the mirror positions but it's a personal preference
I have no problem keeping up with traffic on the roads I use, acceleration is better than expected as is top speed, but I will mention that I ride to the speed limit and the restrictions set on my license 😉
I do plan to do a bit of Vlogging for the UK folk to document my experiences on my new Toy so keep them peeled for the videos.

In the UK this Retails at £1400 OTR - I recommend this BIke !!
I hope you have found some of this information helpful.
If you know something I don't : drop a message in the comments.

Read the Review from O2W -











Comments

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. hi did you have any problems on hills as i have just purchased one and am struggling at 5 to 10 mile per hour on hills

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    Replies
    1. I have one and i can get up a 5% gradent at around 20-25mph

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  3. They dont go up steep hills they come to a standstill therefore they are dangerous and are not fit for purpose health and safety issue

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    Replies
    1. They do slow down a lot so u kinda have to drop it in lower gears at around 6000-8000 rpm but even if u go up in 1st gear it may be slow (10-20mph) but it will get u up it without stopping

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    2. If ur in first gear u will go around 10mph

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    3. Yes that is what I found but 10mph is dangerous

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  4. Hi all, sorry I didn't get any notifications for any of your comments.. Hills are an obstacle ! The gearing is such that you won't get any real power until you're in 3rd and changing into 4th has hardly any real noticeable power increase ( cruising gear ) on reflection the gearing ratios need to be to be looked at but as the top speed must be 31/32 for the laws sake, I don't think you can do much except swap out the motor.

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  5. How do you restrict one of these?

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  6. Can this be ridden on a Learners? I am getting my car restricted next month.

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  7. My son has a WK Colt 50 that he started riding on 1st March 2019 when he turned 16. We live in a rural area of Somerset and he uses it for his 13 mile ride to college and other social trips, the bike has now done just over 5000 miles since we bought it new. It has done very well, we had the throttle cable snap after 1 month and the clutch cable went after 4 months, i think these were due to not being fitted correctly when built. we had problems getting spares as there are never any in stock with the importers and they had to remove parts from new bikes to send us and I've had pattern parts made. the only other problem was a broken wire to the dash which i found and re soldered. we've just changed the chain and sprockets which i don't regard as bad seeing as the originals are probably not great quality. We change the oil regularly as no filter is fitted. for the price they are great although maybe a bit small for a normal sized adult. good first bike :)

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  8. For the mirrors twist them down I have one myself and doing so made them so much nicer to use .

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  9. I bought one for my 16yr old son its got 335miles on it and everything has broke now I've gotta buy newmotor Im very extremely dissatisfied with this purchase i would not suggest this purchase to anyone been nothing but headache since delivered my son has had more tears than smiles during his ownership

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