Lifan K-19: Is it the most dominant cruiser motorcycle?
Lifan K19 comes with a single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 2-valve and 165cc liquid-cooled engine which is very torque biassed and quite powerful for its compression ratio
In a country where travelling by a motorcycle was just about convenience, the 'different' cruiser motorcycles made a real impact on enthusiastic minds, resulting in high sales (thanks to the local motorbike communities) and influencing more accessories to enter the market as well.
An example of one such cruiser motorcycle is the Lifan K19 – a modern yet retro-fitted cruiser.
Design
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The bike comes in two colours – shimmer black, camellia red – with some simple decaling. It has a visually bold look with an elevated and wide handlebar, which delivers an excellent turning radius. The K19 is a bit of a low-rider in profile.
The bike is 2250mm in length and 1330mm in height, making it a large machine even from a distance.
The seat is long, soft and split into two parts, and slightly slanted back to make it more comfortable for the pillion and the rider.
The LED headlight is one of the main attractions of the bike. The square-fitted old-school yet modern-looking headlights with all-time running DRL make the stance extravagant and the nature similar to the iconic Harley Davidson Fat Bob in terms of front look.
The ground clearance is a bit low at about 155mm but it contributes to the good look of the bike. However, riders have to pay heed and deal with regularly hitting unconventional speed bumps in our highways.
The bike does not have any grab rail, which gives the tail-end a clean visual and a low-tail look and makes the front end look quite lifted. The stance is quite aggressive for a touring bike designed for comfort and perfecting its ergonomics.
The rear has an LED taillight that is flat, large and to the point so that it can be legible from a distance. The indicators get halogen bulbs, with big reflectors on the side, making it easily visible on the highway.
The 150kg body weight and low centre of gravity make the K19 feel very stable and make the road feel quite grippy in terms of those mid-end cruising on the highway.
The superb wheelbase of about 1510mm allows the bike to feel intensely good at every corner it dominates. The mid-speed corners feel simply amazing to grip. The leg hub with the gear shifter and rear brake pedal keeps the leg upfront and at rest, making long rides very comfortable.
The leg-to-ground position is also relaxing for riders below average height given the low ground clearance. This makes battling traffic congestion a lot easier.
The Lifan K19 has a fully-loaded instrument cluster which features a speedometer, an RPM counter, a trip metre, an odometer and a gear position indicator which gives the K19 an upper hand over rival cruiser bikes in the market.
The instrument cluster is positioned on the tank, which can be quite distracting on the road sometimes. It takes a few seconds to figure things out and really creates harsh parallax errors. Although the placement and elevation make it properly visible.
The key slot is positioned at the side of the bike which is a bit hefty to manage as well. Reaching out a lot to the side just to get the bike started is quite a bummer yet a bit retro.
Braking, control dynamics and tyres
The Lifan K19 we reviewed had a disc-drum brake setup with the front end having a disc brake. Although a double disc variant is available as well.
The front brakes are quite well-calibrated and perform tightly in emergency braking distances. The rear drums also allow for smooth engine braking supported by spongy action rear brakes, which allows for traction biassed stopping.
Since the bike has a low tail, sudden braking power would make the tail end rattle a lot - so a rear drum setup really made the bike feel a bit old-school but adequate as well in terms of design.
The front of the Lifan K19 has telescopic forks as the suspension and the rear received two adjustable spring-loaded suspensions. Lifan always had a less damped, stiff suspension setup in most of their bikes, but this one was different – making speed bumps feel a bit jerky but in terms of highway cruising, it was still very comfortable.
The Lifan K19 has alloy wheels. The front and the rear wheels have 110/90 and 130/90 section tires. The tire setup is good, coming with soft compound TIMSUN tyres as this setup allows maximum grip. The bike feels ideal in tight corners and handles sudden reactions quite well. But since the front handlebar is quite elevated, it is advised to keep some distance while braking from high velocities with such a lengthy motorcycle.
Engine and transmission
The Lifan K19 comes with a single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 2-valve and 165cc liquid-cooled engine which is very torque biassed and quite powerful for its compression ratio. The second generation NBF2 engine (New Balance-shaft Functional Engine-Version 2) is fuel injected and engineered to be more refined than before. The engine is used across all 165cc Lifan models in Bangladesh and is known to perform quite efficiently and reliably.
The Lifan K19 has a wet multi-plate clutch system with 6-speed transmission. The engine produces about 17bhp of power at 8000 RPM and 17.2Nm of torque at 6700 RPM.
The engine is well refined but the fuel injection system and valve timing tend to suffer with bad fuel. Although when you're able to put in the good quality fuel, this bike performs very smoothly giving around 38-39 kmpl of mileage in the city and 45-47 kmpl in the highway when riding in mid rpms and higher gears, after supposedly riding the bike for 5000-10000 kms.
The bike touches 100 km/h quite quickly and maxes out at a top speed of 128-130 km/h on flat surfaces.
Final verdict
Given it is relatively lightweight, the day-to-day service offered by Lifan is quite appealing and parts are available too, so for people looking for an upper hand in all categories in the cruiser segment - this bike is simply is an excellent choice.
Specification
Engine: Single-cylinder, 4-stroke, 2-valve 165cc liquid cooled engine with NBF2 technology
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Power: 17bhp at 8000 RPM
Torque: 17.2Nm at 6700 RPM
Price: Tk2.95 lak
