For a street-motorcycle (pistera), the requirements for achieving a minimalist amount of quality:

• rear monoshock suspension
• rear disc brake

Choosing the rear disc brake and monoshock rear suspension helped me rule out like 90% of the motorcycles in the showrooms of Chiclayo, Peru. These two options are superior than the drum brakes and dual shock options, and are easy to spot when looking at motorcycles.

For an off-road motorcycle, a rear disc brake wears quickly as a cloud of dust or mud cover the disc and acts like sandpaper. The specifications for an off-road motorcycle of minimalist quality would be:

• rear monoshock suspension
• front inverted shocks
• larger diameter front wheel

While rear disc brakes are still superior for off-road, you can discern a difference from street motorcycles in a higher starting price of 12K soles for an off-road motorcycle with a rear disc brake. See the catalog for enduro and dual sport motorcycles at somosmoto.pe, singling out true off-road motorcycles that have a larger diameter front wheel.

The lowest price motorcycle meeting the 3 criteria is the RTM 200KH that goes for about 6K, with 19 front rim and 17 rear rim. Also for 6K, the Motox B52 or the Ssenda X-Trail 200 look cooler, with 21 front and 18 rear, but no inverted shocks. Note that the 21/18 motos have true knobby tires, while the 19/17 has tires that are more dual sport oriented.

The Cross AT250GY BI Radiom with 21/18 wheels with knobby tires and inverted shocks goes for about 7K. Same with X-Trial Lifan 250GY, but 5K.

Update: I finally saw a Kayo motorcycle on the street:
http://kayomoto.com.pe/t1/

I can't conclude as to the cause; I only notice the trends. The design choices for wheel size vs tire selection, or inverted shocks vs tire selection, or for exclusion of a rear disc brake, could be based on engineering, marketing, or sociology.

One thing deceptive about the somosmoto catalog is that not all motorcycles in their database are shown while browsing. Example: Wanxin WX200GY

I decided to buy new, because I don't have enough knowledge to buy used, and because used motorcycles here in Peru aren't cheap. Which means the resale value is high.

Pulsar motorcycles, both carbureted and fuel injected, are very popular here, but also a tad overpriced, perhaps for that reason. Pulsar is also more likely to get stolen because it's easy for a thief to sell quickly or turn it around for parts.

At first I was considering offroad/adventure type motorcycles, even though I prefer street motorcycles because of the number of dirt roads in Peru. Then I noticed most motorcycles around the pot-hole ridden and unfinished streets in Chiclayo are street motorcycles. Before I switched strategy, I almost got the Tekken 250 below.

For a motorcycle I want to keep forever, I would want it to have a good skeleton. The core of the motorcycle is the frame. Most cheap motorcycles will have a trash frame, because hardly anyone seems to care about motorcycle weight.

Among the motorcycles in my price range I looked up, none had a quality frame. A stylish and more expensive Zontes U155 caught my attention. It has an aluminum swingarm for the rear suspension, and weighs less than all the other motorcycles I was comparing. I looked up Zontes and they are a high quality manufacturer. Over 60% of their employees have university degrees and advancement is based on technical merit. No wonder their choices and engineering look top notch for their price range.

The U155 has fuel injection, both oil and water cooling, antilock brakes, bluetooth ignition and other high tech features that make it the most expensive motorcycle I looked at (around 11,000 Peruvian soles). I would have gotten the U155, except it was only available in Lima (I am rather far from Lima at this point). Also I liked the styling on the Benelli 180s a little better.

While I love all the high tech stuff, it can be a headache long term when the motorcycle gets old and stuff starts to break down. A carburated, air cooled engine is the simplest. That's what all the cheap bikes have. Someone could make a really high end simple bike that may be a tad more expensive, but that just doesn't seem to be done.

Cooling fins could be sufficient if well designed, such as a Harley with a 1300cc engine, but if you want decent cooling on a cheap motorcycle you need to look for an oil or water radiator.

The Bruno TNT 200 (also rebadged as Advance and Jettor) was offered to me for 5600 soles. The next day I went to buy the bike and the guy said he made a mistake, that it was actually 6500. The same thing happened at another dealer with the Yansumi Fantasi 200 about a week before. I was also misinformed about the gas tank capacity for the PlusOne Xplotion. I asked knowing the answer, then corrected him with the website when he overstated the capacity. Dealers are either clueless or not to be trusted. I went to a nicer showroom where they had the Benelli 180s, and was offered 10,700. I ended up buying it for just under 10,000.

Benelli 180s

Zontes U155

Bruno TNT 200
The exposed yellow frame tubing isn't the frame, but a decoration that is bolted on to the actual frame with flimsy sheet metal.

Are all the motorcycles with highest fuel economy based on a fuel injected engine?

After looking up to #14 on the list below, I gave up.looking for a carburetor motorcycle among the top most fuel efficient. I asked on Quora, and some carbureted 50cc scooters used to get 120mpg, which is 1.96 liters/100km, which is on par with the top of the list for fuel injection.

source

The list below has the motorcycles I found in all of Chiclayo that had rear disc brakes and rear monoshock suspension, and were priced under 8000, except for the one Benelli and the Zontes.

Some of the motorcycle brands didn't even have their own website, as they are brands made up by local Peruvian distributors. This includes the PlusOne, Artsun, Advance, Bruno, and Jettor, for which I couldn't find detailed specifications because there is no website for the brand. I got some of the info from https://somosmoto.pe, but the specifications on that website are highly suspect.

Some single piston engines have an additional balancing unit, that makes them run smoother at higher RPM. I'm sure the Benelli and Zontes have these, but didn't find this in the specs. Maybe they all have this and it was just a gimmick a dealer used on me.

Peru will reduce the number of fuel types available to only regular and premium

My motorcycle specifies 95 octane fuel {RON rating}. What I have found is that outside of the big cities, only 90 octane fuel is available. Isn't that a bust.

I am looking into octane boosters. It would be convenient if I could use the 95% rectified ethanol that is readily available as my octane booster. Using Ethanol’s Double Octane Boosting Effect with Low RON Naphtha-Based Fuel for an Octane on Demand SI Engine, SAE International Journal of Engines 2016

The Zongshen mechanic who takes care of my warranty said I should just use 90 when 95 isn't available. He doesn't recommend using ethanol or other octane boosters. No reason given. I'm just going to follow instructions. There's a Duke 250 out in La Florida, Peru, and this motorcycle also requires 95.

In USA, the octane rating is AKI. In Peru, it's RON. 87 AKI is regular gasoline, which is equivalent to 91 RON .goapr.com

PS. Do not lug the engine