You would be much, much better off buying a used bike, especially for winter use.
I'm not saying the Chinese can't make good bikes, they absolutely can, there's a little Chinese made YBR125 sat in my garage that's testament to that.
What I'm saying is, that the Japanese seem to be the only ones who know how to work with Chinese on quality control. There's a glut of Chinese "un-branded" bikes like these hitting the UK at the moment, and they're awful.
They're able to sell a new bike at that price because they've cut corners. Build quality, material choices, quality control are all awful.
Three years ago, I had the same opinion: surely a new bike for £1000 is better than a used one for the same price. I was wrong.
In 6000 miles the engine had eaten itself. The inlet valve tappet had shattered and lodged in the timing chain channel, snapping the chain. Prior to that, it required the valve clearances checking every 1000 miles or it wouldn't idle from cold. The oil drain plug corroded to the sump. The frame rotted. The kick start fell off. The sidestand safety switch fell off.
When the engine died, I got the bike replaced under warranty. An absolute nightmare because dealer support is crap. Once they ship them, they don't care. After about 10,000 miles the engine ate itself again. This time the inlet valve seat had shattered, wrattled around the cylinder, and taken the head off the exhaust valve on the way out. The exhaust valve then impaled itself in to the top of the piston, and the bottom of the head, entirely seizing the engine.
That little YBR I mentioned: I had to replace the speedo cable after it caught a rock. It's at 20,000 miles, has had semi regular oil changes and basic maintenance. It's never had its valves checked. It still runs like a dream.
I sold that bike on to a friend for £50 as he's an ex bike mechanic and likes projects. It cost him £75 in OEM parts to replace the valve gear, cylinder head and piston. After another 1000 miles the conrod snapped. He replaced the engine for a secondhand one he found in a breakers yard. After another 2000 miles, that seized. He hasn't bothered looking in to it again.
