Lifan KPR has been around in Bangladesh for nearly 6 years and during this time they didn’t change much. They added new color scheme, introduced a bigger engine to the bike and added fuel injection but the overall framework & design has remained the same during this whole time, you must be wondering why are we reviewing this Lifan KPR165 NBF2 Edition, well this one is a bit different than the Lifan KPR165 which we reviewed last year.

Lifan KPR165R NBF2 Edition Test Ride Review By Team BikeBD!

The new Lifan KPR165 comes in Bangladesh with some new features

• NBF 2 engine
• The engine gets a new crankcase, coolant inlet & new transmission.
• Oil filter
• Clutch plate
• Keiphin PZ30 carburetor.
• KPS rim
• KPT Swingarm
• 130 section rear tyre
• 49 teeth rear sprocket.
• New color scheme only for this carburetor version.

Also Read: Lifan 150cc Price In Bangladesh

The new engine is much smoother than the previous versions & you can feel right from the start that the gearbox is soft & it takes less effort to change the gears comparing the older versions. The new NBF2 engine still produces the same 16.7 BHP of power @ 7000 RPM & 17 NM of Torque @ 8000 RPM. The engine is a single-cylinder, 2 valves, water cooling engine with a balance shaft to reduce engine vibrations. The vibration of the bike starts to kick in from 7000 RPM to a maximum of 9000 RPM which is good enough for a bike to ride in city conditions every day & to twist it on the highway on weekends.

Lifan KPR165R NBF2 Video Review

Among the other features, the bike gets

• LED Projection headlight
• LED tail light
• 37 mm front telescopic suspensions
• Radiator guard as standard
• 775 mm saddle height
• Digital speedometer with an analog rev counter
• Split seat.

Lifan KPR won the heart of Bangladeshi bikers for two reasons, one is the price of the sports bike & secondly due to the looks. The single projection LED headlight has very good illumination power. But am still sad that they are still in the era of keeping the bulb indicators in the bike instead of having LED indicators. The bike is short in height so even for bikers who are having a height of 5 feet 2 inches can ride this bike. One of the key issues of the bike is the turning radius, you need a huge amount of space to move the bike around. Also, the switch quality of the bike isn’t of the best of quality.

Also Read: Lifan KPR 165R Carb NBF2 2200 Km User Review

Lifan improved the paint quality of this edition. I like the new color scheme for this bike. The riding posture of the bike isn’t aggressive as well, it has three part handlebar, of the rider will still have a good balance of the ride. There are no questions about the braking & handling of the bike. Like some modern days sports bike this bike doesn’t have CBS (Combined Braking System) or ABS (Anti-lock braking system) but the front 300 mm disc brake along with the 220 mm rear disc brake does their work pretty well. With addition 130 section rear tyre now you get more grip & confidence on the bike while riding the bike on the corners or asking the bike to brake from speed over 100 kmph to a dead stop.

For not having CBS or ABS you can still have some old school fun with this bike. The brake are independent and totally depends on the rider’s ability to apply the brakes, yes having CBS or ABS is never a bad idea but not having them keep the riders more connected to the bike. Front suspensions of the bike work perfectly on bad roads so does the rear suspensions but on bad roads, the rear suspensions won’t give a good experience for the rear pillion rider. On Dhaka Chittagong highway the bike will be a very good machine for two people with a grab rail in place and the pillions seat isn’t any high from the rider.

Although the new bike is much more refined than the older versions it lacks the RAWNESS which we saw in the Lifan KPR165 FI version. Also, the top speed of the bike is slight on the lower side, we managed to achieve a top speed of 136 kmph during our testing of 2500 km of the bike. The bike gave out a mileage of 32 kmpl on the city and 36 kmpl on the highway.

With the addition of fatter rear tyre the bike now manages to roll much more on the corner. A bit disappointed that they didn’t change the front tyre, although the rear of the bike grips well but I still think they could have done a better job if they would have fitted 100 section front tyre, it would have made the front end of the bike more agile. You can still do some old school oversteer with the bike by hanging the bike’s tail on the corner & use the front end to control the drift (if there are any). Instant acceleration of the bike is good but not as good as the Fuel Injected version.

Also Read: Lifan 160cc Price In Bangladesh

I have no major complaints about the braking system as with the setup they have it is really good enough. We tested the bike during the winter season of January 2020 so we can’t say too much about the overheating issue which the previous editions of the KPR had, but Lifan claims that with new improved coolant inlet that issue is somewhat improved.

Lifan currently has 3 variants in Bangladesh: 

Lifan KPR150 (Carburator) -  1,85,000 BDTLifan KPR165 (Carburator) -  1,99,000 BDTLifan KPR165 (Fuel Injected) -  2,10,000 BDT

Lifan KPR165R NBF2 Edition - PROS:

• Smooth gear change
• The braking stability is good
• Rear 130 section tyre provides good confidence
• The LED projection headlight is fantastic

Lifan KPR165R NBF2 - CONS:

• Big turning radius
• The rear suspension is not good
• The bike is missing the rawness of FI version
• The mileage is a bit disappointing

It is high time that Lifan develops a brand new bike in the sports bike segment, it has been a long time with the current KPR series. I heard rumors that Lifan is developing a brand new Lifan KPR but it won’t come to Bangladesh anytime soon before 2021. As for Lifan KPR165 is concerned, as a bike, it is a big improvement over its previous brothers. The bike is now much more refined and smooth but it would have been better if they would have improved the mileage of the bike a little bit more.

To see the details Lifan Bike price in Bangladesh and Lifan showroom near you visit BikeBD.Com. Stay with us for more update motorcycle news.