And indeed, one look at it is enough to understand what kind of habitat it was created for. Massive chrome fenders, like on some old Minsk or Voskhod, trunks in front and rear, toothy standard tires... The Stels Desna Country 200 motorcycle is a real guest from the past. A kind of ghost of communism that wanders and wanders, never finding peace. But since such bikes are still being produced, it means that someone needs them, and we must admit that this model is excellent for use in rural areas. Everything in it is subordinated to practicality, and designers, apparently, were not allowed near it at all. And to hell with them, before us is not a city dandy, but a real country guy, uncomplicated, but very good.
Technical characteristics of Stels Desna 200 Country
What can you expect from a motorcycle that costs about 50 thousand rubles ? Not much, of course, but even this little can be done in completely different ways. The Stels Desna 200 Country technical characteristics are quite good for such a budget bike, so it’s worth the money. Steel frame, 1-cylinder air-cooled engine, 5-speed gearbox , carburetor, and exactly the same as on many other Stealth cars... Nothing new, but this motorcycle doesn’t need new items. It should feel confident on any road and can be repaired in an open field with a screwdriver and pliers. By the way, he succeeds.
The engine produces 12.9 hp. , however, for more or less dynamic driving you need to desperately twist it. But outside the city, roads do not always allow acceleration, so this drawback does not seem critical. The gearbox works quite clearly, without false neutrals, and the primitive suspension absorbs potholes and other irregularities tolerably. put a passenger on the bike or load a bag of potatoes , but then the Stealth Desna 200 will immediately sag, and the suspension will begin to “punch”, and the braking distance will increase sharply. Speaking of brakes, they are here, and that’s all that can be said about them. Who in our time thought of putting a drum brake on the front wheel? And don’t point your finger at the Yamaha SR 400, it’s still a retro bike. But... Stels, for what?
Otherwise, nothing unusual. If you, looking at the Stels Desna Country 200, expect to get a more or less reliable, maintainable and cheap utilitarian motorcycle that, with normal maintenance, will serve you for many years, then you are right. The bike is indeed quite durable and tenacious , but this is due more to the simplicity of its design than to Chinese designers. The 11-liter gas tank lasts for a long time, given that fuel consumption does not exceed 3-3.5 liters , and the luggage racks can carry everything that fits on them. A real workhorse, budget and unpretentious.
Rural intelligentsia
The model with the “urban” name “125 City” is equipped with a single-cylinder air-cooled carburetor engine with a capacity of 125 cc. cm and power 7 hp. In terms of its location on the motorcycle - with the cylinder forward, almost horizontally - it strongly resembles the famous “Kab” from Honda. The wheels, like on most modern “street” and “sports”, are without spokes, and the tires look more like road wheels than those designed for driving on the ground. The motorcycle is already equipped with a rear trunk in the “base”, and in case of a fall, special protective arches are designed to protect the driver’s legs from contact with the hot engine cylinder. Their installation, however, does not inspire confidence in their reliability (and the attachment to the engine cylinder was simply surprising), but these are nuances that will certainly be examined during test runs.
“City” is a fairly light motorcycle; even a teenager, or even a graduate of a pedagogical college who was lured to work in the village by numerous benefits, can easily handle it.
The instrument panel and the layout of the controls are also very reminiscent of Honda products - this time the classic CB250, also known as Nighthawk. This “Nighthawk” comes from the 70s, but was produced at the beginning of this century. It’s not for nothing that they say that classics are eternal!
City are not fast, but they know their stuff. At medium speeds it runs quite confidently. Asphalt or hard ground – it doesn’t matter to him. But if the wheels end up in mud, the road pattern of the tires is affected and the baby begins to have trouble obeying the steering wheel. Too much gas can lead to skidding and falling. This is where the insufficiently reliable fastening of the protective arc appeared. When the motorcycle fell, it simply turned around its mount! At low speeds, the driver will most likely have time to put his foot out, but at high speeds, it’s unlikely.
“Desna 125 City” is presented in two versions – “Mirage” and “Comfort”. The latter is distinguished by a more elegant design (arch bars, kickstarter and black wheels, a different muffler) and is 1000 rubles more expensive.
Pros and cons of Stels Desna 200 Country
Advantages
- Price! The motorcycle is cheap, spare parts and consumables for it are also cheap, and since many of them are unified with other bikes from the same manufacturer, they are available in different stores. Aliexpress also has everything you need.
- Reliable, albeit clumsy, design . At Desna 200 Country you will not find brittle thin plastic and mirrors made from recycled Lego toys that crumble from vibrations. The bike is very simple, but very durable, and reviews from owners serve as further confirmation of this.
- Standard luggage racks . If you take a motorcycle as a “every day worker”, this is a significant plus. The racks are reliable, if you don't overload them, and quite practical.
- Possibility of independent repair and maintenance . Such bikes are not taken to the dealer for scheduled maintenance; they are usually tinkered with themselves somewhere in grandfather’s garage. You can disassemble and reassemble the Stealth Desna 200 Country in a couple of days, if you don’t try too hard.
- Gasoline . More precisely, the fact that this motorcycle is not at all demanding on its quality.
- Versatility . The bike feels fine both on asphalt and on moderate off-road conditions, especially with suitable tires.
Flaws
- Brakes . The effectiveness of the drum brake system on both wheels can be called satisfactory, if one does not find fault too much.
- Standard headlight . The luminous flux emanating from it is comparable to that of a Chinese LED flashlight. Fortunately, on Aliexpress there are inexpensive tuning options that correct the situation.
- Standard chain . According to reviews, it stretches very quickly, but after replacing it with a better one, the problem disappears.
- An ill-conceived regular place for a license plate. In view of the upcoming change in GRNZ standards for motorcycles and their replacement with more compact ones, the problem can be considered solved.
- Vibrations . They occur at high speeds, and during measured driving they quickly begin to irritate.
Good day, dear readers of this post. During this opus, I will try to review my next miracle of Russian-Chinese engineering, the proud name of which inspires fear in the vast majority of owners of Japanese motorcycles, 97% of young girls, pocket dogs, motorcycle thieves and Jehovah's Witnesses - Desna Phantom 220! (Caution! Under the cut are pictures and videos of a Russian-Chinese motorcycle!)
Let's start with how I managed to find myself behind the wheel of this moped, fattened with cast iron: having sold the Alpha to the next lover of desperate adventures, I was faced with a choice - what new cart would I exchange my hard-earned two thousand bucks for? It was the height of summer 2022, the wait until the winter price drop was painfully long, so well-known trading platforms were monitored day and night for suitable options. But in the Crimean motor market, as it turned out, there is simply an outrageous concentration of greed: how would you, for example, like a small Honda Magna of the early 2000s without STS and with a general power of attorney for 150k? Or a collection of squeezed-out dockless bandits with a price tag of 100k? Or even take our Desna’s beaten Japanese brother, the ancient Yamaha TV200, which the stubborn owner has been trying to sell for 130k on one well-known resource for six months now. That is why, when, among this whole mountain of two-wheeled junk, an advertisement appeared from one of the Sevastopol stores with a pleasant photograph of a laconic but brutal moped, complemented by an equally pleasant price, it was decided to immediately move and take it. Why? Firstly, I really like its appearance in particular and the concept in general - a massive, classy classic with a minimum of unnecessary parts and fragile plastic, which attracts the eye with its angry inflated bagels, a hefty seat and a lean off-road appearance - a real adventurer, equally capable get through the city traffic jam, drive along the beach, plow the village arable land, get dirty in the mud, get lost along forest paths and climb some hill.
Secondly, its cost is 89,000 everwood. And this is at the height of the 2022 season on a peninsula filled with greedy sellers. Yes, the motorcycle is from 2014, but it’s still new. With zero mileage. Clean PTS. Shining with lacquered sides, with a seat covered in pristine young dermantine leather, which invites you to sit comfortably and begin proper running-in and careful operation. Thirdly, the availability of spare parts, since a slightly improved version of the Desna called Forester is also produced by my favorite manufacturer Racer, interaction with whose products allowed me to significantly improve my skills as a field mechanic, as well as the muscles in my legs and fingers. So, we found out how this device ended up in my garage. Now I’ll tell you about his bright sides, as well as reveal his weaknesses and bad habits. The most important advantage thanks to which he and his Japanese comrades are popular is their increased cross-country ability. Good, bad and evil asphalt, dry primer, wet primer, soaked ruts, freshly plowed arable land, rocky plateau, forest path, swampy area, sand of any fraction, gravel, silt, grass, snow and even ice - all this and various combinations of the above coatings are passed by this SUV with the same indifference, imposingness and grace of a falling cabinet. But under one condition - you have previously lowered the tires to 0.5 atm. and below. Before I learned this valuable information, I drove at 2.2 and 2.5 atm specified in the manual, thanks to which this crossover, at any exit from good asphalt, began to drift helplessly, catch hard impacts on the suspension and move through the mud with wild inertia, which and led to such ridiculous situations:
As soon as the experienced guys shared valuable information that the wheels need to be deflated when off-road (just think!), the motorcycle instantly changed: the bumps were no longer felt, the lug traction increased significantly and drifting and skidding completely disappeared.
Of course, an ordinary rider who is not experienced in motocross should not expect any superenduro capabilities from it: a dry weight of 150 kg, supplemented with 11 liters of gasoline and 2 liters of oil, a wide wheelbase, low ground clearance, as well as the weak energy intensity of the suspension are unlikely to allow climb long climbs with difficult terrain from acceleration. And the need to lift more than 160 kg after a fall discourages experimenting with lifting or climbing into impassable jungle. However, on dirt roads and loose soils without “surprises” in the form of sudden obstacles, the bike moves without any problems on par with 200 cc soft enduros. Still, we have an excellent grip and a fairly simple and reliable carburetor four-valve 200 cc “narrow” engine with an air-oil radiator that can be revved for hours.
On asphalt, Desna accelerates quite dynamically, given its weight and wheels, however, due to these same wheels and off-road orientation, do not expect the usual speeds for this class.
So far I have managed to accelerate this unit to 105 km/h using GPS. It was possible to continue turning, but the beating of the wheels due to the rubber profile made it clear that it was better not to do so. Of course, you can change the gear ratio with the sprockets, put on road tires (yes, there are those!) and get a clean 120 km/h, but in this case you will just have a road tire. In general, the factory version itself is quite balanced and high-torque, if the bike is intended for use as a scrambler. To be honest, when purchasing Russian-Chinese equipment again, I was mentally prepared that I would have to put my hands on the motorcycle. Expectations were justified: in the first week of hard use, riding a motorcycle with inflated wheels and a passenger off-road, I discovered a crack in the area of the lower pendulum mount. Actually, this was not surprising, since this was his childhood disease - weak metal of the pendulum. If you use Desna as a soft endurik, rushing across fields, jumping, moving over logs and overcoming other obstacles at speed, then problems will begin very quickly. The suspension will leak, the spokes on the wheels will break... The pendulum and frame are made of soft sheet steel and may well break during aggressive driving. After all, the Desna was created as an SUV in the classical sense: for LOWLY driving over rough terrain, loose and soft soils. Actually, according to its concept, it should be compared not with other endurics, but with Nivas, UAZs or tractors - after all, it moves slowly, but it moves everywhere! In addition, I had a traditional problem that I encounter on every Chinese motorcycle - the muffler coming off. At the same time, the pipe is long, there is little space for the muffler and it itself is located on the left, unlike its Japanese brothers. By the way, the muffler comes straight from the factory, which makes me personally happy. In principle, the problem is solved again by welding and a couple of clamps, although after that I began to experience popping noises during the gas release. I suspect that it’s just air coming into contact with the hot, unburnt mixture, since these pops don’t affect anything else - there are no dips, no decrease in dynamics, no drop in idle speed, no problems with starting. Just pops, the sound of which causes cars behind to remember the safe traffic interval, and pedestrians to look around warily in search of threats. Otherwise, the motorcycle does not blow your mind, it does not require any weekly tuning rituals, monetary sacrifices and dances with tambourines and keys: just come to the garage, warm it up and go wherever you want - be it to work, or to the beach, or to the forest.
Reviews from owners of Stels Desna 200 Country
A normal bike, if you need equipment “for your grandfather’s village,” is better than an ancient boxer bike and other devices. It can be repaired with a sledgehammer, but it hardly breaks; the only problem is the rattling of the body kit elements, but this can be treated by installing rubber washers in the right places and then tightening them. Riding around the village is the best. Ildar, Lipetsk, Desna 200 Country '2014.
The motorcycle, of course, is so-so, but for the money it costs, you can forgive it a lot. From time to time it requires attention to small things, but finding any hardware for it is not a problem, and the prices are pleasantly surprising. There were no serious problems, the mileage has already exceeded 35k km. Alexey, Cheboksary, Desna 200 Country '2015.
I would like better brakes, but for the price it will do. I took it new, immediately changed the oil, filled in normal Motul, checked the tightness of all bolts and nuts, properly insulated and filled the wiring under the seat with silicone. All the negative aspects that exist were caused by problems with the assembly, and the quality of the parts themselves is quite normal, I expected the worst at this price. I have a motorcycle at the dacha, I ride it on weekends, the local postman rides exactly the same one, I talked to him - he’s quite happy, he’s been riding on the Desna for many years. Victor, Rostov-on-Don, Desna 200 Country '2013.
Total
The Stels Desna 200 Country motorcycle is truly a return to basics. Imagine some Soviet Voskhod, only new and with a normal 4-stroke engine . This will be the hero of our article - a classic of Soviet motorcycle construction, at least in spirit. However, the archaic design solutions clearly make the Stealth motorcycle similar to the bikes of the Soviet era. Everything about it is subordinated to practicality and maximum cost reduction, but is that bad? We need different motorcycles, and the Desna 200 Country also found its buyers.
Specifications
| Maximum engine power: | 12.9(8000) HP |
| Torque: | 12.0 (7000) Nm |
| Working volume: | 196.0 cm3 |
| Motor type (cylinder arrangement, number of strokes): | 4-stroke, 1-cylinder, air cooled |
| Number of cylinders: | 1 |
| Number of valves: | |
| Intake type (Injector / Carburetor): | |
| Bore and stroke: | |
| Starting system (Electric starter, kick starter): | |
| Cooling system: | Air |
| Transmission (gearbox): | Manual transmission, 5 gears (1-N-2-3-4-5) |
| Clutch (Dry / Wet): | |
| Drive unit: | Chain |
| Frame: | Steel, welded, tubular |
| Chassis | |
| Suspension (front/rear travel): | |
| Brakes (Front/Rear): | |
| Wheels / Tires / Rubber: | |
| Dimensions and weight | |
| Dimensions (Length / Width): | |
| Seat height: | |
| Ground clearance: | |
| Curb weight: | |
| Wheelbase: | 1315 mm |
| Weight: | 142 kg |
| Fuel tank capacity: | 11 l. |
| Battery capacity: | |
| Year of release: | |
| Country of Origin: |
