|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:44:38 GMT -5
INTRO I took delivery of my Magic Black JiaJue GTS 250 Executive during the 1st week of October and after an initial run-in of 200k's during it's first week, I decided it was time to tear her down to the frame so that I could discover ways to improve on the factory build and to ensure a high degree of reliability - pretty much perform a full PDI (& then some, but more about that in another thread). Running it under various conditions for a week also helped me to discover a few of the bike's idiosyncrasies prior to any wrenching. Each day I spent up to 5 hours working through a pre-determined list of procedures such as checking & setting the valves, changing all fluids and improving the wire harness. I'll explain each procedure in detail throughout this thread.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:45:17 GMT -5
1ST IMPRESSIONS & RUN-IN In a word... Solid! It feels a lot more refined than the prototype that OSD (the importer) had. The brakes are perfect, no play, no squeals, no lock-ups. The windscreen isn't distorted and the mirrors don't touch the windscreen on a full lock! I checked the fluids, tightened a few bolts and did a medium to hard run-in for the 1st 30k's - it performed flawlessly. Briefly: 5min run at 40-60% revs, then a 15min cool down. 10min run at 60-80% revs, then a 15min cool down. 15min run at 70-90% revs, then a 1 hour cool down. The acceleration, well without yet looking my guess is that they must've fitted 13g rollers because it pulls like a freight train, smooth all the way through to 110k's. The most impressive thing is that in the past couple of days we've had a lot of wind gusts and getting out on the 170 Maxx would've had me all over the lane but on the 250 it doesn't budge (even out on the motorway). Riding with my daughter as pillion the other night highlighted a prob though - with the added weight of 2 riders, the swing arm has a lot more movement. That resulted in the rear fairing contacting the air box and the roller on the center stand rolling too far up off it's plate wedging the centre stand up under the engine. Easily fixed with another roller on the opposite side (actually a dirt bike chain roller I had laying around) and a bit of trimming on the inside of the rear fairing. Under-seat storage, although a little disappointing compared to the 150 Exec the manufacturer did manage a deeper well at the very rear though there's no way even a 1/2 face helmet would clear. Note: I've added the Top Box & Panniers to make up for it. Cooling; last couple of days managed to reach 31 degrees which was just great for testing the temp guage. Never went over the 1/2 way mark and it's quite a novelty turning off the engine, taking out the key and still hearing the radiator fan doing it's job for up to 1 minute. I've got her booked into have a set of Michellin Pilot Sport SC's fitted tomorrow (140x60-13's) then it's on to Hell Hole (my favourite riding spot) for a nice ride & a few twisties. My overall impression - OSD's on a real winner with this thing - I'm loving every bit of it and find myself making excuses every chance I get to go for a ride! Of course, I'll have much more info on it after the tear-down. In the meantime - here's a nice pic that a friend took of my mate Boogs & Me heading out for a quick blat!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:45:59 GMT -5
WHEELS & TYRES Removing the front and back wheels for a professional fit-up of new tyre valves along with a set of very sticky Michellin Pilot Sport SC's (140x60-13's) was a job in itself. To gain access to the back wheel, the muffler had to be removed, suspension dropped, then the swingarm removed - glad I had the 12v impact wrench handy The original tyres (Kenda Nylon 130x60-13's shown below) weren't a bad tyre, just not as wide & sticky as I would've liked them! My Kuryakyn grips also arrived with the throttle boss add-on. I ordered them for a 7/8" handlebar and they fit up easily including the throttle which was fine with the existing throttle insert.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:46:28 GMT -5
THE TEAR DOWN Finally it was time for the big tear down starting at the back of the scooter first. The rear rack with the top box still mounted was easy to remove and the 4 bolts were threaded back into the chassis so they wouldn't be misplaced. The side panniers are affixed with velcro under the seat and only take a moment to remove - handy if you ever need to store them under the seat. The left and right grab handles hold the side fairings in place, the 3 bolts from each were screwed back into the chassis along with their rubber caps. The seat was held in place by 2 bolts on it's corner hinge.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:48:01 GMT -5
Next the center console was removed to reveal the fuel tank & coolant reservoir right through to the front of the seat permitting access the ignition coil, radiator and fan.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:48:40 GMT -5
To begin removing the rear fairings, the rear bumper had to be removed first. This gives access to the underlying screws for the side skirts over the air box and muffler. Once undone, each skirt slides backward to unhook it's tabs from the upper fairing. There's only a couple of screws holding the upper fairing to the chassis and the rear unhooks from the center fairing to release each side fairing.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:49:11 GMT -5
The lower front side skirts below the foot rests have a row of screws on each side and a large screw at the front attaching them to the front fairing. Once removed access is gained to the left fuel pump and right rear brake hydraulics. The left and right grey plastics (foot rests) are bolted to the front panel and are supported underneath by a length of steel tubing. These were easily removed. I unclipped the tail-light assembly from it's socket, 5 bolts & 2 screws later it was freed. The under seat plastics were encased within a steel bracket which needed to be unbolted from the frame prior to removal of the plastics (still with mud-guard & licence plate attached).
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:49:39 GMT -5
Now for the front-end; The windscreen was encased with a v shaped fairing held in place by 2 screws on each corner and 3 plastic socket plugs. Removing this gave me access to the windscreen itself - 2 bolts on either side (note to self - add another 2 bolts) Under the windscreen was a grey dash cover that simply unclipped from the upper dash to reveal the under-dash wiring. This is where it starts to get fun... Time to remove the forks - each held in place by 2 bolts that slip through a groove on each fork and the headset.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:50:08 GMT -5
THE FORKS Let me start by saying there's nothing wrong with the original forks, they felt quite good around corners and offered a light bit of dampening along with a soft comfortable ride. The NCY Vento forks are 1" lower and offer a higher degree of quality. Prior to 1st use, I decided to set them up correctly (slightly on the firmer side) so I purchased 1 litre of Motul Expert Medium 10W Fork Oil for the job. The easiest way to start unwinding the fork cap was to temporarily place it into the headset & lightly clamp in place. A 10mm allen key was required. Holding the cap in place on the last few turns preventing it from springing off into nowhere. I removed the inner spring and poured the contents into a funnel and measuring container to determine the initial quantity of oil needed. This drained out over 30 mins to just under 100cc's. By pushing the fork tube down to the very bottom I could visualise the line 100cc's of fresh Motul oil ended up on as a reference point. I then extended the tube all the way up, inserted the spring and replaced the cap. After a few experiments with different quantities, I ended up with the perfect feel around 105cc's. The original fork's rubber boots fit just fine
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:50:37 GMT -5
I re-inserted the new forks into the headset, this time using a coating of Permatex Threadlocker Blue Gel on the thread of each bolt. Once they were clamped in, I tightened each fork seal cap with a 10mm allen key. Whilst there, I greased the bottom of the headset, wheel speedo gear bearing and axle. To finish up, I re-mounted the brake calliper with blue threadlocker on each bolt.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:51:06 GMT -5
HOSE REPLACEMENTS The original Chinese fuel hoses are not good and put simply, won't last. This includes the plastic fuel filter. I purchased a few metres of Goodyear 1/4" fuel hose and a glass fuel filter to replace these with along with EFI hose clamps. The vacuum operated fuel pump looks like a Mikuni copy and seems to do an excellent job at getting the fuel all the way from the ground up to the carby. What I didn't trust was the vacuum hoses and the flimsy clamps! So I also purchased a few metres of 3/16" Automotive fuel hose to replace them with along with smaller EFI hose clamps. This ran from the bottom of the fuel pump to the center of the intake manifold. And finally to add a bit of Bling factor, my local Super Cheap store was having a clear out sale of all Monza stock so I picked up a great braided fuel hose for between the fuel pump & carby!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:51:34 GMT -5
The intake manifold had a second nipple to which a Y adapter was attached. 1 line ran back to the accelerator pump on the carby and the second to the PAIR system. The PAIR System (Pulse Air Injection Reaction) sucks air into the small canister, which is a simple air filter that leads into a reed valve block which then leads to a high temperature tube to the exhaust port. The vacuum line controls a valve that opens it up so it can draw air in. On the exhaust stroke the reed valve blocks the hot exhaust gases and on the intake or scavenge cycle, air is sucked into the exhaust port to help burn any unburned fuel that gets through. The quality of these vacuum hoses were the same as on the fuel pump and the Y adapter was a flimsy plastic that was easy to break. I replaced each with quality 1/4" fuel hose, EFI clamps and a 1/4" T piece from my NOS kit. Above the PAIR system was an air breather, or should I say a small spout with a piece of sponge that resembled the shape of a small upside-down shower head. This just didn't look like it would last so I replaced it with a nice Blingy Air Breather that I also picked up from the Super Cheap Monza sale! On the opposite side of the engine, an oil breather hose led to an oil catch can at the rear of the frame. I replaced this hose with a quality 3/8" Oil Cooler Hose & EFI clamps. The oil catch can was a great idea - only thing they needed to do was finish it by connecting the rear nipple back to the air box so that any unburned oil vapour would be burned up by the carby. I left the clear sight tube in place and replaced the clamps.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:52:04 GMT -5
On the bottom of the carby was a fuel drain hose of the same quality as the other standard vacuum hoses. This wasn't critical but I replaced it all the same with quality 3/16" Automotive fuel hose and pathed it down below the center stand. On the side of the Carby were 2 exposed nipples that are usually connected to the water-cooled return pipe on YP250 engines. Rather than theorise on why the factory chose not to connect it, I decided to simply connect a loop of 1/4" fuel hose over them (maybe something to experiment with at a later date). The hose between the radiator filler cap and the coolant reservoir was of low quality and although a high PSI hose wasn't required, I thought it better to replace it with a quality 3/8" coolant hose and appropriate clamps. At the front of the water coolant reservoir there was a nipple without a drain hose connected which would result in coolant on the floorboards if there was an overflow, so I pathed a length of 3/8" coolant hose down in front of the side stand.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:52:30 GMT -5
COOLANT CHANGE The coolants used in the Chinese factories are notorious for oxidising in fuel pumps and thermostats. I decided not to risk it and purchased 2x 1 litres of Motul Inugel. Note: This coolant doesn't require dilution. In total, the cooling system holds 1.25 litres of coolant and the drain screw is the bottom of the 3 bolts attaching the water pump to the engine. Not much coolant drained out just by undoing this bolt until I started the engine with the radiator filler cap and coolant reservoir lid opened. I managed to drain out 1 litre this way and a further 100cc's by unplugging the coolant hose loop at the top of the engine head. I decided not to flush the system simply because the build date of my scooter was less than 30 days old and there didn't appear to be any oxidisation yet. Refilling the coolant (1.1 litres in total needed) was done via the radiator filler cap and I kept bleeding the air from the head with a running engine and unplugging the coolant hose loop at the top of the engine a few seconds at a time. Initially the engine ran hot with a little coolant expelling from the overflow reservoir but with a few cool downs, top-ups & further burping, I managed to expel all the air and keep her under the 1/4 mark on the gauge. The coolant level in the reservoir is on low when the engine is cold and comes up 1/2 way between the markers after a short run - perfect! The radiator fan comes on without fail a little above the 1/4 temperature mark and only stays on for a minute. The cooling system works very effectively. I've also noticed that the radiator fan comes on if required after a run and stays on for 30secs to 1 min even with the key removed.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:52:46 GMT -5
ENGINE OIL CHANGE The engine holds precisely 1.42l of oil and the sump plug is well placed in the bottom center of the motor. By undoing the sump plug, 1.35l oil literately dumped out into the pan whilst on the center stand. It took me a moment to fish out the oil sieve and spring amongst the blackened shipping oil. I ran it through a filtered spout and found an average amount of metal shavings and debris typical of a new motor. After cleaning up the oil sieve and inverting it open end up in the spring, I refitted it and refilled via the dipstick inlet with just under 1.4l of Motul 4100 SAE15W50 semi-synthetic engine oil. The oil level sits right on the full mark of a fully screwed in dipstick.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:53:21 GMT -5
GEAR OIL CHANGE Unlike the GY6 150cc engines, the gear box on the 250cc engine had a dipstick style of filler (without dipstick though). The gearbox holds precisely 250cc's of gear oil with the drain hole bolt located on the bottom outside of the drive belt case. (note the copper washer on most drain holes) After draining the gear oil for 30 mins, I coated the drain bolt's thread in loctite 596 high temp silicone and tightened it up. I refilled with 250cc's of Castrol SAF-XA Full Synthetic Gear Oil (75W140).
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:53:48 GMT -5
THE VARIATOR The drive belt cover had 1 thing missing - a kick start lever! - I can only theorise that this is because of a high degree of compression. After removing the 10 bolt screws, the cover was easily removed and with gasket intact. I was surprised to find it relatively clean inside. Using my trusty new 12v impact wrench, it made light work of the variator nut. 1 washer and outside pulley face to remove, then it was easy to slip off the Gates Powerlink 856 23 Kevlar belt off of the crankshaft. With fingers cupped around the rear of the variator to prevent the rear face plate from opening up, I removed and flipped over the variator.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:54:17 GMT -5
This variator was very different to that of the GY6's, the rear had a sealed plate screwed on. Upon it's removal including the rear face plate, I had access to the rollers. The first thing I noticed aside from having 8 rollers was that it was packed in grease. I read reports that when this turns viscous under heat, it had a tendency of leaking out onto the drive belt and the possibility of this was confirmed when I further inspected the drive belt cover to find a ring of grease splashed out onto it. It wasn't a hard decision to unpack all the grease and replace with a light coat of graphite powder instead. Another thing different with this variator was that the plastic slides on the backing plate had a metal clip as an insert on each, I assumed to help hold them in place. With variator re-assembled and fitted, I gave the pulley faces a wipe with a cloth moistened in CRC's belt grip - very careful not to apply too much. A quick test later, I could feel that the variator was much more responsive with the belt riding up nice & high. Note: Every bolt & screw that I put back into this scooter get's a light coat of Blue Thread-Locker!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:54:44 GMT -5
VALVE GAPS The location of the top valve cover was nice & easy to get to. I removed the 2 bolts from the top and noted the orientation of the inner tang under the valve cover was facing forward/upward. To set the valves first I had to find top dead center which was partly done by feel and then visually. By slowly rotating the variator with my hand (spark plug still in), I watched till the valve rocker arm dropped and I stopped at the point just before the compression stroke was about to let go and ease up. On the opposite side of the engine just above the dipstick is a sight hole. With the cap removed, an inner arrow on the circumference of the viewer needs to line up with the marker line on the outer face of the flywheel (it should be right every 2nd revolution). Doing this by feel, I was surprised at how close I had gotten. I could also feel a bit of play in the rocker arm which was a good sign. Before changing anything I measured the gap set by the factory at 005" (.127mm) - not too far off from my .004" (.102mm) intended gap. I undid the locking nut on the adjuster screw with a #10 spanner and backed off the screw a little, then inserted a .004" (.102mm) feeler gauge and finger tightened the adjuster screw over it. I then locked down the nut and tried to re-insert a 005" (.127mm) feeler gauge with no luck! I then did 2 revolutions with the variator, found top dead center again and re-confirmed the gap at precisely .004" (.102mm). Blue Threadlocked the Valve cover bolts in place and proceeded to the much harder to access bottom valve cover. 3 bolts and a little leaked engine oil later (noting the orientation of the inner valve cover was upwards as well), I measured the factory gap at 007" (.178mm) - not too far off from my .006" (.152mm) intended gap. I followed the same procedure as the top valve to find, set & re-confirm the gap after 2 revolutions. Replaced the threadlocked cover bolts and tested the motor. Needless to say the tappet noise was minimal and it purred like a kitten with a perfect Idle at 1100 RPMs (post auto-choke)!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:55:17 GMT -5
FILTERS I disassembled the filters on the drive cover and air box simply to inspect them. I noted that the rear of the air box had a nipple with an internal hose that ran diagonally down to the bottom right corner. Below that corner, there were 2 nipples - 1 for a clear oil condensation tube that could be visually sighted from the outside and drained of oil overflow if needed. The other nipple was an intake vent for the gearbox breather hose which led directly before the air filter element. I ran a small cable tie through the bracket that held the diagonal hose in place to secure the hose and also placed a hose clamp onto the inner nipple. Another quick modification I made was to better path the air intake hose to the left foot-board's vent (above the pillion footrest) using a slightly curved hose extender. After Blue Thread-locking all screws and bolts in place I reassembled the belt drive cover & air box, connecting up all the hoses including the snorkel to the carby and of course the oil catch can to the air-box!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:55:50 GMT -5
12V SOCKETS While in the mood for a little modding, I wanted to have a 12v accessory socket handy to power up my windscreen mounted GPS. I also wanted a 2nd socket under the seat to make it easy to charge the battery or even to power a mobile phone/light/etc. I found everything I needed at BCF, 2x water resistant 12v flush mounted accessory sockets, 2x quick release sockets, 2x inline glass fuse holders, heatshrink & a 2 pack of crimps (blue loops / female blade) . The hole saw made light work of the plastic and the backing rings screwed on within seconds.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:56:41 GMT -5
THE WIRE HARNESS The wiring for the under seat socket was a no-brainer (connected directly to the battery terminals with a fuse on red) but I wanted the dash's accessory socket to only work with the key turned. I found with a multi-meter that the black wire directly above the red in the ignition key socket was well suited and I patched the inline fuse holder to this wire. The black negative wire earthed directly to the frame. After finishing my connections, I zip-tied every connector under the dash and tidied up the wiring with a bit of electrical tape and tubing - leaving the headlight connector well placed for later! I have to note that I was disappointed that the wire harness contained no provision for a factory alarm system unlike all the GY6 models I've come across - maybe this'll be addressed by OSD in a later revision! Another simple mod was to remove the side stand kill switch, I did this for 2 reasons - the switches are known to fail after a period of time and I find it handy to be able to keep the motor running whilst lowering the side stand to help trigger obstinate road embedded traffic light sensors late at night. Unplugging the side stand switch connector next to the fuel tank sensor isn't enough to close the circuit. Instead I cut off the plug from the wire harness and joined the 2 green (green-white + green) wires with a crimp then tubed up the fuel gauge sender as well. Another big job was cleaning up the mess of wires around the ignition coil. These were fanned out and zip-tied to the frame to avoid contact from fairings and in particular any fairing screws. Note - I did find 1 screw had pierced the wire harness from the side fairing but luckily hadn't shorted any wires. The fanned out wires included 2 temperature sensor wires, 1 leading to the bottom of the radiator, the other to a sensor located near the carby. There is also 2 sets of wires to the ignition coil (1 earth, 2 for power) and another set leading to the ignition relay.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:57:13 GMT -5
Along the whole length of the wire harness which runs down only the right hand spine of the scooter, I fastened the harness utilising the existing frame clamps and placed zip ties in strategic locations. The goal was to eliminate any contact with fairings to prevent any rubbing of the harness against the frame. The auto choke wires were placed up high and it's connector zip-tied so that if ever the carby needed removal, it would be possible to easily unclip. I tubed the engine's umbilical chord of wires including the red starter motor wire in a way that it had enough slack in the tube to allow for suspension movement during any bumps. This included tubing and carefully placing all wires including the radiator fan wires at a safe distance away from the engine's head. The voltage rectifier is located towards the end of the scooter. It converts the AC current produced by the 18 coil magneto (that comes standard on these motors) to a smooth and consistent 12v DC current. Next to the rectifier is the CDI unit that receives a pulse from a sensor on the flywheel and triggers a brief current to the ignition coil that ignites the spark-plug. I noticed that both of these units come with massive heat sinks to aid in their cooling. After a little tubing and electrical tape, their connectors were zip-tied and the end of the wire-harness was fastened in place ready for the tail light assembly to connect. Finally all the wiring and hosing was completed and it was time to coat everything except the tyres and exhaust in a light coat of CRC 808 Silicone Spray. This aids in repelling moisture and in the prevention of oxidisation, corrosion and to keep all rubber & plastic parts supple. I even gave the muffler cover a quick spray of gloss black. Everything was nice & shiny - all ready for the plastics & fairings to go back on
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:57:39 GMT -5
RE-ASSEMBLY The under seat storage plastics were first to go back in with the battery back in it's compartment and wires re-connected. The seat latch locks were adjusted and a puff of graphite powder added to the latches. The seat was aligned to the latches and thread-locked bolts tightened. The tail light assembly was zip-tied, bulbs inspected & bulb type markings noted. The whole assembly was bolted in place and wires reconnected with lights all tested. The under-belly plastic fastened with thread-locked bolts and drain hoses re-positioned. Then the footrests were bolted in place with the air-intake alignment checked.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:58:11 GMT -5
A quick check that my new Blingy PAIR intake breather cleared the fairings then on to the front-end. The headlight & indicator bulbs were all checked & types noted. I decided to cable tie the center parking light out of the way and plug up the remaining hole with a rubber bung - this was purely for aesthetic reasons to give the lights a more aggressive look without drawing attention to a white rubber light mount in the center. If I decide to later mod the headlights, I'll drill in dual parkers in the top corners of the light assembly. I'm currently waiting on clear front indicator covers to match the clear rear covers. The grey dash plastic was fastened into place with the windscreen sandwiched on top with it's v shaped fairing fastened into place - I even managed to match up an additional pair of bolts (3 on each side now) to secure the windscreen. I again checked the functionality of my GPS with the key turning it off when removed... ...and finally a quick polish of the front guard with 1 coat of Meguiar's Scratch X (including the windscreen), then a coat of Wet Look & finished off with Carnuba Wax - I did this to all painted fairings and dressed all grey plastics with Meguiar's Gold Class Trim Detailer!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:58:41 GMT -5
After the side skirts were polished and fastened in place I moved on to the rear of the scooter. The rear panel locked into the top of the tail light assembly nicely and the 2 upper fairings were slotted into the center grey plastics and fastened around the rear tail light. The under-seat storage lock reattached to the left upper fairing easily. I locked the lower side fairings into place and reattached the rear bumper then put on the side panniers. The rear rack with Top Box still attached gave me a bit of trouble - mainly with the alignment of the bolts but overall, I'm surprised the fairings lined up so perfectly and without any broken tabs. The only part that isn't quite up to scratch is the alignment of the centre console's grey plastic but it's close - all it took was a bit of cursing and shoving!
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 11:59:08 GMT -5
CONCLUSION One thing you may notice is the lack of stickers - I just couldn't resist removing them (even though they were lacquered over) - this has left an indentation that I'm going to have lacquered over (with a clear enamel) prior to rubbing back. The front reflectors were moved to the bracket on the rear (I'll put smaller ones on the front guard this week). The good news is that OSD's next batch (Dec/Jan container) will have no lacquer over the stickers (for those that prefer a more subtle look) and there is talk of having a nice chromed badge made up for the rear in the future. In the meantime, I've placed 2 nice JiaJue Motor badges where the front reflectors were (like those found on the top box's - thanks Rick). You can imagine that after a week of having my new toy apart, I was dying to get out for a blat and by the time I got all this together, 2am was as good a time as any. I did the coastal run from my place up to Point Cartright and then back along the motorway. (a nice 50k's in total) There's not a squeak, bump or rattle - not even from the top box (which I earlier lined with a rubber seam along it's inside edge). Throttle response and bite from the belt was aggressive and the new front forks bit nicely into the corners along with the new tyres (talk about sticky). Even the firmer ride hardly jars over hard hit speed bumps. I'm extremely happy with this scooter. The engine doesn't leave me wanting for much more (ok, maybe that carbon fibre performance exhaust next month) - it has aggressive good looks and combined with the side panniers - it can hold a shopping trolley full of groceries + a pillion without struggling out on the open road. It really was worth pulling it down, if not for any other reason than to check over everything, make improvements to the wiring and hoses, then stand back in awe at how much $3300 worth of new scooter actually gets you - One thing for sure, this one's a keeper
|
|
|
Post by allworld on Feb 20, 2009 12:31:41 GMT -5
Hello ( I can't read your name): great post, this scooter looks like a VOG, with the dual rear shocks, I was wondering who is the mfg.? It looks to have the 257cc Linhai style/design engine with a slightly different CVT cover. I really like th color, sort of a shift thing from green to purple. How do you like the new front forks? Some people had complaints of their forks knocking on the VOG scooter. That was only a few members and it seemed to be only the scooter with the mono rear shock.
Hope that you have many trouble free miles.
|
|
|
Post by earlwb on Feb 20, 2009 14:40:54 GMT -5
That is a most excellent PDI کíŋ. well done.
I found it interesting that the 140/60-13 tire fit Ok on the rear in place of the 130/60-13 one. Nice. I like it. I had thought about it, but I wasn't sure if there was enough clearance or not.
|
|
|
Post by کíŋ on Feb 20, 2009 22:02:03 GMT -5
Hi Allworld, I really like the characteristics of the new forks - they're predictable under hard stops and the extra firmness from changing the fork oil really gives the scooter a more confident feel. Hi Earl, hope you've been keeping well The 140 rear tyre leaves around a 5mm gap between it and the inner drive train wall. The extra width makes a nice visual difference, (beefing up the rear end more proportionately) and they certainly feel great on the road, although they will wear a lot faster than the original nylons. On the front I run 24psi cold and the rear 26psi cold. This usually expands to front 28psi hot and the rear 30psi hot. We're currently sweltering through 35 degree (celcius) days here on the Sunshine Coast of Australia but even with that, I've only had to top up the coolant tank once (after 1000k's), the temp stays below the 1/2 way mark even at slow traffic lights. I'll post up a bit more info about a couple of mods I've made since the PDI in a few moments...
|
|