Caution: do not drink wine before riding..

[mdsuave13]

hey all... so i got my bike yesterday, 10 degrees outside uncrating it. Not a single spec of damage.. so far so good.

I didn't take any pics, because it was colder then hell, and i was trying to get it in the house.

So after a couple tries i got the bike in the house, on the HF atv jack, and strapped her down. I was marveling at all of its chinabike glory when i noticed this:

All of the plastics are clear coated, the stickers are UNDER the clear.... so i cannot take them off, even the stupid 5 on the headlight and the lil yellow transformers logo on the front fender...

So that brings me to my next idea. I am going to sand all of the plastics and paint them flat black.. I dont think it will be that big of a deal.

Also... other question:

how much oil do i need to purchase to do my oil change (gotta love how the skidplate hole doesnt line up with the drain plug....)

I'm sure i'll have more questions, unfortunetly i wont be able to really start work on it till sunday.

[ambassador]

Glad to hear you got your bike!!! The stickers come right off, just go around them with an exacto knife or a razor lightly and peel up the edge and they will come right off.. You can wet sand the clear coat and feather it in and put clear coat over it or you can sand the whole thing and paint it like I did..
You will need a little more than 1 quart of oil to fill it, I used Rotella 15w-30, I bought a gallon of it for future changes until I switch to Mobil 1...
Looking forward to some pics...

[mdsuave13]

awesome, i think i may just flat black all the red.. we'll see how it goes... im sure im going to have a bunch more questions about things..

[ambassador]

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.. I have gone over this bike with a fine tooth comb and have her running pretty damn good.. I just posted a bunch of pics into the gallery so you can see what I have done to her so far.. Am I the only one that thinks of my China bike as a her or she? I think I may start a new thread about this? Get those pics up soon....

[mdsuave13]

no, all of my vehicles are chicks. My old ninja zx6r was NINA, my jeep is sandy, my chinabike hasnt gotten a name yet, but its a she... plus if i think about my vehicles as girls, i tend to treat them better then if it were a guy..

[mdsuave13]

UPDATE:

its been 3 days since i've had the bike, 2 days since i've had a flu (tossing cookies and laying in bed all day)

I did manage to get the rear wheel on before i knew i was really sick. The one thing that concerned me was the chain guard. It seems as tho the bottom is touching the chain, and the top is not centered over the sprocket. The wheel itself is centered in the rear swingarm...

so should i just use a heatgun to modify this, and a pair of snips to cut the bottom piece off that is rubbing the chain? It seems like it is pretty cheap, maybe i will just make a new one out of sheetmetal.

Gotta wait till i get better from this flu, before i can do anymore work on the bike.

Also, my buddy is taking the plastics to his dealership and will be stripping the stickers, clearcoat and etc, and spraying them with an automotive paint that flexes well. I'm thinking of going all black with it.. who knows yet.

[Roketarider]

Sounds like you are getting the thing repainted the expensive way...or maybe not that much for you...

I plan to take off the panels and paint them flat black.

[ambassador]

You could use a heat gun to reshape the plastic but it is pretty cheap, I just cut it off right above the chain, there is plenty of clearance between the tire and the chain, I didn't see the point in leaving it there.. After a few miles the chain would have just ground it off...

Hope you feel Better...

[ACD]

My chain gaurd on the Jetmoto rubbed too, I just bent the mounting tabs till it fit right... it may mount differently on yours though. Hope you feel better!

Aaron

[mdsuave13]

thanks guys. I think i am just going to cut it off above the chain, and then bend it ever so slightly so that it will fit correct.

I can't wait to work on it for an extended period of time. once i get back on my feet, i will hopefully get it fully together, then work on using lock washers and loctite on the bolts and changing the oil...

i did have another stupid question tho. the front fender.. there is a metal plate, i cant tell how this thing goes on, does it sandwich the fender, or does it go on top of the fender? i think its just because im sick, i really wasnt thinking clear, but i would like to know for sure.

[ambassador]

Sandwich, it goes underneath the fender, you'll see it all lines up pretty easy.. The bolts are long enough that you can fit a lock washer on all 3, I recommend it, after you have it painted...

[mdsuave13]

aye, so it seems that my original thoughts were correct, sandwich.. thank you ambassador.

I have a serious flu, my bike still sits on the atv jack untouched as we speak. I can barely do anything.. i have been enjoying reading all the stories about your guys riding and carnage pics. :)

hope to be back to speed soon and join you all with some fun stuff.

[ambassador]

You must get better NOW!!!

There is a Brand new China bike waiting for you, but could it be that you caught the China bike flu and have to wear a face mask, come to think of it, maybe that's the reason the Chinese wear the masks, they all have the China bike flu...?

They still post pics...

Get better man...

[gyjoe]

UPDATE:



I did manage to get the rear wheel on before i knew i was really sick. The one thing that concerned me was the chain guard. It seems as tho the bottom is touching the chain, and the top is not centered over the sprocket. The wheel itself is centered in the rear swingarm...

so should i just use a heatgun to modify this, and a pair of snips to cut the bottom piece off that is rubbing the chain? It seems like it is pretty cheap, maybe i will just make a new one out of sheetmetal.


On mine it worked fine to just unbolt the chain guard and re-bolt it to the other side of the metal tabs it bolts to. It moved the guard over just enough to work.

[mdsuave13]

update for today: I managed to get an hour or two of work in on the bike this afternoon..

I took the plastics off, loc-tited all of the fasteners on the bike that i hadn't gotten yet, managed to get the decals off the plastics. (I am prepping all the body panels for paint this week sometime)

I also adjusted the chain guard to avoid rubbing, and i adjusted all the other bits that needed it.

I will be getting the body painted up this week, the battery in the bike, the oil changed out (along with modding the skid plate), and firing it up.

Parts on order: new spark plug, tank bag, rear storage bin, front fender toolkit, new grips, pod filter, exhuast, etc. Got a bunch of stuff on the way to keep my occupied over the duration of the cold weather.

AND YES, i know i'm slacking on the pics, i just havent had my camera, and i've been sick as a dog, so i haven't been really motivated to do much at all. I will work on the pics in the next day or two, i will put them up in my gallery.

[mdsuave13]

here are some pics guys....


this is what i have assembled so far, just loosely fit, gotta make lots of mods and adjustments before i ride
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/assembly%201.JPG

these are the removed sticker ridges in my paint
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/clear%20ridges.JPG

another good shot of the depth of these ridges
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/clear%20ridges%202.JPG

my makeshift paint booth
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/paint%20booth.JPG

sanding/prepping the panels for paint
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/sanded%20up.JPG

some test pieces that i painted satin black (semi gloss)
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/painted%20panels.JPG

my two favorite possesions in the world... (shes an akita)
http://justinwells.250free.com/bikepics/two%20faves.JPG

[mdsuave13]

ok well i have gotten all of the panels painted. I have a few panels with minor mess ups, that i will have to wet sand out and repaint after about a week(so they can cure fully) other then that, they look very good, the satin black seems to have just enough shine to look good, yet still not be too shiny to show my lack of painting skills.

I will get these panels on tommorow or monday and take a pic. Let you all see what i have been up to.

[sheadouglas]

, the satin black seems to have just enough shine to look good, yet still not be too shiny to show my lack of painting skills.

Aw man, it wont matter cause just as soon as you finish this you'll be in the nearest big nasty mud holes, ruts, or whatever you can find right? :twisted:

[mdsuave13]

hopefully i can find somewhere "legal" to ride this off road, or at least somewhere i wont get in too much trouble.. but i cant wait to get covered in mud again! its been years since i had a dirtbike!