Place to do break in service on a China import?

[Zyphlin]

So I have a Zongshen sport bike that is now at its 500 mile mark and needs the general break in service. Only issue is, the first place I called said they only service manufacturers they sell and I'm wondering if this will be a general trend.

Does anyone know any northern Virginia garage that may do service on Chinese bikes or anyone know in general if its standard for shops to only do service on brands they sell?

[hensim]

Often the only shops that will work on these are the shops that sell off brand chinese or korean bikes. It just depends. No legit shops in my area do on my off brand.

You'll just have to look in your yellow pages and start calling.
Try a hyosung shop.

If no motorcycle shop will work on it, the scooter shops that sell chinese imports generally will at least for a simple 500 mile service.

[phil]

thats true, i dont work on name brand bikes :lol:

[FastDoc]

We can talk you through taking care of it yourself. Better long term answer anyway.

[katoranger]

I really is a pretty simple task. Oil change. Check for loose bolts/components, check tires, ladjust/lube chain. All stuff you should know how to do and not have to depend on a shop for.

You need just basic tools. Large crescent wrench. Some metric wrenches/sockets. Screwdrivers. Oil catch pan or a coffee can works good. Quart of oil. Chain lube. tire guage.

Allen

[TheRealWorld]

Part of being a China Rider is learning to be a bit of a mechanic. If you have a little mechanical ability, these guys will give you a $50,000 education for free! If you don't think you can do it, you will have to look for a handy man who might be interested in helping you.

Those main line shops are very expensive, and they have no mercy on us bargain riders.

[Jim]

These bikes are great learning assistants. :)

[Zyphlin]

To bad I'm up north in Va instead of down in Wise! ;)

I was actually consider doing this myself. Only issue is I have next to no mechanic experience and the forum I was going to see about walking me through this is now down.

However, if you all here think you could help me I'd definitely give it a go!

Changing my oil doesn't seem too hard of a job. Neither is tightening the bolts I imagine.

Chain Lube I'm guessing I should be able to find at most motorcycle stores or maybe even an auto parts store? Simple to just apply it to the chain or is common sense here actually going against me?

I've got a decent crescent wrench, a whole metric socket set, screw drivers, and a good pan to use to catch the oil. Tire gauge as well.

The part I'm somewhat worried about is:

1. My manual is saying to check the spark plugs on the first check for a number of things. This goes back to my "near 0 mechanic experience". Not exactly sure what I'd be looking for here, or how to know if I need to maybe replace it (or how to even replace it)

2. My manual also says to take the battery out and charge it. I think I can manage this, though may have a few questions. I have an external charger that I tried to use on it while the battery was still in the bike but was unsure about some specifics of the battery to see if it'd work properly.

Ultimately, I think it is something even with my minor knowledge may be able to do with a little bit of instruction and I agree with you all....doing it myself is probably a good, and needed, learning experience.

[katoranger]

Since you are willing to try.

Chain lube is available at motorcycle shops. autoparts stores, walmart.

The sparkplug. Well if the bike is running fine I would leave it alone. Otherwise on most chinabikes you will find it on the upper right of the engine. Just remove the plug wire by pulling on the boot and then use the "sparkplug socket" which may be included in you socket set otherwise available at autoparts stores walmart sears etc. If you want a new one copy down the number on the current sparkplug and go to you local auto parts store. They can cross-reference it to an NGK plug and you are good to go. Should be less than $5. Also while at the parts store get a quart of 10w40 motorcycle oil or "non energy conserving" oil like shell rotella.

If you wish to check the plug. Just remove it with the socket and take a look. The tip should be a light tan color. If white or black you have fuel mixture problems that are obviuous.

Really to get started pick up the necessary items. Chain lube, oil.

On the batttery. If the bikes starts fine leave it alone. (If it ain't broken, don't fix it.)

Tire should be about 30psi. Check the sidewalls and the manual may have a recommendation.

Just ask questions and we will guide you through.

Allen

[TheRealWorld]

For now don't worry about the spark plug. When you go to drain the oil, make sure you turn the drain bolt the proper direction when removing it.. Facing the drain bolt head you will need to turn it in a counter clockwise direction. Make sure not to get this wrong. The oil fill hole is the same, so start with that. You should be able to find step by step instructions some where in this forum.

If you find a screen filter when you change the oil, be sure to study how it came out and reinstall it the same way. Clean it before you put it back in. When you put the drain cover back in place don't get it to tight, I would say a little more than snug, you probably won't need it as tight as you found it.

[Cal25]

Absolutely do it yourself. As for the spark plug, they are cheap. Just get a new one and swap it out. Cheaper than paying someone to look at it anyway. You can take a pic of it and post it here and we will all look at it.

These things are pretty easy to work on and by getting know how to work on it, when things start to act up you will be ready to tackle the problem.
Any questions, just ask.

[Zyphlin]

Thanks for all the help and advise guys.

I got my oil changed fine. I saw the little net looking thing and put it back how it was I believe. drained all the oil out and put in some new motorcycle 10w-40 that I grabbed at Advance Auto.

Also got some chain lube and sprayed it over the length of the chain though I think I need to move the cycle a bit and get the little portion that was hidden from view.

Went through and retightened all the various bolts and screws I could find. The only thing that seemed amazingly loose were my mirrors so I tightened them both up a great deal. The handlebars I had to tighten about a month back so we'll just call that early maintenance.

My only two issues. One, I could not for the life of me unscrew the spark plug. Don't know if I just wasn't getting a good angle to really put some torque into it or what, but I could not loosen the damn thing so hoping its fine. I'm guessing something like that's not normally going bad after 500 miles anyways though, right? I haven't noticed any starting issues.

The other issue is just not really knowing how to check the tightness of some things, like the clutch. My manual is giving me measurements saying it needs to be tightened to 10mm~20mm but not exactly sure what it means by that. For the most part I've not had any issues really with breaking or the clutch save for occasional issues trying to get it from neutral down to first.

Going to go give it a good wash now as I grabbed some stuff for that. All told, including the stuff to wash it, I spent $50 where as a shop was telling me $200-300 for basically doing the same things. Thanks a ton! Plus it felt good actually doing my own oil.

[TheRealWorld]

You need a deep socket on the spark plug and you need to turn it counter clockwise when facing the plug, to remove it. It is tight. It is fine for now, and when you decide to change it try it when the bike is hot. You will hear your engine rev a little when you accelerate if the clutch is slipping, if it is not it is OK for now.

[katoranger]

I have had the same plug for the last 8000 miles. Runs fine.

Like mentioned before. Best to use the deep spark plug socket.

Allen

[Zyphlin]

That was the socket I tried to use for the spark plug, but didn't know exactly how hard to try pulling it and was having a hard time getting a good angle. Figured I didn't need to do it yet anyways so wasn't a huge deal.

Though I seemed to have spoke to soon earlier :\

I had been having one issue. My "low battery" light would flicker at times when I first turned on the bike, and more to the point occasionally if the bike wasn't on but upright it would suddenly simply lose power. I'd have to put it back down on its kickstand and the lights would turn on again and power would return. I decided I'd try to take the battery out and charge it with my external charge but I couldn't get one of the bolts undone that takes the side paneling off. I finally got fed up, figured i'd just roll it into the grass near my window and run the power out there. Only issue is now it gets no power, at all. Any thoughts on this? Could it just be a weak battery? Maybe a bad wire?

[Cal25]

Sounds like a bad connection on a ground somewhere. Also check the fuse to make sure it is still good if you have no power at all. It should be inline just up from the positive battery connection.
Start checking the ground at the neg battery terminal and follow it from there. A cheap multi meter willl pay dividends here if you dont have one.

Good luck



edit for spelling

[TheRealWorld]

You have a wire connection problem, it might be the ground wire on the battery Trace the main battery wires and then trace the others. It could b a wire going to the key. Does your brake light work when everything else is dead.

[Zyphlin]

Alright, I'll try out the break light thing immediately.

Ground is the negative, correct?

I found the fuse earlier, though it didn't seem bad I'll give it another check.

Guessing a multi-meter is another thing I can probably head up to an autoparts store for?

I really want to thank you all again for this. I'm a complete dolt with this stuff but it feels good to possibly be figuring out how to do some of this myself rather than always relying on a mechanic to do anything

[katoranger]

Sounds like a wire is loose.

If you want a multi-meter pick out a digital one. You can find them for less than $20. Walmart has one.

We can tell you how to use it. You can test the fuse, wires, and check battery voltage.

Allen

[TheRealWorld]

If the brake light works, that tells you that your battery connections are probably OK.

Your ground is the negative side. The red is the hot side.

[Zyphlin]

Sadly I've reached the likely end of being able to work on it today and will be on hold until Friday afternoon (I had taken today off from work).

I'll try to pick up a multi-meter by then.

I currently managed to get the side off my bike and took the battery off. I have it hooked up to an external charger now as regardless of any wiring problems I know the battery was weak.

Will report back findings friday, or post up any questions prior to it.

[phil]

if you have any troubles let me or us know. im sure you can work out any troubles with the bike here . btw how did you come by this zong without a dealer to help with taking care of it, just courious :lol:

[Zyphlin]

Rather stupidly bought it online.

Essentially, I didn't know if I was really going to definitely take to motorcycling well and didn't want to spend a lot on a first bike if I was going to give it up quickly. Additionally, I wanted something like a 250cc because I was concerned first and foremost at the time with gas mileage.

I was going to go with Lifan as there was a Lifan dealer actually semi-near by in Virginia; but then he had issues with the DMV I believe and ended up stopped carrying Lifans.

At that point I saw the Zonghsen, liked the look and build of it, read a few decent reviews, and found a site that was recommended to me to buy it from. Got it sent in, put together the bits that needed to with the help of my dad, and been riding it since.

Ultimately, I wish I had possibly gone with a more conventional bike and paid a bit more for it due to some of the trouble with this and realizing pretty quickly that while the gas mileage is great I want something bigger. But I had no way of knowing I'd take to it as I have so don't really regret it and this thing will probably pay for itself in gas by next summer so no big loss.

[katoranger]

Ride it for a year then trade up to something bigger. It is a good bike to get experience on. It won't get you into trouble either.

Allen

[phil]

the 250 sport bike is a cool little bike and i know several people who have smaller bikes and love them one i have even sold the same bike you have its not a bad chioce for a first street bike. if you stay away from long interstate ride it should do for a long time, bigger isnt always better :wink: and i think you got lucky by getting a zong after selling a few brands the zong isnt the avgerage china bike. I have also seen dealers "spring up" but the most likely story for the other dealer wasnt a problem with lifan but with the dealer not being legal va is a tuff state to be a dealer in and be legal. most companies will make anybody a dealer if you will buy, getting the paperwork through brings the problems and sometimes a vist from the state police 8O i just hope i have all the paperwork :lol:

[katoranger]

Zongshen seems to making more effort to stay in the game. If it buy another bike (It will be awhile) it will probably be a zong.

Allen

[Zyphlin]

Strangely enough one of the things that pushed me over was reading somewhere that it was Harley's distributer in China. I figured if a company like Harley would even loosely have their name tied to a brand that it can't be too horrible. That mixed with good reviews and just falling in love with how it looked definitely did it for me.

I've got no real complaints. It hits 60-65 which is the highest I need to ever go for my commute, its getting GREAT gas mileage, and it looks good. Definitely would like something a bit better for going on the interstate and such to use it more like my actual car rather than just a short commute thing, but as long as I'm up here in Northern VA and have a short commute to work I'll probably keep it for nothing else but the gas mileage.

[Zyphlin]

Well....fun couple of days.

Charged the battery up to full and was all set to put it back in the bike on Friday to see what happens. However, friday morning my girlfriend wakes me up to help her with something "She can't do on her own". I'm curious what it is as she's making me get dressed and dragging me outside...

...to find my bike toppled over. Pretty sure the jerk that pulled in next to me opened the door and knocked over the bike as they were parked almost on top of me.

Picked it up to find the bottom 1/4th of my clutch bar broken busted and the cover of my turn signal.

Managed to put the cover back on, as it was at least in one piece, and keep it attached via electrical tape (The black on black makes the tape hard to notice from anywhere but extremely close up thankfully).

Less unsightly is my attempted fir for the clutch bar. Its still long enough to be usable without the end, but would be uncomfortable for longer drives and just not optimum. I got some steel epoxy putty and put a bit between the two pieces and then encasing them. Its an ugly ugly fix but I'll at least see in the next hour if it looks like it'll hold fast or just wiggle and break off. If it works I'm going to have a big lump of gray in the middle of my handle.

As to the battery and power problem. I figured that one out. The little L shaped metal adapter for the positive wires which is screwed onto the battery....it broke at the bottom of the "L". I guess what was happening previously as I moved things was it was pushing it against its broken piece of metal or separating it, thus the gaining and loss of power when not running.

The only real GOOD permanent fix I could think of was to potentially sauder the bottom of the "L" back to the top, but I don't have a machine for it nor the know how. So what I ended up doing, as it was still a decent bit of metal attached to the cable, was to lightly unscrew the screw, slide the piece that broke off between the back edge of the screw and the original metal piece that it was connected to, and then screw the screw back in locking it so it was essentially:

Battery - Top part of the L - Bottom part of the L - Screw

Seems to be working fine...actually better than it was before...but not sure if its bad to have it like that (Though I'm not really sure how, aside from being connected, its that different from before as its still battery - metal - screw connecting.

But my bike now has new oil, new lube, tightened screws, and a fully charged battery. Thanks a ton guys.

[Weldangrind]

By clutch bar, do you mean clutch lever (as in hand lever)? If so, remove it and take it to a motorcycle shop to buy a generic replacement; it'll likely be around ten bucks.

Take the battery bolt with you to an auto parts store and buy a terminal that will fit the bolt. Remove the existing broken terminal from the battery cable and crimp the new one in place. The factory terminals are junk.

You might have good luck using ABS cement from a home building supply store (Lowes etc). If the turn signal body is ABS plastic, it will be a strong repair. If not, any catalyst epoxy would do the trick.

Good luck.

[TheRealWorld]

Zyphlin,

You said you bought it on line, can you tell us more? How much did you pay and where was it.

[Zyphlin]

Yes. I meant the hand lever. Wasn't sure how easy of a replacement that was. I'll take it to a local motorcycle shop near my work this week. I used some steel putty epoxy and it seemed to have done the trick to fixing it, though it looks horrendous. I'd rather have a real fix to it so will do that.

In regards of crimping the new terminal in place, think a place like Advance Auto if I brought it there would go through the process with me? Wouldn't mind finding a more permanent solution than what I have so something like that would be great. Are you saying the current positive cable would actually still be used, I'd just be buying a new metal part and attaching it to it?

If I have any further issue with the turn signal I'll give that one a try.

I bought the bike from I believe Scooter Dynasty last year online. I want to say it was around $1400 though would need to check my CC statement to be sure. They seem to be selling it for closer to $2,000 now though so will need to check it a bit. I've had a number of small issues (such as the dip stick being broken off) upon receiving it, but over all very few real issues.

[katoranger]

Here is a crimp on terminal.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff236/towzatronics/Terminals/RYBringTerminals.jpg

Usually buy them in packages of 4-5 or so.

Wire slides on the one side and then you typically use a wire crimper (looks like pliers) on crimp it on. Better yet is to use a solder on one.

The crimper tool can be had for cheap usually too.

Allen