250cc Baja Phoenix

[Oengus]

I bet that some people are considering a 250cc cruiser and there has been some questions about the Baja Phoenix 250cc and its transmission sticking.

From the BAJA site they list two different manufacturers for that bike. You can see that on the parts books. One is LE8 (GUANGZHOU PANYU HUANAN MOTORS INDUSTRY CO., LTD.) and the other LUA (Chongqing Hensim Group Co., Ltd).

http://www.bajamotorsportsonline.com/parts_catalogs_listing.php

I cannot tell you if both have transmission issues or not?


But somebody in Phoenix has fifty of these on E bay for $1,450.00 each.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BRAND-NEW-08-Baja-250cc-Crusier-Motorcycle-/250648213833?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item3a5bcc3949

[TheRealWorld]

The ones made by Hensim do have a tranny issue for sure. It has clutch issues and it has some shifting issues. The bike otherwise is a good bike.

[fonzerelli]

Bad deal.
bad tranny linkage setup with unsupported shift shaft. Which on mine led to borked tranny in under 100 miles from new and I have to split the engine case to fix it myself, warranty would not cover it.

Warranty will not cover anything more than 1hr diagnostics, they pay the service centers just to come up with a reason to blame you for their poor design.

Buy one broken on craigslist for under $500 then maybe. 1k in perfect shape new would be about right not 1500.

You'd end up fixing a new one anyway so why pay 1500 just so you can be the first to break it? Plus 1500 goes a long way on some much nicer used brand name bikes these days...

The engines are honda cm cmx250 clones and many internal parts are interchangeable but the cases themselves are just slightly redesigned asthetically. They didn't make any mechanical changes to honda's design which they should have given this bikes shift layout to accomodate the long unsupported shift shaft. oops...

Frames are suzuki gz250 clones, suzuki body/frame parts fit.

They also didn't use a properly sized rear sproket, and so far it doesn't seem like an off the shelf part is available.

The one on there would be fine if you wanted to trail ride with a fat lady riding on the back but it's not suitable for cruizing over 55mph unless you like the sound of the engine at redline.

The build quality is poor and the metal tank is really pretty thin, most bolt on stuff is plastic like the side panels and fenders and speedo. The frames are sadly welded by blind devopmenatally disabled people from the looks of things, but other than that, they're great.

I'm going to rebuild mine into something useful though and toss all the plastic and get rid of it's faults:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MJgunther#p/u/17/RSBgD6zexuk

[TheRealWorld]

I agree with your post, but I would like to ask if you know a good place to buy parts. I need a ignition module.

[fonzerelli]

Parts can be had through baja with a very long wait if you prefer, but I would use ebay. All china bikes I've seen so far share the same generic electronics, search ebay for "gy6 cdi" or "250cc cdi" "atv cdi" "chinese dirt bike cdi" and you will find ignition modules that are pretty much the same across the board for everything even the chinese offroad buggies.

You just have to check the pinouts to see that they are pinned the same. I did see two main generic cdi's with very different pinouts when I was looking for mine but that's about all the variety there is and the different pinout was obvious.

I rebuilt a dead 150 baja scooter with all ebay generic parts. New carb, cdi, magneto and pickup, intake manifold, keys and lockset and a few more things and pretty much all those same parts fit the baja 250 as well. Easy enough to ID by ebay pictures.


If you needed hard parts I'd try to fit suzuki frame stuff and honda engine stuff, and ebay's the place for that also. Any time you need something pull the bad part and start searching ebay with terms like gy6 or chinese scooter etc and work from there.

[TheRealWorld]

Thanks for the info, I will start looking for a CDI. I will let you know what I find. It may take me a while as I have a bunch of things on my list to do before I get to the bike.

[fonzerelli]

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=+cdi+chinese&_sacat=&_dmpt=Motors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&_odkw=250+cdi+chinese&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p4506.m270.l1313

I hear you. It's a 10 minute job though if that. Turn off fuel petcock and disconnect fuel line on either end, pop seat off with keylock, 2 bolts to remove the fuel tank are obvious then the tank slides back and off and there it is on top of the frame just under the tank. The right one will be obvious when you compare.

[TheRealWorld]

Wow that makes it easy. I will get one ordered. Thanks for the instructions also.

[TheRealWorld]

I went through the list and have not found it but I will look more closely tomorrow.

[mizke]

if you can find one, get the race cdi..

[fonzerelli]

I wouldn't go race on this myself, safe limits are wise for cheaply made things and these oooze cheap it's written all over them.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CDI-Box-150cc-200cc-250cc-300cc-ATV-quad-moped-chinese-/270629905022?pt=Motors_ATV_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3f02cca27e

Is that the one? I don't recall for sure, it's been a while but I think that's it.

[TheRealWorld]

fonzerelli, That appears to be it! Thanks, what a deal! I will order it and see what happens.

[TheRealWorld]

I have it ordered. Again thanks for the help. I will let you know how it goes.

[TheRealWorld]

I ordered the part, it fit but it did not work. The seller was great and told me he did not know if it would fit this bike. The pins lined up and the difference is that it only ran on one cylinder. I put the old on in and it is running fine. I believe that when the weather is hot it will give trouble again. I will wait to see. I have no issue with the site that sold the part, they are fast and did a good job.

[fonzerelli]

That sucks, sorry.

Yea I wouldn't be too exited about it just working all the sudden either though.

You could have a time consuming short in the wires somewhere or a loose connector. That would be my guess with it working all the sudden.

You can warm your parts with a hairdryer to see if they do fail in warmer temps than what you have now. Heat them up at idle and see if it stops running. Then let it cool back down and see if not heating that part it still runs to be sure it wasn't just something in the engine getting warm. Have to make sure you can recreate the failure on your schedule and not when the bike just warms normally to be sure it's the part you think it is this time.



Otherwise you'll have to go over the wires one by one looking for any pulled out of their connectors part way or not tight where each tab is pinched on each wire.

Pain in the ass stuff...

CDI may never have been the problem but the heat applied externally should tell, at least that part isn't hard to test.

[TheRealWorld]

That is a good idea, I might leave it in the garage and just warm up the entire area with a electric heater, being very careful.

Thanks for the help!