Lifan xPect No Mods, No Major Maintenance Experiment Thread
 

Looking down at the odometer, I felt it’s probably time to create an actual thread on this I will update every thousand miles.

I bought my Lifan Xpect thinking I’d be lucky to get a season of riding out of it before it fell apart.

Little did I know it would be an incredibly reliable bike.

So, I’m curious just how far an Xpect can go without any real problems, straight from the factory without ANY modifications. I have stock tires and tubes, stock chain and sprockets. Stock everything. I ride about 50/50 dirt and tar I guess.

I will update this thread at every thousand miles to report, or in the case of a breakdown (not including tires/tubes), I’ll make a special update. I’ll mention tires and tubes when they happen.

Note: I did some damage to the bike myself here and there which can all be found on this forum and can’t be attributed to Lifan’s quality.

Side thought. I think I know how to say Lifan. I think since it’s Chinese, it should probably be said like “Lee Fon”. Maybe the name of the guy that started the company??


Here we go!

1000 miles - all is well

2000 miles - electrical problem. The main red positive power wire rubbed against something in the triple tree/headlight area. It kept shorting out and it stranded me a couple times.

Fixed with some electrical conduit and electrical tape.

This might be interpreted as a breakdown that ends the streak, but I’m going to continue the posting to look out for any other major mechanical malfunctions in case anyone wants to follow along.

I would not consider rubbing wires as a break down. That's just a short

Shorts aren't supposed to be a common thing. It's just something we're used to here and because these bikes are so inexpensive we tolerate it.

Agreed.. i had the left rear signal wires get yanked out after riding my son on the back and hitting a whoop. And with those rear signals once the wires are sucked out from the stalk, your pretty much hosed.. luckily the vendor sent me a replacement.. happy times!

Useful heads-up. The wiring bundle on the Storm was loose and bounces around in the bumps. I hadn't really thought about it, but this is a recipe for chafing the insulation! I did tape it up after maybe 25 miles, and now it still bounces around, but it is noisier because it is a thicker solid bundle! I have to replace the right turn signal (have OEM replacement), and while I am in there I will inspect it for any chafing, and further insulate and stabilize the wiring.

I think I have about 300 miles on it now (shows ~ 400 "~km"). I need to pace a vehicle (my son) with a decent speedometer and see how far off the speedomoeter is, and drive a couple of measured miles and see what the odometer reads. I haven't believed either one since the first test drive!

My Storm is 14% off on the mph of the speedo, but the odometer reads pretty close in KM, reads less than 5% low.

YOu should have bought a TBR7

Me?

I ask not suggesting that anything wrong is supposed to happen. Electrical wires get weak quick and the bike still functions so long as it's not actively shorting out. A quick e tape job like he did made it good. Not really trying to argue haha I just can't consider a short as a break down.

If it were a new car you would be having a crap fit and calling it a breakdown, demanding recalls and full warranty replacement.

In fact, you would be doing that with a Jap bike!

We put up with this nonsense because they are cheap and no other reason. They use the cheapest wire money can buy and the insulation chips and falls off within a year, and/or 500 miles whichever comes first.

For the record, as can be seen in the threads I started on the topic, I definitely had a crap fit about this.

I consider it a breakdown. But just in case other people don’t, or they are willing to overlook it, I’m going to keep going with this project.

I view poor wiring as a defect.

I took a look at a 2021 version of this bike, and they fixed the wiring problem that happened to mine. In the 2021 model, they carry the conduit all the way up into the headlight area. The wiring is done properly.

I own a 2021 Lifan X-pect that has yet to even be started, and I intend to do basically the same thing. I will probably put a better shifter on it and probably remove the plastic air guides, but nothing significantly beyond that. Change the oil, keep the chain tight, air in the tires, etc.

If mine started dying when I turn sharply, hell yeah that's a breakdown. If the engine stops of its own accord, short of being out of gas or me stalling it, then something broke that shouldn't and that's a problem!

I haven't checked if mine has the wiring fix. I'd check now but the garage is cold and I don't wanna.

Hey Krat, I have had my Lifan for near 2 years now have about 1400 miles on it completely trouble free and guess what no insulation falling off of my wiring or any problem with the wiring as yet.