Apollo DB36 Deluxe, Update 2
 

For those of you who read my last thread, you saw that I had an issue with the engine cranking, but no spark. Well here's an official ride report...

psych...:hehe:

I have no idea how the bike rides yet. The tires of this bike have never touched pavement; I'm explain below.

So, there I was, tearing into the bike, trying to test everything I could to figure out why it wouldn't spark. At the end of the day, the problem had nothing to do with anything I tested or replaced (CDI, coil, plug, etc). The culprit all along was a kill switch at the kickstand. I suspect that my kickstand was tweaked during shipping. The switch itself is a mechanical "plunger" type device. It has to be fully extended (i.e., out) to allow the bike to start (see pic below). I believe the switch or kickstand might have been slightly bent a little such that it would not extend all the way out to allow the engine to spark. So, when I put kickstand up and then tried to start the bike, it disengage all the way to allow the engine to spark. By chance, I wiggled it a little while cranking, and what do you know...spark.

Then, I unbolted the top bolt that mounts the switch to the frame and tilted the switch up, to allow the plunger to extend out. This allowed for spark and the engine fired right up like nothing happened. I spent a lot of time doing a lot of testing on the bike...just to find out it was something extremely silly like this. I ended up replacing the stock CDI, coil, plug, solenoid, etc and it still worked fine and starts right up. https://youtu.be/y-NE8i5104c


The good news is that all that time and work was not totally lost because I learned things I never knew before, such as CDI's, volt meters, checking for spark, etc. I didn't know much about that before, but now I do.

Why haven't I taken the bike out? Well, here's why. I was minutes away from riding the bike for the first time. It was starting and running fine. The only thing left to do was mount the plastics. As is the case for other bikes, some of the plastics bolt to the tank. As I was installing one bolts on one side, it snapped in half. I asked my father-in-law to help me extract the bolt. He got it out just fine, but as he was trying to re-thread the hole, he ended up going too far and actually punctured a hole tank...yes, more ridiculousness. A freak'n hole in the tank...a gas spilling out freak'n hole in the tank. I was speechless, but couldn't be mad at him; I could tell he felt horrible.

Long story short, I ordered a new tank and it should arrive this weekend. I'm eager to get it installed and ride the bike. I haven't had the best luck so far, but what can I do?

In other news, I also didn't post for a while because I filed a dispute with my bank against Manny and his poor business practices. I didn't want to post anything that he could find and use against me. I tried to win one for the little guy and get even a tiny refund...for time lost and money spent, such as the new battery I had to buy. I just found out today from my bank that they ruled in favor of Manny. Yup, I lost the dispute. He's well protected by this policies...sort of like he's learned through trial and error how to screw people over. Anyway, the dispute is over, not much I can do about that either. I will post a dealer review soon and no, it wasn't a positive experience...big surprise.

Unfortunately, I cannot provide any sort of update on the quality of the bike or how it rides. I can report that the starting issue I had was due to a kill switch at the kickstand.

The bike is still pretty un-assembled. No tank, no plastics. Hopefully, that will change this weekend.

Iam glad you found the problem and bummer about the tank. I hope your bike rides like a dream. You sure earned it. Thanks for the update.

thanks for the update, this helps us all. maybe that is the last of the issues! look forward to you riding it soon

I wanted to thank everyone on the forum for sticking with me and trying to diagnose the problem, especially JerryHawk and Douglass. I felt like my problem was their problem and we were in it together. My hats off to them and all those who contributed.



:thanks:

Get rid of that stupid stand switch!

Applause 👏...glad to here it’s gonna get going soon...someone said it was gonna be something like that too

Thanks for the update and glad you got it running.:tup: You have no idea how hard it was not to say anytime on here about you getting it running. Lol

Second that!
What a stupid thing to put on a dirt bike.

I also want to thank all on this site that participates with wisdom, knowledge, and care to assist! Lots of good people here! Sorry to ski rush for your frustration and problems with the supplier. Caveat emptor, I think I spelled it right, translates I think, let the buyer beware. Some suppliers do not care, but they care about greed. Fake suppliers, fake news, what's the next fake scam?

As I was reading your post....I can't tell you how many times "No way..." crossed my mind.
I'm glad you got it figured out and will be on the road soon. I'm really curious about this bike.

sidestand switch.... another thing to go wrong... as for the tank, i would have slapped teflon tape on the bolt and sent it.... LOL

Sorry but I'm new to the whole bike scene and just bought an apollo db 36 250cc black and can not for the life of me figure out how to change the guage from km to mph any help

I never even thought of a sidestand switch. That is something us Hawk guys don't have to deal with. Sucks about the tank but I am glad you got it running!

Try these:
Press the button on dash then turn on the key, some work this way.
Or press and hold the button for 5-10 seconds with bike on, this might work
If 2 buttons try both methods and you might just stumble onto the solution, and try holding both at the same time 5-10 sec while bike is on or hold boith and turn the bike on

Sorry I had a chuckle at this post. I've seen (and done) this so many times, we tend to always think of the worst when things go wrong. I watched my certified Mercury mechanic dad tear apart an outboard years ago when it was just a misaligned dead man switch. I always have to remember to start with the simplest most obvious first! I've also come to learn that just because it's new doesn't mean it good either (like spark plugs).

This case would have thrown me for a loop too. Generally these lock out switches (clutch, gear, kickstand) won't allow to motor to crank over. It should still work in neutral though. It sounds like this won't let you warm up the engine on the stand?

First thing I do is eliminate most of these idiot switches which usually is as simple as splicing to 2 wires together. If not that then it's the opposite.