X-Pro 150cc // Vader 150 // Lifan 150

[ProDigit]

The order:

2 Weeks ago, I bought the Xpro-150 from Walmart. It was on discount for $1400 shipping included, and just $200 more than the Vader 125.

I have had a 4Gear 125cc Chinese bike before, and know this wasn't going to be enough for me where I live.
Like most Chinese bikes, they're geared way too short.
My older Chinese bike had a step through gearing. From the factory it had sprockets so low geared, it managed only 80MPG and about 45-50MPH top speed.
I added +2T up front, and -8t rear, and the bike was purring at 2-2.5k RPM, at 35-45MPH, and at those speeds reached an astonishing 120MPG!!
I really loved that bike, however, I had the option of either gearing it fun (15/34T), or gearing it fuel efficient, but dog slow acceleration (17/31T).
After a while I gave up riding, and sold it.

Recently, I wanted to ride again, but even my 375LBS CBR300R was a pain getting out of the shed.
I wanted something light.
When I saw the walmart ad for the Vader 150, the grom clone with 5 gears, I went for it!

The extra 25CC from a 125cc would be a welcome addition, while at the same time the fuel mileage would still be between the 125 and my Honda Rebel 250, I hoped.
I realized I don't need a big bike. I don't actually like going that fast.
I enjoy doing the 30-50mph trips, and if I can do that at 100MPG it'd be even better!
There's just one thing I absolutely disliked about biking, is how heavy bikes are, when you have to either push them, turn them, lift them up, or move them in any direction other than where the wheels can bring you.
The Vader 150 (grom Clone) is still heavy at 235LBS, but less so. I found only the front is heavy. I have no problems picking up the rear.

Unpacking, impressions

The bike finally arrived in a crate past Tuesday, with the bill of sale and some form of title arriving 2 days before.

Once I opened the crate I was pretty amazed at what I got.
Not only does the 150cc engine have better motor mounts than the 125, but the entire engine is coated/painted, including the exhaust.
Most mods I would do to the bike were already done.
The mirrors were acceptable (no lollypops), the exhaust sounded ok (no sowing machine), exhaust tube was coated, and the handlebars were sturdy 1" bars.
Also the gear shifter was a solid piece of steel.
The rear blinkers are LEDs, and the low and high beam were bright white LEDs, looking almost like white halogen beams.

The only thing I thought was a little less, was the right brake pedal, but certainly enough for non-stunters, who probably won't fall anyway.
The included oil drain bolt was of the magnetic type. However, the magnet wasn't as strong as the after market ones sold on amazon or ebay. It was only capable of collecting miniscule metal dust particles, not shavings.


Uncrating
This was not my first bike, so I knew what was waiting for me.
And while in the past I've uncrated many bikes alone, this time I needed some help.
It's been a while and I'd forgotten some of the lessons learned earlier.

The unpacking and installing took about 8 hours, because I spent a good hour and a half taking the crate apart and using it and the cardboard to make some sort of sun shield from it.
Florida sun is brutal!

What took so long is that I had gone back and forth a few times, preparing something, only to find out that the items I had ordered, weren't the right size. That probably took me 1 to 1.5 hours total.
Things like:
The sprocket size. The one I've ordered was a 17T 17mm sprocket, but this one uses a 20mm one.
The Spark Plugs. The iridium spark plug I ordered didn't fit.
Neither did the drain bolt plug. The drain bolt plug was an M17 bolt, with a 12mm stud or so. The one I had ordered was an M15 or so, with a 14mm stud.

I also had difficulties with no user manual, or even the video link being kind of useless (2 guys working fast, but you can't see what they are doing).

Procedures/installing

after removing the plastic, cardboard and plastic wraps, I started with removing the top part of the crate. Don't even bother disassembling, just loosen the bottom bolts of the crate, the metal wires, and the top part comes right off (with the side supports).
Next up, the front wheel, lifted up the bike using a hand crank car jack (the $20 ones from AutoZone), under the steering column. The crate has a support beam right there. That allowed me to lift up the front enough to remove the bolt.

I basically spray painted all metal parts that could corrode, with engine enamel (the high temp one, clear coat); including any nuts or bolts that have received some damage from tightening or loosening them.
I also sprayed the wheel bolts, and inserted them when they were still wet, this mainly to prevent corrosion.
In the past I would use lithium grease, but I have found that coating them with enamel or paint, was a much better choice, as when the liquid dries up, it basically seals the bolt in place..

Later I made a mistake on the speedo cable (didn't see the cable was outside of the forks instead of inside), and I tried removing the bolt, and man, the enamel not only prevents rust, and coats metal, but the bolts were almost glued inside! They're not coming out without a hammer!

I noticed the rear wheel was very well set up from the factory. The chain had the right amount of slack, and bolts on the bike all were torqued well, and/or used some sort of sealing agent like Loctite.
So, the rear wheel needed no attention installing.

After installing the front wheel, I installed the front fender. The thin metal support bracket in the parts box, is for the speedo-sensor, the thick bracket is for the front brake line. Both of them face upwards, and mount to the fender.

Third, I installed the handlebars. A bit of a pain, because first you best install the left handle (lights/choke) and clutch. The choke plastic was separated from the rest, but was easy to fit back in the housing.
The clutch and left brakes can not be lowered(rotated away from you on the handlebars) by a lot. Make sure you check your clearance on the handlebars, if the levers aren't touching anything, or if they can be pressed all the way. If you want your levers to be facing down instead of forward, they won't be able to compress fully.

Once the handlebars are ready and installed (my risers were the wrong size), you can go over to the rear shock.
I lowered the bike onto the front wheel, needed help to balance the bike, and used my car jack on top of the rear tire, and used a piece of cardboard between the jack and the rear fender. The jack was pushing the rear part up from the rear wheel, and the installation of the rear shock was a breeze.
Once this was done the bike could be taken off the crate, and rest on the side stand peg.

While I did spray also the rear shock mounts and other bare metal with enamel (clear coat) or plastidip (the pieces I wanted to blacken out), I also did apply Loctite to all bolts after installation.
In other words, once the bike was assembled, with bolts and nuts not very tight, I took each piece off, and applied the blue Loctite to the nuts and bolts.
This took an additional hour, but I wanted things to be good from the start.
I used blue Loctite on all except those that I will work on later (like the sprockets, the rear fender covering the chain) and the handlebars (for installation of risers).

Next up was the exhaust. The ugly looking exhaust can actually sounded ok, but I found a few ways to optimize the sound!
Unscrew the 3 bolts at the end, and coat the inside with enamel or high temp paint. Superficial rust was already forming there.
Then, stuff some glasswool or rockwool inside the thing.
I cut out a 5x7x0.75" piece of glasswool (wear at least plastic or rubber gloves), rolled it up, and stuffed it in the exhaust, and pushed it outward against the circular muffler wall. I then added small strips to fill up the walls, allowing approximately a 1 to 2" space for the exhaust to go straight from the entry pipe to the exit.
The sound now sounds so good and deep, and no bright tones anymore!
It sounds better than most aftermarket exhausts now, comparable to $600 exhausts!

After spray coating and installation of the glass wool, I back coated the lid (on the inside with enamel), and closed the can using Loctite on the 3 screws.
I had seen enough videos on people losing their exhaust cover, so I put Loctite on the only bolt holding it, as well as added an extra drop to the outside after it was installed, to make sure it was and woudl stay tight!

After exhaust, I did the battery.
I did find I had to use some shrink wrap on some of the connectors they used, as well as use electrical (or duct) tape to tape off the fuse box and cables.
Even the inside of the bike, the plastics under the seat, got a coating of enamel.

I then tested the lights, and electronics. All worked, except for the brake light was either on or off.
The brake lever ended up being stuck a bit, but after some use, that went away, and it ended up working fine.

Before adding fuel, I used a vacuum to make sure no metal shavings were in the tank, but thankfully there were none.

I wanted to start the bike, but it didn't start. The switch was in the 'on' position, so "The petcock", I thought.
As soon as I opened the valve, fuel came leaking down the bike.
Apparently, the 4mm fuel line wasn't mounted to the 6mm petcock nozzle.
I nearly broke the petcock, just trying to get the fuel line to fit, until I came to my senses, and sprayed a tiny bit of dish soap with water inside the hose. Like less than 1 spray. It didn't seem to be an issue for the bike once I started it.
I did also stretch the hose, and the hose finally fit.

The bike started, but the idle was too low (at 500-800RPM).
Luckily, I had bought a Torx bit set a few weeks before, and the T30 did the trick in adjusting the idle screw, which was on the right, as opposed to all the other bikes I had owned.
Be advised, this Torx bolt has a pin in the center, so you'll need a Torx (star) bit with a hole in the center to make it work.
After about 1 full turn right, the bike idled fine cold at 1200RPM.
The manual says 1500RPM, but the manual is wrong often.
Set it to the lowest RPM where the bike can idle without stalling, cold.
Once the bike warms up, idle goes up as well.

Next came the tires.
They were a bit deflated, but I was surprised they did not show the maximum PSI rating on the sidewall.
Because of that I put 32PSI in the front and 35PSI in the rear (cold).
Not sure what the user manual says, but it should be ok, as they will settle, and PSI will drop from new.

Be advised that the bike may end up falling over when on the side stand, if the tires are deflated too much.

The PDI people apparently didn't see they had put the valve stem of the front wheel towards the disc brake, making it very difficult to add air .

After that I installed the rear fender, and drove around the parking lot.
Shifted from 1 to 5th gear, reaching 15MPH in 5th
Unlike what most people say, you CAN drive on the oil provided.
Heck, in the past I've put vegetable oil in the crank case, without any side effects (though it was only for 30 miles until I could change out the oil).

After my 30-60 second test drive, I drained the factory oil.
Looked much like the cheapest oil on Amazon (Pennzoil), which I also happened to have in my home.
The user manual doesn't call for motorcycle oil, just "engine oil" of 10W40 thickness; and since this is the break-in period, I just poured in the Pennzoil. Even though I do have 10W40 motorcycle oil. My guess is I will be replacing the oil soon anyway.
The bike took 1QT to 1.25QT of oil.

Other findings

I set the rear suspension all the way down, because I felt like the handlebars were too far down for me.
Some other youtuber correctly stated, that he felt as if the rear was pushing him over the bike, and I felt the same.
Lowering the rear shock helped a lot.
I'm in the process of buying matching handlebar risers, but the shock adjustment did help in making me sit more upright.

The front brake discs are so fragile! I poked in them with the bit of plastic that was meant to keep them apart, just to get them apart further, and saw some brake pad dust coming off of them. Like they're made out of carbon or charcoal.

I forgot to lubricate the metal spacer on the front wheel. Will do so with lithium grease soon.

The 428 chain looked sturdy enough, didn't need replacement. It was coated with a honey-like sticky substance. I suppose it's some sort of silicon lube?

My next upgrade will be a 17T, and see how much space I have for an 18T up front. I doubt the 19T would fit, but if it would, I will get it.

The chain glider is really tensioning up the chain if you're not on the bike. Bike really needs a larger front sprocket.

The rear sprocket is a 34T, and can come down to a 31, or perhaps even a 30T. I will be upgrading that one as well. My aim is to drive affordably, with high MPG, and low revs. 150cc is sufficient with 5 gears.

I prefer to have a 3rd or 4th gear that gets me up to max speed (60-70MPH), and a 4th or 5th gear that can make me cruise at low RPM, high MPG, over having no overdrive gears.

First gear is kind of torquey. I'm fairly sure I can take 30% higher gearing on this bike, and still be ok with the acceleration.

I was able to accelerate from a stop, from 3rd gear.

The bike does not have any storage whatsoever. No space for tools.

This bike didn't have a center stand, but did have a kick starter.

I will want to find a good seat cover, or something that doesn't burn my butt. Just touching the seat while in the sun, almost burned my hands. Perhaps some sort of UV coating I can used to extend its life?

This engine is a high rev engine. It's not very well tuned in the lower RPM ranges.
Meaning, the engine doesn't have a lot of torque down low, but keeps the torque it has through the rev range (I only went up to 5k RPM).
If it wasn't for the low gearing, the bike would have very little torque in the mid range (2-5k RPM).

On the Walmart store, the bike is promoted as the X-Pro 150. On the title of sale, it's called the 'Vader 150'. On the company website, the bike is called the Lifan 150. I thought people said Lifan is a different engine than Vader has?

The exhaust is mounted on the side, doesn't interfere with the drain bolt.

I think a lot of the problems with the 125 are fixed on the 150.
Now all I need to do, is probably ride my first 4k miles, before bolts of all sizes will start falling off...