Bought a lifan X-pect but have'nt used it yet

[bored stiff]

Hi everyone, just wanting to know how the X-Pect is treating everyone. I bought one last summer and never reg it due to covid. Put aprox 20 miles on it and put it away till this summer. I liked it but it makes a rattle I have not figured out yet. Now I would love to hear from those who have them and have put some miles on to see how the bikes are holding up. thanks

[oincman]

Howdy. Open the tank, look down to the left (with a flashlight). You'll see a tube, carefully bend it to the right. That should fix the vibration noise your hearing.

Love the bike. Love the looks, love the comfy upright seating position and don't care it won't do 70.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by oincman

Love the bike. Love the looks, love the comfy upright seating position and don't care it won't do 70.

Do you think it would hit 70 if you put a 17 tooth countersprocket on it?

[oincman]

No. Already have one on mine. And even if it did, you wouldn't want to run it like that for long. Just not designed for it.

I can appreciate peoples need for speed, but this is a 200cc bike. Buy a used CBR400, slap some dual sport tires on it and you'll do 90+ all day long. Can't testify to longivity off road though.

:-)

[goJimH]

Hi everyone, just wanting to know how the X-Pect is treating everyone. I bought one last summer and never reg it due to covid. Put aprox 20 miles on it and put it away till this summer. I liked it but it makes a rattle I have not figured out yet. Now I would love to hear from those who have them and have put some miles on to see how the bikes are holding up. thanks

I have been very happy with my Lifan Xpect.

After reading the "Hawk 250 Resource and Information guide." of what should be done to a brand-new Hawk including tire issues, spoke issues etc.. plus the fact that we don't to mess with or worry about jets in carb, etc.. I appreciate the quality of the Lifan all the more.

My bike has been trouble free and reliable. I know some love to tinker and work on their bikes. I prefer not. Routine maintenance, oil changes are fine.

However - I did switch to a 17 tooth counter sprocket.

My favorite feature is the EFI! On first assembly after adding fuel - it fired right up the instant I pressed the starter button.

I am frankly surprised we don't see more Lifan X-Pect owners here. I know when I got mine - there were several others about the same time.

Best of Luck! Enjoy your Bike!

[China Rider 27]

That's because many of us are old greasy cracked busted knuckle mechanics don't know no better.

[goJimH]

Originally Posted by China Rider 27

That's because many of us are old greasy cracked busted knuckle mechanics don't know no better.

Laughing.... That is not my perspective at all. There was a time I would not have hesitated to tear into the engine or carb, etc.. I admire those willing to do so. Anymore - I prefer not to. I would rather keep my required minimum maintenance down.

In my humble opinion - I prefer EFI to a Carb hands down. Especially with alcohol laden fuels we have which tend to gum up and clog in the carb. EFI deals with it via a pressurized system.

Some are concerned with the reliability of it and they may have a point. However EFI is a relatively simple system in theory and most components are standardized. For example - and O2 sensor is and O2 Sensor. Given if they have the same thread and wiring - a O2 sensor for a Ford, Chevy, Mazda can be swapped and work fine. I imagine - if it would fit - would even work on my Lifan Xpect. So at risk or unique to my Lifan would be the fuel pump and control module.

To the best of my knowledge reading thru this forum - new Lifan's have had some minor issues like loose wires - or a rattle in the fuel tank but I have not seen any instance where the EFI system had issues.

Only time will tell.

[RedCrowRides]

The big difference is - to retune EFI you need a several hundred dollar flash module .
To retune a carb you need $10 worth of jets.


If the EFI goes out on the trail, the chances are 9 of 10
that you aint fixin it.
If a carb goes wonky on the trail , chances are good you can get it good enough to make it home. , assuming you have even basic toolkit tools.


That said i am a fan of EFI but if you want to understand why carbed Bikes are still popular, those are two good reasons . LiFan is definitely above average build quality in the realm of Chinese Bikes., so chances are good their system is reliable, but i in general would cast a wary eye on Chinese bargain basement budget Bikes that offer EFI as you are getting a system comprised entirely of the very cheapest components that they can lay their little rice eatin hands on.

[culcune]

Originally Posted by goJimH

To the best of my knowledge reading thru this forum - new Lifan's have had some minor issues like loose wires - or a rattle in the fuel tank but I have not seen any instance where the EFI system had issues.

Only time will tell.

The other EFI bike, the Hawk DLX has had reports here and there about its EFI, although I do not recall anyone reporting major issues with it. Personally, I would trust the X-Pect 200 over the Hawk DLX, but I wouldn't hesitate to buy a carbed Hawk. According to American Lifan, this year we are supposed to see a fuel-injected/liquid-cooled off-road-ish scooter, AND an X-Pect 250 with the rear disc brake and USD forks plus a "250" engine which I presume will also have fuel-injection. I do think they should have shoved the KP/KPR/KPM (the KPM is supposedly slightly different) 200 in an 'upscale' frame, although the "250" has more horsepower, apparently, according to Lifan's home Chinese site (20 hp if memory serves me). Maybe when they come out with the "250" they can shove the KP/KPR/KPM 200 into the current X-Pect?

[Megadan]

Carburetors have simplicity on their side. When setup properly they are reliable and easy to work with. The only catch to them is that you need to take certain precautions to keep them running well, such as draining the carb bowl when storing, or using at least some sort of fuel treatment if ethanol is involved to help prevent oxidation of the aluminum and brass parts. As long as the engine is kept up and running and not stored, and the right type of fuel line is used, you can run ethanol fuels in a carburetor with little issue. Even simply adding an ounce or two of MMO to the fuel is a good idea, Ethanol or not, as it helps lubricate the moving parts of the carburetor and coat the tank and other parts in a film of oil to prevent corrosion.

EFI is only "unreliable" in the sense that it has more parts in the system to make it function. Take any one of those parts out and the efficiency is lost as the ECU defaults to a safe mode and makes it run rich. The only exception are critical parts like the fuel pump and ECU itself, which if they go out the bike stops running.

You also lose the ability to run without a battery with an EFI bike as they run DC CDI ignitions to go along with their higher output stators. Just another small detail to keep in mind.

The big advantage of EFI over the carb is that self correcting nature. Less fuss and better fuel economy and power at all times.

As far as hitting 70... Meh. None of these CG powered bikes can really hit 70, and the 200cc CG engines are actually a little happier to rev than the 230cc engines. They can come close though.

[goJimH]

Originally Posted by Megadan

EFI is only "unreliable" in the sense that it has more parts in the system to make it function. Take any one of those parts out and the efficiency is lost as the ECU defaults to a safe mode and makes it run rich. The only exception are critical parts like the fuel pump and ECU itself, which if they go out the bike stops running.

You also lose the ability to run without a battery with an EFI bike as they run DC CDI ignitions to go along with their higher output stators. Just another small detail to keep in mind.

The big advantage of EFI over the carb is that self correcting nature. Less fuss and better fuel economy and power at all times.

Megadan -

I fully agree EFI has more parts and more points of failure. And the balance or harmony of all parts functioning properly is essential for proper operation. Also agree and appreciate the simplicity of a carb as used on these china bike. We are not talking about a 4 barrel Holley.

Any yet cars today vs pre-EFT are more reliable and relatively low-maintenance than ever before! Timing intervals have jumped from 12k miles to 50k or 100k. Belts lasting 100k miles or more. No need to manually adjust timing, dwell, etc.. With variable timing compression and efficiency is unthinkable vs expectations of the 1970's.

All this comes with yet more and more electronic components, sensors, etc..

That is not to say this reliability will immediately transfer to motorcycles - especially china bikes. Their certainly is a risk.


As for a dead battery - It did occur to me sometime back - that kick or push starting an EFI bike with a dead battery is highly unlikely if not impossible. In order for the it to start - the fuel pressure via the electric fuel pump needs to built up. Perhaps if one were on top of a long hill - push starting "might" be possible. One should plan / expect if battery is dead they either need a jump or plan on trailering the bike home.

Again - only time will tell. One could say that early adopters are on the "bleeding edge".

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by goJimH

Megadan -

I fully agree EFI has more parts and more points of failure. And the balance or harmony of all parts functioning properly is essential for proper operation. Also agree and appreciate the simplicity of a carb as used on these china bike. We are not talking about a 4 barrel Holley.

Any yet cars today vs pre-EFT are more reliable and relatively low-maintenance than ever before! Timing intervals have jumped from 12k miles to 50k or 100k. Belts lasting 100k miles or more. No need to manually adjust timing, dwell, etc.. With variable timing compression and efficiency is unthinkable vs expectations of the 1970's.

All this comes with yet more and more electronic components, sensors, etc..

That is not to say this reliability will immediately transfer to motorcycles - especially china bikes. Their certainly is a risk.


As for a dead battery - It did occur to me sometime back - that kick or push starting an EFI bike with a dead battery is highly unlikely if not impossible. In order for the it to start - the fuel pressure via the electric fuel pump needs to built up. Perhaps if one were on top of a long hill - push starting "might" be possible. One should plan / expect if battery is dead they either need a jump or plan on trailering the bike home.

Again - only time will tell. One could say that early adopters are on the "bleeding edge".

Oh, don't get me wrong, I am all for efi. I absolutely love my VFR because I don't have to mess with jetting, or fiddling with the choke until it warms up, etc. I love that my nearly 200hp 600lb motorcycle can also get 45mpg cruising along at 70mph. Contrast that to my 1000cc 80hp 600lb 1975 Goldwing that would get 35mpg, at best, doing the same thing, and in terms of carburetor technology, it was probably one of the better ones ever made in regards to functionality (maybe not simplicity lol).

My only real issue with the EFI on these bikes is that they are made using lowest bidder quality parts of questionable quality. Basically, like the rest of the bikes. The only difference is, the rest of the bike is all simple and cheap to upgrade or fix if necessary. I will at least give them the credit for using a reliable ECU, even if it is a tad outdated in terms of tech. That is one way they kept it affordable.

In my eyes, at least in regards to these bikes in particular, I would rather have the simple carbed engine for a trail machine, and the EFI would be acceptable for road duty. I could be wrong in my thinking, and I can admit that freely. There is just something to be said for barn door tech.

[tknj99]

When i was searching on which one to buy, it came down to either the Hawk DLX or the Brozz.. i liked and disliked the EFI for all of the reasons stated in this thread..
And on my last 3 street bikes having EFI was great, not having to worry about carb cleans/jetting/gumming etc.. and not to mention the carb'd bikes i had were a bitch to work on.. Honda Magna V4 where you have a bank of 4 carbs in sync, ugh
Whats nice about the CG 250 carb's models is that its a minute to pop off the carb and another minute or two to have it open and ready for a jetting change.
Way too easy to steer me away from it and no worries of fuel pump/ECU/electrical components going awry.. also, at the moment, i believe for those who want to wring out the most performance from these bikes, the carb is the way to go..

now if it were a more complex street bike, yes, give me EFI all day long

[Robertlamont80]

I ALWAYS run recreational fuel in all my small engines and lawn equipment. Makes avoiding ethanol issues much easier and stores longer since there is no alcohol based fuel attracting moisture such as ethanol. That reminds me, I better get my generators out tomorrow to make sure they are good to go if I need them. )

[grumpyunk]

For those with DC CDI systems, you may want to add a 9V battery with protective covers on the terminals to your onboard stash of emergency tools. The 9V can be used to power a CDI at least long enough to get the bike started, at which time, the stator/armature should produce juice to run the CDI. I do not know if it is possible to get the parts turning fast enough to generate power from 'scratch'. The new Honda offroad 125 cub can start without the battery, but I don't know what type of CDI it has.
tom