V2 head on Lifan 150cc

[Psomniferum]

For a while I was having doubts about my choice of rebuilding the X22, I've shelled out more for parts than a new 1x would have set me back. But, as the parts are coming in, I'm noticing such a difference in quality that I'm wanting to switch even more! I'm having to order Honda pieces when I can't find the Chinese replacement and would've had no idea how generic the parts on my bike were otherwise.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by franque

Here's some other options:

https://asvinventions.com/f2-series-...ever-bdf205-k/
https://asvinventions.com/f4-series-...-lever-bdf405/

Not cheap, but amazing quality, and they're guaranteed for 2 and 4 years respectively.

Too rich for me, given the only real benefit is adjustability. I'll just go with standard levers at this time. Thanks again for the link.

[Weldangrind]

Originally Posted by Psomniferum

You wrote that drums use cables. Does this mean there is no hydro-assist? They are mechanical?

Correct. No hydraulic fluid is used; they are fully mechanical. To this day, bikes like the Yamaha TW200 come with a rear drum brake from the factory and it is more than adequate for the task. I have a cool dual leading shoe drum brake I intend to use on a scrambler project and it'll stop the bike just fine. If I were to road race the bike, I'd think differently.

[Psomniferum]

Thank you wag. I have learned much from you on here. franque also! Total noob here when it comes to bikes and I really appreciate all of your advice!

[Psomniferum]

I'm 99% sure this is the neutral-safety-switch. From the looks of that little tab, you push it THROUGH, not pull it.

[Psomniferum]

I would like to remove the handlebars from the forks to respray them. Do I just remove the cap from the forks and slide the handle up and off? That was my 1st plan-of-attack. But I don't want to create a big mess. I purchased a new light-switch box and new silver/black grips to replace the cheesy green ones.

[Psomniferum]

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The Good; franque pointed me down the right track, I'm VERY close to adapting the 250 linkage to my bike!

The Bad; the shifter-mount did NOT fit my bike. I had to adapt the shift-lever to my mount using a 14mm shoulder bolt. The shoulder is slightly larger than the threaded area.. The shoulder fits the mount while the threaded area fits the shifter itself. The shifter hole being slightly smaller (13mm?) Otherwise I would have had to drill the shifter out or sleeve the mount.

The Ugly; this shifter is OBVIOUSLY a cheap replacement and NOT the original Honda-unit. I complained to the seller, but don't want to hassle with a return. Now that I know the shifter will fit, I'm ordering a genuine Honda replacement. I'm getting hooked on these decent parts, lol!

[Psomniferum]

PS- the threaded rod itself, being 6-1/2", appears to be 2-1/2" short. I'll head over to the bike shop to see if I can get a longer rod. Also, the knuckle that attaches to the output shaft on the engine doesn't clear the engine case. Looks like I'll have to shave some of the crown for clearance. Hopefully I have enough meat left on the knuckle. The 125cc has a hump for the starter, the 150cc is a kickstart. The knuckle clears on the 150. Since the 125 and 150 share external dimensions, I'm leaving the 125 in to mock everything up and make sure it all fits.

[Psomniferum]

Right now I'm debating, do I - a) put the 150 in stock, get it running THEN adapt the head? Or b) adapt the head to the 150, get it running, THEN install it in the bike?

[franque]

Originally Posted by Psomniferum

Is this why you keep drums on your bike? Do you expose your bike to mud and water? Or is it for appearance purposes? I REALLY love the look of the new BoomCat 125cc and am planning on purchasing one. Is there a reason NOT to switch to disk, then eventually abs (after I get more comfortable wrenching on a bike)?
PS- You wrote that drums use cables. Does this mean there is no hydro-assist? They are mechanical?

Drums are usually on bikes because the bike is an older design. It's not really a question of 'keeping' drums, it's usually more that there isn't a cheap/easy means for changing to discs.

Drums aren't really because they perform better in the wet/mud, I believe the opposite is true unless you have a bunch of holes in the drum for the water to leak out. They were used because it was what people knew, and they were/are cheap.

Swapping to a disc rear brake won't get you a whole lot, as front brakes are much more effective due to weight transfer, and unless there's a pre-existing model running a disc with the same swingarm (if not, you'll either need to engineer a new bracket, or put a different swingarm on it), plus mounts on the frame for a hydraulic cylinder, swapping to a disc would be a huge exercise in unnecessary fabrication. If you can already fabricate stuff, then go for it!

As for abs, real abs (and not the stupid stuff the Chinese sell as abs, which is a limiting valve for hydraulic pressure), you'd basically need an engineering degree to get the system properly calibrated, but before that you'd need an open, adaptable abs system, which as far as I know doesn't exist on the market, and after that, you get to enjoy plumbing all of the different hydraulic lines you need to add for it to work.

If you want abs, get a bike with it installed, but if you can learn to a bike without it, abs is a nice crutch if you really need it, but not necessary.

Also, motorcycles don't have assisted brakes, even if hydraulic. Discs are pretty much always hydraulic on motorcycles (I can think of one exception, and one semi-exception), while drums are always mechanical, I know someone who converted theirs to hydraulic, it's possible but almost always pointless.

[franque]

Originally Posted by Psomniferum

I'm 99% sure this is the neutral-safety-switch. From the looks of that little tab, you push it THROUGH, not pull it.

That is the clutch safety switch, not neutral.

I would like to remove the handlebars from the forks to respray them. Do I just remove the cap from the forks and slide the handle up and off?

No. You need to loosen the top and bottom triple trees on both forks, or remove the wheel, and just remove one fork at a time (if you're only doing one side). When you put them back together, I would torque the top triple tree bolts to 16 ft-lbs (if you don't have a torque wrench, buy one, this is important stuff), and the bottom triple tree bolts to 20 ft-lbs.

My advice would be to leave this alone, unless you have an experienced buddy who can help you with everything? I'd just tape it off real well, and repaint in situ, or just sand the paint off. You can really mess up your handling/suspension performance if you don't get everything back the way it is supposed to be.

The Bad; the shifter-mount did NOT fit my bike. I had to adapt the shift-lever to my mount using a 14mm shoulder bolt. The shoulder is slightly larger than the threaded area.. The shoulder fits the mount while the threaded area fits the shifter itself. The shifter hole being slightly smaller (13mm?) Otherwise I would have had to drill the shifter out or sleeve the mount.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say there, are you saying outer diameter of the bolt (like the size of wrench that you're using)? Please explain this better before you do something irreversible. That isn't generally a critical measurement, but it is possible that they have different thread diameters/pitches, which is critical.

I would try bolting everything up before you try changing linkage rods. I was suggesting buying the shift linkage so that you could have all of the fittings, and repair your old linkage, as I think that would be a better use of your time. Now might be a good time to invest in a tap and die set, also, if any of the threads get buggered up.

I'd put the 150 in first and ride it around, even if it is still ugly, so that you have motivation to go to the next step. Also, if you don't have a torque wrench, I wouldn't even think about swapping the head.

[Psomniferum]

Thank you very much for such detailed information! I was aware bikes did not have power-assist, I was NOT aware they still used mechanical brakes. I've been wrenching on cars my whole life, so I do have SOME mechanical knowledge, these bikes are just very foreign to me. I'm speaking of the drive size when I mention bolt-diameter. You are correct in that I was switching from describing the size of the shaft to the size of the drive used to turn the bolt. Thank you for warning me about the forks. I will follow your advice and just do the best repaint job with them in place. The brake-lines, calipers, levers, cables were all over-sprayed and look terrible. I'm fully confident I could remove the brakes, clean up the calipers and master cylinders, etc. Then I was planning on using braided lines from the cbr250. Until I find out what my bike is compatible with, I'm stuck reusing the stock brake units. I was able to attach the shifter to my original mount without having to machine anything but the bolt. I turned the shaft of a 14mm-drive bolt under by about 1mm on my boss' lathe and everything fits now. Except for the rod that goes from the shifter to the knuckle and the knuckle itself. The rod that came with the unit was 6-1/2" long and I'm still about 2-1/2" short. I was going to get a longer rod. Then see if I can find a more slender knuckle that fits over the shaft that comes out of the engine. There is a hump on my engine for the starter gear. The knuckle I'm using is from the cbr250 set up. If I can't find a skinnier one, I'm going to try to machine this knuckle down. They're $6/ea. on EBay. If I screw this one up, I bought 2x extra just in case. Once I put the 150cc in, it doesn't have the starter hump, so I won't need to worry about the knuckle.

[Psomniferum]

I have a garage full of tools. I'm not a bad mechanic, just don't know shit when it comes to bikes! This is my mom's 1991 Loyale Wagon that I'm putting that 2002 JDM Legacy GT turbo engine into. If you ever want to know anything about boxer engines, hit me up! Porsche, VW, Subaru are my specialty. When I 1st ordered the bike from Venom, I bought all the hot-rod parts they offered for MY BIKE on their site. Turns out all the parts were for Honda Grom and most didn't fit. At 1st I bought a Grom manual, thinking my engine was close enough. It wasn't. Then I bought a LIFAN shop manual. Set me back like $80! But it's for the UPRIGHT Lifans, NOT the horizontals. Finally, I found a manual for "Pit Bikes" this will be my 3rd attempt at a manual just so I have all the stupid specs I need! THAT'S why I'm tempted to throw the 150 in for now, slap in the Mikuni and exhaust, and call it a day til I get a proper manual!

[Psomniferum]

The thief used a combination of coat-hanger wire and JB-Weld to connect the shift-lever to the knuckle using this square rod. There is absolutely NOTHING of the original linkage left. I practically destroyed the stock knuckle on the output shaft from removing the rod welded and wired to it. I wish I would have taken pix, but I didn't know I was going to start a thread about this.
PS- CORRECTION - the diameter of the shaft for the spindle was 14mm and machined down to apx. 13 mm. NOT the size of the socket that drives it. I believe the head is 17mm. I machined part of it down, the part that goes past the shifter mount into the actual shift-lever. The inside-diameter of the shift- mount is 14mm. The inside of the shift-lever is 13mm. I did a quick spray with matte-black frame spray. Nothing winderful, but LIGHT YEARS ahead of where it was before!

[franque]

Ok, good! I hope I didn't come across as condescending, I just know that for a lot of people getting a Chinese bike for their first bike (but even most people getting their first bike), there is usually next to no mechanical aptitude, and I said all that I did just to keep things on the safe side. Feel free to post more questions, I'm happy to help with what I can. I would think that a CBR250R manual should be close enough for most chassis stuff, and you might be able to get away with using a CT90 manual for the engine stuff. Many things you know from cars will cross over, but I would get my hands on a Honda common service manual for general info specific to motorcycles.