Dong Fang DF250RTG

[grumpyunk]

KyzoSoupz ... are you in Canton? Someone had a DF on marketplace fromCanton(near me) that I made an offer on, but he sold it just before I messaged him. He had a crunched gas tank also and the bike was red. I sure likem. But. Instead of a DF I got a CSC sg250. It needed some crunched parts and to have the drain plug port re-threaded(insert worked). I'd still like to get a DF250RTG if one comes up at a good price and isn't more than a couple hundred miles away.
tom

[Joe Schutts]

Originally Posted by KyzoSoupz

Countershaft is 20mm.
Attachment 22381

Is that 20mm Counter Shaft on a Venom X22R or a Hawk 250 or what???

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Joe Schutts

Is that 20mm Counter Shaft on a Venom X22R or a Hawk 250 or what???

If you are looking for a front sprocket for your X22R 250 it will be a JTF259.xx

https://www.amazon.com/JT-Sprockets-...2PB5VZJ5ACBQM6

[Oldenslow]

Originally Posted by KyzoSoupz

Got 1200 miles on the bike now..... so far so good but one issue..... constant rear wheel alignment.... I think I'm going to change the washers on the back because they are no good. But should all be good afterwards.

Of course, it's been months and this problem is probably resolved by now. BUT -- a tip. Add a second nut to those chain adjusters. Once you adjust everything, tighten the second nut behind the first to act as a jam nut. They'll never vibrate loose again -- which is what's happening in this scenario. I wonder how much production money they saved by eliminating those two jam nuts?

[Johnnyshanks]

So I'm looking to upgrade the headlights and rear turn signals on my DF and have few questions.

What size are the headlight bulbs, and are there any LED Bulbs for the head light that are plug and play?

What size is the rear turn signal fitting? Could I use any universal fit signals?

I wasn't a huge fan of all the plastics and my rear signals finally cracked and broke off the mounts, but damn do I still love the bike.

[mzweig]

A friend of ours bought a new DF250RTG. Because I am an experienced motorcyclist and bike mechanic (I have owned 300+ bikes over the last 50 years and have restored many), she had it sent to our house for assembly. I wanted to share my experience thus far with it.

To start with, the place she ordered from (gokartsusa.com) made her pay with a wire transfer and then took forever to ship it—six weeks or more. Horrible communications too. When the bike finally arrived, it was assembled and on a falling-apart pallet held down with tiedowns. Because they weren’t hooked up properly, the left side cover was destroyed. Also the left rear turn signal was broken off. The handlebars (super cheap flat bars) were bent. The fuel tank has several small dents. The other side over was scratched as was the muffler. There was either a nameplate or reflector missing on the front of the bike.

There was only one bar-end mirror instead of four as shown. The front forks were loose in their triple trees. The front wheel was loose. The shifter was installed incorrectly—had to be removed and reinstalled about a half inch further onto the shaft. We are missing a bolt under the seat and a nut for the clutch lever. There is a clutch cut off plunger switch just dangling with nowhere to hook it up that I could find. The whole bike needed to be gone through. One problem I cannot fix is too much slack in the throttle cable and I have the adjusters all the way out but can’t correct it. We got no MSO and no manual with it.

Since then, I ordered new bars and turn signals for it on Amazon, glued the sidecover back together, and put decals over the dented tank areas. I have a set of bar end mirrors I will install when the new bars go on.

I fired the bike up after charging the battery and figuring out it had an almost unreachable choke lever and that the little gas in the tank wasn’t enough to get to the carb. As someone who owns a Janus Halcyon 250 (which also has a 229 cc Chinese engine) I was surprised how fast this little DF is (and it is very little!). Much faster than the Janus. Or I should say quicker. It’s geared lower than my Janus. It also has a Japanese carburetor on it which I was surprised to see. All I had to do was turn up the idle some. Sounds good. Very surprised how it runs.

The bike is very small. Feels like a Honda 90. Seat height is 28”. Weight is low. Small fuel tank. Tiny headlight, signals, fenders, seat, and taillight. Don’t understand why they would install a heel-and-toe shifter. No tach. Speedo and odometer are in kilometers. Overall quality is not impressive. Paint quality is pretty poor. Lighting is super cheap. Front forks are the cheapest spindly things I have ever seen! But overall what are you going to get for this kind of money? It cost a fourth of what my Janus did and when you see it or work on it you can see why. That said, it’s a bargain. I don’t think it is a bad first bike at all and will be perfect for our friend to learn on. Anyone with minor mechanical skills could probably keep it going.

I have to laugh a little at those who think you can’t ride a new bike like this over 30 for the first 500 miles. It’s a matter of revs and not running it at sustained high rpm or putting too much load on it to break it in. It is good for an engine like this to run it hard for a short bit when new. And some people change the oil three times in 500 miles! I will do this thing at 500 miles for the first time. These pushrod engines are bulletproof and they sell millions of them in third world countries. A new engine is $600 turn key. I would not be too worried about it. It will be fine. These engines are bulletproof!

[tony_cr]

Edit: A reply about gearing but I realized I misunderstood a previous reply.



Too bad, if these could cruise at 70mph with low rpm, that'd be better for gas mileage and longevity. That said, I'm really torn between this bike and the Ghost. The DF250 is so minimal which I love but almost too minimal. A trip odometer and even a gas gauge would be good as well as alloy wheels. Someone mentioned the spokes coming off or wheels not being true. I don't know how much of an issue it typically is with motorcycles but I think I'd trust the alloy rims of the Ghost more. I know, alloys defeat the cafe racer aesthetic but I like some modernism. I'm a few days away from pulling the trigger on either one. Maybe someone here can convince me of the DF250 because my bank account would appreciate it at $1k less.

[Jeshmont]

I know you asked for someone to convince you to buy the cheaper bike but I'm sorry as much as I dig a minimal bike I think these look like a toy compared to the Ghost I think the Ghost looks more refined and I don't know if anybody has a write up of info for the smaller bike so that may inhibit your modifications just another thought


Consider me very biased though cause I'm in love with my new Ghost LOL

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Jeshmont

I know you asked for someone to convince you to buy the cheaper bike but I'm sorry as much as I dig a minimal bike I think these look like a toy compared to the Ghost I think the Ghost looks more refined and I don't know if anybody has a write up of info for the smaller bike so that may inhibit your modifications just another thought


Consider me very biased though cause I'm in love with my new Ghost LOL

I have to agree with you. The DF250RTG is a nice looking bike and had looked at getting one myself until the Ghost came out. Even though they share the same engine, The Ghost is a much bigger bike. It also has more upgraded feature such as a digital Speedometer with Tach and USB port. Aluminum wheels with tubeless tires and i own one. But the DF250RTG is still a cool looking bike.

[Barnone]

I sold my DF250RTG last year and might buy another one as I miss it.
Do like the tubeless tires on the Ghost. My long gone DF250RTB had tubeless tires with spoke wheels.

[Barnone]

Originally Posted by mzweig

A friend of ours bought a new DF250RTG. Because I am an experienced motorcyclist and bike mechanic (I have owned 300+ bikes over the last 50 years and have restored many), she had it sent to our house for assembly. I wanted to share my experience thus far with it.

To start with, the place she ordered from (gokartsusa.com) made her pay with a wire transfer and then took forever to ship it—six weeks or more. Horrible communications too. When the bike finally arrived, it was assembled and on a falling-apart pallet held down with tiedowns. Because they weren’t hooked up properly, the left side cover was destroyed. Also the left rear turn signal was broken off. The handlebars (super cheap flat bars) were bent. The fuel tank has several small dents. The other side over was scratched as was the muffler. There was either a nameplate or reflector missing on the front of the bike.

There was only one bar-end mirror instead of four as shown. The front forks were loose in their triple trees. The front wheel was loose. The shifter was installed incorrectly—had to be removed and reinstalled about a half inch further onto the shaft. We are missing a bolt under the seat and a nut for the clutch lever. There is a clutch cut off plunger switch just dangling with nowhere to hook it up that I could find. The whole bike needed to be gone through. One problem I cannot fix is too much slack in the throttle cable and I have the adjusters all the way out but can’t correct it. We got no MSO and no manual with it.

Since then, I ordered new bars and turn signals for it on Amazon, glued the sidecover back together, and put decals over the dented tank areas. I have a set of bar end mirrors I will install when the new bars go on.

I fired the bike up after charging the battery and figuring out it had an almost unreachable choke lever and that the little gas in the tank wasn’t enough to get to the carb. As someone who owns a Janus Halcyon 250 (which also has a 229 cc Chinese engine) I was surprised how fast this little DF is (and it is very little!). Much faster than the Janus. Or I should say quicker. It’s geared lower than my Janus. It also has a Japanese carburetor on it which I was surprised to see. All I had to do was turn up the idle some. Sounds good. Very surprised how it runs.

The bike is very small. Feels like a Honda 90. Seat height is 28”. Weight is low. Small fuel tank. Tiny headlight, signals, fenders, seat, and taillight. Don’t understand why they would install a heel-and-toe shifter. No tach. Speedo and odometer are in kilometers. Overall quality is not impressive. Paint quality is pretty poor. Lighting is super cheap. Front forks are the cheapest spindly things I have ever seen! But overall what are you going to get for this kind of money? It cost a fourth of what my Janus did and when you see it or work on it you can see why. That said, it’s a bargain. I don’t think it is a bad first bike at all and will be perfect for our friend to learn on. Anyone with minor mechanical skills could probably keep it going.

I have to laugh a little at those who think you can’t ride a new bike like this over 30 for the first 500 miles. It’s a matter of revs and not running it at sustained high rpm or putting too much load on it to break it in. It is good for an engine like this to run it hard for a short bit when new. And some people change the oil three times in 500 miles! I will do this thing at 500 miles for the first time. These pushrod engines are bulletproof and they sell millions of them in third world countries. A new engine is $600 turn key. I would not be too worried about it. It will be fine. These engines are bulletproof!

Nice review of the DF250RTG. I had one for several years and the only serious problem where some broken spokes on the rear wheel. The spokes were not seated correctly and luckily I found some new spokes which I replaced and had the wheel trued.
BTW. The engine has a an overhead cam called a Camshaft Upward in the doc here.
http://www.df-motor.com/product_show.asp?id=750

I might buy another one to fool around with.

[JerryHawk250]

Well it looks like Venom will have the DF250RTG back in stock again. I always liked this bike. I bet it's been over a year that it's been out of stock. https://www.venommotorsportsusa.com/...legal-df250rtg

[Barnone]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

Well it looks like Venom will have the DF250RTG back in stock again. I always liked this bike. I bet it's been over a year that it's been out of stock. https://www.venommotorsportsusa.com/...legal-df250rtg

I am tempted to buy another one. Just bough another Ice Bear Vision 150 scooter so am up to four motos.

[snsouth]

Hey All! @Barnone, I’m the one who bought your RTG in NC. Fun bike and working out well in Asheville! I haven’t had to do much to it, just upgraded some lights, and messing with the carb so it will start without the choke. I'm new to the motorbike game, and I'm starting the search for a new front wheel & disc, as they have warped. I’m not having much luck with on eBay- there are a few used options for a CG125 wheel/disc from UK, but not in great shape. Just a front disc is $130 on eBay…so I feel like I’m going about this search wrong. Anyone have other leads on parts? Am I overcomplicating it by searching specifically a CG125 front wheel & disc, or is this a more common setup. Cheers!

[Falkon45]

Originally Posted by snsouth

Hey All! @Barnone, I’m the one who bought your RTG in NC. Fun bike and working out well in Asheville! I haven’t had to do much to it, just upgraded some lights, and messing with the carb so it will start without the choke. I'm new to the motorbike game, and I'm starting the search for a new front wheel & disc, as they have warped. I’m not having much luck with on eBay- there are a few used options for a CG125 wheel/disc from UK, but not in great shape. Just a front disc is $130 on eBay…so I feel like I’m going about this search wrong. Anyone have other leads on parts? Am I overcomplicating it by searching specifically a CG125 front wheel & disc, or is this a more common setup. Cheers!

If the wheel is warped, see if you can true the wheel first, as long as the rim is not bent. For the rotor, it looks like a dirt bike rotor, but I could be wrong. Check the diameter and the offset of the rotor. And bolt holes and bolt hole spacing