Templar X 250

[Texas Pete]

Well I had pre-inspection OCD. The guy on the phone at the inspection company let me know they must see the plate on the bike. That is jammed behind the headlight assembly and on my bike the wiring bag is smashed up against it blocking the plate. I had nightmare of some kid trying to move my wiring to see the plate and breaking the wires or other skullduggery.


Plus I wasn't happy with the factory routing of the cabling, I still didn't have 100% clear view at all times during riding of the digital dash. And reading posts of people having to get whole headlight assemblies to replace the headlight didn't sound right so for the third and finally, hopefully, final time I took off the headlight assembly and went to town.





Focusing on the headlight bulb assembly the rear rubber did come off and is as suspected a waterproof boot.





Behind the boot is a connector, that means a bulb that is replaceable to my mind.





And low out comes a H4 9003 LED bulb! Absolutely no markings, no data, probably the cheapest H4 9003 LED that could be bought in bulk for OEM use. Likely not the full wattage limits for H4 9003 allowed on the roads here.





Lots of passive aluminum heat sink material. I note that some of these higher wattage replacement bulbs have active fan cooling, but the space behind the headlight assembly is tight with all the wires smooshed up against the back of the headlight bulb.





Yep. Looks like a standard connector and it has alignment tabs. Why would that be... (to be continued)

[Texas Pete]

Looking at the light in operation.


First the low beams. Oddly enough this headlight assembly includes a European Parking light in the headlight. And when you turn on the low beams for some reason it turns on the European Parking light as well. I can find no separate parking switch so far on the bike that would activate the parking light for an actual parking scenario.


The top of the H4 9003 bulb activates when the low beam is turned on. This hits the top reflector in the bulb which seems to be angling the light down to the road.






Switching to high beam this bulb keeps the low beam turned on, and keeps the European Parking light turned on, but this time it adds the LEDs from the bottom of the H4 9003 bulb.


These LEDs hit the lower reflector which is angled upwards shining the extra light above the ground splash of low beam light and further down the road.






EDIT: So the alignment tabs just keep numpties from putting the bulb in upside down and have the low beams turn on and hit the lower reflector and shining far down the road.

[Texas Pete]

Now to the wiring bag that is jammed, smashed? stuck? against the plate. Here again its very tight behind the headlight assembly.






Finally I freed the bag, it was not stuck but jammed into the holder for the cables that run back to the engine (clutch and choke).


Now that it is free I can finally move the wiring bag all the way forward toward the headlight assembly which I have now done.





Now to reroute all the cables from the factory state they were in. This is the best configuration I came up with. I have fully freed up all visibility to the digital dash display.





And the view from the riding position.





Now hopefully I can go jump into bed and not have bad dreams about young kids working for shops doing state inspections snapping all my wiring as they try to get to their vehicle plate part of the inspection.

[Texas Pete]

I decided to check the suspension on the bike and dial in defaults if it was not already done at the factory.


Turns out, it was not already done at the factory


I decided to read the click positions on the valve adjustments. Starting on the top of the forks, rebound.


Left fork turned in. 18 clicks.
Right fork turned in. 17 clicks. wait what?


try right again, back out, 17 clicks huh. Turn in, 17 clicks. I have different number of adjustment clicks on my forks for the rebound valves...


I dial them both 9 clicks out of in.....


Laying on the floor fork compression valves checked. Again all the way out on both. 12 click positions on both. I set them both 6 clicks out of in...


Rear shock, 12 clicks, again set 6 out of in...




A good starting position.




Now for sag, erm. I have no idea how I'd get a shock wrench in there let alone have room to swing it. Looks like I will have to resort to screwdriver and rubber mallet. How cave man... on second though I'll leave it alone for now and adjust later in case I come up with any better ideas.




Back to front forks, rake angle. Reduced it by three bars from my original default setting of full on chopper style all the way to the top. I've riding the bike today and have a feel for how it handles with the longer wheelbase/rake. I'll test ride it tommorrow to get a feel for how this works on the street when normally it is adjusted for race track conditions on the dirt on a given day.

EDIT: Adjusting this will also affect the sag setting for those that want to dial that in perhaps do that after any changes here.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Back to front forks, rake angle. Reduced it by three bars from my original default setting of full on chopper style all the way to the top. I've riding the bike today and have a feel for how it handles with the longer wheelbase/rake. I'll test ride it tommorrow to get a feel for how this works on the street when normally it is adjusted for race track conditions on the dirt on a given day.

EDIT: Adjusting this will also affect the sag setting for those that want to dial that in perhaps do that after any changes here.
Attachment 27980

EDIT: This is all testing on street.


What a difference the rake angle made.


At the top of the forks with no bars showing my personal bike rides more like a chopper. It is more squirrely and more wanting to turn, a bit too twitchy for my liking.


Three bars down the bike is extremely planted feeling. Harder to turn. A bit too much for me.


So my journey continues towards somewhere inbetween the two settings to dial in my own personal preference.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Left fork turned in. 18 clicks.
Right fork turned in. 17 clicks. wait what?
.
.
.

Laying on the floor fork compression valves checked. Again all the way out on both. 12 click positions on both. I set them both 6 clicks out of in...
.
.
.
Rear shock, 12 clicks, again set 6 out of in...
Attachment 27980

EDIT: All testing done on street.


A much harder feeling suspension and harder ride. A bit too much for my personal preference but now I know where to start dialing in the clicks for me.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Now to reroute all the cables from the factory state they were in. This is the best configuration I came up with. I have fully freed up all visibility to the digital dash display.
.
.
.

And the view from the riding position.


Attachment 27979

Ok, this caused a throttle cable issue. I move the wiring bag forward after freeing it up so now the space immediately behind the headlight assembly is full of wiring bag now. The throttle cable was laying over top and now when turning the handlebars right, binding and racing throttle. Not good.


It took me 3 different attempts at re-routing the cables to get the throttle cable free from any binding on full handlebar turns left and full handlebar turns right. That throttle cable is extremely short on my bike, only a hair of some free play in it, so on my bike getting the throttle cable routing set up is critical to have safe turning of handlebars while riding.


It doesn't look as pretty as in the final cleanup photo, but now its safe to ride without fear of unintended throttle up on turning.

[Hap]

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Looking at the light in operation.


First the low beams. Oddly enough this headlight assembly includes a European Parking light in the headlight. And when you turn on the low beams for some reason it turns on the European Parking light as well. I can find no separate parking switch so far on the bike that would activate the parking light for an actual parking scenario.


The top of the H4 9003 bulb activates when the low beam is turned on. This hits the top reflector in the bulb which seems to be angling the light down to the road.



Attachment 27974


Switching to high beam this bulb keeps the low beam turned on, and keeps the European Parking light turned on, but this time it adds the LEDs from the bottom of the H4 9003 bulb.


These LEDs hit the lower reflector which is angled upwards shining the extra light above the ground splash of low beam light and further down the road.

Attachment 27975




EDIT: So the alignment tabs just keep numpties from putting the bulb in upside down and have the low beams turn on and hit the lower reflector and shining far down the road.

The low beam on my bike shines about right. But when I put it on high it shines up in the trees. About 11 o’clock. Do you think I should flip the bulb over? Is that possible?

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by Hap

The low beam on my bike shines about right. But when I put it on high it shines up in the trees. About 11 o’clock. Do you think I should flip the bulb over? Is that possible?

It is not possible. The bulb has the three prongs as a key to prevent the bulb being installed upside down.


There is a small springed and long brass adjustment bolt and nut that should let you dial in the overal vertical aim of the headlight.

[Thumper]

Thanks for the lighting analysis.

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Well I had pre-inspection OCD. The guy on the phone at the inspection company let me know they must see the plate on the bike. That is jammed behind the headlight assembly and on my bike the wiring bag is smashed up against it blocking the plate. I had nightmare of some kid trying to move my wiring to see the plate and breaking the wires or other skullduggery.

...
...
...
...


Yep. Looks like a standard connector and it has alignment tabs. Why would that be... (to be continued)

[tknj99]

With regard to the X suspension settings I believe its similar to my former RX4.. with that bike Joey at CSC told me that the first several clicks to at least half-way do very little and then it starts taking effect towards the end of the positive turns. Mine are all tuned closer to the max settings end of the spectrum

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by tknj99

With regard to the X suspension settings I believe its similar to my former RX4.. with that bike Joey at CSC told me that the first several clicks to at least half-way do very little and then it starts taking effect towards the end of the positive turns. Mine are all tuned closer to the max settings end of the spectrum

This was my experience. The beginning of the adjustment on dampening appears to be near the end of adjustment clicks. Yes they are adjustable, but it seems limited to the last 25% 0f adjustment range. That is for both dampening and rebound on the rear shock. You can test it by jumping on it at a stand still.

[Texas Pete]

COLD WEATHER STARTING ON NEW CARBURETOR JETS

EDIT: Fuel is fresh 10% corn glue as dictated by the angry politicians. It is also treated with Sta-bil at the instructed amount on the label.


EDIT2: I realized I also heated the petcock with the hair dryer. Next time I encounter this issue I will only heat the petcock and leave the carburetor cold and see if that resolves it.


Yesterday was unusually warm. 76F.


Overnight was 32


This morning was also 32. So I got the chance to test out the carburetor and cold start when its freezing by dry outside.


And...... the bike didn't want to start


EDIT: Breaks taken in-between starts to allow the electric starter motor a chance to cool down and not overheat.


EDIT2: Before you reply, issue was subsequently tested and resolved in Post #872 in this thread:
https://chinariders.net/showpost.php...&postcount=872

• Full choke, nothing
• Full choke, 1/8 throttle, nothing
• Full choke, full throttle, nothing
• Full choke, pump full throttle 10 times, try start button, nothing

Now I'm wodering if in all my wiring cleanup and cable cleanup did I not fully seat the brake switch. Brake lights work when front lever pulled, hold in the front brake, try again, nothing


Hmmm...


On a hunch I go grab my wifes hair dryer, I turned it on and made it nice and warm inside the carburetor space inside the frame.


Full choke, 1/8 throttle, starts! then sputters and quits


Oh my, temperature related starting issues... I wonder if I need to be like Thumper and move that pilot jet up to the #45 from my increase I already did to #42. @Thumper: Did you try starting at 32F temperatures yet with your jetting?


I have 3 theories that need testing. Unfortunately tomorrow is 34F and not 32F so I won't have perfect conditions but close.

1. The fuel restriction in the petcock due to cold mean very slow flow rate in general.
2. The petcock itself could be machined sloppily and restricted.
3. The carburetor, heating it should not really have had impacted anything but it started immediately after heating that whole frame area up with the hair dryer, unfortunately I hit it from both sides so on the petcock side that meant I was heating the petcock at the same time and co-mingled it into the experiment.

Tomorrow's plan is a long test due to the three combined possiblities:

• Open petcock, perform rest of FINE-C. Try to start.
• If not, leave petcock open, come back 30 minutes later. Try to start.
• If not, heat petcock, try to start.
• If not, heat carburetor, try to start.

Anyway back to the bike this morning, a bit more hair dryer warming of the carburetor section inside the frame after the start and sputter and I tried again and the engine fired up right away, but throttle was high, some smokiness in the exhaust that quickly cleared, checked digital dash and it indicated throttle above and then settling in the 2500 RPM range even after I immediately released the choke lever, enter the new post-cable and post-wiring cleanup job!

If everything tomorrow with the cold start works fine then also I will consider the throttle cable being pulled interfering with a normal start procedure.

[Texas Pete]

Got up early this morning and was blessed with the temperatures dropping all the way down to 32 F again overnight.


I went to start the bike again to see if I encountered the starting issues I had yesterday in this post:
https://chinariders.net/showpost.php...&postcount=870


And the bike instantly started right away so excellent news! All is good again in the Templar universe

I will continue to monitor it over the year but I can now reasonably deduce that the hard start during that cold morning issue was caused by the throttle cable problem from the headlight assembly rewiring that was subsequently resolved above in post #871:
https://chinariders.net/showpost.php...&postcount=871

[Thumper]

Throttle cable binding. Hmmm.

I had reworked the wiring and cable routing on the 6 speed and it seemed OK. Late season, I did begin to get a wandering idle. It had elevated idle when I dropped the throttle (like at a stop sign or when pulling into the driveway.

But it also has a tendancy to stall as if the idle mixture is leaning out (I think that would also explain the wandering idle, wouldn't it??

When it is running, the bike is great above idle and throughout the rpm range offroad and on the street.

I don't have time for it these days though. To do list is growing with kids in school and Holidays, not to mention household stuff.

I will mention one thing here though:
I had to drain the fuel tank on both Templars many times to lift off the tank and get into the frame and engine area. Each time, I pulled the fuel supply line at the carburetor inlet and drained it into a gas tank. Each time, the fuel flowed fast and free. It definitely came out way faster than needed to keep the float bowl filled, so ... I don't thing there is any issue at the petcock. And fuel doesn't stop flowing when it gets cold like oil does.

I was thinking there could an intake spigot leak. Maybe up against the engine it isn't totally sealed. Or maybe the float valve is dirty.