UM 200 Renegade

[Macrosfear]

I recently bought a 'new' 2006 United Motors 198cc cruiser style bike. According to the dealer, it was still in the crate. So I had to go back the next day to pick it up. They said that they test drove it; it had 0.2 miles on the odometer.

My inicial impression was 'this bike looks awesome'. The only annoying thing at first was the break-in period. Now I have 1,100 miles on it and it's had 2 oil changes. I've been able to get about 100mpg (US) riding at 35-45mph. And about 75-80mpg riding at 50-60mph. I am very satisfied with these numbers. I use it as my daily driver, about 60 miles per day. I live in Puerto Rico which is a tropical island w/high heat, high humidity, and lots of hills. So the engine is not goig to be used in optimal conditions, but we'll see how long it lasts. I am using Motul 4T 10/40 oil, and have adjusted the valve clearance (as per owner's manual specs). I hope to get at least 50,000 miles out of the engine (hopefully not too optimistic), with oil changes every 1,000-1,200 miles.

So far, it runs great. My only annoyance is with the barely adequate headlight. Also, the seat gets uncomfortable after about 15-20 miles, but I guess that's the same with most bike's stock seats. I'll keep you posted of any updates as I rack on the miles.

[FastDoc]

Thanks for the review.

Spud has well over 50,000 miles on his 200cc Chinabike, a Zongshen. This is not the same motor you have, and the Zong/Yamaha engines have become a local legend here, but I bet you'll get excellent service out of your bike.

Spud has performed two top end rebuilds, and is likely good for many tens of thousands of miles to go, God willing.

[TCCKSR]

you should be able to swap out that headlight for a HID LED one and you can get them on eBay for $50US all the time. As for the seat a nice lambs wool cover would be comfy and you are in Puerto Rico so you should be able to just pull over and shear a sheep almost anywhere to get that. LOL

[FastDoc]

That's funny!

[Weldangrind]

Welcome Macrosfear!

Is the engine a pushrod or OHC design? My guess is that a maintained pushrod motor (that is not routinely punished) will hit the 50000 mark. Got pics?

[Macrosfear]

Thanks for the positive response. I'm glad to hear about the ZongShen because my bike uses a ZS pushrod engine. The vin plate says built by Zongshen and imported by United Motors.

I'll check out that hid kit, thanks. And I'll look for a seatcover.

I currently don't have Internet service at home, I'm posting using my iPhone. So I'm not sure if I can post pics, but I'll see what I can do.

Now, would going a long stretch at 60mph be considered punishment on this engine?? Should I drive slower?

[Weldangrind]

That totally depends on gearing. If you find the gearing sweet spot that allows you to cruise at 60mph with a sane RPM (and not lugging the engine), I don't see a problem. With some experimentation, you can find a gear set that will not render first gear useless, and will not be too low or too high for the highway. On that note, I'd stay off of freeways with any 200cc bike, but they're fine for secondary roads.

[Macrosfear]

I now have 2248 mi on the odo, and have given it 3 oil changes (I'm using Motul 10w40). It took a bit longer to break-in than I'd like, but now I feel more power and warm-ups are smother (it rarely shuts off now). It is due for another valve adjustment (post break-in period maintenance) and one of my running lights has burned out, I'll get one this week.

About the lights, at around 2100 mi my lights began to fail, sometimes they would be on, sometimes very dim (almost off), they worked intermittently. Also, they seemed to work at just above idle (at ~2000rpm), but as I accelerated they flickered out. I checked the wiring, connections, battery and the fuse. All looked good (if you can call that cluster of wires in the headlight "good"), and so I dread-ingly check the price for a new generator ~$130+shipping. That price motivated me to go ahead and take off the side cover (not as hard as I thought it would be) and check the generator for any obvious problems (burnt wires, loose connections, etc.).

While inspecting the generator, the first thing I noticed was that it was submerged in oil and that it looked like that's how it is supposed to be. Then, I noticed a fine grey dust on the inner face of the magnet (for those who don't know, the generator is bolted to the side cover and the magnet is attached to the outside of what I think is the clutch; so the mag spins around the gen) so I cleaned this dust off of the mag and checked the gen for dust.
The top of each coil was covered with a thick film of this dust, I don't know if it was metal from the break-in period or clutch dust (I'm leaning more towards clutch dust). So I cleaned all of the dust off of the coils, re-assembled everything ((Pay attention to which bolt goes where, I thought they were the same, to then realize that some are longer than the others)) and the next time that I used the bike, the lights worked fine.

So I guess this is an engineering oversight, or a plan to trick people into buying new generators when they don't really need it. I'll continue to monitor this. Due to lack of $$, I haven't been able to upgrade the lights, gears or buy the seat cover (I might get it this month).

On a side note, I think I may need some new bearings. I don't know if its the front wheel or steering, but at low speeds the front feels off. It swerves a little to one side or the other, but once I get passed 30mph, its fine. It does rain A LOT here in PR, so I think the grease might have been washed out. Since I've had it, it has seen about 50 rainstorms, plus the roads here are not great, and I'm no lightweight (175 lbs./ 79.5 kg), so now I have to check it out. What scares me is that the technical diagrams show that it uses loose ball bearings in the steering column and not a bearing pack, so I hope to not lose any of them.

That's all for now, I'll update when I have more news. But all-in-all, I still really like my bike. Oh, I almost forgot, now that its out of its break-in I've been able to touch 70mph and cruise at 60mph. Cruising at 60mph, I'm getting about 60 mpg (~190mi per tank), my best has been 310mi per tank (~100 mpg) while cruising at 40-45mph and accelerating slowly from stoplights.

[SpudRider]

The stator is bathed in oil for many motorcycles, including my Zongshen 200GY-2. Sometimes dirt will find a way to enter the left crankcase cover. If so, the flywheel will get dirty. It's wise to clean the flywheel whenever you have the stator cover removed. You did a good job of troubleshooting the problem!

Spud

[culcune]

I just found this thread, and wanted to ask where in PR you are. My supervisor at work is from PR, and she goes there on vacation every year as she inherited her late father's home, and many of her relatives still live there.