Zongshen Sierra 200/Chinabike Front Brake Caliper Inspection

[SpudRider]

The Zongshen Sierra 200 uses the same front brake caliper as the Hyosung GF125 motorcycle. I believe that several other Chinabikes might also use this same front brake caliper. Searching the internet I discovered the Hyosung GF125 Service Manual.

http://www.chinariders.net/transfer/...NUAL-GF125.pdf

Complete instructions for inspecting, maintaining and repairing the front brake caliper follow page 6-22 of this service manual. Inspecting the front brake caliper on my Sierra 200, I discovered several things. First, I will relate the good news.

My brake caliper uses Vesrah SD-312 brake pads. After 8,500 miles the semi-metallic pads on my motorcycle showed very little wear (less than 0.5 mm). These brake pads grip very well, and they have not damaged my brake rotor. This front brake caliper is very robust; it is also simple to inspect and maintain.

Now, I must relate the bad news. Unlike the Vesrah pads, my OEM pads do not have a wear groove that indicates when the pads need to be replaced. Therefore, I needed to remove the pads from the caliper to determine how much they had worn. Removing the brake caliper from the front fork of my motorcycle was very troublesome. The original bolts holding the caliper in place were very small, and they employed a 5.0 mm Allen head. I found it impossible to loosen the bolts, even with an impact driver. To successfully remove the bolts I needed to drive the heads counterclockwise with a hammer and chisel.



Since the bolt heads were so small, I needed to hammer away quite a bit before I could get a good purchase on them with my Vise-Grips. Even then, I needed to use a lot of effort as I slowly loosened the bolts in the confined space between the fork and the brake caliper. Upon removal I discovered that the bolts were not stripped, and they did not show any signs of rust.

After I finally got the caliper removed, the rest of the inspection was very easy. I loosened the bolt and removed the Brake Pad Housing Cover, located at the right side of the brake caliper in the photograph below. After the Housing Cover is off, the brake pads easily come right out.



The disassembled brake pads, housing cover, original bolt and replacement bolt are shown below.



The rotor sides of the brake pads, displaying little wear, are shown below.



After reassembling the brake caliper, I remounted the unit using hardened, hex head bolts to replace the originals. The new bolts went in smoothly; the caliper is now firmly reattached.



Since my brake pads have worn so little, I expect that most Sierra 200 owners can ride many miles before they need to remove the front brake caliper. However, be forewarned before you decide to tackle this project.

Perhaps the original bolts bent a little under the force of braking. If they can easily remove the original bolts, owners of new Sierra 200 motorcycles might want to replace the stock bolts with hardened, hex head bolts before the original bolts bend.

I intend to check my new bolts on a regular basis, and replace them if they begin to get too tight.

Spud

[knothead]

Your bike has the same caliper and pads as my GY-5. Soon they will start squealing, but you can fix that by trimming down the pads where they overhang the rotor. Take a SHARP hacksaw blade and cut away the extra material. Plus, if you don't trim them down the pads will eventually touch and you'll loose front brakes.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by knothead

Your bike has the same caliper and pads as my GY-5. Soon they will start squealing, but you can fix that by trimming down the pads where they overhang the rotor. Take a SHARP hacksaw blade and cut away the extra material. Plus, if you don't trim them down the pads will eventually touch and you'll loose front brakes.

Knothead,

Thank you for the important safety tip. Also, thank you for letting me know that the GY-5 shares the same front brake caliper. From the photographs I saw in a recent post, it looks like the HSUN GY200 also employs the same caliper.

Spud

[madbare]

Spud,

Good stuff. Glad to see some good info on the Sierra. I can't wait to get mine. It should be here in CO on Monday.

Steve

[chriseck]

My 2005 Roketa RSM-200 enduro also has the exact sams brake setup.

[SpudRider]

I found two sources in the United States for the brake pads fitting this brake caliper.

Zongshen America sells these brake pads, part #53013-L266, for $12.00, plus shipping. You will find contact information for Zongshen America at the following web address:

http://www.zongshenamerica.com/

A vendor on eBay also sells these brake pads for $9.99, plus $7.00 shipping for the first set of pads. Each additional pair of brake pads will ship for an extra $1.50.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Moto...4506.m20.l1116

From the illustration on their website, it also appears that Hooper Imports sells the front brake pads. You might want to call them to verify these pads are the correct size.

http://www.hooperimports.com/product...F200FrntBrkPds

If anyone knows of other good sources in the United States for these brake pads, please post the information.

Spud

[Bloosh]

I just went to swap the allen heads on my new Sierra and found that they are stuck already :x . I'm in the process of hammering away, just wanted to warn everybody!

[madbare]

well, mine new out of the crate were seized up. It is because they put loctite red on them and they would not budge. I destroyed them getting them out. I put blue loctite on the new bolts.

[Cal25]

Red loctite will release if you put some heat on it. I use a propane torch.

[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by madbare

well, mine new out of the crate were seized up. It is because they put loctite red on them and they would not budge. I destroyed them getting them out. I put blue loctite on the new bolts.

I recently reinspected my front brake caliper and brake pads; all was well. Indeed, even after riding over 19,000 miles on this motorcycle, my front brake pads have worn very little!

I did not use loctite when I substituted the hardened, hex head bolts on the front brake caliper. Even without loctite, the hex head bolts have remained solidly attached to the front forks. Also, the hex head bolts are very easy to remove when inspecting, or servicing the front brake caliper. I continue to be very happy with the results I obtained by switching the bolts on my front brake caliper.

Spud

[SamM]

My caliper bolts were seized from day one. Haven't had the time to grind the bolts off yet. I've basically given the QLink X-Ranger (same as the Zongshen) to my daughter. She has outgrown her Yamaha TT-R125LE. This Winter, I hope to go over the X-Ranger and get it ready for her to ride next year. Too many projects. I really want to do the 21/18" wheel conversions and try to add a rear disc brake to the bike. Straighten the bent frame would also be nice. :roll: I think I'll cut the frame, bent it back into place and then reweld it.

For all of it's faults, all I can say is the thing starts every time I try it. The engine seems to be a great little runner. The bike sat in my building for almost 2 years untouched. This Spring, I kicked it over on around the third kick. Couldn't believe it started. I do remember adding some Sta-Bil to the fuel tank years ago. The dealership somehow ruined the electric starting system. I need to sort that too.

Overall, it's a good bike. Especially, since it was free! Too slow for highway use though!

SamM

[Dahamaster]

I've also discovered that removing the brake caliper bolts was an impossible task. (ridiculous) My dad and I ground off the heads and replaced the bolts with hardened steel hex headed bolts. (same as Spud did)

However, since replacing the pads--which did not show much wear at all after 13.5K miles (only issue w/the original pads was very loud "squeaking" when applying the brake), I soon discovered a new problem. The new pads ride against to rotor and eventually seize the wheel. After bleeding the brakes, the lever feels a little mushy, but good. However, after about 3 days of riding, the lever stiffens up greatly. REALLY stiffens up...the lever hardly budges at all it's so stiff. Plus, the rotor seizes...the wheel doesn't turn freely. Obviously, that's a major issue.

After connecting a bleeder tube to the caliper's nipple, I relieved some of the pressure and it frees up the wheel to where I can ride it. But, it's not a fix. The pads rub horribly on the rotor (quite loudly) and I can't figure out what's going on with the brake? It feels like the brake is constantly engaging. The pads are basically riding against the rotor at all times. (the new pads I installed are the Suzuki GP125's-which are the same I believe as the Zong's)

Anybody have a similar situation when replacing the pads? The option I'm considering now is just to replace the caliper.


Thanks...happy riding.

<!--2006 Sierra 200 GY-2 owner>

[Weldangrind]

It sounds like there is still air in there. Did you try a vacuum pump bleeder? Maybe that would help; they're cheap at HF.

[Dahamaster]

Yeah, that's what I used. But the brake lever has had that "tight" feel since day one out of the crate. However, it didn't have any problems before I swapped out the pads--with the wheel seizing up or having the pads rubbing the rotor. I don't know?

I did replace the master cylinder a couple weeks ago (because the glass window had somehow popped out some time ago--didn't know it until I tried to clean the dirt off the "window" after bleeding the brake, and scratched a leak...nothing but a thin rubber membrane holding in the fluid) But it has been rubbing since I replaced the pads.

[SpudRider]

I have almost 40,000 miles on my original brake pads, and they are still in good shape. If the brake pads squeal, you need to trim back the high surface with a hacksaw, or a Dremel tool.

It sounds as if you might have too much brake fluid in your master cylinder. You should only see the brake fluid half way up the sight glass. If you overfill the master cylinder, the brakes will lock up. Also, you might have air in the brake lines.

I replaced my brake fluid last year, and my front brake works fine. Since your brakes were working well until you changed the brake fluid, it seems likely you made an error. I encourage you to read my brake fluid replacement thread, and repeat the job.

Also, I suggest you read the Hyosung Service Manual I posted in the Zong Sticky. It contains information for inspecting, and repairing the front brake caliper.

Spud