Weldangrind's New Lifan GY5
 

I couldn't resist.

I bought Camwow's Lifan on Saturday, and it was a good decision. I was building the Roketa for Son of Weldangrind, but this Lifan has only 664km on it! It's very clean and straight, even though most of the plastic needs to be replaced. I've purchased most of the parts I need already, because they were intended for the Roketa. It should be on the road soon, and then I can focus on my TW. The Roketa might become a cafe...

I've already removed the tank shrouds and the front fender. One side cover has had some Frankenstein repair, and I'm going to try my hand at plastic-welding on it.

Here's what it looked like, shortly after I got it home.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps63fd1dbd.jpg

There seems to be an alarm under the seat, and I want it gone. Am I ok to simply unplug it, or is there more to be done? Here's what it looks like.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psffc6a0d4.jpg

Also, the CDI under the seat is the same unit that the Roketa uses, but there is another device to the left of the seat that I don't recognize. What is this?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps58d089c2.jpg

It has the weird anti-lock device on the front caliper. Can I just delete it and move the banjo bolt to the caliper?

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps5566ae6f.jpg

This made my day.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps869f98a9.jpg

You can do an ABS delete. The picture of the solenoid and what may be the beeping winker flasher.

Try unplugging that alarm stuff. The US bikes did not have them.

+1 on the 'ABS' delete.

The 'alarm' may be the annoying GY2 turn signal beeper?

Congratulations on the purchace.

Ron's GY is a steal.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps58d089c2.jpg

I see from left to right a rectifier, starter relay, and the one on the end is a turnsignal box if it only has two pins that actually connect to the wires going in to it. Its used as the end of the harness on lifans, A big plug with only two or three wires getting used.


If you need parts just let me know! I have loads of side panels and the two types of instrument cluster ;)

Thanks for the tips, guys. I'll test the signals, and see if the device beeps. I'll also just unplug the alarm stuff.

WA, I do need a left side panel. Can you remind me of which style you have with a pic?

Congratulations on your new acquisition, Weld! :tup:

+3 on the ABSectomy; excise the tumor. ;)

It is the same kind as you have! I have right and left if you want matching stickers ;) also have white back halfs. Are you just lokking for the back halfs or both sections?

http://i1154.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4f2f809a.jpg

WA, I just need the back half. I intend to paint them anyway, so colour is unimportant.

Thanks to all who confirmed that I can dump the ABS.

That is good to know about the ABS delete, I just installed a new front caliper on my bike that has the ABS and I don't like it.

Got some more work done on the weekend. Deleted the silly ABS, worked on getting the Roketa carrying rack to fit the Lifan, laced an old Honda DID aluminum rim to the front, re-wired the speedo cluster, ignition and gear indicator from the Roketa to fit and dismantled the front forks.

There was a clunk in the left fork when the brake was applied, and all of the oil had leaked out. Son of Weldangrind and I took the fork apart, along with one of the rusted forks from the Roketa, and found that a bushing was missing from the Lifan fork. In the (blurry) pic below, look just below the seal, and you'll see a gold anodized section that is about 1/2" in height. There is supposed to be a bushing in there, so the telescoping portion rocked in the tube.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps30885885.jpg

We decided to just use one of the Roketa tubes, because aside from being corroded, it was complete and in good shape. Since the tube looked awful, I removed the anodized coating from both tubes with oven cleaner, and wiped them clean in about one minute. Son of Weldangrind then polished both tubes, but he decided that they need some colour. In the pic below, you can see the pair of tubes after I hit them with some primer, and a sample of a polished tube. There is a small section about 2" above my hand that is polished.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps1cad48c2.jpg

I don't have colour shots at this time, but I sprayed them with Duplicolor high heat red paint, and they look quite good. I'm really impressed with how that paint lays down, and we'll see how long it lasts once the forks are in use. I'll post more pics as work continues.

Nice work! :tup: Have you got a Roketa model DB-07, or model DB-07A?

DB-07A. My plan is to take the swingarm, monoshock and link, upside down forks, triple clamps, tank and seat and install them on an '81 XR200 frame. The XR200 twin shocks, triples and swingarm will be installed on the Roketa frame to make a cafe racer. None of that is on the front burner, but it's moving forward.

Your DB-07A forks are the same as the forks on my Zong. ;) I posted information concerning the fork oil seal and dust wiper replacement parts in the following thread. However, I wonder which Japanese bushings would fit in these forks? :hmm:

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=10266

You are making me jealous. I'm gonna have to get me another bike lol

Ron's nearly new GY-2 is still available. $500, but in Washington State.

as i have seen, but not in person yet (darn hospital stays...LOL) the uppers appear the same, but the db07a lowers are different.. the zong forks axle clamp thingie comes up the tubes further than this style, giving the look of longer travel on the db, and more sportbike looking suspension on the zong... just an observation form a :crazy: guy...LOL

My forks are the same as yours, right down to the numbers, but they lack the fork cover mounting screw holes. :wtf: I can't figure out how I'm going to protect the forks.

BTW, Son of Weldangrind and I followed your procedure. Thanks for the terrific write-up. We even crossed the US border to buy some Valvoline Max Life Dex / Merc.

I bought some new Nachi 6301 sealed bearings for the front wheel today for $11.77, incl. taxes. I could do better online, but the guys at Precise Bearing in Abbotsford give great service, and they put up with my endless small purchases with a smile.

One of the guys there said that the bearing I selected would be better for a dirt bike / dual sport because it's sealed, and it's rated at 12000rpm. The metal shielded bearings that were originally in the hub are rated at 20000rpm, but they'll quickly become contaminated with water, dirt and sand.

I can't think of a better home for Cam's bike! :)
Sadly, my Konker had about the same km's on it when I sold it :(. Street bikes seem to be the only ones I manage to get any miles on...

You're welcome. Thank you for your kind words. :) I'm glad I was able to help promote the economy for the state of Washington. :lol:

I mounted lower fork guards on my Zong with stainless steel, hose clamps. They work great, and don't look bad at all. ;)

Thanks, Stew. :)

I'm hoping that I can create a fun and reliable bike for Son of Weldangrind. That's the purpose.

If only is was closer. Seems that Washington state has all the deals.


Weld, I am waiting on the cafe build.

The kick-off will be in late August.

Spud, I just found this post; you posted it one minute before I posted, and I missed it.

Thanks for the tip on the hose clamps. I never thought of that.

Made a little more progress today. I removed the triples from the Lifan frame to install the steering lock tab (that I chopped off of the Roketa café) and to properly pack the bearings. They were notchy.

I was pleasantly surprised to find tapered rollers in the stem, rather than loose ball bearings. Here, I thought I was being so smart by placing an ice cream bucket under the lower triple to catch the loose bearings.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psae74dfef.jpg

The lower triple has a mount for a steering lock, but there was no lock on it. Rather than mess with that, I removed it and proceeded with the Roketa ignition and lock tab.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psde2f23b0.jpg

This is just after I welded the tab on.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfdeeb514.jpg

I mocked up the triples to see if it worked properly. You can sort of see how the ignition stud won't pass the tab in the locked position, and then by how much it clears the tab when retracted.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psfe89316b.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps69ed7f49.jpg

Something I failed to share yesterday was that the Lifan gas cap would not open with the ignition key. The cap is designed to not lock onto the tank without the key, so the PO must have just dealt with it. Not sure where the original key for the cap is, but it's definitely not the original ignition key.

Since I swapped the Roketa igntion switch and gas cap over to the Lifan, it doesn't matter on this bike. However, it still left me with a cap that will not properly latch onto the Roketa tank. Instead of ordering more parts, I dismantled the lock cylinder from the mystery cap and re-keyed it to the original Lifan ignition key. That allows me to install the Lifan ignition switch and gas cap on the XR200 dirt bike project. The young man who will be receiving this bike really wanted the Roketa seat that I just recovered and the plastic Roketa tank. He'll also benefit from an ignition switch for security. Problem solved.

I decided to change the title of this thread, and I'll be updating it over the next few weeks. This bike is one of two top motorcycle priorities right now.

Such a good thread. Keep it up, Weld! Your son's a lucky guy. :)

Thanks! He just got a part-time job at a local used tire shop, so he hasn't been working on the bike much. I'm hoping that it will be done soon, and he'll be able to commute to work in the summer on the Lifan, instead of his Ranger.

Nice! I worked at the Tire Rack warehouse in Windsor CT last winter so I'm no stranger to mount and balance fun. I used to mount between 900 & 1600 tires a day 5 days a week there. :)

Rangers are nice little trucks, but the Lifan is definitely better for fuel economy.

Made a little more progress on the weekend. I wanted a free-flowing muffler that the USFS guys would approve of, and I wanted a cleanable spark arrestor. I found a 2001 XR250R muffler for a fair price on eBay, so I bent some tube and welded it together. The muffler came with a quiet core insert, but I also have a wide open insert on my '96 XR250R, so we'll see which one sounds better.

I also cut the heat shield mounting bungs off of the head pipe and re-welded them to accept a different heat shield that I had laying around. The original heat shield is really large, and I wanted something smaller. If I get motivated enough, I might build a custom shield out of stainless.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps41be741b.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psde694f54.jpg

After I was satisfied with the fit, I painted the exhaust system with semi-gloss black heat paint. I also made some progress in fabricating a headlight mount. No pics for that yet.

I love your custom muffler work! :tup:

X2

Thanks, guys. :D

I made some more progress. The paint had cured enough that I could mock up the exhaust system. When I fabricated the midpipe, I failed to make a mid-point mounting bracket, so that's next. I really like the Duplicolor high heat semi-gloss black.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psd9e4d9c5.jpg

I bent up some aluminum recently to mount the headlight that I bought on Taobao, and I think it worked out well. My buddy offered to reinforce it for me with his TIG welder, so I expect that we'll find time for that next week. I secured the mount with stainless T-bolt clamps, and then I drilled the mounts for some neat little signal lights I found on eBay.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...psd03da03f.jpg

This shot shows the bracket, but it also shows the Roketa speedo and indicator lights, along with the Roketa steering lock ignition. It all seems to work well together. There's plenty of room below the indicator lights for future considerations, like controls for heated grips, etc.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps22e6f25a.jpg

Nice job! :tup:

Nice Progress :)

nice simple instrument setup. are you going with the honda silver red colour scheme?

Not on purpose. The frame is a sort of silver / grey, and the plastics will be black and red with a black seat and black tank. I've changed the bike quite a bit, but the registration says red, so I don't want to stray too far.

I like the instrumentation as well. I have no need for a tach that lies to me, and I like the Roketa speedo.

Forum member Atomic Wedgie welded my aluminum headlight frame for me, since cracks developed on the corners from bending. He also added some extra pieces for strength.

This is an action shot of TIG welding in progress.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps06437d32.jpg

And this is the frame mounted to the forks with stainless T-bolt clamps.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps04f91f5e.jpg