Skyteam GT200 - Loncin engine.

[alchemysa]

(My first post asked about the timing chain tensioner but perhaps some general info about this bike may be of interest to some members.).

I recently bought this bike for $600 on Gumtree. (Thats a bit like Craigs list). I don't know how that price rates in the U.S. but I think that was a reasonably good price here in Australia. Its a Skyteam dirt bike with 200cc OHC Loncin engine. Best thing about it is that its electric start! Its not a common bike over here. Chinese bikes are still pretty rare I think. The bike had plenty of war wounds but I dont think its actually done a whole lot of running. I'm told that Loncin engines are relatively well made but I haven't had it long enough to confirm that.

Since getting the bike heres a few things I've done to it.

• Got it running. It had a faulty spark plug and a faulty spark plug connector. Both faults caused intermittent spark failure and occasional total shut down. I suspect the previous owner had lots of problems because he couldn't diagnose this correctly. This is the second instance I've encountered in just a couple of months where spark plugs have appeared to be OK when earthed but were actually failing when under load.

• Added a key and a neutral indicator light. (The bike had no key. Anyone could start it with the press of a button. Fortunately there was wiring I could tap into to include a key and a neutral light which is pretty much essential in my opinion.)

• Cut 2" from the front fork springs. This lowered the bike about 1.5". I also wound the rear shocker to its lowest position. I'm only 5'8" and this bike felt very high. I ride in sand a lot and like to sit reasonably low. I might even drop it a bit more later on.

• Cut and reworked the airbox so that it lines up correctly with the carby. (Distance from airbox to carby is only about 1 inch so if it doesn't line up correctly its a real pain to install the carby. Much of the 're-sculpturing' was done with a soldering iron as described below.)

• Repaired lots of broken and cracked plastic. Repairing plastic body parts is a skill thats very easy to learn, very satisfying, and a real money saver. All you need is a cheap soldering iron and a hot glue gun. You can find the technique explained on Youtube but basically all you do is hold the broken parts together and melt them together on the backside with the soldering iron. I use a kind of deep 'cross stitch' pattern on the back for strength and a smooth continuous gliding action across the front to seal the crack. The Hot Glue is an additional innovation of my own. On the backside of the join, where it won't be seen, I cover the 'soldered' joint with a 1/2 wide path of hot glue. This stuff is very strong but slightly flexible so it adds a great deal of durability to the join. Hot glue guns are only a few dollars each and the glue sticks are only a couple of dollars for 12. This simple combination of soldering iron and hot glue gun will return the plastic panel or mudguard to original strength and can also be used to reinforce plastic parts that may be prone to cracking in future. If necessary the hot glue can also be neatened up or shaped with the soldering iron or a stanley knife blade. You could go even further and repaint the whole panel to return it to as new appearance if you wish but I don't mind the look of a few battle scars.

I've managed to collect a few useful parts diagrams, an operators manual, and a few other bits and pieces for this bike so if anyone wants anything, sing out.

Cheers.