X-Pect Backroad Development
 

I chose this bike for the backroad for two reasons:

1) It has the lowest seat height in the class (closer to the ground for
those that need or prefer it)
2) EFI (altitude compensating)

Pictures are worth a thousand words, but until you see it in person somehow you cannot get the total end result. It is clear right away, the quality of assembly and parts is definitely a level or two above the HAWK, Magician, TBR7, Hellcat and like. I mean there is grease protruding from the swingarm. The bolts are all marked with a magic marker suggesting some torqueing may have been applied.

It shares many design principles and execution with the HAWK. How the seat looks and works, the frame design, the way the airbox wraps around the shock, the rear swingarm, the diameter of the forks is the same but shorter, the tail piece and light, the head light. When you take the side covers off you get a direct look at the EFI system and it looks intimidating, rocket science to me, all woven in to fit, but superbly done as far as routing. The fit and finish on the plastic is excellent.

It really comes across to me as more a Super Motard street machine. It gives the impression of a lowered HAWK and figures show it is 10 inches less in height than a HAWK with about the same wheel base. Sometime I will have to compare the ground clearance. The slightly lowered center of gravity and wheel size should make for quick maneuvering.

As far as the backroad, the EFI is what is, and nothing should or will be changed there. The owner’s manual is pretty good and describes procedures, the EFI, and fault codes. On the very back pages it shows an HMC Emission Control System Warranty Statement “Your Warranty Rights and Obligations” detailing an agreement between the EPA and American Lifan warranting the system for 11,185 miles or 5 years from initial date of delivery. Isn’t everything EFI related to emissions? Further down you see “Your emission control system may include components such as the carburetor or fuel-injection system”.

As much as one side of me resists, I will take apart the suspension, steering, and drive train and have a look. I will also check the valves and make a few modifications and begin to learn the bike layout. On a bike you need to depend on, it is necessary to confirm there are no obvious issues and also gain the knowledge of how the bike works. Knowledge that maybe needed later. The story is all about getting the backroad performance and the story begins.


https://i.ibb.co/xhvmPLm/IMG-20211113-110548968-HDR.jpg

Very nice bike! Should give you years of trouble free service.

Looking forward to your project with great interest! :tup:

The expect looks like a great match for you. Doing your research pays off.

Got the pretty off and it looks like a Chopper underneath! I need to put an H-4 LED headlight bulb on the Xmas list. Highly recommend it, spend the money, the safety improvement (visibility to other drivers) is BIG!

There is an issue in the rear fender well. The rear lighting, tail light, turn signal wiring is routed through the fender well leaving it exposed to water, dirt, rocks. They put a rubber bag around it but not good. I saw u tube video once about a trail ride where such wiring gave out on the trail. You would never know it and no one would see your brake light. I have seen this before I think on the Magician or maybe it was the HAWK. Generally it is mostly routed in the tray below the seat but the Xpect has the battery located there. Also some big gaps on the side, one right below the ECU (a place I don't want to get water or anything else) so sometime need to revisit the issue. The one pix shows the location of the ECU.

https://i.ibb.co/mvh2wVF/Xpect-naked-with-ECU.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/G7FWkN4/X-pect-rear-wiring.jpg

Gas tank axle grease valve covers
 

I really did not want to make a mechanical review but seems like a good idea to take a few photos as I go for reference for others and myself!

The gas tank looks like this so you know what you need to disconnect. So you guys out there that need to check your valves, (you know who you are) here you go ha, ha, (just makin some fun).

https://i.ibb.co/R3g73SS/Gas-tank-layout.jpg
picture upload

The tank has some rust starting around the sending unit and also on the seams.

https://i.ibb.co/BrdJTLV/IMG-20211114-095806448-HDR.jpg

Shots of the left and right side showing valve access and the plug wire laying on top of the valve cover (stuff like this needs fixing)

https://i.ibb.co/WcHPQ0t/Left-side.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HVgY2Gh/Valve-Spark-plug-wire.jpg

image to url

Lastly a shot of the grease around the speedo sending unit and the wheel bearing. To protect that bearing from water I will pack grease all around it sealing it and I may take a look inside. The bearings look to be the same manufacturer as the HAWK etc. Tempting to think about new bearings, my HAWK rolls so good with ALL BALLS. And the front axle uses an off size nut 18 MM with 15 mm bolt so I have to find an open end or something for road tool kit. Enough story telling I got to get some work done.

https://i.ibb.co/1GSrgXv/IMG-20211114-110544228-HDR.jpg
host images

Pics are fantastic. This kind of stuff is a real blessing to future owners

Headstock Stem forks
 

This is how I started with the China Bikes and I am little OCD, it has to be right, so I don't know any other way than to break it down and build it back. I agree, the info will be useful to someone, myself too. The forensic analysis will continue.

I got the head stem apart and the good news is it uses tapered bearings. The bad news is they didn't put much grease on them. This is the 4th China Bike I have taken apart and they all look like this with some worse. There must be a bonus at the end of the month on the production line if you don't use all your grease allotment! I tapped it for grease zerts, greased the bearings and put it back together. Turns better. I will pump it full of grease later.

https://i.ibb.co/0XtT9tG/Head-stem-grease.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Th4xDYR/Head-stock-top.jpg

I took 160 ml of fork oil out of each fork. It was very clear, clean, with a tint of brown and sometimes in the light you could see a blue/purple sheen just like the Maxima. There also appeared to be no difference between the viscosity and other characteristics from the Maxima. I replaced it with 160 ml of Maxima 15W. If I need to, I can add more later.

https://i.ibb.co/kHhg548/IMG-20211114-181030932-HDR.jpg
virginia seaport crossword

I’m in the same OCD boat as you. Back in my youth, when Kawasaki and Suzuki was giving us bikes to race, they arrived in the crate. So, I’ve always been used to complete tear down/building of a new bike before it was ever fired. Really enjoying your thread, keep up the great work!
BTW…. You’d be surprised how many Japanese bikes arrived absolutely bone dry…. Kawasaki was the worst. Of the 18 KX bikes we had, only 2 arrived with a tiny bit of grease on the bearings. So, its not just China bikes that skimp on grease!

Holy crap. We are all very different. When mine arrived, I rode it. Even though I had the throttle wound backwards and had to rotate it forward to accelerate. Ha ha ha.

I think I’d actually die if I did all this before riding it.

But I’m super thankful to you for this thread. It’s helping me to get to know the inside of the xpect without having to suffer to see it.

That gas tank rust is pretty concerning. Mine has been rusting a bit in spots because it just spent the past 7 months on the front of an RV continuously traveling. It took a hit but the rewards were amazing. How many people dream of ADV riding in the Colorado Rockies? I got to do that all summer. It was worth the rust.

When, or if, you get your bike into a short break, pull off the tank. Wash the area that has light surface rust with straight Castrol Superclean, and rinse only with a damp rag. Grab an air hose, blow it completely dry, this should easily eat away any “living” surface rust. Immediately follow with some coarse Scotchbrite ONLY where the nasty stuff was growing. Blow off dust, and hit it with a couple spot coats of a good auto grade primer. If all this underneath, you’re done. Obviously if visible, you’ll have to paint the tank. This easily kills surface rust if done quickly, compressed air speeds up the job tremendously. This technique is how we stop rust on new body panels that arrived with surface “cancer” as we call it.

Good advice. After seeing these pictures, I’m sure I will pop the tank to check. I’m talking about rust in a lot of places. I have some on the swing arm. A little bit on the handlebars where there is a nick in the coating. The chain. That’s probably my fault. Ha ha. Just hard to think of lubricating a chain when the bike is sitting on the rack on an RV driving around

Been raining here for the last month and a half so riding is out of the question and then when its all dirty this sort of thing is more messy and unclean and then I have other bikes to ride too. Winter is to get these upgrades done so you can hit it hard next spring! Brought to you as a public service from the CR27 development team! CG strong, ride hard!

This should be a sticky. See if Jerryhawk can do that for this thread. Lots of valuable information here regarding the X-Pect.

Thank you Culcune, Jerry, and all! I will have to talk to the team about stepping their game up!