Quote:
Originally Posted by thehawk
Thank you all for your information. I didn't get off work until late tonight so didn't get much done, but I did purchase a feeler gauge so I can ASAP, and I did correct the oil level, and took another look at the bike. I also rode it up and down the street once just because I soooo wanted to ride it (I'm sure you understand).
I noticed a tick,tick,tick and so started looking the bike over and found 2 more odd things. on the front forks, opposite side of the break there is an oil leak. It looks like its coming from the speedometer?? Does this even have oil?
The other thing I noticed, is that the rear wheel is crooked. Not by a whole lot, but it is. The seal on one side of the axel is protruding and not flush, the other side is sunken in. Both side of the rim are the same. And it rotates with the wheel. I think the one protruding seal side hits the frame a little and that's the tick as it rotates. Also the bottom chain guard is bent onto the chain eating it away (probably an easy fix of bending it out so long as it don't break, but I wonder how on earth it ended up like this).
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Front Fork situation - I agree with Jerry, both on the pictures and other advice. Most "Assembly" work is done by whomever was free to slap it together. It is very likely that you will have to take the bike apart to do things correctly as well as fix many of the little problems commonly found by those of us who assembled the bike ourselves. The nice thing is, these bikes are really simple to take apart, so I wouldn't sweat that too much.
The rear wheel seal being seated poorly is something I ran into on my bike when I first uncrated it. I managed to pop both seals out and save them, but if you do need new seals you can either try to file a warranty claim or pick up some new seals. This requires taking the rear wheel off. Then again, if that wheel seal is hitting the frame, then something is very wrong. Much like the fork issue, a couple of good clear up close pictures would say 1000 words.
Take that rear wheel off, and I highly recommend checking for/doing 2 things.
1. Check the rear wheel bearings. Myself and others had poorly installed rear wheel bearings. If you cannot turn those bearings with your finger while they are installed in the wheel, then I suggest replacing them with a good quality pair of bearings. SKF, Nachi, or All Balls Racing. They aren't super expensive, ranging from 5 to 10 bucks a piece. I tried to reseat mine in the hopes of saving them, but the ball bearing cages of mine were bent by the factory installation, and caused them to fail within 800 miles.
2. Check the rear sprocket. First, loosen, and then re-tighten the sprocket nuts. Torque them back down in a diagonal pattern (like a wheel) to around 30-35lb-ft. Next, check for play in the sprocket. If that sprocket wiggles around between the snap ring that retains it, and the hub behind it, then I have a post on here covering this issue. To summarize that post here, I put very small, thin, wave washers on the back side of the sprocket between it and the face of the studs. With the wave washers in place, secure the nuts again with a dab of blue loctite on each.
Here is the previously mentioned Post.
http://chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=19265
Honestly, at this point I would highly recommend that you go through your bike and check everything. Pick yourself of a small bottle of Loctite 242 or 243 (blue, easily found at parts stores). Go over every bolt on this bike, put a dab of loctite on them, and tighten down again. I also recommend removing the rear swing arm when you take the wheel off and greasing not only the bolt that goes through it, but get some grease inside the pivots of said swing arm. This will extend the life of those bushings quite a bit. Don't forget to loctite the rear shock nuts and bolts when putting them back on.
Also, search about chain guide fixes. This is another notorious little issue for most owners, and easily solved.
I know this might be annoying, or even a little frustrating. You had somebody else assemble it, so you would think they did all of this for you, but the reality is they usually slap them together in a few hours and call them good to go.
By comparison, I spent no less than 12 hours putting my bike together. I tore it down to frame and engine. Greased all of the axles, pivot points, and even the head stock bearings. I Drained, flushed, and re-filled the front forks with fork oil, flushed and bled the front and rear brakes with new brake fluid, check all of my wheel bearings - correcting the rear. Set up the carb., put antiseize on my exhaust studs and installed them back into the head, etc. I even re-routed the wiring harness in a few places, including the rear brake switch wires to keep them from melting from the exhaust, put dielectric grease on most of the electrical connectors to try and seal out water, and sprayed my battery terminal and ground strap terminals with anti-corrosion spray. Then when I re-assembled it, I attacked every bolt with Loctite. Especially critical fasteners like brake caliper mounting bolts, rear sprocket nuts and the shock bolts (as previously mentioned) and even the engine mount bolts. I also took both wheels and checked them for trueness and then tightened the spokes - something I HIGHLY recommend doing, as all of mine were not tightened down very well.
It's a lot of work, but trust me when I say that if you spend this time and effort now going over everything, you will not only save yourself headaches down the road, but also literally save yourself from a potential disaster. There is a reason these bikes are cheap. While they are generally decent out of the crate, they really require this kind of attention to be GOOD.