First China Bike, Storm 250

[phager76]

Thanks Spud! Well, just slapped the mirrors on and one side panel. Tried putting the hand guards on, but they seemed to interfere with the levers, so I'm not going to worry about that. The truth is this bike's going to see far more street duty then anything else. Hopefully the battery will be charged up before it gets dark and I can give it a test fire.

I also changed the oil. WTF do they put in these things??? It....Was....BLUE! Seriously, I've been in the auto industry since I was sixteen, I've seen tons of motor oil, gear oil, trans fluid and I've never seen a lubricant this color in my life!

So I decided to play it safe and run half a quart of Rotella through with the drain plug off to play it safe. Topped it off after it finished draining, so we should be good to go.

[Azhule]

And most insurance companies give you a nice 5 to 10% off a year after you complete the course

Glad no one got hurt when it fell, you or the Mrs. could have a bad evening with 270lbs falling on you. I have to remind the Mrs. every now and then that plastic and metal parts can always be replaced, fingers and toes are a little harder the way the human body is designed ... one reason one of my car projects is still sitting almost a 1.5 years later... the flywheel/clutch assembly tried to take one of my fingers as a "thank you for fixing me" lol... and it just sits in the garage to this day, I like my fingers and toes after all lol

[Azhule]

The Blue is probably assembly grease/lube of some kind, usually high in moly? But I really have no clue what it really is without seeing it myself and sending it off for testing... could send a sample to Polaris or Blackstone to test the oil ... might not find out much about it and will also be out $25 for the test kit/shipping fees too lol

[phager76]

Yeah, I don't think I'm going to blow $25 to find out what it is, probably best to just take it in for recycling with the other 12 quarts in my drain pan.

Well, the battery charged up, and after a few fits where it wouldn't even kick the starter over, it started up with half choke and a bit of throttle. The idle seems to be set way to low, as it would stall out with no throttle, but that's a simple adjustment.

Whoever designed the battery box must have been high as a kite. The cables can't be installed with the box open, but with it closed the negative terminal is half covered by the box. Nothing that a little clearancing with a razor knife couldn't fix, but I definitely need to get another set of permanent mount leads for my battery tender, because I sure don't want to pull the battery again until replacement time!

[phager76]

Well, I got the idle set (may need to tweak it a bit more) and had it idling long enough to burn off the excess coating on the exhaust and engine. Unfortunately I pretty much ran out of daylight without getting any seat time in. And to add insult to injury, it's supposed to rain and snow the rest of the week! Oh well there'll be plenty of time to ride in the coming weeks.

[BARLOW]

i had some troubles with my hand guards too, i just had to slide the levers in a little to get them clear of the guards

[BlackBike]

THANKS AZHULE for the db 07 / db 08 difference. i have the 07 and was wondering.

PHAGER , RUBY LOOKS SUPER !! The sales photo did not do the red justice. I like it better than my black.

I couldn't figure out the hand guards either! Seems like parts are missing. does anyone have close up pictures of their installed hand guards.

[2LZ]

Very nice! Seems the Blaze has the balanced motor like the Storm but the 21/18 and more dirt tires as the Hawk! Nice setup! Love the color!

[phager76]

Well, weekend before last, I took half of my BRC. It was an interesting experience. After doing some basic exercises like power walking the bikes and riding them back and forth, we moved on to riding in second gear in a big oval. I was in the groove and things were really starting to click for me, but the person two bikes ahead of me was feeling far more tentative, the three of us were bunched together a bit. As she was entering the corner she panicked and grabbed the front break. She goes down with the bike, and the bike spins 180 and lands on her leg. She ends up in reasonable shape other then some road rash and broken glasses but has to go to the hospital.

After the accident I was off my game even though I nailed all the exercises with the exception of the offset cone weave and the quick stop. By the end of the day between how sore I was (need moree time in the saddle), and the fact that we were on a camping trip, and I wanted to spend some time with the family, I decided to skip the second day and retake the course later in the year. I did pick up a ton or useful information and skills from the 5 hours of seat time, far more then all the riding in my teen years. I also regained the confidence I was missing.

On to Ruby. I happy to report that I've finally gotten some miles on her. Since the BRC, I've put about 10 miles on her, most of those have been in my driveway and yard, but a little bit on the street as well. I'm really impressed with how tractable this little bike is. Even at low speeds it's a blast to ride. There are a few niggles but nothing serious, the idle speed as set from the factory is way off, took a lot of screwing it in to get a stable idle speed. The battery it comes with is kind of garbage if it sits for a week off the tender it's pretty hard to start. These are pretty small bits to pick given the low cost of entry.

I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to build my confidence enough to go out on the neighborhood streets and maybe get her into third gear . I still need to get her titled and plated, but there is no police presence around my remote neighborhood, so I have a bit of time to save up funds for that.

[phager76]

Well, I took her out around the neighborhood, and she did pretty good. I'm having one issue, and that is that she's bogging out when I go over half throttle under load. Any Ideas? I'm hesitant to swap the carb, even though it's a popular mod. I prefer to get to know the bike as she sits from the factory before I go hog wild on the upgrades and farkles.

I did get her up to 3rd, and around 35 and she's pretty stable and comfy. I just need to isolate this bogging issue.

[Sport Rider]

Originally Posted by phager76

Well, I took her out around the neighborhood, and she did pretty good. I'm having one issue, and that is that she's bogging out when I go over half throttle under load. Any Ideas? I'm hesitant to swap the carb, even though it's a popular mod. I prefer to get to know the bike as she sits from the factory before I go hog wild on the upgrades and farkles.

I did get her up to 3rd, and around 35 and she's pretty stable and comfy. I just need to isolate this bogging issue.

check the float level. clear tube connected to the carb drain with the screw open. loop the tube up beside and above the carb and see where the level is. should be close to the top of the float. second thought is the main jet not big enough, which was my problem. I'd get to a point on the throttle that if I twisted more, it would bog down. the 115/30 jetting solved that.

[phager76]

OK, it looks like the issue was the nut connecting the handlebars to the seat . After posting my last update, I went out to look over the bike, and noticed it was at half choke.

So this today, I went out to retry the same ride (I'm a little under the weather, so I didn't really want to go on a new route with my head not in it 100%, plus it's easier to verify repairs under identical circumstances). I made sure the bike was fully warmed up and choke was full off, kept shift points approximately the same and tried both rolling on to 3/4 throttle, and snapping to 3/4. Shocker there was no bog. Lesson learned always verify choke position!

I really think it's kind of stupid having the choke lever buried under plastic right next to the carb. My Shadow has a cable mounted to the cylinder so it's clear the position, and I've seen a number of bikes with it mounted to the handlebars. I might have to see if I can run a cable to the lever and remote mount it so it's more clear what the position is. Another minor nitpick, but I'm still loving this bike. My wife is even getting in to it, she's ridden it around the driveway a few times now and is talking about us getting a bike for her next year!

[SeerAtlas]

love that red SHARP!!!!

[BlackBike]

Originally Posted by phager76

OK, it looks like the issue was the nut connecting the handlebars to the seat . After posting my last update, I went out to look over the bike, and noticed it was at half choke.

So this today, I went out to retry the same ride (I'm a little under the weather, so I didn't really want to go on a new route with my head not in it 100%, plus it's easier to verify repairs under identical circumstances). I made sure the bike was fully warmed up and choke was full off, kept shift points approximately the same and tried both rolling on to 3/4 throttle, and snapping to 3/4. Shocker there was no bog. Lesson learned always verify choke position!

I really think it's kind of stupid having the choke lever buried under plastic right next to the carb. My Shadow has a cable mounted to the cylinder so it's clear the position, and I've seen a number of bikes with it mounted to the handlebars. I might have to see if I can run a cable to the lever and remote mount it so it's more clear what the position is. Another minor nitpick, but I'm still loving this bike. My wife is even getting in to it, she's ridden it around the driveway a few times now and is talking about us getting a bike for her next year!

Wise decision on your part if less than 100%

I believe you will get used to the choke routine. Would be nice with a remote choke however, there are better things to spend your money on.

We have the same bike

[BARLOW]

i put 40/115 jets in my storm 250, have not touched the choke one time after that ... pilot is 1 1/2 turns out