What we did today...

[Jim]

We went out and picked up a trailer load of blue lifans!

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One for my dad, and the other two for friends of his. Hey look, they came with no 5! (they are real lifans from the same canadian dealer as mine, and he gets them from the canadian lifan importer lifan canada/coasttocoastmotorsports).

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Here his is sitting next to mine, red vs blue, he had no choice on color, blue is all that was available when they ordered them. Made choosing colors easy.

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And here it is after he covered up the cool boy decals he didn't like and removed some lifan tags and other stickers.

We also disconnected the green/yellow wire from the signal flasher device which makes it so the signals dont flash when the brakes are applied, and wrapped tape around the beeper (which wasn't necessary because for some reason his doesn't beep when he signals, except one time... I'm guessing we've got a loose or pinched wire somewhere).

We did go for a quick spin to get some gas and eats (Wendy's is the best fast food ), and ran into a little problem, the noted rear brake problem. He let me try his out on the way back and part way back he signaled for me to pull over, the brakes had just started smoking!... Not good, so we broke out the tool kit and he adjusted it... The back rotor is a little blue... not sure, he figures it will be fine, but I say if he can get one on warranty he may aswell. And the other problem (why I was trying his) is it appears the wheels are out of round or something because it seems very bumpy (compared to mine!), very noticeable at 70K, he does have loose spokes, may have to take it back and have him make sure the wheel is properly round and tighten them...

Anyways after fixing the brake and such now the only real problem is the bumpy ride it is giving. (And also the right side tank cover has chips in it apparently from in the crate, but the guy at the dealer says he will get us a new one if we want... well us I guess means my dad.)

[ob1]

Check the tire pressures? Too much could make for a rough ride.

[Jim]

Well I checked that they weren't flat, but I did suggest to him to actually check the preassure, he had other work to do yesterday though so we didnt go over it too much... We will check that, maybe compare it to mine. I know he has loose spokes, then again I do too... Should fix them either way... :roll:


edit:

finaly checked the tires, I thought my front tire looked somewhat flat... it only had 10psi, my dads 15. Both rears about 25, so I guess we need a bit more air in all of em. (according to the list on the chain gaurd)

We're going to see if maybe it had something to do with the brakes now that theyre adjusted, maybe they were grabbing and making the ride rough? Will test it out later.

[Jim]

Well, we took em back out to the shop today, filled up the tires.

Then we we're going to grease the swingarms, but noticed the grease nipple is pointing straight up, so that will wait for another day when we change the fitting so it is accsesible.

The on my dad's bike we checked the spokes, a few loose ones were tightened (mine has loose ones also but we'll get to it later, it rides good, his is the one thats bumpy).

Then we checked a few bolts for tightness and he tightened up the adjustment bolts on his rear brake so it would stay where he set it.

Next we looked at the back there, and noticed some problems... The chain gaurd was rubbing on the chain, so we checked mine and its not... so he took his off and bent the brackets for it a tiny bit, anyways in the process the plastic chain gaurd got broken, so I guess we'll need to get him a new one... (the piece that gaurds the tire and chain section broke off). There was also a breather tube or drip tube or something coming down that was rubbing on the chain, pushed that out of the way. Next we saw the other problem.

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That hard white plastic gaurd on the bottom was rubbing on the chain, infact, the chain has almost worn all the way through it, and the chain has a white coating on it now... Took it off bent the bracket out and put it back... Will need to replace it though, really not much left where it was rubbing.

With all this stuff no longer rubbing on the chain, a few tightened spokes, air in the tires, and the rear brake now not dragging we're hoping it solved the rough/bumpy ride problem, but it started raining just when we finished that so we will have to test it out a little later.

And we need to replace the chain gaurd, that white chain gaurd piece, and the right side tank cover which came with a bunch of chips. All in all this one didn't arrive in as good of shape as mine, but hopefully we've got the issues worked out.

[Jim]

Well, it brightened up quite a bit and we went for a nice little ride around to test it out...

It is still definetly not right... I'm sure mine never felt like that, it can't just be the tire needing to wear in can it? Mine doesn't have that many km's on it and it rides so much smoother, we're thinking the front wheel may need balancing or something.

Anyways on our trip we came across an excavator that got in a little too deep

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Thats mud right up to the bottom of the top part there, there is mud inside the front door even, and I think it is actually still sinking.

[ob1]

Re: the rough ride.

Since you have checked the tire pressures, next would be whether the tire bead is completely seated. A tire not fully seated could make for a funky ride.

Most tires have some feature molded into the sidewall, close to the rim, athat allows you to see if the bead is completely seated against the rim.

Look for this feature, give the tires a spin, be sure to check both sides

The other stuff you found probably isnt the problem.

As far as spokes go, pay close attention to them, especially early on. Any loose spoke means an increase in pressure on other spokes. They stretch, moving even more pressure to yet more spokes. The first few hundred miles, spokes should be checked often. Once they have stretched {annealed}, you can relax some on checking them.

[Jim]

Thanks ob1, will check that out later

[Jim]

@ob1, Thanks for the tip, we think that's the problem (haven't fixed it yet though)... Mine got a flat on the front, so we changed the tube. Once we got the old tube out we filled it up to check and cant seem to find any leak... so maybe it is still good and the valve was stuck or something... ohwell now I have a spare. Anyways, mine is now doing the same thing, I guess we didn't seat the bead on there that good. I will try to fix that another day this week... actually, I may be lazy and let most of the air out and ride it around and hope it fixes itself... (it originaly only had 10psi for the firtst about 250km, so I will drop it to that for a few days and see if it pops it back and then add some more. Probably not the best idea... but it sounds easier to me

What do you guys run for psi in your tires? According to the chain gaurd I should have 28front and 32 rear?

[molypod]

Jim,
I run 12 psi front and 18 psi rear.

[Jim]

Oh ok, I was just going off the chain gaurd recomended numbers... Do you do mostly on or off road? So far I've been pretty much all on road.

[ob1]

To get the bead to seat, you will need to put more air in, not less, and lubricate the bead and rim. Use only enough air to seat the bead, I have gone as high as 80lbs.

Return the air to a normal pressure once the bead seats.

Be careful when you play with tire pressures, it will affect your handling in suprising ways. I would suggest you start at the pressures listed above, and vary them in 1-2lb increments to suit your conditions.

[fatboy250]

what Ob1 said.... the lube is the trick for seating the bead.

[liverchip]

I run 15 front 15 rear and 100% off-road, about 50/50 sand and hardpack/rocks.

[molypod]

Originally Posted by Jim

Oh ok, I was just going off the chain gaurd recomended numbers... Do you do mostly on or off road? So far I've been pretty much all on road.

I run close to 90% offroad: rocky, hard pack, creekbeds, washouts and some back woods trails(loamy & slick mud)

[liverchip]

Forgot to mention at 218 lbs and 6 foot, I'm a bit of a lard-ass.