DB-36/RDZ200 questions

[jpasterjak]

Hi gang...

I recently bought a Chinabike and so far I'm quite happy with it. The mfr. plate says Xiongtai, but as close as I can tell it appears to be at least a clone of a Roketa DB-36/RDZ200, commonly marketed as the "Hummer." In fact, it had a lot of the same "Exceed" stickers and other weird Engrish phrase stickers that the Roketas have. Instead of "Hummer," however, it was badged as a "Broncho." Of course, the first thing I did was to desticker it.

It does have a Zongshen ZS167FML engine, which is a little cold blooded, but now that it's getting broken in it's been stone reliable and powerful enough for me.

The bars got replaced right away, as the stock ones were obviously crap. And I have an extra chain in the garage because I can kinda tell that the stock chain's days are numbered.

My question revolves around the brake pedal. It's probably the weak point of the whole bike at this point. It's obviously made our of garbage metal, so it bends anytime it comes in contact with anything. You can even feel it flexing underfoot when you get on it hard. Anyone know of a decent replacement made of something a little better than melted down Kia Sportages?

Also, the foam filter is not really up to the task, either. Where I ride we have a lot of dry, powdery sand, and I'm constantly having to clean the carb slide because it gets gritty and sticky. Anyone know of a paper filter that fits in the hole?

Thanks for the info. I'm very happy with my purchase up to this point. Finding a decent internet knowledge base makes it even better.

jg