Brozz 1000 mile review-Beating on the Brozz

[AJboughtamoto]

I didn't plan on posting a follow up review so soon but a lot has happened in the last 500 miles. I've done some basic mods, had some issues and done a wide range of riding on the bike. I've gotten more familiar with the individual components. Some of what I discovered has been covered in threads before, other issues not as much. Some of this may seem harsh, The main thing to take away here is that I still really do like the Brozz it's a good bike and depending on how you ride it many things I bring up might not even be a concern. I'm genuinely impressed with this little machine and have not been easy on it, I bought this to use as a dualsport and maybe a commuter and I have done just that. I'll break down how it does in various riding conditions, issues and how well the individual components perform

Mods-
110 main jet
NGK spark plug
Aftermarket Pro Taper style handlebars
New more compact AGM 6AH battery
Kick starter removal

Planned mods-
Pivot levers
Exhaust, complete jet kit,airbox mod
Skidplate
Oil Cooler
520 chain/slightly shorter gearing.
Nibbi Carb
Shifter

Components-
Engine-Feeling quite strong after the break in the 110 jet and NGK plug made a noticeable difference as well. It has a nice use able power band and it's quite smooth, the vibrations never feel excessive. Some of the finish has gotten scratched off on the cases, a little annoying but to be expected.

Gearbox-Pretty solid overall, definitely a Honda clone, a bit clunky but you know for sure when your in gear.
1st-Super Granny as noted before, excellent for chugging on tough trail sections and going up and down steep hills.
2nd-feels much better after break in, spark plug and jet. I still think it's a little to far up from 1st, but still very usable.
3rd/4th-good evenly spaced raitios for higher speeds 4th is good for around 25-55.
5th-Tall af, I only use it above 50mph for the most part, the engine takes a while to rev out. On most hills around here, even on the highway means dropping back to 4th to maintain speed.

Final Drive-Ratios are fine for the road, I am going to go up in the rear just a few teeth to help the motor rev out a bit easier and give a lil more torque offroad.

Chain-Basically junk, a 428 chain is not strong enough for the bike. Even with proper adjustment it has now twice stretched enough during a ride to come off on a trail. Needs adjustment after every ride. Yes I keep it properly lubricated. The bike needs a 520, really should come with one.

Clutch-Seems to fade pretty fast, can quickly make neutral difficult to get.
After reading recommendations i adjusted to the most minimal free play. It still fades, but remains very use able. I'm hoping it just takes a while to break in, but I'm worried I'm gonna need a new one sooner than I'd like.

Carb-It's a Keihin clone, works fine, easy enough to crack open and swap jets, wish it came with an adjustable needle.

Exhasut-Nice and quiet, makes riding very peaceful, it also obviously chokes the hell out of the motor. As much as I like how quiet it is, I hate feeling how restrictive it is. New exhaust soon.

Airbox-Again restrictive, but pretty sturdy and well built, Not sure if I,ll just drill holes or maybe cut out the section that holds the air filter, and install a filter that uses up the whole width of the box.

Gas tank-Nice that it holds about 3 gallons, give a great range. However the gas cap is utter garbage, and shouldn't even be allowed on a production bike. It leaks if the bike tips over, it leaks of you fill it a lil to much. It leaks if you under filled the tank just enough, but accelerate to hard. Will probably get an OEM Honda cap as suggested.

Controls

Handlebars-pretty cheap as you'd expect nice and bent after a couple falls. Not unexpected, even most Japanese bike still need better bars. Already replaced

Levers-Do the job, tougher than expected the brake lever only bent a bit after a fall. Cheaper ones will simply break off.

Switchgear-Most of it feels like a low end Japanese bike, gets the job done. One big exception, there is not a kill switch. This is just silly The hazard light switch is where the kill switch should be.

Gauges-Pretty good. Speed and revs are always very easy to read. The speedo is like every motorcycle speedo optimistic. Reads 5-10mph high. Fuel gauge is clear and seems decently accurate. Gear indicator is hard to see in most lighting. All other lights are clear and easy to see.

Shifter-Looks weird with how much extra shaft there is. Very cheap metal, I hit a stump and it bent into a U, luckily it bent back. Better shifter ordered.

Kick starter-Junk, seriously it's a terrible design, it sticks out way to far, every time I stood up I hit and it rotated enough to engage and make a terrible grinding noise. The bike never kick started easily anyway. So I just removed it, standing ergonomics are much better without it.

Battery- Super cheap as expected, only lasted a couple months. I believe leaving the alarm on killed it,it died out on a trail. It held a charge after i recharged it, but it still felt weak on starting. Replaced with a 6ah AGM, feels way better now. This battery is also lighter.

Lights-Do the job, haven't really ridden at night. Probably upgrade to LED's

Turn Signals-Excellent. Not only are they bright, they are also extremely tough. They can easily bend past 90 degrees and snap right back.

Mirrors- Very good. Easy to clearly see behind me with minimal vibration. Taken a couple hits with no damage.

Horn-Stopped working for no good reason all connections are good, good power. i've asked for a replacement.

Kick stand- Bent after a hit on a rock, tried to bend it back and broke it clean off. Again not to surprising, the same thing even happened to my buddys DRZ.

Brakes-Pretty strong, very cool that they come with steel braided lines. They feel pretty good to me nice and progressive, the rear is easy to use even when standing. However, remember what I said about the lever/master cyl being to low? Well one my impacts was strong enough to break the pin that holds them together. I got home with a zip tie for a pin. Knew something would happen still pretty annoying, probably need to weld something onto the skidplate I got to protect this.

Suspension-Basic but pretty good for most situations, the front will bottom pretty easily, but the rear rarely does after adjusting for proper pre load. At a moderate pace its very comfy on the street, up to light trails. I think with some stiffer springs in the forks it'll be much better.

Seat- Excellent, I still can't believe how comfy this thing is, on a budget bike! Plush but also very supportive, acts as a bit of extra suspension. Makes most dualsport seats look like planks of wood.Best stock seat I've ever had on a bike. However It is really stupid to have to remove the underside fender to access the bolts to remove it. I did not put the nuts back on and it hasn't budged.

Wheels- Seem pretty tough, I think I need to true them/tighten spokes though, a bit of a wobble developed after my last trail ride.

Tires/tubes-very good for pretty much all roads great on anything hard packed. Good on wet pavement too. Pretty slippery on mud, leaves, wet grass etc. But they manage to get through even if the bike is very sideways when doing it. I've seen a number of reports of Hawk tubes failing. Not sure if the Bashans are better or if i've just been fortunate, but they have held up.

Swing arm-Seems tough, no issues, chain adjust notches are easy to see . The decals did peels off, but I didn't really like them anyway.

Plastics-As I said really to stiff for and offroad bike. all panels have gotten a lot of scratches as expected. Both of the tank panels are cracked at the support bar. Was gonna remove them but realized the will give the oil cooler some protection. On the side panels a grommet has fallen out on each side. And a tab has broken off on the right side. Really annoying the way they slide into the rear panel, the tab is very sharp and will scratch the rear panel if not careful. I'd like to find some proper dirt bike plastics.

Frame-seems tough as all hell its taken a beating, including coming down quite hard on a few logs. I haven't noticed any dents.



Riding
Highway/Commuting-
My commute is almost all local highway 55-65mph speed limit and pretty hilly. The bike did it ok, I never felt I was going dangerously slow. However I was undoubtedly relegated to the right lane, coming up on a slow person passes need to be well timed and preferably on a down hill. My GPS top speed is 65 while the Speedo reads 72. After about 25 min of WOT the engine was very hot and there was A LOT of clutch fade. I don't think I'll do this trip again until I have my oil cooler installed.

Trails-The bike is quite capable on most easier trails at an easy pace, as the trail gets tougher you will feel the limits of the suspension trying to go faster on rough terrain. The bike carries it weight very well, and is generally eay to flick around and maneuver. Still the tires will limit you more than anything when the going gets rough. I took the bike on some pretty knarly single track. I got through most of it though not with a whole lot of grace. I found the limits of traction trying to get up a steep hill, covered in leaves( I didn't get far). Ground clearance is pretty good for most obstacles. A little pop up with the clutch can get you over a lot. Still usually need to slide over bigger logs. I took it up on some gas line lanes, pretty fun hitting the little fire breaks as jumps. it does not take much air to bottom out though.

Back roads/dirt/gravel/unimproved- This is where the bike truly shines. The powerband is perfect for the 45-50mph. The bike glides over most imperfections. It feels good and planted. The tires grip nicely and I flick the bike around sumo style with confidence. Since this is really where most of my time is spent I really love the bike for this kind of riding.

Conclusion-
I'm still very happy with the Brozz, it really is a good and tough little bike. There have been some annoyances that I didn't expect having to deal with so soon or at all. But overall most of what happened I expected and it's fine. Most of this stuff needs to be improved on Japanese bikes as well. I look forward to continuing to ride and improve my little Chinese dragon.