Apollo Has Landed! I Repeat-- Apollo Has Landed! :)

Jim Rogers · 05-28-2020, 10:16 PM

My Apollo DB36 landed last Tuesday! I got the last one Orion had in stock due to the virus. Pulled it off the pallet right away:

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Name: 2020-05-26 12.53.06.jpg
Views: 804
Size: 97.4 KB

Paid for the full setup (just add gas and GO!), but it was raining all day so I could only ride it up and down my (~60 yard long) driveway a few times. I'm brand new to the off road riding hobby, so I was pretty excited. And after several passes up and down the driveway I was.... pissed!

The thing ran like crap. Terrible bogging from about half throttle on up. I mean-- it wasn't even ridable. And that's after I paid Orion to do the run in, oil change, etc. I know the carbs on these Chinese bikes are notorious for needing adjustment, but I was pretty pissed that Orion would deliver a bike to me that was so bad that it wasn't even ridable!

Today was the first day in a week that it didn't rain, so I decided to take it out again. I live on 10 acres of land and intend to create my own single track through it. Since I'm brand new at the hobby, I probably looked a little dorky going really slow and bobbing around to keep my balance on the uneven ground.

However, after about the fourth loop around I was getting a feel for the bike and the terrain, gaining confidence, and going faster. The bike seemed to be running fine, so I took it out on the road for a quick spin. There was no bogging at all and it ran great at all throttle levels.

I'm thinking that I didn't properly heed the advice that these bike take a while to warm up. When I test rode on Tuesday, I let it warm up maybe 5 min and rode maybe 10 minutes. I'm thinking that wasn't enough.

Here she is after that first off-road ride:

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Name: 2020-05-28 17.22.49.jpg
Views: 782
Size: 92.8 KB

So, tonight I'm really happy. I think the bike is fine, I really like it, and I had a blast riding it off-road. My plan is to ride every day I can (pretty easy since I'm doing it on my own property!), develop my riding skills, create a nice track, and probably crash plenty in the process. I would like to become a skilled off-road rider, and I'm starting with the Apollo.

Not sure I'm going to do any significant mods (though the pumper carb sounds tempting), but I do think I want a lower final drive ratio. My land is bumpy and I don't ride that fast (at least not yet!) and I think I'm slipping the clutch a lot.

I also want to learn more about this bike, so I'll probably post questions on this thread as they come up. I've been following this forum for a couple of years, so I'm pretty happy to finally have one of these Chinese bikes that I've read about for so long!

05-28-2020, 10:16 PM	#1
Jim Rogers Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 38	Apollo Has Landed! I Repeat-- Apollo Has Landed! :) My Apollo DB36 landed last Tuesday! I got the last one Orion had in stock due to the virus. Pulled it off the pallet right away: Paid for the full setup (just add gas and GO!), but it was raining all day so I could only ride it up and down my (~60 yard long) driveway a few times. I'm brand new to the off road riding hobby, so I was pretty excited. And after several passes up and down the driveway I was.... pissed! The thing ran like crap. Terrible bogging from about half throttle on up. I mean-- it wasn't even ridable. And that's after I paid Orion to do the run in, oil change, etc. I know the carbs on these Chinese bikes are notorious for needing adjustment, but I was pretty pissed that Orion would deliver a bike to me that was so bad that it wasn't even ridable! Today was the first day in a week that it didn't rain, so I decided to take it out again. I live on 10 acres of land and intend to create my own single track through it. Since I'm brand new at the hobby, I probably looked a little dorky going really slow and bobbing around to keep my balance on the uneven ground. However, after about the fourth loop around I was getting a feel for the bike and the terrain, gaining confidence, and going faster. The bike seemed to be running fine, so I took it out on the road for a quick spin. There was no bogging at all and it ran great at all throttle levels. I'm thinking that I didn't properly heed the advice that these bike take a while to warm up. When I test rode on Tuesday, I let it warm up maybe 5 min and rode maybe 10 minutes. I'm thinking that wasn't enough. Here she is after that first off-road ride: So, tonight I'm really happy. I think the bike is fine, I really like it, and I had a blast riding it off-road. My plan is to ride every day I can (pretty easy since I'm doing it on my own property!), develop my riding skills, create a nice track, and probably crash plenty in the process. I would like to become a skilled off-road rider, and I'm starting with the Apollo. Not sure I'm going to do any significant mods (though the pumper carb sounds tempting), but I do think I want a lower final drive ratio. My land is bumpy and I don't ride that fast (at least not yet!) and I think I'm slipping the clutch a lot. I also want to learn more about this bike, so I'll probably post questions on this thread as they come up. I've been following this forum for a couple of years, so I'm pretty happy to finally have one of these Chinese bikes that I've read about for so long!
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