My Lifan X-Pect Thread

orangeisnon · 10-14-2022, 06:03 AM

Just another X-Pect thread to document what I do and any observations I make to maybe help someone else not make the same mistakes I almost certainly will.
Bought mine in July of 2022 from Orion in Texas. The only reason I chose them was to get 0% financing through whichever lender they use, who I already had an account with. I had all the same issues as the other Texas Chinabike dealers - tough to get a response, took 2 months to ship, sent the wrong color, and they didn't send the MCO until I had the bike and requested it separately. Oh well, it was cheap, I got the bike and it runs. One thing to note is that they do a "break-in service" where they claim they change the oil and what-not, but it seems this does not include actually running it for any length of time, as the bike had 1 mile when it got to me. I will need to check up on maintenance before too long as this is my first motorcycle, outside of a $100 Tomos moped that I rebuilt this summer.
Build quality, as many others have mentioned, is pretty great for something this cheap. I have no doubt that it will hold up to my 70-30 road/mild dirt riding. It fires up fast but not as lightning-quick as everyone has said - might be because of valve clearance. I am not going to get into that quite yet as I have no issues with how well it runs and I don't have a good spot to work on it right now. Once it gets legitimately too cold to ride I will figure it out. As far as color goes - I was sent Red, which ended up being deeper than I expected and more of a burgandy/maroon. No complaints from me, it looks much more mature than a cherry red. It DID come with the red ring on the rim, though it feels like paint rather than tape. This surprised me - even the dealer said the rims would be solid black.
Registration was fairly easy for me - I live in Connecticut but for reasons I have an RI license. I heard that RI was peckish about registering Chinese bikes (as of 2020) so I mailed it in to Vermont. No issues, didn't even need to send the MCO. Added benefit: VT plates look infinitely better than CT ones.
I weigh about 210 without gear and my girlfriend is just under 100, and fully geared up we fit comfortably on the bike without any noticeable reduction in ride quality. I am not at all hesitant about loading it up with camping gear and running long distances. She does claim that the passenger seat area is too firm for her, though it is fine for my significantly cushier tush. She has not yet and likely will not use the grab handles so I can't comment on their usefulness aside from the fact that they make mounting side bags significantly more difficult.
On that topic - I have a set of RockBros saddle bags that were recommended by someone here, though I don't feel entirely comfortable with the way they sit and haven't committed to them yet. I plan to build a frame out of EMT conduit to support these. A company in Ukraine makes great and inexpensive racks for some Lifan models, but unfortunately not the X-Pect, and I am not about to ask them to do R&D in the middle of... You know. mmotoracks.com is their site. I also have a 45L hard aluminum case on the way for the tail area.
Actual riding about, it seems fine. There is a bit of wobble at high speeds and a bit of "bounce" at low speeds (like unevenly seated tire beads), probably related. Neutral is at times impossible to get to; other times it clicks right in without issue. I have had a few situations where it said it was in neutral but was in gear, causing it to stall out. These were early on, in the driveway, not while riding. If it does happen again I will document it.
I will continue to update this with info and photos as time goes on. Seems like a really nice bike for the money! Hopefully I can avoid doing anything too stupid for a few years and get some miles out of it.

10-14-2022, 06:03 AM	#1
orangeisnon Join Date: Sep 2022 Location: Eastern CT Posts: 15	My Lifan X-Pect Thread Just another X-Pect thread to document what I do and any observations I make to maybe help someone else not make the same mistakes I almost certainly will. Bought mine in July of 2022 from Orion in Texas. The only reason I chose them was to get 0% financing through whichever lender they use, who I already had an account with. I had all the same issues as the other Texas Chinabike dealers - tough to get a response, took 2 months to ship, sent the wrong color, and they didn't send the MCO until I had the bike and requested it separately. Oh well, it was cheap, I got the bike and it runs. One thing to note is that they do a "break-in service" where they claim they change the oil and what-not, but it seems this does not include actually running it for any length of time, as the bike had 1 mile when it got to me. I will need to check up on maintenance before too long as this is my first motorcycle, outside of a $100 Tomos moped that I rebuilt this summer. Build quality, as many others have mentioned, is pretty great for something this cheap. I have no doubt that it will hold up to my 70-30 road/mild dirt riding. It fires up fast but not as lightning-quick as everyone has said - might be because of valve clearance. I am not going to get into that quite yet as I have no issues with how well it runs and I don't have a good spot to work on it right now. Once it gets legitimately too cold to ride I will figure it out. As far as color goes - I was sent Red, which ended up being deeper than I expected and more of a burgandy/maroon. No complaints from me, it looks much more mature than a cherry red. It DID come with the red ring on the rim, though it feels like paint rather than tape. This surprised me - even the dealer said the rims would be solid black. Registration was fairly easy for me - I live in Connecticut but for reasons I have an RI license. I heard that RI was peckish about registering Chinese bikes (as of 2020) so I mailed it in to Vermont. No issues, didn't even need to send the MCO. Added benefit: VT plates look infinitely better than CT ones. I weigh about 210 without gear and my girlfriend is just under 100, and fully geared up we fit comfortably on the bike without any noticeable reduction in ride quality. I am not at all hesitant about loading it up with camping gear and running long distances. She does claim that the passenger seat area is too firm for her, though it is fine for my significantly cushier tush. She has not yet and likely will not use the grab handles so I can't comment on their usefulness aside from the fact that they make mounting side bags significantly more difficult. On that topic - I have a set of RockBros saddle bags that were recommended by someone here, though I don't feel entirely comfortable with the way they sit and haven't committed to them yet. I plan to build a frame out of EMT conduit to support these. A company in Ukraine makes great and inexpensive racks for some Lifan models, but unfortunately not the X-Pect, and I am not about to ask them to do R&D in the middle of... You know. mmotoracks.com is their site. I also have a 45L hard aluminum case on the way for the tail area. Actual riding about, it seems fine. There is a bit of wobble at high speeds and a bit of "bounce" at low speeds (like unevenly seated tire beads), probably related. Neutral is at times impossible to get to; other times it clicks right in without issue. I have had a few situations where it said it was in neutral but was in gear, causing it to stall out. These were early on, in the driveway, not while riding. If it does happen again I will document it. I will continue to update this with info and photos as time goes on. Seems like a really nice bike for the money! Hopefully I can avoid doing anything too stupid for a few years and get some miles out of it.
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