Templar X 250

[Texas Pete]

Got up early this morning and was blessed with the temperatures dropping all the way down to 32 F again overnight.


I went to start the bike again to see if I encountered the starting issues I had yesterday in this post:
https://chinariders.net/showpost.php...&postcount=870


And the bike instantly started right away so excellent news! All is good again in the Templar universe

I will continue to monitor it over the year but I can now reasonably deduce that the hard start during that cold morning issue was caused by the throttle cable problem from the headlight assembly rewiring that was subsequently resolved above in post #871:
https://chinariders.net/showpost.php...&postcount=871

[Thumper]

Throttle cable binding. Hmmm.

I had reworked the wiring and cable routing on the 6 speed and it seemed OK. Late season, I did begin to get a wandering idle. It had elevated idle when I dropped the throttle (like at a stop sign or when pulling into the driveway.

But it also has a tendancy to stall as if the idle mixture is leaning out (I think that would also explain the wandering idle, wouldn't it??

When it is running, the bike is great above idle and throughout the rpm range offroad and on the street.

I don't have time for it these days though. To do list is growing with kids in school and Holidays, not to mention household stuff.

I will mention one thing here though:
I had to drain the fuel tank on both Templars many times to lift off the tank and get into the frame and engine area. Each time, I pulled the fuel supply line at the carburetor inlet and drained it into a gas tank. Each time, the fuel flowed fast and free. It definitely came out way faster than needed to keep the float bowl filled, so ... I don't thing there is any issue at the petcock. And fuel doesn't stop flowing when it gets cold like oil does.

I was thinking there could an intake spigot leak. Maybe up against the engine it isn't totally sealed. Or maybe the float valve is dirty.

[tknj99]

I think maybe the intake manifold gasket or manifold itself is the culprit and perhaps a weak link on these bikes. I had previously posted as well about mine stalling several times when cold and occasionally a "puff" type of sound before it would stall. Once rpms are held up for a bit she'll idle fine, so for now my workaround has been to just raise the idle (my aftermarket carb has a big yellow dial so its easy) up when cold and then lower it after about a minute

[Thumper]

I thought it was you tk... I remember you also mentioning this. Yes, the intake spigot (I use that term instead of manifold since there is only one carb!).

I did mention trying the starting fluid spray test but I just never did it. That would be a definitive test.

The leaning out question never got a comment. My assumption is that leaning out causes elevated idle, then stall. Does this make sense?

Originally Posted by tknj99

I think maybe the intake manifold gasket or manifold itself is the culprit and perhaps a weak link on these bikes. I had previously posted as well about mine stalling several times when cold and occasionally a "puff" type of sound before it would stall. Once rpms are held up for a bit she'll idle fine, so for now my workaround has been to just raise the idle (my aftermarket carb has a big yellow dial so its easy) up when cold and then lower it after about a minute

[tknj99]

Yea that may be the case although i've tested holding the choke while idling and it'll stall shortly after as well. I havent tried the starting fluid (don't have any on-hand)

[Thumper]

An air leak there would also explain hard starting. It could be sucking air.

I have some orange high temp permatex RTV. It would be easy to put up a layer of that between the manifold and the head put it all back together and give it a try.

Once I get done with all these high priority things, I'm going to give that a try

[tknj99]

Its sounding like at least 3 of us might have this issue.. wondering if there was a defect during build at the factory

[Thumper]

I have some orange high temp permatex RTV. It would be easy to put up a layer of that between the manifold and the head put it all back together and give it a try. Maybe drop from 45 to 42 on the pilot and drill out the pilot mix screw while I am at it.

Once I get done with all these high priority home chores and things, I'm going to give that a try

[Texas Pete]

Well,


Anybody notice anything different to my new build?





That's right boys, I am bonafide in Texas now!




Ok, now that is over with, some lessons and important information for Texas residents.


#1. You have to register and title your NEW VEHICLE PURCHASE within 30 days of purchase. I did not know this.

• It took about 1 week to ship the motorcycle to me.
• It took me about 1 week and 2 days to assemble the motorcycle properly and with care.
• It was going to take me 1 day to get state vehicle inspection but the weather went from very warm to 32 F and I spent most of the 3rd week waiting out the freezing mornings.
• I got the state inspection done today.
• I rode home, got in the car and immediately went to the county tax assessors office to do a "Title Transfer" the only option on their new computerized ticketing kiosk system they just installed

By the time I got to the counter the lady let me know during the process I was lucky, I almost got the time period where there would be a fine to pay on top of everything for late title and registration of a vehicle purchase!


She asked if it was for off road purpose, I said no, the MCO says motorcycle, she looked at that and was happy with going with the MCO document. She also said she loves doing MCOs because its a much easier process within their tax computer system to set up an MCO to Title than a Title to Title. That is neither here nor there, but adds some flavor to this post.


Notes for Texans on the State Vehicle Inspection.

• Inspection is visual only, no emissions or gas cap vapor leakage testing required.
• As a result the inspection fee was only $7.
• The person on the telephone I spoke with earlier within the week told me they needed to see the vehicle plate with the gross vehicle weight etc.
• My plate I don't think had Gross Weight, it did have valve clearance gaps and spark plug gap I believe on it.
• After all that worry and all the re-wiring work I did, the person performing the inspection didn't even look for Gross Weight on the plate.
• The person performing the inspection just listed the Make as OTHER on the state inspection program. But when I asked the lady at the Tax Assessors office does that mean I have to put something different under Make on their government form, she said no, looked at the MCO which said ZUMA and used that.

But that back of mind niggle about getting the Templar X 250 registered and plated in Texas is now gone!


EDIT: For what it is worth, Lowes was closer than Home Depot to the County Tax Assessors office. I went to Lowes with my new plate and tried the holes on the plate against the example board of all the different sized metric and standard sized bolts. the metric M7 fits the plate for Texas the best, your state may vary. It is also metric on the rest of the motorcycle so I kept it metric. They as usually sell you a bag with TWO bolts.. M7-16mm long was the shortest bag of M7 bolts they had. They sell you a bag with FIVE nuts.. and then they sell you a bag with 10 or so washers.. So in my case I went to town, used 6 washers, 2 nuts, 2 bolts and then since I had it on hand, some red thread locker.


EDIT 2: For what its worth the Templar X 250 started right away this morning, so another day of no start issues encountered unlike that one morning in the prior posts.

[JerryHawk250]

That great! Just curious, What information is on the plate? Does it state Motorcycle or off road Motorcycle? Texas is probably like Louisiana and don't really care. lol Here's how my Hawk was labeled. That why some states will not register them. Get out and put some miles on it.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

That great! Just curious, What information is on the plate? Does it state Motorcycle or off road Motorcycle? Texas is probably like Louisiana and don't really care. lol Here's how my Hawk was labeled. That why some states will not register them. Get out and put some miles on it.

Thats almost from memory what is on my plate information wise, except the Templar X 250 plate is black so with older eyes you have to close and move your head about and shine nice lighting in there to see whats on it.


Oddly enough there is also a PAPER based sticker, black with writing that has the same exact information. It seems they were paper based then something changed and they put metal plate over the bottom portion of the sticker.

[knwilson]

Any chance anyone has a list of the tools needed for assembly? I just got one delivered, but it is not at a location I have tool. I was going to grab a bag of what I needed from home, but don't want to take the entire tool chest... ;-)

[Texas Pete]

Forks: 1 1/2 rings above triple T (now I'm using my dial calipers, with the caliper on top of the fork top I have 38/64ths (19/32nds) to the top of the triple T. But using the fork rings its a plain 1 1/2 rings as a cross-reference.)

All clickers: Out to fully soft then in 1/4 the number of total turns each has in its adjustment range.
Rear spring sag: Not set, don't have a tool for it yet.


This morning's ride to the state inspection location. Half way between right at the same height as triple T and 3 rings above the triple T. It has that initial twitch to turn but then settles more planted. Hard to describe, it could be the new knobbies as well so for now I am going with the feel being half way between the previous two rake angle adjustments. Suspension is still firm but not rock hard like having the clickers exactly halfway between hard and soft as a default starting position for tuning the suspension. I will over time break into individual suspension components and slowly dial each in and eventually get it where I like it... my initial first 30 seconds feel I was thinking maybe I'd like 2 rings but we will see how it goes and if I get to another rake change.


Now that I have a chance to breathe from the whole build, inspection and registration, plating and title process I can start to look at breaking down the wheels, swapping rear sprockets, new chain, removing rim locks, plugging rim lock holes and balancing the wheels with wheel weights at a much more leisurely pace.

[Texas Pete]

Originally Posted by knwilson

Any chance anyone has a list of the tools needed for assembly? I just got one delivered, but it is not at a location I have tool. I was going to grab a bag of what I needed from home, but don't want to take the entire tool chest... ;-)

The hardware is all METRIC on this bike so make sure you get combo sets or at minimum metric sets:

• Decent Screwdriver set (although the ultra cheap amber one with rubber grips at the checkout stations has the perfect flat blade for adjusting the air pilot screw once you free the aluminum plug out of the carb to get access to it. But if doing carb work, bench vise, drill set, hacksaw with fresh blade, etc.)
• Decent selection Spanner/Wrench Set
• Decent selection Socket Set
• 32mm socket (Harbor Freight) - Rear Axle Nut and Triple T now pre-installed so not needed for assembly but will be for working on steering down the road
• 21mm socket (I got craftsman/black from Lowes) - Front Axle Nut
• motorcycle axle multi tool from eBay, Amazon, wherever if memory serves it is the 19mm hex key part on the tool that fits the front axle.
• Red and Blue thread locker (cheapest at Harbor Freight)
• Valve stem tool to remove and reinstall and make sure valve stems are securely installed from the factory -- my bike was not holding air and powersportsmax said to try removing and reinstalling the valve stem as the factory making the tubes might not be installing them tightly.

The rest will be misc tools, pliers with cutting teeth to quickly cut plastic zip ties, tie down wire from the crate etc.


If you want to go like me and go over all the bolts and get them torqued in properly:

• 1/2 inch Digital Torque Adapter (Harbor Freight)
• 1/2 inch Torque Bar (Harbor Freight)
• Adapters from 1/2" to all the other sizes, two daisy chained to get to 1/4" (Harbor Freight) - not sure if both needed, I got both the black and the chrome sets.
• Rubber mallet
• Chain breaker tool (cheapest for decent enough build quality at Harbor Freight)
• New Chain and New Rear Sprocket if intending to use the bike on the streets as well as off road but now we are starting to divert from simply tools.

[Texas Pete]

Taking my time now doing small jobs one at a time.


Today was Hour Meter and 2nd Spokes Torque Check. First the hour meter / tachometer. After reading the Operating Instructions they made it clear that using the meter to read and display RPM figures drains the battery faster than using the meter only as an hour meter. So according to the instructions I scanned and uploaded (link below) I set my meter to only do hour logging and display.


The cleanest installation I could think of that also was out of both rain and direct sunlight was under the fuel tank. The left side had a lovely flat spot and the right side had a rounde square corner dimple in the tank at the bottom for some reason. This was the side closest to the spark wire.


Four stroke motors need windings on the plug for most accurate reading according to the Operating Instructions, while two strokes can get by winding the spark wire. To be honest I could likely get by with just winding the spark wire as I don't need accuracy in RPM readings. However I am close enough to the plug, so I just wrapped it as instructed.


Cleanest installation I could think of.





After installing the hour meter, it was time to test it out.


I started the bike and it instantly started and again prooved to me that one morning's starting issue in the posts above was gone and perhaps for good. After setting the idle speed again after riding it harder down the streets this new idle setting allowed for quick cold morning start. 30 seconds on choke and touch of throttle, then a minute on no choke and a touch of throttle at which point I let go of the throttle and it was a perfect 1,500 RPM.





It's not exciting of course, and its not in my face, but its purpose is for maintenance only and just logging hours I am happy with it protected and out of the way until I need a reading although it might be inconventient I could use a mirror or just my phone to read the display the one time I need it.


Hour & Tachometer Operating Instructions:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xgF...ew?usp=sharing









Wheel Spokes, 2nd Inspection and adjustment.




Now that I have three rides on the bike, I got it back up on the jack stand.





This time I tried my 6.1mm tip and it was a bit loose on most of the spokes except a few still rounded and not flattened under turn pressure yet. But I already had the first torque put into the spokes so I wasn't too worried and did both front and rear rims with the 6.1mm tip.


I found about 3 front spokes had loosened up a bit and they quickly set in back to torque specifications. I found the rear wheel had no spokes that had loosened up. Now I am good until the next few rides. I will keep torquing as the wheels settle in from the rides and bumps and eventually lock in at the set torque specification.