legality of engine swaps

[katoranger]

I don't need to go any faster than 75mph. Still waiting for a 350-400cc drz copy.

Allen

[TeamCheap]

Nope I've seen enough of the quality or lack thereof to know I dont want to be rolling down the road on a china bike at much over 35-40mph if/when it comes apart.
Others can-will-do ride theres a lot at faster speeds on the roads but thats their choice.

I like my china bike BUT (yes thats a big but) I always wonder/worry if it will fall apart but on my 91 dr650 I never NEVER ever had that concern and I'd run that down the E-way.

I ride mine hard off road though and it does hold up very well to the pounding I give it but really I hardly ever get it up over 50 mph in the woods and even so not for long.I would say I am usually going between 15-30mph in the woods, second and third a lot and if the trail opens up 4th 5th.
We bought ours for mostly offroading although my wife has a hard time of it in the woods so she now uses a 350 raptor on the trails.

[steelrfn]

I think I will get the one I have tags first, and see how scary it is.
I have had it up to 65 or so once or twice, and it seemed pretty stable, although that was country roads with little or no traffic.

[katoranger]

I am not afraid to ride mine. I have gone over it enough to not concern myself. I was at first when it vibed horribly, but that is fixed now and I have lost any parts in a long time.

I mostly ride at 45-50mph going to work.

Allen

[TeamCheap]

Originally Posted by katoranger

I am not afraid to ride mine. I have gone over it enough to not concern myself. I was at first when it vibed horribly, but that is fixed now and I have lost any parts in a long time.

I mostly ride at 45-50mph going to work.

Allen

So you have changed out your front/rear axle bolts and the swing arm bolt and all the triple tree bolts and the rear shock suspension bolts and replaced the stock wheel bearings.
yeah I suppose that would do it for me as well but I'm not going to do that to this bike just to run the road but then ours were bought for more off road use and they are fine for that .If it breaks off in the woods I'll just drag it back to the trailer and load and go.

I guess I'm getting old and think more of what can happen but mostly its because I have seen what the chinese use to build these.
If I had oh lets say a V-strom or a BMW X-country I'd roll any road even the expressways without a concern.

[theENIGMATIC]

I would be worried about more than the frame for that kind of power....not to mention these bikes can be hard to handle with a 200cc...yeah I think with the power of a 300 or 400cc engine nailing a pot hole could crush the tin like frame on these things too though, although to each is own, I think a good rider could get away with it 8)

[katoranger]

I am not jumping mine or planning to run a larger engine. I inspected the front and rear axles/bearings an check the swingarm bolt. All are in good order.

I replaced my engine bolts.

I was alittle concern about those items at first, but they have not given me any issues and I have read no posts about an axle failure yet.

I don't usually ride faster than 55, but will for short bursts.

My commute is on 40-45mph roads.

Allen

[IronFist]

On both my chinabike and now my honda, I like riding between 60-70mph for long periods, 12 hours besides getting fuel for me and the bike. On long rides I always think about what would happen if I suddenly lost my front wheel. Never my chain getting caught in the spokes. I never think about what a crash would be like? Just my front tire falling off and rolling infront of me. And me looking at it thinking, "Yep, that's bad."

The odd part is that it really isn't likely at all. :?
Now that's strange eh?

[steelrfn]

Originally Posted by IronFist

On both my chinabike and now my honda, I like riding between 60-70mph for long periods, 12 hours besides getting fuel for me and the bike. On long rides I always think about what would happen if I suddenly lost my front wheel. Never my chain getting caught in the spokes. I never think about what a crash would be like? Just my front tire falling off and rolling infront of me. And me looking at it thinking, "Yep, that's bad."

The odd part is that it really isn't likely at all. :?
Now that's strange eh?

Wow! 8O If I spent all my time riding worrying about catastrophic failures I would wind up giving it up.

[red2003]

Originally Posted by steelrfn

Wow! 8O If I spent all my time riding worrying about catastrophic failures I would wind up giving it up.

I agree. Having crashed more then once, I know EXACTLY what it feels like. It hurts. But, it's a risk we all take every time we throw our leg over the bike. Doesn't matter if it's a China bike or a Yamaha, if you blow a tire, break a chain, lock up a tranny, etc, it's gonna hurt. I worry A LOT more about the idiots on the road running into me then I do a part on my bike failing. Seriously, if it is a constant thing in the back of your mind, it's probably not the right mode of transportation for you.

[TeamCheap]

yep as I get older and wiser I think of all sorts of things and some times it stops me from making bad mistakes and other times it helps me take care of potentional problems.

I never worried about things like that on my suzuki or honda but this china bike is another thing since I have seen how they do things and what they use the make things so I simply do not trust them to have it close to right.
After having an engine mounting bolt pop its head and hit me in the leg when the bikes were less than two hours old and having just ridden on paved and dirt roads lightly nothing and no one will convince me to blindly believe the chinese have these things close to safe.

Some people just think someone else is looking out for them and will take care of things but those are the people that have reality come and slap them hard to the ground.

Thats not to say the other big name bike makers havnt had their mistakes but atleast they have R & D departments with real engineers.

steelrfn if you could keep up with going thru the trails youd see I dont fear the bike offroad but on road at speed with traffic if/when one of those cheap low grade chinese bolts break your really in for it.
Actually considering the workout my bike gets out on the trails it should hold up very well but I simply dont trust the manufacturers enough.

Doesnt really matter since I bought my bike for about 70% trail 30% road.

I'd still like to see some one swap in a different engine.
If they are built bullet proof then drop in a screaming 1000cc 4 cylinder and take a vid of it, I'd love to see that.

[theENIGMATIC]

I think the China bikes are safe, but only for a bike going 80-90mph...
I am still new to these bikes and bikes in general but I have made alot of the mistakes you guys are talking about but I did them in second gear in a parking lot.you learn from these mistakes and what to do at higher speeds.not only are my skills improving so is the performance of the bike..I think alot of inexperienced riders get carried away and clown around testing out top speed on the highway in the bikes first week, not only is this hard on the bike but problems such as gear change problems, turning braking etc...should be 100% fixed from the riders point of view before you rock and roll, that way both you and your bike live longer, I know the main part of the motorcycle license test in Ontario is done at slow speeds,I wonder why?? :?: I know new riders who can take a Ninja 100kmph down a 80kmph street but cant turn at a stop sign without putting down thier foot, I wonder why they fail the test? I agree China bikes can be a bit more of a trick than a fine tuned Suzuki but I have not seen a problem yet with mine that was not due to rider error! :roll:

[steelrfn]

Originally Posted by TeamCheap

yep as I get older and wiser I think of all sorts of things and some times it stops me from making bad mistakes and other times it helps me take care of potentional problems.

I never worried about things like that on my suzuki or honda but this china bike is another thing since I have seen how they do things and what they use the make things so I simply do not trust them to have it close to right.
After having an engine mounting bolt pop its head and hit me in the leg when the bikes were less than two hours old and having just ridden on paved and dirt roads lightly nothing and no one will convince me to blindly believe the chinese have these things close to safe.

Some people just think someone else is looking out for them and will take care of things but those are the people that have reality come and slap them hard to the ground.

Thats not to say the other big name bike makers havnt had their mistakes but atleast they have R & D departments with real engineers.

steelrfn if you could keep up with going thru the trails youd see I dont fear the bike offroad but on road at speed with traffic if/when one of those cheap low grade chinese bolts break your really in for it.
Actually considering the workout my bike gets out on the trails it should hold up very well but I simply dont trust the manufacturers enough.

Doesnt really matter since I bought my bike for about 70% trail 30% road.

I'd still like to see some one swap in a different engine.
If they are built bullet proof then drop in a screaming 1000cc 4 cylinder and take a vid of it, I'd love to see that.

No thanks, aint no way I would want to be on top of that when the frame shredded.
I was thinking about one of the 300cc watercooled engines though.
It will all depend on how it does with the sprocket change and on my first few street rides.