The Zongshen TT 250 is Coming

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by oddthought

Well, I decided to ride up to the Bingham Canyon Mine overlook Tuesday, and I finally got around to posting the pictures online. Here is the link to the gallery where I posted all of the pictures I took. It's really annoying to upload them to this site, so I'll just direct you there. After that trip and commuting yesterday, I am up around 579 km (360 miles) and the bike is still doing well. I don't think I mentioned on here that when I adjusted the valves a while back, the intake was very tight. Both are adjusted now and the combination of valve adjustment and 17T sprocket on the front has me running a bit quicker now than I was. I've noticed the difference a lot more on the low end. My first and second gears stretch a lot further now than they did with the 15 tooth countershaft sprocket.

My top speed so far, downhill, has been 64 mph (GPS). I'm hoping I can raise that a bit, but the motor seems to be the problem rather than the gearing when I'm heading uphill. I am not opposed to trying a 47 or 43 tooth sprocket, but it feels to me like the engine can't keep up at 55 mph up the hill near my home. Maybe with a 47 or 43T rear, I could gear down and make it happen anyway. We'll see. I'm still planning on waiting until at least 500 miles before making any substantive changes to the engine itself. Of course, that's only 2 days commuting! If I do feel like I need to modify the bike to get better performance out of it, I plan to follow the "Mrs. 2LZ Phoenix" method.

So far, the only problem that wasn't my fault was my speedometer cable breaking at 341 km. I pulled it when I first got the bike, greased it, rerouted it, but it still didn't last. I'll probably replace the speedometer/odometer with the mjstef model once that's out. I want a tach anyway, since I like to have more evidence than just my finely calibrated ears can provide. Other things I've encountered was a drop on the right side that broke the front brake lever mount/front brake reservoir ($30 with the new lever) and a drop on the left side that broke the clutch lever ($10). I've thought about picking up a few extras (top case, saddlebags, tank bag, heated grips, quick drain oil plug, etc) but haven't yet done so. This bike has been just what I wanted so far, even if it is a little slower than I hoped.

Thanks for the report, oddthought! On Mrs. 2LZ TT, I noticed a definite increase in mid-range and the ability to sustain better speed up hills between 4-500 kilomiles, in stock form. Every evening I took it out on the exact same route for exercise and there was a noticeable improvement every evening, especially toward the end of that kilomileage.

[oddthought]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

Thanks for the report, oddthought! On Mrs. 2LZ TT, I noticed a definite increase in mid-range and the ability to sustain better speed up hills between 4-500 kilomiles, in stock form. Every evening I took it out on the exact same route for exercise and there was a noticeable improvement every evening, especially toward the end of that kilomileage.

Yeah, it's definitely improved quite a bit over the time I've had it. If I can maintain 65, that'd be enough for me to take the faster roads as I commute to work, but if it doesn't work out that way... well, maybe I'll just have to get a street-oriented bike!

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by oddthought

Yeah, it's definitely improved quite a bit over the time I've had it. If I can maintain 65, that'd be enough for me to take the faster roads as I commute to work, but if it doesn't work out that way... well, maybe I'll just have to get a street-oriented bike!

Back roads, man....back roads. Why rush? It's only work. ;-)

[oddthought]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

Back roads, man....back roads. Why rush? It's only work. ;-)

My wife and kids might get mad if I up my commute from my normal 2 hours a day to 3+. That ride up Butterfield Canyon made it a 4 hour ride!

[2LZ]

New TT250 low seat kit! May work on the Hawk too? Seat Concepts makes a nice seat. I love the tall seat on my RX3. Quality stuff.

http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/TT250-...sc-300ttkt.htm

[oddthought]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

New TT250 low seat kit! May work on the Hawk too? Seat Concepts makes a nice seat. I love the tall seat on my RX3. Quality stuff.

http://www.cscmotorcycles.com/TT250-...sc-300ttkt.htm

That sounds friggin' wonderful. I like that idea a lot! I'm on the short side for a bike like this and while I don't mind putting only toes down on both sides, it'd be a lot easier to teach my wife to ride if she could put both feet down at once.

[simonjester]

Originally Posted by oddthought

That sounds friggin' wonderful. I like that idea a lot! I'm on the short side for a bike like this and while I don't mind putting only toes down on both sides, it'd be a lot easier to teach my wife to ride if she could put both feet down at once.

I have one on order.

[PNWDualRider]

Hey guys/gals,
I posted a vid of my TT250 if any of you are interested in the bike. I put on a different exhaust so if your on the fence for that, watch the vid and then click "buy it now"!

[2LZ]

Originally Posted by simonjester

I have one on order.

Mrs. 2LZ is very interested in this once I showed her...and then showed her what a nice job Seat Concepts did on my RX3 tall seat. Nice stitching and upholstery work, for sure.
Problem is she's pretty ok with the stock seat too. We'll see how she likes it after I finally have it off the rack and she puts more miles on it. She can't "flat foot" but she does ok.

[2LZ]

Oh gosh, with how these are massively produced, my feeling is I doubt that the Chinese have put much thought into making more than one set of tranny gears for these to assemble as fast as humanly possible. They're great at build/assemble but "options" are not really their gig. It would be interesting to see if there's two sets of clusters for the Zong CG but I highly doubt it. Just a feeling, no fact.

I'm still banking on it's not broke in yet....... These little things develop a ton of heat and friction in their early lives.

[celswick13]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

Oh gosh, with how these are massively produced, my feeling is I doubt that the Chinese have put much thought into making more than one set of tranny gears for these to assemble as fast as humanly possible. They're great at build/assemble but "options" are not really their gig. It would be interesting to see if there's two sets of clusters for the Zong CG but I highly doubt it. Just a feeling, no fact.

I'm still banking on it's not broke in yet....... These little things develop a ton of heat and friction in their early lives.

Yeah I'm still leaning towards break in.
I think it's odd that it would be so "tight" compared to others, unless maybe something was installed wrong or torqued wrong, but I've seen no major signs of anything wrong.

Time will tell.

I'm installing a trail tech vapor on it right now.

[Azhule]

Originally Posted by celswick13

I'm installing a trail tech vapor on it right now.

One of the better upgrades on our Bashan was slapping on a Trail Tech Digital Speedo/Tachometer

[simonjester]

Originally Posted by Azhule

One of the better upgrades on our Bashan was slapping on a Trail Tech Digital Speedo/Tachometer

Which Trail Tech model did you use?

[celswick13]

Originally Posted by Azhule

One of the better upgrades on our Bashan was slapping on a Trail Tech Digital Speedo/Tachometer

I like the look of the msjef speedo, but I had a trail tech vapor laying around, waiting for my other bike.
I just need something that functions.

[rjmorel]

So today I got to check out my friends TT250 all afternoon by working on it. I have an 2015 RX3. He was having trouble with dead battery ,blown fuse , and burned out headlight. He left for the weekend to go camping with his young family and left me the keys to tinker with it. Was able to reroute speedo cable and front brake line like suggested here on forum. Replaced head lamp, charged battery and gave it a test ride around town and down the highway.
I'm thinking the battery may be weak/bad. I tested the charging system following the tutorial and calling Gerry and it seems in spec.
I'm thinking low battery caused stress on the rest of charging system which blew head light and fuse ???? Didn't blow anything when riding so not sure what caused the blown fuse. Maybe Noob tinkering ??????
I'd say cruising is around 50mph, But took it up to 55-60 on freeway with a tail wind. Was buzzing rpm wise. Has 500 miles on it so think it's still tight. Went through parking lots hitting front break hard to seat it in better for him.
It's a lot easier working on it then my RX3 as far as things being assessable and easy to get to. Not near as good a road bike as the heavier RX3 and I realize they are designed for 2 different purposes. Probably way better in the gravel and dirt riding then the RX3. TT250 would be a great around town ,run to the hills bike and work commuter for us small town folk.
I think I'll go get it and bring it to my house and leave the trickle on it all night. Then check voltages tomorrow.
Me want both. rj