Brand new DF250RTG....

mzweig · 02-06-2021, 04:05 PM

A friend of ours bought a new DF250RTG. Because I am an experienced motorcyclist and bike mechanic (I have owned 300+ bikes over the last 50 years and have restored many), she had it sent to our house for assembly. I wanted to share my experience thus far with it.

To start with, the place she ordered from (gokartsusa.com) made her pay with a wire transfer and then took forever to ship it—six weeks or more. Horrible communications too. When the bike finally arrived, it was assembled and on a falling-apart pallet held down with tiedowns. Because they weren’t hooked up properly, the left side cover was destroyed. Also the left rear turn signal was broken off. The handlebars (super cheap flat bars) were bent. The fuel tank has several small dents. The other side over was scratched as was the muffler. There was either a nameplate or reflector missing on the front of the bike.

There was only one bar-end mirror instead of four as shown. The front forks were loose in their triple trees. The front wheel was loose. The shifter was installed incorrectly—had to be removed and reinstalled about a half inch further onto the shaft. We are missing a bolt under the seat and a nut for the clutch lever. There is a clutch cut off plunger switch just dangling with nowhere to hook it up that I could find. The whole bike needed to be gone through. One problem I cannot fix is too much slack in the throttle cable and I have the adjusters all the way out but can’t correct it. We got no MSO and no manual with it.

Since then, I ordered new bars and turn signals for it on Amazon, glued the sidecover back together, and put decals over the dented tank areas. I have a set of bar end mirrors I will install when the new bars go on.

I fired the bike up after charging the battery and figuring out it had an almost unreachable choke lever and that the little gas in the tank wasn’t enough to get to the carb. As someone who owns a Janus Halcyon 250 (which also has a 229 cc Chinese engine) I was surprised how fast this little DF is (and it is very little!). Much faster than the Janus. Or I should say quicker. It’s geared lower than my Janus. It also has a Japanese carburetor on it which I was surprised to see. All I had to do was turn up the idle some. Sounds good. Very surprised how it runs.

The bike is very small. Feels like a Honda 90. Seat height is 28”. Weight is low. Small fuel tank. Tiny headlight, signals, fenders, seat, and taillight. Don’t understand why they would install a heel-and-toe shifter. No tach. Speedo and odometer are in kilometers. Overall quality is not impressive. Paint quality is pretty poor. Lighting is super cheap. Front forks are the cheapest spindly things I have ever seen! But overall what are you going to get for this kind of money? It cost a fourth of what my Janus did and when you see it or work on it you can see why. That said, it’s a bargain. I don’t think it is a bad first bike at all and will be perfect for our friend to learn on. Anyone with minor mechanical skills could probably keep it going.

I have to laugh a little at those who think you can’t ride a new bike like this over 30 for the first 500 miles. It’s a matter of revs and not running it at sustained high rpm or putting too much load on it to break it in. It is good for an engine like this to run it hard for a short bit when new. And some people change the oil three times in 500 miles! I will do this thing at 500 miles for the first time. These pushrod engines are bulletproof and they sell millions of them in third world countries. A new engine is $600 turn key. I would not be too worried about it. It will be fine. These engines are bulletproof!

franque · 02-06-2021, 04:29 PM

It might be best to initially change the oil, they sometimes ship with oil that's basically just corrosion preventative (some joke that it's used wok oil) that doesn't really lubricate the engine very well. After that, change as the oil blackens. It's interesting that you have a Janus, which model, and what do you think of it?

mzweig · 02-06-2021, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by franque

It might be best to initially change the oil, they sometimes ship with oil that's basically just corrosion preventative (some joke that it's used wok oil) that doesn't really lubricate the engine very well. After that, change as the oil blackens. It's interesting that you have a Janus, which model, and what do you think of it?

I hear you on the oil but don’t forget millions of these go to India and Vietnam other places where they get no maintenance until they break!

I like it! I have a Halcyon. It feels like an archaic machine and I love the quality and aesthetics of it. The hard tail takes a little getting used to. You have to push your butt back in the seat to get the seat springs to do some work. They are a great company and have a real following.

I bought it for several reasons. I have always wanted one since they came out three or four years ago. Back then I had a bunch of bikes, including a beer Triumph Thruxton 1200, a Honda CB 1100 slightly modified, a Puch 250 Twingle, Gilera 106SS, two sportsters—one a cafe racer I built with alloy tank and clip ons and rearsets and twin high pipes, and the other a Sportster “72” with raked front end, a CL350, and a Benelli 250 with 2000 miles in my living room.

Short story is a kid pulled out of a side street 20 feet ahead of me and I hit him and destroyed my left hand. After that, Mama thought I was too old to be riding much and I agreed. Then I eventually talked her into letting me get the Janus. Still have the CL and my ‘66 Benelli. Just don’t ride much any more.

franque · 02-07-2021, 04:00 PM

Dealers in other countries, where people buying these aren't buying a toy, do a proper setup and stand by their product, I guarantee they change out the oil that it comes with. I'm just trying to spare the poor engine if it came without the proper oil. It's just a quart and a bolt away from being changed.

mzweig · 02-07-2021, 04:45 PM

Silly to keep talking about the oil. As I stated I will change the oil jn one of these 229 cc motors at 500 miles. Three times in 500 miles is unnecessary for what is a low-performance industrial grade engine that can be replaced for $559.

Back on the bike—the triple tree is pretty crude, and the fork tubes are held in by only one pinch bolt per side—casting is threaded and easily stripped. Not the best casting, either!

franque · 02-07-2021, 06:54 PM

To belabor a point, because it's important (especially considering $10 for one oil change vs the price for a new engine, that she (?) would be paying to replace), it is standard procedure, even with 'name-brand' bikes to do an oil change within the first 100 miles or 10 hours of run time, give or take. I'm a professional mechanic, and I've done this more times than I care to count.

I'm not advocating 3 oil changes before 500 miles, I agree that that is generally unnecessary. The oil they ship with for the cheaper brands might as well be canola oil, that's the point that I'm trying to make. If you've verified that it's good oil, no worries, but if its just cheap corrosion preventative, you're unnecessarily shortening the life of the engine, and doing your friend a disservice. It doesn't matter if the engine is relatively cheap, it's around 1/3 the price of the bike for what could be something easily prevented.

With this specific family of engines (Honda CB, OHC, and CG, which are pushrod) , short of adding an oil cooler to manage oil temperature and increase oil capacity, the design brief is for 1l of oil every 1000km, so if it shipped with junk oil, I could easily see changing the oil before the first start, then second oil change at 100 miles, and the third at 700 (100 miles + 1000km).

Their oil filtration system is not a conventional filter, but a slinger, like older British bikes and pre /5 BMWs, and with a small amount of oil circulating, they tend to need the oil changed more often.

I have a Honda CB and I notice a huge difference in shifting when I change the oil at the 1000km mark, in some ways it seems excessive, but it makes a huge difference. I'm just trying to spare you and your friend a headache that could be solved with a $10 investment.

On to other stuff though, make sure to use plenty of locktite on anything subject to vibration, and for stuff like the fork pinch bolts, I would drill through, replace the bolt with a higher quality bolt, and put a nut on the back side. Many of the fasteners found on the cheaper stuff tend to be bargain basement quality, so for something like that, I would just switch to something stronger.

Glad to hear about the Halcyon, I think they're really interesting, they're just unfortunately out of my budget, but I'd love to own one one day! You should post up some pictures, and maybe start up a thread about it, I for one would be interested, but I think that there would be more people on here who would like to see it/hear your in depth impressions on it.

mzweig · 02-09-2021, 08:36 AM

I didn’t really think putting the Janus up here would be appropriate because it is an “American” bike.

Great idea on the triple crown. I will do as you suggest.

culcune · 02-09-2021, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mzweig

I didn’t really think putting the Janus up here would be appropriate because it is an “American” bike.

We have never been a 'strict' group on bikes, but a whole non-Chinese bike would be discussed on the 'Other' section. One popular active thread in our Dual Sport section is a member from Australia installing a Chinese CG250 engine in his old Honda XL185. We have had similar threads in fact--repowering old Hondas with Chinese engines. So, there would be no reason to frown upon your Janus. Generally, most discussions involve the engines (troubleshooting minor issues, speed advice, etc) so your bike has a bunch to discuss based on its Zongshen mill.

02-06-2021, 04:05 PM	#1
mzweig Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 7	Brand new DF250RTG.... A friend of ours bought a new DF250RTG. Because I am an experienced motorcyclist and bike mechanic (I have owned 300+ bikes over the last 50 years and have restored many), she had it sent to our house for assembly. I wanted to share my experience thus far with it. To start with, the place she ordered from (gokartsusa.com) made her pay with a wire transfer and then took forever to ship it—six weeks or more. Horrible communications too. When the bike finally arrived, it was assembled and on a falling-apart pallet held down with tiedowns. Because they weren’t hooked up properly, the left side cover was destroyed. Also the left rear turn signal was broken off. The handlebars (super cheap flat bars) were bent. The fuel tank has several small dents. The other side over was scratched as was the muffler. There was either a nameplate or reflector missing on the front of the bike. There was only one bar-end mirror instead of four as shown. The front forks were loose in their triple trees. The front wheel was loose. The shifter was installed incorrectly—had to be removed and reinstalled about a half inch further onto the shaft. We are missing a bolt under the seat and a nut for the clutch lever. There is a clutch cut off plunger switch just dangling with nowhere to hook it up that I could find. The whole bike needed to be gone through. One problem I cannot fix is too much slack in the throttle cable and I have the adjusters all the way out but can’t correct it. We got no MSO and no manual with it. Since then, I ordered new bars and turn signals for it on Amazon, glued the sidecover back together, and put decals over the dented tank areas. I have a set of bar end mirrors I will install when the new bars go on. I fired the bike up after charging the battery and figuring out it had an almost unreachable choke lever and that the little gas in the tank wasn’t enough to get to the carb. As someone who owns a Janus Halcyon 250 (which also has a 229 cc Chinese engine) I was surprised how fast this little DF is (and it is very little!). Much faster than the Janus. Or I should say quicker. It’s geared lower than my Janus. It also has a Japanese carburetor on it which I was surprised to see. All I had to do was turn up the idle some. Sounds good. Very surprised how it runs. The bike is very small. Feels like a Honda 90. Seat height is 28”. Weight is low. Small fuel tank. Tiny headlight, signals, fenders, seat, and taillight. Don’t understand why they would install a heel-and-toe shifter. No tach. Speedo and odometer are in kilometers. Overall quality is not impressive. Paint quality is pretty poor. Lighting is super cheap. Front forks are the cheapest spindly things I have ever seen! But overall what are you going to get for this kind of money? It cost a fourth of what my Janus did and when you see it or work on it you can see why. That said, it’s a bargain. I don’t think it is a bad first bike at all and will be perfect for our friend to learn on. Anyone with minor mechanical skills could probably keep it going. I have to laugh a little at those who think you can’t ride a new bike like this over 30 for the first 500 miles. It’s a matter of revs and not running it at sustained high rpm or putting too much load on it to break it in. It is good for an engine like this to run it hard for a short bit when new. And some people change the oil three times in 500 miles! I will do this thing at 500 miles for the first time. These pushrod engines are bulletproof and they sell millions of them in third world countries. A new engine is $600 turn key. I would not be too worried about it. It will be fine. These engines are bulletproof!
	3

02-06-2021, 04:29 PM	#2
franque Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Marseille, France -> Conakry, Guinea Posts: 1,481	It might be best to initially change the oil, they sometimes ship with oil that's basically just corrosion preventative (some joke that it's used wok oil) that doesn't really lubricate the engine very well. After that, change as the oil blackens. It's interesting that you have a Janus, which model, and what do you think of it?
	1

02-07-2021, 04:00 PM	#4
franque Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Marseille, France -> Conakry, Guinea Posts: 1,481	Dealers in other countries, where people buying these aren't buying a toy, do a proper setup and stand by their product, I guarantee they change out the oil that it comes with. I'm just trying to spare the poor engine if it came without the proper oil. It's just a quart and a bolt away from being changed.
	0

02-07-2021, 04:45 PM	#5
mzweig Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 7	Silly to keep talking about the oil. As I stated I will change the oil jn one of these 229 cc motors at 500 miles. Three times in 500 miles is unnecessary for what is a low-performance industrial grade engine that can be replaced for $559. Back on the bike—the triple tree is pretty crude, and the fork tubes are held in by only one pinch bolt per side—casting is threaded and easily stripped. Not the best casting, either!
	0

02-07-2021, 06:54 PM	#6
franque Join Date: Nov 2017 Location: Marseille, France -> Conakry, Guinea Posts: 1,481	To belabor a point, because it's important (especially considering $10 for one oil change vs the price for a new engine, that she (?) would be paying to replace), it is standard procedure, even with 'name-brand' bikes to do an oil change within the first 100 miles or 10 hours of run time, give or take. I'm a professional mechanic, and I've done this more times than I care to count. I'm not advocating 3 oil changes before 500 miles, I agree that that is generally unnecessary. The oil they ship with for the cheaper brands might as well be canola oil, that's the point that I'm trying to make. If you've verified that it's good oil, no worries, but if its just cheap corrosion preventative, you're unnecessarily shortening the life of the engine, and doing your friend a disservice. It doesn't matter if the engine is relatively cheap, it's around 1/3 the price of the bike for what could be something easily prevented. With this specific family of engines (Honda CB, OHC, and CG, which are pushrod) , short of adding an oil cooler to manage oil temperature and increase oil capacity, the design brief is for 1l of oil every 1000km, so if it shipped with junk oil, I could easily see changing the oil before the first start, then second oil change at 100 miles, and the third at 700 (100 miles + 1000km). Their oil filtration system is not a conventional filter, but a slinger, like older British bikes and pre /5 BMWs, and with a small amount of oil circulating, they tend to need the oil changed more often. I have a Honda CB and I notice a huge difference in shifting when I change the oil at the 1000km mark, in some ways it seems excessive, but it makes a huge difference. I'm just trying to spare you and your friend a headache that could be solved with a $10 investment. On to other stuff though, make sure to use plenty of locktite on anything subject to vibration, and for stuff like the fork pinch bolts, I would drill through, replace the bolt with a higher quality bolt, and put a nut on the back side. Many of the fasteners found on the cheaper stuff tend to be bargain basement quality, so for something like that, I would just switch to something stronger. Glad to hear about the Halcyon, I think they're really interesting, they're just unfortunately out of my budget, but I'd love to own one one day! You should post up some pictures, and maybe start up a thread about it, I for one would be interested, but I think that there would be more people on here who would like to see it/hear your in depth impressions on it.
	0

02-09-2021, 08:36 AM	#7
mzweig Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: Fayetteville, AR Posts: 7	I didn’t really think putting the Janus up here would be appropriate because it is an “American” bike. Great idea on the triple crown. I will do as you suggest.
	1