Need lots of advice

[Dingir]

Not sure if this is the proper place for this but I am looking for some advice
I am new to riding and bought my first bike, a bashan storm 250, this morning.
I am looking for some help on some things,
-What gasoline to run? the shop i bought it from had it filled already
-what oil to use?
-how to find the fuel filter/air filter.
-how to use and fill the reserve tank, and will the bike die and i have to switch it over to reserve or does it just go to reserve automatically?
-I loctited the turn signals, the big bolt on the rear brake, and that was pretty much it, what else should I loctite?
-when should i change the oil, the guy at the shop said he puts fresh oil in every bike and gets rid of the china oil.

Thats all I have off the top of my head right now, thanks for any insight you guys have on those

[JerryHawk250]

Welcome aboard! I moved your thread to the Dual Sport section for you. This is where you want to post question on the storm. If you read through the Hawk Resource Guide sticky at the top of the section it will answer a lot of your questions.
1. You should run a minimum of 87 octane ethanol free gas.
2. Oil- depending on temperatures. 10W-40 for cold temp and 20W-50 for hot temps.
3. Your bike may or may not come with an inline fuel filter. If it does it will be on the fuel line going to the carburetor. There is a screen filter in the tank on the petcock so an inline filter is not really needed.
4. Air filter will be located under the seat in the black air box.
5. The tank is one big container and is divided by a hump in the middle of the tank that creates the reserve area. The petcock lever will be in the up position for reserve, middle for off and down for normal riding. Always leave it in the down position and switch to the up position when you run out of gas. If you leave it in the reserve position you will burn all the gas and will not have any reserve.
6. On a new bike i would change the oil after 200-300 miles. After that about every 500-600 miles. Wait till you get at least 1000 mile before switching to synthetic oil.
7. But most important, Never, ever under any circumstance ask opinions on oil. You might get banded.

[lilgman]

Hi there, Dingir.

There are so many more knowledgeable people on this forum than I am, but I'm going to see if I can answer a couple of your questions at least. My bike is a Big Boy 250 from South Africa, so there may be some differences, but from everything I'm reading here, the Storm, Hawk, etc. are all pretty much the same.

-how to use and fill the reserve tank, and will the bike die and i have to switch it over to reserve or does it just go to reserve automatically?

The little silver valve in this picture (I'm sorry that it's oriented wrong) is the answer to your question here. You can select ON, OFF, or RESERVE with this valve. There isn't actually a reserve tank. When the selector is ON, it draws fuel from the tank a little ways above the bottom of the tank. When the fuel runs so low that it's below that level, the engine will sputter and probably die. You can then turn the valve to RESERVE and it opens up a lower outlet in the tank so you have a bit more fuel to hopefully get you home. Don't forget to switch it back to ON when you fill up again, or you won't have any warning the next time you run out.

-how to find the fuel filter/air filter.

These motorcycles don't really have a fuel filter like on a car. There's a fine screen over the two outlets (ON & RESERVE) in the tank that keep the worst junk out of the carb. At the bottom of that fuel valve, there's also a little cup that screws off where water can accumulate. If you think you've gotten water in your gas, turn the valve to off, clean this out, and then turn it to RESERVE for a few seconds to drain any other bad gas/water off. Close and reinstall the cup.

The air filter is a little harder to access and may differ from bike to bike. In general it's under the seat, though. On my bike, you have to take the two plastic side panels off. There's a bolt on each one that needs to be removed, and then they have plastic points that fit through a rubber mount. Be gentle as you pull these off, as the plastic isn't especially tough. Once the side panels are off, you have to take the seat off. Once again, on my bike there is a bolt on either side that holds the seat on. Once you remove these bolts, the seat unclips by sliding backwards. After the seat is off, my bike has a cover with four screws that opens to reveal the air filter. I hope that will help. Here's a link to a picture of a Hawk with the air filter out. Maybe that will help. https://hawk250.com/wp-content/uploa...r_filter_3.jpg

Someone from the USA should maybe answer this question, but any unleaded petrol/gasoline should work fine. Avoid ethanol if you can.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable with help with your other questions.

One more tip: There's tons of info on these bikes on the forum under the Dual Sport/Enduro section. I would suggest that you post other questions in that category. It seems like the most active part of the forum.

Have a great day!

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Dingir

-I loctited the turn signals, the big bolt on the rear brake, and that was pretty much it, what else should I loctite?

Everything else was answered but this, so allow me.

The main thing you need to consider with what bolts to loctite is rather simple. Look at a part and ask yourself if it would be a disaster if it came off.

You don't have to loctite every single bolt, but things like brake caliper mounting bolts, lever or other control bolts, handlebar clamp bolts, engine mount bolts, etc.

Now, if it already has a Nylock nut on it, or a lock washer, then you will likely be ok with not using loctite.

Regardless of if you do or do not use said loctite it is still a good idea to do a fastener check on a regular schedule.

[Dingir]

Thank you all so much for the thoughtful replies! You guys are awesome I do feel like I know a ton more about taking care of this thing now. For what it's worth I'm having a BLAST driving this thing around. My last time on two wheels was like freshman year of high school and I'm 26 now. It's quite the feeling to be cruising down backroads on a motorcycle, it's something I never knew I was missing until now

[bmw111]

Originally Posted by Megadan

Regardless of if you do or do not use said loctite it is still a good idea to do a fastener check on a regular schedule.

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This.

[dossbag]

Enjoy the bike, treat it well and it shall reward you lol