New V-Bike 250T Owner

[eflyersteve]

I didn't set out to buy a 250T from V-Bike, but I wound up bringing one home today anyway. After reading Kentucky Donkey's review of the 250T, I was more than a little apprehensive. It seems that I might have gotten a better unit than he did as I am very happy so far.

This is really intended for my son who turns 12 in a week. He is over 5'6" so the smaller quads were just a little small for him in my opinion. Besides, I wanted a quad that he could grow with.

I started by researching dealers in the area. I would have never brought myself to buy one sight unseen and could not afford a new (or used for that matter) Japanese model. It seems that V-Bike didn't have too bad a reputation and it seems that Tim at least tries. I stopped by last weekend and took a look at what he had in stock. I test rode one that looked decent. From research, I assumed it was a 250-V4WS. Turns out it was a 250T.

Before I made the trip to V-Bike today, I called and asked if he had a V4WS in stock. He said that he had one left. When I arrived, I began to examine them closely together. The V4WS had some shipping damage but otherwise didn't appear to be much different than the 250T. The 250T has the swingarm and front control arms in color matching powder coat. The V4WS was in black matching the frame. I couldn't determine the manufacturer of the V4WS motor where the 250T is a Sunl. Tim installs 10" wheels and larger tires on the 250T which is a bonus over the V4WS he had in stock (10" wheels but smaller tires). This particular 250T had been fitted with a carbon fiber exhaust with a straight through design. The sound is very deep and throaty.

Because there was no obviously glaring difference between the 250T and V4WS, and the damage to the V4WS, I went with the 250T. I was assured that if I had any problems, that things would be made right.

I arrived with it around 5pm this evening and promptly unloaded it from the back of the truck, parked and then punched the starter button on the 250T and she fired straight up. My son was out with friends and had no clue that I had brought it home so I got in a few shake-down runs around the place and up and down the dirt road I live on. I was really impressed with how well it runs. I admit that I have not pushed it yet (break in) but I know it has more than enough power for me so my son should be no problem.

My son arrived home about 2 hours later and was he a happy kid! This is his first clutch shift vehicle but he took to it fast. He still kills it from time to time, but he's going to master it within days I am sure. He happily drove it around the yard in 1st gear for quite some time. I asked him to swing by and I noticed that the cooling fan had never came on and the coolant was not a little low. I went around to the side of the radiator where the coolant switch was and wiggled the wires a bit and the fan immediately came on. The part of the temperature switch that has the terminals in it had come loose. It seems to be held together with silicone. It had been running with no cooling fan and was about to boil out the coolant! We let the fan run and it cooled it down quickly. We shut it off and ran to town for some JB Weld and coolant.

Back home, we filled the coolant back to where it should be and began to JB Weld the switch together. We let that sit for about an hour and fired it back up. Fan works great now as it should. We took turns running up and down the road, stopping ever few minutes to check for loose nuts and that the cooling fan was working well. The front suspension was pretty stiff so I checked the air pressure in the shocks. One was nearly 60PSI, the other was 45PSI. I lowered them both to 25PSI and it improved things a lot. The rear shock is a simple unit but it quite soft. I am pretty happy with the suspension setup so far. I think I need to lower the preload a bit but I'll do that tomorrow.

The lights work well on high beam, but on low beam they are pretty useless. Much like parking lights and not driving lights. The digital gear indicator is nice but unreadable in direct sun.

Overall I am impressed with the build quality of this unit considering the price of $1300 out the door. I'll keep my fingers crossed that nothing major happens with it. The malfunctioning temperature switch could have turned out very bad had we not kept a close eye on it. I don't think that it got too hot. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so we have it in the garage in a clean spot where we plan to go over all the nuts and bolts with blue loctite. I promise to get more photos and video as soon as the weather permits. I'll try and post updates and let you all know about any issues that arise.

[TurboT]

Hey great post and always is an exciting day bringing home a new toy!

Looks like a nice machine. Good catch on the cooling fan!

Looking forward to hearing more about it.

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for sharing your new quad experience with us.

Did Tim say that he had changed the oil before you took delivery? If not, You'll want to change it right away.

The colour matched control arms look really good, as does the rack and front bumper. Do you mind to show us a close-up of the front bumper? Ours got wrecked, and I'd like to build one like yours.

[eflyersteve]

Some photos to share. Forgive the quality - my son's camera is pretty pathetic I found out today......





Suspension Components:













The coolant temperature switch fix:



The Carbon Fiber Exhaust:







General shots:









And a happy Kid:





Some video which lets you hear the exhaust note:

[Weldangrind]

Thanks for the extra photos and vids. That exhaust note rumbled through our kitchen floor!

Is that chain a 428 or a 520? Do you mind to measure the width of the chain if it's not marked? Mine's 19mm or 3/4" at the widest point. Thanks.

Your son is getting the idea. I hope he has a helmet. :wink:

[eflyersteve]

I'm told by Tim that the chain is a 520. He didn't say if he had changed the oil, but it certainly smells like dino oil. We'll have to change it tomorrow and plan to use Rotella T 15-40 as that is what my diesel uses.

He does have a helmet and wears it when riding. I felt a little apprehensive on posting videos of him without it though. In fact, his grandma just took him out and got him a new helmet and goggles so his old one is getting retired.

I'll snap a photo of the front bumper and post it soon.

[eflyersteve]

First casualty - Battery cover.

I went out to take photos of the front bumper and called my son over as he drive by. As I was walking around the quad, I noticed the battery dangling from the + wire, chain happily chewing through it's case.

The plastic battery cover had come off and the rubber retaining strap was missing which would have retained it. Now I know what that bag of spare parts that Tim handed me was for. Seems they didn't assemble the battery correctly.

I had to track down a nut, but it's back in service. Minus the battery cover though. I'm a bit disappointed that it seems like human error was to blame here on something that is pretty basic - you don't rely on a plastic cover alone to hold a heavy battery in place.

Of course I didn't get to take photos of the bumper. I'll get them tonight when we go through it and soak the thing in loctite.

[katoranger]

That looks pretty nice. You may want to look into wheel spacers for the rear. It should help with stability. I know some of the others have put them on.

I was under the impression that the the 250T KD got was a utility model.

With china bikes specs can change from one batch to the next.

Allen

[TurboT]

Great looking and sounding unit.

Sorry to hear about the battery. I had a little 110cc Gio do that as well, I mentioned it in another thread. Although there was nothing to hold it down from the factory.

[eflyersteve]

I'm wondering how much bump steer plays into things. I notice that when going down a dirt road in 4th, at a pretty good clip, the thing wanders around a bit. It's best not to fight it and just let it wonder back and forth. I noticed that when I compress the front suspension, it will go toe-out through most of it's range. It's really only properly aligned when completely topped out. Maybe one reason the air in the shocks was set so high.

Wheel spacers for the back certainly can't hurt with stability though. It shouldn't be leaving the ground so I'm not too worried about snapping off an axle.

Another thing I notice is that the chain rubs on the swing-arm pivot when it is at full rebound. I'll need to see about adding some wear pads to it. I would also like to add a chain tensioner this winter when it's down for service. As it is now, the chain is tight as a drum. I would be afraid to loosen it much though as it would probable slap the swing-arm more.

Battery is still sitting tight now that I put the rubber strap around it :roll: My son sure was bummed when I pointed it out to him. But he's learning to check over all fasteners before a ride. I'm hoping that he'll get into wrenching on it himself soon.

Another minor disappoitment is the paint around the fuel filler - it's already bubbling up after just a tiny spill. In fact, I went to wipe the excess from around the filler neck and the black paint wiped off. I think I can strip it and mask around the filler so there won't be any paint. Lucky the plastic seems to be orange colored all the way through.

[Weldangrind]

Welcome to the world of Chinese machines. :roll: Gas makes an excellent solvent on Chinese paint, don't you think?

On the bumpsteer issue, do you have a second set of mounting holes on the lower control arms? If not, you could likely drill one more per control arm. You could experiment with different shock heights to see if that helps.

On the swingarm issue, is the rear shock as soft as can be? Try adjusting it to the softest setting to see if slight suspension sag helps the chain clear the swingarm. It's also easier on bushings.

Can you confirm the 520 size? Is it marked?

[eflyersteve]

I measured the chain pitch and roller width (with calipers) and determined that the chain is a 530.

Some photos of the front bumper. I hope these are good enough to work from. If you need additional shots, just ask:











We planned to go over it and loctite all the nuts and bolts but we found that every nut is a locknut. There are only a few fasteners that are not locking (body mount where the nut is an integral part of the frame, etc). I'm pretty happy about that.

Changed the oil - what came out sure was nasty compared to what showed on the dipstick. Refilled with Rotella T 15-40. I can't tell for sure but it seems to shift a bit smoother now. It's difficult to pry it away from the boy long enough to ride

[eflyersteve]

I finally got to drive it a bit yesterday after the oil change. I can say that the shifting did improve. It's not nearly as notchy feeling and it's easier to transition between 1st and reverse.

The fan really pulls a lot of air through the radiator and across your right leg. Slow speed driving with shorts on and you feel it!

Many of the dirt roads close to our house are not maintained well. Some have rock outcroppings in the middle and water crossings at the bottom of some steep hills. I took my son out for a ride while he filmed. Found out that filming from the back of an ATV isn't as easy as you'd think. Especially when riding on the back on the roads I just described. I'll have to figure up a camera mount. But I was very happy with the way it handled the hills. Most were no problem in 3rd but some required pulling down into 2nd and one or two into 1st, but not because of a lack of power, just too darn rough.

I'll try and post more video of it in action after work tonight.

[Weldangrind]

NEOPLAZMA bought a helmet cam on eBay; you might want to send him a pm and learn about his experience with it.

Thanks for the close-up photos of the bumper. I'm still developing a design for a new bumper.

You say that the chain is a 530; do you mean 520? If so, I'd be grateful for photos of the rear sprocket, along with some dimensions. Don't worry about it yet, I'll show you a photo of my existing setup first, and show you what I'm looking for. Your new quad might be the ticket I've been looking for in upgrading my quad to 520 chain.

[eflyersteve]

By measuring the roller width and pitch, I came up with a 530, but I'll measure again.

On a more sad note, my son high sided it today in the road. Tiped it up on the side and broke plastic. Needs a new front fender which also covers the tank. Plans are to plastic weld (or patch with fiberglass) until he gets better at riding (read: crashes less). Anyone know for sure what type of plastic this thing might be made out of? Any plastic welding tips?

Photos:

The light mount just screws to the bottom of the orange fender assembly. You can see the plastic 'bosses' broken off:



Ignition switch used to be here:



And a view of the tank area. You can see how the black paint didn't hold up to gas. We since started using a funnel:



He's completely unhurt but he sure is bummed. He was looking behind him and swerved. Pitched him off into the road.