TeamCheap project

[TeamCheap]

Ok we bought 2 lf200gy-5's last spring and they are fun but I just couldnt help but try the lifan OHC engine so I am in the process of installing that.

Decided to add this pic of the bike on the stand I set up for it.(it has it's good and bad points)

In the picture you can see my remodified plate.It started off with just a piece of aluminum 1/4"x1" but the plates wiggled and fatigued and almost fell off so I added a piece of aluminum plating to the back.


I had snapped the very long upper-rear engine bolt last year and have decided to eliminate the long bolt and weld in some beefer mounts for that.

limp little tabs and tube/spacer and outer plate removed.(yeah I'm committed now-I have my wifes bike as backup and she has a new 06 raptor 350-found out she NEEDS 4 wheels )

This is as far as I have gotten with the funeral and being sick lately but I will get it welded in soon.
The plan is to tie the upper shock mount to the upper rear engine mount cross member.


I also bought different engine mounting bolts(SAE-gr.8+steel lock nuts) since the OEM bolts fit very loose and I know why now because the fit is a bit sloppy so I will have to some tweaking to get ALL the bolts in.I may have to fab the upper engine mount and the front engine mount, I havnt wrestled with it long enough yet.

After seeing just how weak the bolts are on this bike I am very concerned about the footpeg bolts now as well as all the other critical bolts on it.

Hers a picture of the exhaust side.


This was taken a few days ago but last night I got all but the top bolts/mount plates in.I'll have to make two of those 3 hole brackets for the top mount since the stock one is way off-should be simple.

[SamM]

Very nice TeamCheap! I feel exactly the same way about the stock bolts. My plans also include replacing a good portion of the stock bolts.

There is a lot to be said for going with the American Lifan or maybe the Rocketa. I like my Jialing Viva VX200SX which is really a GY-2 but the GY-5 bikes have some nice improvements.

[TeamCheap]

Taking a short lunch break then I'm off to weld the upper-rear engine mounts in.
I'll post pics soon.

[SamM]

TeamCheap,
Nice pictures! Great project!

Thanks, this puts my little linkage problem into perspective for me. You're doing great keep posting pictures.

Was the engine a bolt-in except for the questionable mounts?

[red2003]

Nice work!!! That rear motor mount should have been made like that to begin with. Awesome .

[TeamCheap]

Heres a prepaint pic.
Looking at those welds I know if I lose my job here I can go to china as a welder and fit right in.

Painted............... shiny



Engine back in loosely W-carb & K&N filter.

I got to check/set that battery box clearance just right.
The starter relay, regulator, winker and CDI will all be tucked in so I can streamline the sides a bit on this fat pig.
There is plenty of room in there for everything.



A close up of the next area to be modded.I will cut the old battery tabs off the frame as well as relocate the rear brake resevoir.


This was just a picture of the cam chain cover off verifing it was indeed a OHC engine.



OK to answer your question NO.
It was not a simple bolt-in but that is because I didnt use the same old sloppy stock bolts.

I used SAE grade 8 bolts just to speed up the whole process and since they were just slightly bigger than the metric bolts it helped to take up some of the slack.
The lower rear and upper rear engine mount bolts are bigger than the rest of the bolts.
You may also notice that the bolts are long but thats because I have a thing about parts resting on the threaded area of a bolt I always try to get as much of the shank as I can to support any givin parts just to help keep things from getting sloppy fast.

To clearify the frame holes were a bit on the big side but the engine holes were tighter and I in fact GULP had to drill the engine case mounting holes to get the bolts to fit right (keeping my fingee's crossed )

I had to drill, massage, hammer, file, grind and use my magic chant of cuss words to get it to fit right but it is there.
I also ended up making the top 3 hole bracket which was very easy to make.

The hardest part of it all is holdiing a 70lb. engine while fiddling with a bolt or anything you can find to support it .

[SamM]

WOW! TeamCheap,
Very impressive! Great pictures! You do very good work. And yes, you could easily have a job in any of those Chinese factories. I'm sure you'd take a pay cut though! How much was the OHC engine and where did you get it? If my engine took a dump, I'd consider doing this!

Again, very nice work!

[TeamCheap]

Oh it's an EBAY special they are still there.It came with everything except the wiring harness and exhaust.
I paid right around $370 total with shipping but they are a little more now but not to bad.

Hooper imports has them for $599

[liverchip]

Nice work!....Great photos!...If I blow up my motor that's the route I'll go as well.

[TeamCheap]

Thanks for the nice comments guys.

I did resize the photo's from before since they were way to big and I guess that old fujifilm camera can still take a decent photo.

I'm going to try to get all the other brackets cut off and welded back on where I want them today.

I may just have to take the wifes bike out for a short run today.
(forcast is=81 and sunny)

[SamM]

Any new pictures? I'm stuck at work tonight and the Forum is pretty slow!

[TeamCheap]

nope I felt great on saturday but sunday I didnt even want to leave the house so nothing got done.
it will be slow going during the week.

[ejcycles]

Hi TeamCheap

Nice job! I looked at the pics on the LF200GY Yahoo group too. Great to see you here! Hey I have seen worse welds in my life! Look at some of the other off branded stuff.....the welds get really bad on that stuff.

Bruce

[TeamCheap]

ok pics will have to wait and there really isnt anything to show and for some reason a lot of my pics arent working(oh well)

I did go out and work on it a bit today after work and cut all the extra brackets off and was fiddling around with the battery box since I want the biggest objects installed first and end up stuffing the smaller things around it.

I have a pretty good idea of how I will do the battery box now.
I have already cut the stock mounting tabs off the outside of the box and plan to weld a 1"x1"x1" square tube to each side of the box.
Next I'll weld in nuts, 2 on each square tube.2 for the original battery plate thats holds the battery and 2 to mount it with.
I'll start with 2, 2"L pieces of 1" angle iron and these will be welded to the frame where needed.It should work out fine, I just hope it can support the battery as well as the stock setup did.

I need a foot, 12" of rear brake reservoir hose to be able to relocate the reservoir where I want it.

I may end having to make a whole new bracket for the regulator to mount on.No big deal just some odd angled plate with 2 10mm nuts welded to the back.

If I keep cutting off the stuff thats stinking out of it, it will look like a trials bike.

[fatboy250]

Originally Posted by TeamCheap

If I keep cutting off the stuff thats stinking out of it, it will look like a trials bike.

I kinda like the looks of trials bikes. I did recently see a mid 80's Honda "reflex" TLR200 trials that was street legal. I thought it was pretty cool.