burn the heretic!! Any well-furnished shed needs[1]: Day-to-day bike track bike Sunday afternoon money pit project Mike [1]translation this is what I have in mine therefore it must hold good universally...
I'm going for variations on a sports bike theme. Italian twin and jap 4 so far, will add something like a British or Italian triple (or maybe twin) soon. Maybe another Chinese 125? I'd love another sanya...
I've just completed the engine change on my second Chinese 125 (it's third, and it doesn't even need a mot yet!) and been out for a ride with another identical machine. I got blown into the weeds! Either I need to lose 6 stone, a foot in height and 4 dress sizes or I'm gonna need more power! (Unless I handicap my riding chum's bike, horse racing style. Fit a huge screen to it, 8 stone of lead in the frame maybe? (Incidentally, 'got blown into the weeds' is relative. A 5mph difference in top speed is A LOT when dealing with huge bhp figures as we were!)
I've got two engines sat on the garage floor at present, in various states of disrepair. One has a block of molten toffee which started life as the head , the other is supposedly a runner. Im in two minds if I should sell them / give them away or keep them for spares... im not after the money so much as they are in the way!!!!
I've just bought a third, for spares. I paid £81 for it, immediately broke it and flogged some bits for £90. I've now got a shed full of bits, including engine, which I'll either dump or use. I wanted it for the tank and side panels, so a friend can play around spraying them. I didn't fancy paying £100 new for them, so bought a whole bike. It even had a gallon of fuel in!! As an aside, I've now got my big bore kit, boy racer carb, air filter mod' and gearing changes for mine. Why am I trying to tune a 125 I keep getting asked. I honestly don't know. I've three other bikes with a total capacity of over three litres, so why I'm pissing around like this is beyond me!
If anybody would like a random deformed Chinese conrod to use as a paperweight, let me know. It'd be a good conversation starter on the coffee table maybe? No? how about a crankshaft then. Everybody needs a bent crankshaft as a doorstop. Maybe a inlet valve to use as a spoon for stirring tea? Ok, ok. The first to contact me can have the full engine (well, minus top end!). Ideal if you strip the guts out and then use the crankcase as a cool and trendy plant pot!!! Actually, that's quite a cool idea! Quirky!
On a slightly more serious note I think the idea of tuning the most random piece of 'engineering' appeals to the teenage me. 'A 125, big bored to 150? Wow!'
Ian where do you look for your used chinese bikes? I'm trying to find chinese motocross/supermoto shaped bikes and I can only find brand new ones.
Skyteam Ace 125 cafe racer | eBay Have you seen what you can buy as a starter bike these days? And they come with 2 years parts warranty and 1 year labour.
along time ago some guy said "Japanese shit it will never happen" also if you lift the seat on some of the Yamaha Neos 50 there are stickers which read Made In China also the Ybr125 is built under licence by the chinese China is the biggest scooter engine manufacturer in the world and the engines are used by everybody out there just rebadged......the issue with Chinese bikes is they are imported by non dealers/mechanics quckly knocked together and sold cheap on the internet with no warranty to speak of so if you buy one take it to a mechanic and get him to tighten and adjust as necessary and keep on top of it to keep it running after all a cheap bike will not be cherished like a dear bike and some kids have just got of a BMX onto a bike a treat them the same.........they are not that bad but could be better but it will happen.
I am seriously tempted for a cheap bike to run around on locally, currently I either walk or go by bus as it's so difficult parking in London so the car is out and it's not worth dragging one of my "decent" bikes out to just go down the road as by the time I get the thing out I could have walked it quicker!!! My question, what are the tyres like on these 125's when I was young if you bought a Jap bike you immediately chucked the tyres away and bought some decent rubber. Are these Chinese bikes like that or are they using decent tyres now. I can see the point about checking the whole thing over regularly and that wouldn't be a problem. I assume spares are available to keep them going?
I thought the tyres were terrible and needed replacing? I had a Daelim 125 as my learning bike and it was awful.
The original tyres are, from what I gather, fit for purpose and no more. They aren't known for decent grip. I've swapped mine (purely as the originals were worn out) and now can scrap the pegs happily.
I've just been trawling eBay and found three. One was imacculate (ish!) and the other two 'spares or repairs'.
Depends on the bike. The tyres that a Yamasaki leaves the factory with we're not even completely round, but the standard Sanya tyres were good enough to touch bits (usually the rear brake pedal) down with confidence.
