I think I want a lifan monkey bike. Cost about £500 for a 07. What can possibly go wrong? Who insures them as bikesure online want nearly as much as I pay for 1199 and m1100s. Just fancy one for nipping about on and use in autumn for quick slow blast about
Back to your question, Lifans are chinese engines and are regarded on the monkey/pit bike forums as "Throwaway" you can get a new engine for £280 complete. There are plenty of places that cater for spares mods and upgrades You will get the bug. Bling is a lot cheaper than Ducatis I am in the process of rebuilding my 1972 Dax. I have fitted it with a Daytona 150 anima. They are Japanese engines built in china much better quality reflected in the price. Just need an oil cooler afew cables gear lever kickstart and chain and I will be running
Reading posts on the forums they appear to maintain them with the frequency of racing 2 strokes regular ring and piston changes. They seem to snap cranks at the flywheel end on a regular basis. They reduce that tendency by changing the flywheel for an aftermarket one. Chinese engines don't like high revs. If you are going to use it regularly on the road it will need a lot of maintenance and thats no guarantee it will keep running. If you want reliability then find a Honda engine, a C90 would be good and fit that. If you do fall in love with it you can bore an stroke that engine using japanese parts made by a firm called Takegawa. You get the speed of the chinese engine and more plus the reliability of a Honda engine
There is a group of guys round our way - about ten or twelve - who all have them. I see them occasionally on their Sunday ride-outs, and they always look like they are having a real laugh. I'd say "do it". What's the worst that can happen ?
My great uncle Bert was the first monkey bike rider in Cleckhuddersfax - he had a tragic end when he left the chimp pan on after returning from a heavy night out in Holmfirth
I have an original YSR80 gag bike it looks one of the cooler gag bikes but in reality its not great. Based on a DT80 air cooled engine, it will sit at 50 all day and will top 70 at a push but the handling is pretty dire with zero ground clearance. I also have a late KSR2 or KSR80 as they are better known as. They are similar to the 4 stroke KSR110 but with a proper 2 stroke motor that's water cooled. This really is a usable bike and will sit all day long at 60+ and can top nearly 80 flat out. it actually goes around corners and stops well. It will do around 90 miles per gallon and is great fun to ride. I also have a late full power RD125LC Mk3 YPVS with 7k on the clocks again in original condition - i use this loads. its proper retro cool, and will still haul my ass to over 90 mph and is just great to ride and of course comes with the standard hinge in the frame handling for extra fun. Had a couple of monkey bikes, early original Honda's and later versions, none were a patch on the KSR80 and personally if you wanted a cool quirky retro bike that you can actually use - buy an 80's 125 and watch it rise in value and cool.
