Dong Fang DF 250 RTB Bobber Information

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Originally Posted by bowtiewagon

I firmly beleive you only get what you pay for..and the cost of this bike and the freedom to ride and still look rather cool doing it.....

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^^^^
THIS!

Agree 100%. The market for a bike like this is defenitely out there. Do not regret it at all. Most people who see my bike think it's great and unique. Only one brother gives me a hard time about my moped LOL. My other brother chewed me out for not keeping it in the garage. He has a point.

Rode yesterday for a bit and engine kept hickuping. I think once it really warms up it's fine. I know I will eventually have to adjust the carb settings but I dont trust myself to do that. Gonna work on the rust a bit first and order my tool bag for now.

OK a while back this web page here has a bar on the bottom of my browser telling me I need to download and install the Flash Player HD to continue. Anybody else get this? Is this just for advertisements or is it a link to a virus or addware?

Ok, so as everyone knows I am planning on painting my bike after the summer season. I came across this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNY9Dx617N8 and am cosidering this method. Any idea's?

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Originally Posted by GonzoX

OK a while back this web page here has a bar on the bottom of my browser telling me I need to download and install the Flash Player HD to continue. Anybody else get this? Is this just for advertisements or is it a link to a virus or addware?

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You probably have an outdated browser as they are like cell phones. As soon as you purchase it another version is already in the works so you can spend MORE money. Check your Windows update in your control panel.

:lol8:

Hey Guys! I got my bike this weekend. Everything looks just as it should.. minus a few small problems. The chain is SO TIGHT i do not even want to roll the bike around in fear it will damage the sprockets. The weird thing is that the tire is already adjusted at the most forward setting.. leaving to way to adjust the chain and loosen it. Good thing I have a small sprocket on the way. The grease fitting on the left foot peg was drilled on the top instead of on the bottom.. kinda silly but i just threw some flat paint on it and you dont really notice. There were a few other minor things like paint chips and such.. but i worked most of it out.


I pulled all the stripes off, changed the air filter to a slightly shorter one with a closed end, and swapped out the breather to a matching mini cone filter. IDK how it was on your bikes but the battery took me almost an hour to get in because it was VERY very hard to get the nuts and bolts through on the terminals.

Worst thing happened though.. when i was putting gas in her.. the top of my gas can was cross threaded and it poured all down my tank... it ate all the paint on the tank and now I have a streaked tank. It actually took the paint all the way off in a few spots. Really sucks.. I actually like the flat black in person.. I guess ill have to repaint it eventually.

Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark. Man this thing is loud.

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Originally Posted by Bobthebobber

Hey Guys! I got my bike this weekend. Everything looks just as it should.. minus a few small problems. The chain is SO TIGHT i do not even want to roll the bike around in fear it will damage the sprockets. The weird thing is that the tire is already adjusted at the most forward setting.. leaving to way to adjust the chain and loosen it. Good thing I have a small sprocket on the way. The grease fitting on the left foot peg was drilled on the top instead of on the bottom.. kinda silly but i just threw some flat paint on it and you dont really notice. There were a few other minor things like paint chips and such.. but i worked most of it out.


I pulled all the stripes off, changed the air filter to a slightly shorter one with a closed end, and swapped out the breather to a matching mini cone filter. IDK how it was on your bikes but the battery took me almost an hour to get in because it was VERY very hard to get the nuts and bolts through on the terminals.

Worst thing happened though.. when i was putting gas in her.. the top of my gas can was cross threaded and it poured all down my tank... it ate all the paint on the tank and now I have a streaked tank. It actually took the paint all the way off in a few spots. Really sucks.. I actually like the flat black in person.. I guess ill have to repaint it eventually.

Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark. Man this thing is loud.

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While sitting on the bike and you look down towards the carb. on the right. it's the screw with a spring that sits between the cable and carb.

"Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark."

Bob the bobber, the Idle adjustment is on the side. On mine you have to stick a small screw driver through the the throttle control lever. Make sure your throttle cable is functioning correctly and has a full range of play and that it is closing all the way with just a tad of end play. The manual they sent should tell you in a Chinese sort of way how to do this.

Most likely the flat black is the same paint they use to paint the frame. Probably furnace paint ( bar-b-que black ). The tank comes off easy on the 2012 four threaded bolts. Tighten them down just snug to the rubber grommets when reinstalling.

My chain was tight when it came. Maybe a 1/4 inch play with no adjustment in. I've put 25 miles on it since I got it and it has loosened to about 3/8th with no apparent damage.

There is a instruction manual for the carb in this forum 10 or so pages back. If you have enabled private messaging I will send it to you.

:thumbsup:

yowza yowza yowza. the mail man just handed me my custom leather seat cover. the leather is of the finest quality. :clap:

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Originally Posted by chruk bashre

yowza yowza yowza. the mail man just handed me my custom leather seat cover and it is absolutely fantastic. i never liked the "picture does it no justice" but i can tell ya, this thing is 1000% better than i thought it would be and i thought i would be excellent in the first place.
the leather is of the finest quality. real classy stuff. the workmanship is superb. one real happy customer. welmp, time to get wrenchin so i can post a groovy photo. thanks again skullworkz and you wife. highly recommended, so everyone, get yours from these guys.

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when i have some $$$ i'll have her make me one!

Put some tank logos on today.

Attachment 10722Attachment 10723Attachment 10724

yea i tried that screw I think. It's a flat head with a spring on it. You have to stick the screwdriver through a hole in the throttle to access it. I gave it a few turns and nothing happened.. which lead me to believe that it was the mixture screw. With my experience with carbs of this style.. the idle screw has always literally been a stop screw on the throttle lever that would literally manually adjust the throttle.

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Originally Posted by Bob form NV

"Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark."

Bob the bobber, the Idle adjustment is on the side. On mine you have to stick a small screw driver through the the throttle control lever. Make sure your throttle cable is functioning correctly and has a full range of play and that it is closing all the way with just a tad of end play. The manual they sent should tell you in a Chinese sort of way how to do this.

Most likely the flat black is the same paint they use to paint the frame. Probably furnace paint ( bar-b-que black ). The tank comes off easy on the 2012 four threaded bolts. Tighten them down just snug to the rubber grommets when reinstalling.

My chain was tight when it came. Maybe a 1/4 inch play with no adjustment in. I've put 25 miles on it since I got it and it has loosened to about 3/8th with no apparent damage.

There is a instruction manual for the carb in this forum 10 or so pages back. If you have enabled private messaging I will send it to you.

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The chain is DANGEROUSLY over tightened; mechanically speaking. If a person was to stand on it and bounce, the chain would not move the slightest bit. It almost seems like it is 3 links shorter than it should be.. although you are right.. it may get away with putting on the 35 tooth and not having to take links out. Im not sure I will even be able to remove the master link because of all the tension.

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Originally Posted by Bobthebobber

Hey Guys! I got my bike this weekend. Everything looks just as it should.. minus a few small problems. The chain is SO TIGHT i do not even want to roll the bike around in fear it will damage the sprockets. The weird thing is that the tire is already adjusted at the most forward setting.. leaving to way to adjust the chain and loosen it. Good thing I have a small sprocket on the way. The grease fitting on the left foot peg was drilled on the top instead of on the bottom.. kinda silly but i just threw some flat paint on it and you dont really notice. There were a few other minor things like paint chips and such.. but i worked most of it out.


I pulled all the stripes off, changed the air filter to a slightly shorter one with a closed end, and swapped out the breather to a matching mini cone filter. IDK how it was on your bikes but the battery took me almost an hour to get in because it was VERY very hard to get the nuts and bolts through on the terminals.

Worst thing happened though.. when i was putting gas in her.. the top of my gas can was cross threaded and it poured all down my tank... it ate all the paint on the tank and now I have a streaked tank. It actually took the paint all the way off in a few spots. Really sucks.. I actually like the flat black in person.. I guess ill have to repaint it eventually.

Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark. Man this thing is loud.

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Here are some pix of the the bike after a fresh wax, and prior to the gas tank fiasco. You can also see the changes I made with the new air filter and breather, as well as the grease fitting that sticks up into my foot on the left side :p

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...psf15d8d07.jpg
http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps36994361.jpg
http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps01886f67.jpg

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Originally Posted by Crelow

when i have some $$$ i'll have her make me one!

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Yeah that's on my to-do list as well this year. Hope she is still making them once I have the money. Damn rubber tire cover is starting to weather and dissintegrate now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bobthebobber

Hey Guys! I got my bike this weekend. Everything looks just as it should.. minus a few small problems. The chain is SO TIGHT i do not even want to roll the bike around in fear it will damage the sprockets. The weird thing is that the tire is already adjusted at the most forward setting.. leaving to way to adjust the chain and loosen it. Good thing I have a small sprocket on the way. The grease fitting on the left foot peg was drilled on the top instead of on the bottom.. kinda silly but i just threw some flat paint on it and you dont really notice. There were a few other minor things like paint chips and such.. but i worked most of it out.


I pulled all the stripes off, changed the air filter to a slightly shorter one with a closed end, and swapped out the breather to a matching mini cone filter. IDK how it was on your bikes but the battery took me almost an hour to get in because it was VERY very hard to get the nuts and bolts through on the terminals.

Worst thing happened though.. when i was putting gas in her.. the top of my gas can was cross threaded and it poured all down my tank... it ate all the paint on the tank and now I have a streaked tank. It actually took the paint all the way off in a few spots. Really sucks.. I actually like the flat black in person.. I guess ill have to repaint it eventually.

Can you show me where the idle adjustment is? I fired it up last night and it seemed like it was running about half throttle. I could not for the life of me find it in the dark. Man this thing is loud.

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Yep, chain was tight on mine. Should be 1/2 to 1inch slack. I recently had to tighten mine a bit as it was too slack after only 360 miles. Watch that.

I did spill gass on my tank as well but it really didnt hurt my tank. A year later the clearcoat they used on the fender started coming off on the fenders but not the tank. I still have the stupid blue protective film on my gas cap and am having a hard time getting that crap off. I just use my fingernails redneck style to peel it off a bit at a time. Was goint to use a wire brush on a drill to get rid of it but thought that would ruin the chrome finish. Oh and dont let the chrome plating fool you. It still will rust as I am fidning out.

Air filter swap is a good idea IMHO. The stock one lets too much crap in. The end cap filter is a good idea as the stock one has no filter media on the tip, its just wire and wire mesh is not a good filter media. Next time Im going with an all phoam one personally. I like the cool retro wire mesh looking one but I prefer something that will protect my jap clone carb.

I remember my brother telling me I needed to adjust the seat height/tension but I do not see any kind of adjustment nut there. Am I wrong?

well, here is my new seat.
here is the bondo after the first wet sand on the tank.
this is how i lowered my speedo. still have not cut the remains off.Attachment 10755Attachment 10756Attachment 10757Attachment 10758

Changed my 88 jet to 105 today. Vast improvement, smoother and pulls better.

New to the forum here. Saw the bobber (Dong Fang) and immediately loved it, however I have heard some... discouraging things about the bike.

I am reading this thread in as much as I can but still begs the question: Get one or not? I see there are a lot of needed mods to be made and a lot of things to check or be aware of, but overall -- scale 1 - 10, would you recommend it (1 is hell no, 10 is hell yea)?

I will be reading further. thanks.

Most of the mods are not needed. You can buy one stock standard and be happy. Its just the mods are cheap and easy, so fun to tinker with.

All depends to what you want out of the bike, for me its my first bike so its cheap way of starting with something that looks a little different than most beginners bikes. Its great for cruising the neighbourhood and driving around the city, but its no highway machine.

I am very happy with mine.

:scooter:

not california compliant , so if as your tag states , south cali ..... well

and although some here state its not a highway bike , 99% of my thousands of miles ridden is from interstate driving its all about the gearing , sure 10% ethenol gas makes ya lose almost 10 mphour but as a flatlander itll still run 65 although not much more unless I employ drafting :p

Finally figured out the throttle issue! I spent 30 minutes today messing with the idle speed adjusment with no luck at all. I would start it up in the cold with no choke and it fires right up.. but then would run about half throttle and the adjusment was doing nothing. I checked the linkage to the carb itself and everything looked correct.

I finally noticed that the adjustment up on the handle bars was screwed out so that it was forcing constant throttle. As soon as I adjusted that, my neighbors were a lot happier! After that was fixed I tuned it quite nice and got her running nice and mellow
Despite my chain being deadly tight, I could no resist taking her around the block even though it's still not registered. I did about 2 miles (i know not smart) just around the back roads of my development.

I didn't run it too hard but it seems the carb settings are actually decent as they are. I did almost stall it going up a hill in third gear.. had to have her wide open just to creep my 140 pounds up it.. I wish she had a little bit more power.. but man lemme tell ya.. doing 30 mph on this thing felt more raw and scary than doing 150+ back in my sport bike days... it felt like at any second it could just explode.. or the wheels would rattle off.. I loved it! She may take 10 seconds to hit 40.. but damn it feels like you have a monster truck between you legs.. and god does it sound nice.. I already was turning heads.

Friday is suppose to be around 50 degrees F. I'm going to take the fenders and tank off and hit them quick with some Rusto Satin black. In the summer i'll wet sand it all down and do it nice with the HVLP.. but just a quick touch up for now to fix the tank, and match the sheen with the fenders. I know jet size seems to vary all over the place on these but anyone with the 2012 model rip into the carb yet and see what the main jet size is? I have yet to have a reason to open mine.

For those who say they have a hard time finding neutral
Here is a good trick that I have been doing for years and it never fails. Put the bike into gear.. slowly release the clutch just enough to that the gear starts to grab and the bike wants to move forward.. then pull the clutch back in and shift it effortlessly into neutral. This is a trick i learned back in my MotoX days when I was very young. And.. since this is virtually a honda trail bike motor.. it works very well. It also works on all types of bikes.. used to do it on my Ninja all the time at stop lights.

So if you are new to this just remember. Make sure youre in first gear.. release the clutch just enough for it to want to move forward, then pull the clutch all the way in and shift it to neutral. This basically syncs the gears and allows neutral to mesh freely (:

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Originally Posted by chruk bashre

wes.yates 1+10. the only mod this bike needs is what you want to do to it. it can be driven the way it is with no problem. you may feel like you need another gear,get a smaller sprocket. the popping could make you wonder,lots of ideas to work that out. the high idle, awful noisy but starts and runs easily,set it lower and wrestle with it till it .

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1+10 . Meaning 11? or its a crapshoot? I have heard that 1) it depends on which company here in US that you get it from and thats for support reasons and 2) some stories like 'Engine locked up going about 10 mpr and not many miles' and gear control rod popped', chrome was bad, fenders scratched badly out of the crate, gas at the paint off the gas tank, tank leaked (oooo this one is scary).

Without saying YGWYPF, Is it worth getting? I don't mind tinkering but if parts and support are a bitch to deal with, why get one?

Else if its thumbs up, I will look into it.

OH! is there a good resource here to find which company has the best support and service with this bobber? Teach me to fish, don't just give me one ;-)

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Originally Posted by wes.yates

1+10 . Meaning 11? or its a crapshoot? I have heard that 1) it depends on which company here in US that you get it from and thats for support reasons and 2) some stories like 'Engine locked up going about 10 mpr and not many miles' and gear control rod popped', chrome was bad, fenders scratched badly out of the crate, gas at the paint off the gas tank, tank leaked (oooo this one is scary).

Without saying YGWYPF, Is it worth getting? I don't mind tinkering but if parts and support are a bitch to deal with, why get one?

Else if its thumbs up, I will look into it.

OH! is there a good resource here to find which company has the best support and service with this bobber? Teach me to fish, don't just give me one ;-)

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People get it because they like it. If you dont want it and are going to gripe, dont get it! Most of the time it is the bikes flaws that make it so much fun to own.. working out problems and finding fun ways to solve them yourself is half of owning a china bike. There is no way to make it sound pretty. Yes the chrome rusts, yes the paint is garbage... yea sometimes takes weeks/months for parts.. but when people pull up to your house and ask if they can take a picture of it... or the day you get it someone offers to buy it with cash.. and the feeling you get knowing you have a unique bike that only a select few tempt to own.. that is priceless in my book!

And btw.. gas will dissolve the paint off just about anything if you don't have a clear coat on it.

And besides.. who needs customer support.. when you have all the support and help you will ever need right here :p

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Originally Posted by DanDaMan

not california compliant , so if as your tag states , south cali ..... well

and although some here state its not a highway bike , 99% of my thousands of miles ridden is from interstate driving its all about the gearing , sure 10% ethenol gas makes ya lose almost 10 mphour but as a flatlander itll still run 65 although not much more unless I employ drafting :p

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LOL, yeah I have stock gearing myself and can only get 60mhp with wide open throttle and the wind on my back. Not good. Problem is, I weigh 240 and the speed limit on my local hwy is 75mhp, not 65. And most of the clueless cell texting teens on that stretch of road are doing 80+ most of the time. I do see a bigger bike in my future some day but It will be years before I have that kind of disposable income gain.

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Originally Posted by wes.yates

1+10 . Meaning 11? or its a crapshoot? I have heard that 1) it depends on which company here in US that you get it from and thats for support reasons and 2) some stories like 'Engine locked up going about 10 mpr and not many miles' and gear control rod popped', chrome was bad, fenders scratched badly out of the crate, gas at the paint off the gas tank, tank leaked (oooo this one is scary).

Without saying YGWYPF, Is it worth getting? I don't mind tinkering but if parts and support are a bitch to deal with, why get one?

Else if its thumbs up, I will look into it.

OH! is there a good resource here to find which company has the best support and service with this bobber? Teach me to fish, don't just give me one ;-)

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I tend to agree with yates on this issue. Parts are an issue. My dealer dropped shipped it to me and for the most part I got zero support from them. Been a year and I am still waiting for a part. Got tired of waiting and ordered a third party item.

Now that is one of the good things. Third party items. They are out there and they are better made in most cases. That's the good part. A lot of parts are interchangable going by this thread and my own experience so far. Just because it's a Chinese bike doesnt mean you have to use a Chinese made part. Just depends on the part.

With that said, this bike's No1 savings grace is it's retro looks. Cant get that anywhere else withought customizing and spending more money. At the time I wanted a Yamaha vstar but they wanted $4k for a beat up used one. Found this bike on the internet and I have no regrets getting so far.

All I can tell you is where NOT to buy it (my dealer). But I have read good things about scooterdepot. At the time they wanted a lot more money and my in-state dealer did the tags and title for me so that was a plus at the time. The only plus in my case though.

Bobthebobber sumed it up how I feel about this bike. For what little money I had at the time it is perfect for me and I guarantee if I ever sell it (probably wont) I will have buyers for it just because of how it looks etc.

Bobthebobber and GonzoX, Cool. So what I'm hearing is that Its a ... challenge to own one and that there are alternatives to keeping these things running (in a positive way) . So long as you are mechanically inclined or have the resources, its a decent investment.

Much like bikes-of-old, when you had to fix it yourself or walk, that adds to the retro-feel. Ok,

And GonzoX, thanks for the nod for Scooterdepot. I think these guys are the first I've seen.

I think what I'm going to do it to research the companies support and parts history. Short of Cleveland Cycleworks (which might be the best solution), I will call around to see how they react and treat me. Bad phone service means I will have a hard ass time and I dunna wanna that.

Grazi!
wes.yates

Last question for a while: As I'm reading the 327 pages of this forum (geezeus), I am finding resources for parts/mods. Is there a thread or a forum section that has a list? I have seen forum lists on other sites.

Thanks.