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Attachment 13222The T Rex at the side of the A2 on the way home.
I rode to Broadstairs today on the T Rex, 100 mile round trip, the bike never missed a beat. The fuel consumption was up a bit as I had a nasty headwind on the way there. The temperature was in the low 70s so it was ideal.
This bike sounds like it is ideal for Kent and Hawaii; actually any urban town with or without fine beach-like sand. Yuma is surrounded by beach type sand which makes pretty much all 2 wheeling off-road a not so pleasant experience (unless one has a paddle tire). I could see this on the sandy trails here.
Took it for its service today so felt more confident pushing it a bit on the way home. It tops out at 50mph but the garage told me there are plenty of tuning parts available to increase that.
Must admit I havent tried it off road but wouldnt mind giving it a go on a trail somewhere here.
I was out on the T Rex again at the weekend. I went to a bike jumble. Of the couple of hundred bikes in the parking area mine was the only Skyteam, let alone a T Rex. It was an 80 mile round trip on A and B roads, didnt get much above 45mph, the T Rex never missed a beat. Got a few admiring glances, or maybe they were laughing? Who knows.
It looks like the T Rex may have front and rear wheels that are bolted together. That should make tire replacements/flat repairs much easier, as you wouldn't have to lever the tires off and on with tire irons. I really thank you for writing about your T Rex. I can find little about these motorcycles anywhere, and certainly no information about day to day riding impressions.
Yes they are split rims. The official importer in Yoevil sells almost every part you could need. You could construct a whole new bike and he does mail order too. Not sure where gou are though?
I live in the USA on the big island of Hawaii.
Thought I'd check in with you to see how your Trex is holding up. Any problems?
Hi Birdmove,
The T Rex is going fine thanks, no real issues, except my rear tyre has worn down quite quickly. I have covered 3200 kms and it now needs changing. The bike is designed for off road use and all of my mileage has been on rod. I am guessing the tyre is made of softish rubber and that's why it has worn so quick. I have a new one sitting in the garage waiting to be fitted.
Thank you! Are you going to replace the tire yourself? It doesn't look too hard since it has the split rims.
Yes am giing to attempt it myself, hopefully should be straight forward. Only thing will bevkeeping the bike supported as it has no centre stand. Will have to use a trolley jack.
Could you let us know how it goes? I've replaced dual sport tires on standard spoke wheels, but never done a split rim type, or any type of balloon tires.
Yes will post a report once it's complete. Have done the split rims on my Honda ST70 before, that went ok, but it's probably only two thirds the size of a T Rex.
Picked up a Lifan LF110 yesterday to add to the collection, basically a Dax clone.
Can you put a photo here of it?
Would love to but my iPad doesn't seem to want to co-operate :-(
If I am not mistaken, I think we called those CT-70s in the US, Birdmove.
I see from your post, trexuk, that your T-Rex is still humming along? How many miles, now?
Yes you are correct. They were called CT70 in the states, ST70 in the UK and Dax elsewhere.
The T Rex is doing fine, am up to 3200kms now, the speedo shows in metric rather than imperial.
http://www.motorbikespecs.net/index....948&make=Lifan
Hopefully this link works. This is the Lifan 110 I picked up.
So, how do you like it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by trexuk
I feel disloyal to the T Rex saying this but I love it. As far as I recall it is very similar to the ST70 I had back in the early 80s. Although its geared rather than semi auto. I went to a vintage bike show last weekend near where I live in Kent and parked up the Lifan in the car park. I was surprised to see how much interst it generated amongst all the genuine vintage machinery present.
I removed the decals as I think they look a rather awful, fortunately they were on top of the clear coat. Removed the terribile looking large black plastic rear mudguard, and fitted a reproduction ST70 rear tail light and licence plate holder. And also removed the plastic extension on the rear of the front fender, which looked a bit cheap. Other than this its a great little bike, very manouverable and responsive, much like the old ST70s (CT70s as you you guys know them). I am planning to play around with the sprocket combination to see if I can squeeze another 5-10 MPH out of it. It runs happily at 30-35 MPH at the moment but is a little slow on main roads. I am still running in the engine so dont want to push it too much.
Managed to blow out the clutch seal on Saturday 6 miles from home, so had to stop and buy some more oil and limp home, it made it ok thankfully. Overall I am very pleased with the Lifan. Will probably start Honda-ising it a little bit too. The seat is a bit ugly but quite comfortable. It has a nice paint finish, it looks dark blue from a distance but up close in the sunlight looks purple and it has a slight metalflake in the clear coat too. I am thinking I wouldnt mind a 125cc version as well now :-)
Thanks! I wouldn't mind picking up one of the ones made by Skyteam. They are 125cc. This one has an after market seat, and is a clutchless version. These are made by Skyteam, and sold under Pitster Pro in the US:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svm2...XuWGhIJj4kfUOw
Looks like fun to me.
Originally I was going to get a Skyteam Skymax but the on the road price is around £1400, I picked up the Lifan for £475. Its a few years older being a 2007 model but only had 320 kms on the clock as it had been used with a campervan, so saw very little use.
Sounds like you got a very good buy there. Someone at Skyteam USA told me in an email that they were dropping the CT clone, that must be the same as what you call the Skymax. And, indeed, they no longer show that model at the US website. I'm amazed that they would drop it, as it would seem to me that there is a small market for these.
If you get a chance to try out this one on some off road riding, let us know what you think. Obviously it's not built for any radical dirt use, but, I bet it would still be fun on dirt and gravel roads.
I am shocked they would drop the CT clone, I would have thought that would have been a popular model in the States due to the popularity of the Honda CT70. I don't think Skyteam always keep in touch well with their customer base. They have good products but leave all the running up to the main importers, it's the same in the UK. I know one dealer that loves the products but feels the main importer isn't as pro-active as he could be. Is it Pisterpro in the States that is the main importer? Over here in the UK the Dax clone is badged up as several different makes but they all look very similar. There is a Lifan, like mine, Jincheng, Zongchen and Skyteam.
If I get the chance to try it off road I will. Ours is a small country and there aren't many public places you can go off road. The last few years over here pit bike riders have kind of ruined things for everyone else. So many of these bikes have been bought and ridden off road that the police are wise to them. A lot of riders get stopped and have their bikes confiscated as they are riding with no insurance, MOT test or road tax.
My theory on why they dropped it is because they import the Skyteam PBR 125 which is a replica of the ZB50 which was sold in the states for only 1988, maybe 1989, too, and have heavily promoted that bike, that is what they concentrate on. Keep in mind, Skyteam USA is not the official importer of Skyteam to the US. In fact, they don't have an official importer. Hence, that is why Roketa, Pitster Pro, SSR, Pirahna, and a few others carry Skyteam's CT70 replica, too. In fact, the SSR is not a 'SSR' brand; it is still branded as the OEM, Skyteam, if you were to purchase one, same as Roketa's version.
http://www.skyteamusa.com/images/alb...20ab43.JPG.png
In truth, I like the PBR also. But I like the CT clones more, as I think they are a bit roomier, and more able to take some mild off road riding.
I am very surprised that there is no official importer in the U.S, I would have thought they are missing out on a huge market.
I prefer the CT clone because I have liked that bike since I first saw one ridden by a high school girl when I was 9 or 10--sex on wheels!! :naughty:Quote:
Originally Posted by birdmove