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Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
I purchased a new Konker SM200 for my daughter for Christmas. Since I wasn't doing anything today I decided to take it apart! Two reasons, one to check how much grease was put on the swing arm bearings and shock mounts. I had done this previously on my KLR 650 and as others had noted on that forum, not much gets greased upon assembly. It would also give me a good look at how this bike is built; welding, tight nuts and bolts, wiring etc. It is winter here so I have the next three months to check things out.
So here are a few pics and some comments along the way. I hope it may help others also.
New motorcycle
Attachment 2837
Starting to come apart
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The other side
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Just getting the hang of putting pictures in here. Picture manager says I can only put 5 per post so I'll save this and do another.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Counter shaft sprocket and chain case protector.
Note the tab (blue line). When I took it apart the shift indicator (I believe) wires (red line) was underneath the tab, not pressing hard, but made a mark on the protective sheath. Vibration and rubbing a few miles down the road could have cause a failure.
Attachment 2842
Showing how the guard looks without sprocket cover. Note wire is moved as far left as possible.
Attachment 2843
Sprocket mounted without nut.
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Sprocket removed. Note tab holding spacer and seal in place. At least I couldn't remove the spacer just by pulling on it.
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More to come tomorrow.
Let me know how this is showing up. My first attempt at this. Need any formatting changes?
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Looking great, spook. pix are not huge, but can be blown up by clicking.
This is going to be a nice tutorial. And of course the better tutorial will come a bit later this spring when you have to put all the pieces back together again so your daughter doesn't disown you!
hope you are keeping everything bagged and tagged (and photographed)....
cheers
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
spook,
Goo photos. I hope you find some grease in the swing arm so I don't have to do the tear down on my Qlink XF200. If I have to do what you are doing I will put some grease fitting in the area.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
A nice touch putting a bit of shock protection against mud and dirt. I was impressed with the welds on the swingarm.
Attachment 2858
Swingarm and shock removed
Attachment 2860
From the back
Attachment 2859
Swing arm bolt and one bushing. Bushing had almost nothing in the way of grease. Bolt was dry, which it could be because it doesn't move. I put anti-seize compound on a bolt like this, then in two or three years if you have to do some maintenance at least it will come out. This bolt also serves as a motor mount.
Attachment 2861
My close-up pictures are poor. Almost no grease in this bearing.
Attachment 2862
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Rotating ball on shock. I was impressed. No grease.
Attachment 2867
Nice shock. I measured its length and it is 345mm eye to eye +- 2mm. I didn't do an exact measurement. Take note of the blue line. This is where the shock mounting mecanism bolts to. There is a seal there and if you look close one side is up and the other down a bit. Poor fitment. This was on both sides. I took them out and put them back in correctly. Wouldn't cause any problems and would stll keep the dirt out, but it would eventually wear on the protruding seal.
Attachment 2868
Here is the shock mount mecanism. This bearing had the most grease of anything. But the grease is kind of like vaseline. Maybe okay for assembly but not much else. This piece has me puzzeled though. Shock mounts on the left, the right is mounted on the frame behind the engine. Note the ball mount. The big piece on the right fits into the bearing and then a bushing goes into the big hole and then the bolts slides through to secure everything. But what are the other two smaller holes for? At first I thought that it might rotate and thereby adjust the seat height, but I don't see how it could once mounted up. I forgot to try and put the bolt through the small holes. If it fit then there would be some adjustment, but why have one with a bushing and one without. Any thoughts? Lower right, rubber seals and washer goes on either side of the ball mount.
Attachment 2869
Here is the swing arm needle bearging and the bushing that goes into it. You can see some grease on the bushing, hardly anything on the needle bearing. I put a good grade of automotive grease on my finger and packed this bearing. Easy enough to do, just takes a little time.
Attachment 2870
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Here it is, back together again. I had a used 5.10x17 Kenda 270 lying around and mounted it up. Probably overkill for this size a bike, a 4.60x17 would probably be better. No clearance problems on the swingarm. Still had about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch on each side. You do have to take off the bottom chain guide to get these tires out and back in. Even the new original wouldn't come out. Three small bolts hold it on, so not a big deal.
Attachment 2871
Well almost back together. It took me about 5 hours to do this. That including taking pictures. Not a hard job.
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My suspicions were confirmed, not much grease anywhere. I was impressed with most things. Welds look good, fit and finish is pretty good. Many of the bolts had blue marks on them to show that they had be tightened. I don't think I found one lose bolt or nut taking this stuff apart. Most of the bolts I tried to tighten first just to see if they where loose, they weren't.
So next on my list is to take the front forks off and grease the headset bearings. I am pretty sure what I'll find there also.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Barnone, you will need grease! Acutally it depends on the type of riding one does. If not used heavily in the dirt then what they have would work for quite a while. The grease fittings are a good idea, I know some of the KLR guys do that on their swing arms. The only problem I see is room. Things are pretty tight back there. Take longer to do, because the bearings would have to be removed so that you could drill and tap. Once done though you would never have to take it apart again. For me, I just like doing this kind of stuff. When I gave this to my daughter on Christmas day, I did say I was going to take it apart. She looked at me like I was joking. Then I explained to her and she finally accepted that.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Spook,
I was afraid that you would find a lack of grease. Thanks for the photos and descriptions. Now that I know I will have to tear her apart.
My Yamaha XT225 came with five grease fittings in the swing arm area and that makes it nice to give them a few pumps at oil change time.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
It is too bad that more dual sports don't come with grease fittings. I am not knocking the Chinese for lack of grease, because this happens on Japanese bikes as well. At least on the KLR forums, the guys that bought new bikes said they found the same thing when taking the swing arm off. I bought a used KLR a couple of years back and did the same thing, and found there to be very little grease there. It is due to have it checked again so this winter I'll do the same for it again.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Nice work and pics, thank you. Just did my rear sprocket so don't feel like touching spanners for a while but this will help me when I do the next Kinlon overhaul. looks like lots of grease may be needed! Do you just use ordinary automotive grease or is it something special because of the rubber(?) seals?
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Great write up and pics :clap:. The grease ritual will greatly increase the life of your bike and far too many people overlook the important bits that you show in your write up.
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
ChinaV
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Jape, I just use an automotive grease, nothing fancy. Movement in these points is minimal, but packing the bearings will help keep out moisture and water.
ChinaV, this is my first attempt at doing something like this, the pictures and write-up. Usually I just wrench and when I am done I remember I should have taken some pictures. I appreciate others that have given me information which may help me make a decision on something so I thought I would try and give something back. If any thing helps others so much the better.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Here are some pics of the headset bearings that I did today.
Not overly impressed with the headlight mounting system. Needs a well built assembly to carry everything properly. Two small mounts on the fork legs don't cut it.
Attachment 2873
Fork legs out. Ready to take out the head set
Attachment 2874
Nice tapered roller bearings. A surprise, there is grease in the bearings.
Attachment 2875
There was enough excess grease in the steering tube that I was able to use and pack a little more in the top bearing. Very sticky stuff, almost like a wheel bearing grease.
Attachment 2876
Bottom bearing. Not as much but still good. I put some more of my own on this and then reassembled everything.
Attachment 2877
Total time to do this was about 2 hours. Knowing what I do now, I wouldn't do the headset bearings. They have put enough grease in there for most everyday riding. Unless you are doing lots of off road and mud and water and then that type of riding requires constant maintenance anyhow.
While I had the headlight assembly partly disassembled I pulled all the connectors (one at a time though) and put di-electric grease in each one. I'll do that to the rest of the electrical connectors before putting the tank, seat and side covers back on.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Here is the front end assembled again.
What I noticed when I first put the front wheel on out of the crate and when I put it on again today is that the wheel seems to not be centered. I measured each side and it seems that the wheel is about 5mm to the left (looking at this picture from the front). I looked at the wheel spacer and the speedo drive and brake caliper and everything is mount correctly. Any one else notice this on their Qingqi bikes? I have an '80's Honda that is off a little also, but it doesn't seem to affect anything. Just curious if this is common on different bikes.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
I always had knowledgeable mates around years ago when I last did any serious mechanical work on bikes and I just cannot remember, do you have to have spring compressors to do the work on back springs and forks (all of which were different back then) or can you just undo them when the wheels are off?
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Thanks for taking the time to write all this up Spook, will probably come in very handy for a lot of mychinamoto members and lurkers alike!
Looking at your pictures i'm starting to really miss my garage...
Jape, i can only speak for the Galaxy XTR but there are no compressors needed to pull the shock out. Just put the bike on a stand and let the swingarm sag naturally, then the shock comes right out.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Excellent pictures spook! Good to see that they really do use needle bearings at all the swingarm pivot points as well... I believe this is a rarity with the chinese bikes as I think most just use a greased bushing. Testament to the quality of the Konker/Q Link series of motorcycles. The welds are very nice on the Konker, it's a very well put together motorcycle. Your daughter is going to love it!
Cheers,
Stew
P.S. Guess this means I have to tear the swingarm off my KLR? Darn and double darn! :)
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Just finishing up a few things. Went through all the electrical wiring and put di-electric grease on all the connectors. Rerouted a couple of wires and put a few extra zip ties in different places.
Here is my first mod. Not fond of glass fuses on a dirt bike so I went from this-
Attachment 2879
To this. A modern bladed fuse. All rubber enclosed so good at keeping the dirt out. Glass fuse was 15amp
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Here is the inlet side of the exhaust pipe. You can see that catalytic converter stuff in there. Anyone know what that stuff is make of? Any reason why a long rod and big hammer wouldn't get rid of it? Something to think about for the future.
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Here is the exhaust clamp and mounting bolts. Heat resistant type of material on either side of the rubber mounts. Nice touch. I liberally coated the exhaust clamp with anti-seize. If you don't two years down the road the bolts will break when you have to take the exhaust off.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
In the course of going over this bike I discover the emissions stuff. So I am pondering; do I take the stuff of now, or do I wait until spring and ride the bike a bit, getting to know it before doing anything with this. I am thinking the same thing about the stuff in the exhaust pipe. The mechanic in me says go for it, the practical side of me says ride it a bit first before mucking it up. What do you all think?
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And finally, all back together again. It even runs. I think my daughter can breath a bit easier now. I don't think she was real sure about all of this. Of course I assured her that I knew what I was doing.:icon10:
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So far I like what I see in this small machine. Fit and finish is good for the most part. The fun thing about these kinds of bikes (dual sport) is that one can always modify to your hearts content. I know on my KLR it has received a few mods whether it needed it or not. The only thing with this one is that now I'll have to ask if I can change somthing.
Could be a long winter. O well, I can always start taking my KLR apart!
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Let us just stick to the fact that the maintenance was to be sure of your investment to some extent - but mainly for your daughter's safety. That is what counts. :thumbsup:
From what I know of my own 3 daughters and other youngsters I would say let her decide on the emission stuff, she may not want a hot bike, nor necessarily want to add pollution to a world she has to try to thrive in, without Dad (:wheelchair:) and as a parent herself one day hopefully.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
It looks like this. The drill, a chisel and a hammer got mine out. I also used pliers to pull the pieces out and not let so many drop into the can itself.
Takes a pretty long bit and chisel though. About 8 inches or so.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...DSCN1864-1.jpg
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Jape; I need to keep reminding myself that this is her bike not mine. What she wants to do and what I want may be two different things. That is why I bought this, something small and easy to ride. Hopefully she will enjoy riding. And your right, what I did was mainly preventive maintenance so that hopefully this bike will last awhile.
Thanks Roger. Is it metal or more of a fiber? Did you notice any difference in engine response?
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
It's all metal, like a thick aluminum foil. In all honesty, there was a little change for the good., I also opened up the back end a bit with a few extra holes. I have the jets on the way and I will take off the emissions stuff at that point.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Hi, just came across this terrific thread. Thanks for sharing. I picked up an RMR 200 (UK version) a couple of weeks ago. I've just started using it to commute the 6 miles to work and back. A bit of an adjustment after my Fazer 600 but excellent fun, I'm sure your daughter will just love the bike. Only issue I had was that I had to wind the rear preload up nearly as far as I could to stop it sagging too far under my weight:O) Anyway I'll certainly be following your advice this weekend and be having a greasing party in the workshop!!
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
I finally got a new tire for the front. IRC GP-1 3.50x17. I believe it will be okay for the size of front rim. I put these semi-knobbies on because my daughter will be learning to ride in our field and on some gravel back roads. I wanted something with a little more traction. I still have the other tires to put on if we want to do more highway riding.
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From a rough measurement, these tires are about 1" taller than the originals. 24.5" OD vs 23.5 OD The originals have a lower profile.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
spoook,
Did you notice any change in handling with the new larger front tire?
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
Haven't had a chance to ride it yet, too much snow! Will be end of March before I can even get out the driveway with it.
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
I like those IRC GP-1 tires, they're a great choice for 50/50 off-road/on-road riding. I wish we could get them in China, but we're stuck with the Kenda 270, which look the same, but are very hard and slippery. Do you also have one on the rear? Would like to see how it looks.
Cheers!
ChinaV
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Re: Maintenance On New Konker SM200 (Qingqi, Qlink)
I purchased a 4.60x17 for the rear. I figure that should be big enough for this small motor. I put a set on my KLR 650 when I first got it. Good tires, maybe a little softer than the 270's, wore out the rear in about 5000km and the front started to cup. Could have got a little more out of them, but I like to keep good tires underneath me.
Here is the 4.60 mounted up.
Right side tire clearance.
Attachment 2987
Left side tire clearance
Attachment 2988
I think it looks okay with the GP-1's. Now the long wait until spring. :)
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