GY200 & More - Mini UK Tour

Plans are afoot for a 4 day mini UK tour at the end of July 2011(ish).

Three bikes in total and not your normal run of the mill stuff either:

1. Me on my own Lifan GY200-2

2. My bruv in law on his 1968 BSA Starfire 250

3. My daughters boyfriend on his Honda Innova 125 (a sort of updated C90)

We are planning around 800 miles approx and are heading north from the Midlands towards Newcastle and from here on in who knows!

Its our first road trip so any advice on bits n pieces to take etc most welcome as are any other comments you may have. We intend to take the camping gear and stop off wherever the fancy takes us but what do we sensibly need to take with regard to weight/bulk etc.

I intend to do a sort of report with pictures eventually so please check back to this post if you are interested in our adventures (if it all happens that is)

Andy :lol8:

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Originally Posted by andy288

Plans are afoot for a 4 day mini UK tour at the end of July 2011(ish).

snip towards Newcastle and from here on in who knows!

Its our first road trip so any advice on bits n pieces to take etc
Andy :lol8:

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Andy, heading towards Newcastle means you will need just bottle-openers and hangover remedies. Probably an ability with a quick fist too or a headbutt, ay oop. Apart from that it is Northern UK summer so umbrellas and raincoats and wellies. Condoms for friendly sheep at your camping sites, cameras to take pics of disasters, drunken episodes and pretty girls. And full RAC membership and cash enough to stay in motels or B and B's after the tent leaks badly on the first night and the vibration from old or cheap, low-powered machines gives you all severe muscle cramps and sore arms and feet. That should do it. There's a thread here by China V on tools and equipment for trips somewhere, hopefully someone more helpful than me will point you at it with a link.

Here's two threads to get you started .. the adv thread may be overkill, given you're not crossing the Sahara

http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...ome-without-it

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262998

A personal must for me is a good cup of coffee to start the day. If only I had a portable grinder like this >> http://www.amazon.com/Liberty-Mounta.../dp/B000MRM0YA

http://www.perfectespresso.net/image...php/256278.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andy288

Plans are afoot for a 4 day mini UK tour at the end of July 2011(ish).

Three bikes in total and not your normal run of the mill stuff either:

1. Me on my own Lifan GY200-2

2. My bruv in law on his 1968 BSA Starfire 250

3. My daughters boyfriend on his Honda Innova 125 (a sort of updated C90)

We are planning around 800 miles approx and are heading north from the Midlands towards Newcastle and from here on in who knows!

Its our first road trip so any advice on bits n pieces to take etc most welcome as are any other comments you may have. We intend to take the camping gear and stop off wherever the fancy takes us but what do we sensibly need to take with regard to weight/bulk etc.

I intend to do a sort of report with pictures eventually so please check back to this post if you are interested in our adventures (if it all happens that is)

Andy :lol8:

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Sounds fun and an interesting selection of bikes ! My suggestion is not to ride behind the Starfire so as not to get too oily ! Make sure you have the means to deal with a puncture and spare headlight and tail light bulbs but changing one on the Gy is not easy ! I took my GY200 from the Uk to Spain and back - 2500miles with no problems with the bike at all and the seat is not bad once you get used to it but I would suggest choosing quiet roads where you can go along at no more than 50mph to make the experience more pleasant . Also be aware that the GY will probably have the least fuel range . My trip : http://www.mychinamoto.com/forums/sh...00-sorry-Ewan-!

Good luck !

Cheers Bojer - your report makes very interesing reading for me!

6 litre tank capacity sure ain't a lot so a fuel stop every 200+ kms I would estimate.

Did a near 100 mile round trip today and the GY ran nicely and now sports around 2200kms on the odometer. Upto 65mph indicated in places but much more at home around the 55mph mark which I think will be my preferred speed on the proposed road trip.

The bike has develpoed a rather annoying rattle at around 35-40mph - like some part/bracket etc has vibrated loose and is 'ting ting tinging' I have adjusted the chain which was slightly loose and checked over all the obvious nuts and bolts for tension on my return but cannot find anything obvious. At tickover the 'rattle' is not there so I'm guessing its probably not mechanical just somethig loose.

Any ideas anyone?

Cheers then

Yours must have a bigger tank than mine did Andy - I found about 100miles was the most I could get out of mine ,200km would be very good I reckon . When bored on the way home at night M25 mine did hold about 70mph for quite a while but the vibes were quite high at that "speed" . The bodywork all made a lot of noise on mine at any speed from walking it along to 70mph the tank, sidepanels and headlight all made various noises !

Adjustment of the brake brake seems critical if you get rid of too much free play it rubs and seizes on but with too little it is not much use at all - I did find replacing whatever the Chinese had filled the reservoir with with DOT4 helped a lot and didnt have any problems after that .

Hope the weather holds out !

Fuelled up yesterday with 5.89 litres (a whole £8's worth) from near empty to full so I am sure 6 litre capacity is about right. I always reset the trip meter at fill up so I know when 200kms approaches I'm near to empty.

Back brake already adjusted (and seized on when it got hot at the first attempt as you say) but is all good now - both front and rear brake fluid was changed as a precaution when I got the bike and the stuff that came out was a real funny colour and consistency - as was the engine oil, which is now running on semi synthetic 10W/40. Will be doing a further oil change before the ride begins.

Got some throw over panniers to use and have fabricated a small frame to keep them from rubbing on the high level exhaust.

Keep me posted with any 'nuggets' you may recall as I find it all fascinating stuff.

Roll on the end of July..............

Fuelled up yesterday with 5.89 litres (a whole £8's worth) from near empty to full so I am sure 6 litre capacity is about right. I always reset the trip meter at fill up so I know when 200kms approaches I'm near to empty.

Back brake already adjusted (and seized on when it got hot at the first attempt as you say) but is all good now - both front and rear brake fluid was changed as a precaution when I got the bike and the stuff that came out was a real funny colour and consistency - as was the engine oil, which is now running on semi synthetic 10W/40. Will be doing a further oil change before the ride begins.

Got some throw over panniers to use and have fabricated a small frame to keep them from rubbing on the high level exhaust.

Keep me posted with any 'nuggets' you may recall as I find it all fascinating stuff.

Roll on the end of July..............[/QUOTE]

Bojer - My odometer reads kms which is why I use this to quote figures etc but the 100 miles you state your range was is around 160kms anyway so guess my tank must be a tad bigger as you say. :clap:

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Originally Posted by andy288

Bojer - My odometer reads kms which is why I use this to quote figures etc but the 100 miles you state your range was is around 160kms anyway so guess my tank must be a tad bigger as you say. :clap:

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I think my odometer did read in miles - would seem right as it got o Alicante with about 1900 on the clock - a bit of running in then the trip down . My 100 miles range was from filled to the top of the tank to stopped at the side of the road ! With the shrouds off the tank looked tiny - off a pit bike or similar I think - yours sounds more useful ! FWIW I think my bike was made by Zongshen maybe the Lifan is a better version ?

have you checked the valve clearances yet Andy ? - I didnt check until I was in Spain - was not easy as the extra height of the 200 motor in the "125" frame meant the rocker cover would not come off until the engine was tipped forward - exhaust and carb off and remove all but the rear engine bolt .....:eek2:. Tried filing off some of the rocker cover "fins" but to no avail . No other problems with the bike , rear shock was poor but did the job . I did no real mods to my GY - compared with my CCM CXR, and it worked just fine as long as you did not try to go too fast !

You can see from the pics I did not have panniers but used a QD type topbox and a big bag with lots of bungees ! - panniers will reduce the centre of gravity which has to be good .

Look forward to the report .

cheers,

Lifan & Zong appear to be the more common of the Chinese manufacturers but they all appear to copy each others designs - its just the final styling (ha ha ha) that appears different!

Not checked the valves as yet, apart from the obvious things you describe is this an easy task?

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Originally Posted by andy288

Lifan & Zong appear to be the more common of the Chinese manufacturers but they all appear to copy each others designs - its just the final styling (ha ha ha) that appears different!

Not checked the valves as yet, apart from the obvious things you describe is this an easy task?

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"styling" you say ?!! :lol8: - yours at least looks better than mine did with the weird "vertical" headlight !

Valve check was very easy - lots of room compared with a OHC engine - if you have room to get the rocker cover off without tilting the engine even better . Even if you do have to tilt the engine it only takes about 20 minutes to do - just a bit of an unnecessary pain though !

The mini trip is still on, 4 weeks and counting!

I keep you posted!

Andy:clap:

:icon10: Wont it be winter by then ???!

Just a bit of an update - all set for next week all being well!

First casualty is the Innovo 125, so its just me on the Lifan and the Beezer.

Oil changed with semi synthetic 10W/40, chain adjusted and all checked over as beat as I can.

Added a 'modification' for the trip as well, a home made Sat Nav holder and 12V supply. Cigarette lighter holder from the local scrapyard and the case from the pound shop - hope it doh rain tho!

Here's a couple of pics, bike cleaned and ready and the infamous budget sat nav case.

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...18Jul11001.jpg

http://i816.photobucket.com/albums/z...18Jul11002.jpg

Off in a minute - well excited!

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Originally Posted by andy288

Off in a minute - well excited!

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Good luck escaping foul clouds..