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
Attachment 2838
The other side
Attachment 2839
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.

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.
Attachment 2844

Sprocket removed. Note tab holding spacer and seal in place. At least I couldn't remove the spacer just by pulling on it.
Attachment 2845

More to come tomorrow.
Let me know how this is showing up. My first attempt at this. Need any formatting changes?

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

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.

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

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

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.
Attachment 2872

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.

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.

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.

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.