Zongshen 240 (229?) engine - what do you know?

I already posted this on Chinariders, but I wondered if you guys in China knew anything about the Zongshen 250 engine (which I suspect is only a 229 engine).

What sort of reputation does Zongshen have over there?

Are these just the same pushrod engine as the Lifan with a bigger bore? 'Cuz that what it looks like to me.....

I'm curious because a local kid has a Giovanni 250 pit bike for sale for parts (and these come with a Zongshen engine), and I'm wondering if the engine would bolt into my GY-5, if it would last, and if it would even be worth the effort.

I have not heard of a Zhonshen 250, but I have been looking at the Zhonshen 200 in Beijing recently, it is getting better in build quality (almost starting to look like a "real" bike) , it is retailing for around 8900 RMB

but, the bike that really caught my attention lately , is posted on a different area of this website, the Shineray 250 ,

it is double overhead cam, 4 valve, liquid cooled 250 WOW !!!!

these China bikes are slowly, but surely coming up to Int'l Speed

Zacky,

As far as I know, ZongShen and Lifan both use Honda based engines so they might very well bolt in.

In China ZongShen is a very prolific company with a good spread of local dealerships. ZongShen is also an aggressive marketer. I haven't seen too many new models on the road recently but have just recently seen two copies of the "Sierra" 200 (QLink XR200) that looked the same and still had engine problems even after only a couple thousand kms.

One of the problems with their 200's from a few years back was they used a 150case and stuck a bigger head on it which caused a bunch of problems and still does on some of their models. ZongShen's new products may be better but I've never seen an updated model so can't say for sure.

You have any pictures of the pit bike you're talking about? I tried searching Zongshen and various web sites but can't find a good pic.

CC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kawazacky

I already posted this on Chinariders, but I wondered if you guys in China knew anything about the Zongshen 250 engine (which I suspect is only a 229 engine).

What sort of reputation does Zongshen have over there?

Are these just the same pushrod engine as the Lifan with a bigger bore? 'Cuz that what it looks like to me.....

I'm curious because a local kid has a Giovanni 250 pit bike for sale for parts (and these come with a Zongshen engine), and I'm wondering if the engine would bolt into my GY-5, if it would last, and if it would even be worth the effort.

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http://cgi.ebay.ca/250cc-OFF-ROAD-DI...QQcmdZViewItem

There is a link to pictures of the bike. As I said, it's a Giovanni, with a Zongshen engine...

I THINK that most of the parts, except plastics, frame, wiring harness, and rear suspension are interchangeable. It sure looks like the same engine case as my GY-5. The exhaust looks like it's a lot better, and the front forks are a different colour in this photo, but in others they are the same as my GY-5. So, I think it's probably fairly close.

The engine looks like the the standard 150cc case but with nicer machined covers and flat black paint job. I'm kind of doubting that the engine is designed for 250cc. Even if it's a 230cc head on a 150 case, it might be a motor waiting to blow up after a while...which was the problems with their 200cc engine. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in ZongShen but will keep my ears open.

250cc on a bike that small would sure be fun though!

CC

Why does this case look the same as the Lifan? Do all the engine manufacturers use the same engine case to facilitate swaps, but have different internal workings?

Most Chinese bikes are like building your own PC...open source manufacturing. Not all companies use Honda based engines. Some use Suzuki and there are a few Yamaha's out there as well. Honda derived engines are by far the most popular so that's why you see so many of them in different frames.

Internally they all may be the exact same but important differences will be in the individual manufactures quality control during the production process. A small hole drilled a little of center or not perfectly straight can cause major problems after 4,000 miles of high RPM riding. Quality control is what you're basically paying for...that and better quality materials (even though the original design may be perfectly identical).

CC

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CrazyCarl

Internally they all may be the exact same but important differences will be in the individual manufactures quality control during the production process. A small hole drilled a little of center or not perfectly straight can cause major problems after 4,000 miles of high RPM riding. Quality control is what you're basically paying for

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To give you a real-life example of quality control we have a Thyssen sintered gearbox components factory here in my region. A lot of car makers use common components in things like gearboxes: Audi, Seat, Skoda, VW, etc but guess what? on final dimensional QC checks the absolutely perfect components are coated with a protective film, lovingly wrapped in special bubble bags and carefully placed in specially built boxes to be sold to AUDI. The ones that are not quite up to spec and are at the maximun tolerances are chucked in a pile and go to the likes of SEAT and SKODA...and the ones that are crap are usually bought by FIAT...but in theory all the components are made by the same people so they must be the same, right?...wrong!.
This could be the difference between engines produced by QINGQI for SUZUKI and the ones used in their own bikes.