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  1. #1 My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun... 
    Shanghai'ed Shanghaifingers's Avatar
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    Well after lusting after a dirtbike to add to my growing China collection of motorcycles I finally had given up when too many difficulties arose getting plate (remember I live in Shanghai....) I gave up, but while on trip to Nanchang China a freind introduced me to this old lady:

    She is a 2002 Hong Du GY 150cc, she had 18,000 km and on a second engine(a Jia Ling 150cc) but she was running (barely)
    So for a 2,000 RMB I got the bike, plates, insurance and registration... for another 250 rmb I got it shipped to my house in Shanghai from Nanchang. 150 rmb just for the bike to be delivered to the house form the Shanghai depot

    Once home the inspection began:






    If its not obvious I will tell you she was pretty ratted out, not much left but the frame and engine were in good shape... I love project bikes. So I began to buy what I thought would fit this bike both mechanically and appearance wise... All parts where bought on TAOBAO.com. Mind you Hong Du brand dirt bikes are not rare (not collectable in anyway) except maybe Nanchang but since most older China made dirtbike are simply clones of Japanese bike there is a lot parts that will work for most and the other I just fudged....

    New parts included:

    wiring harness for JaiLing 150, 40 rmb
    plug wire, 10 rmb
    spark plug NGK(yeah right) 15rmb each
    Piston set( rings, crown, and cylinder)+ full set of gaskets and seals
    350 rmb
    Valve set from JiaLing 70 rmb
    six plate clutch 300 rmb
    Control cables 50rmb
    exhuast set including can 150 rmb
    3.75x21 Kenda front tire 56 rmb
    rear brake hydrolic unit 120 rmb
    throttle assembly with veiwing window
    40 rmb
    electric handle bar switches for a Zhong Shen 150cc
    30 rmb set of two
    horn 10 rmb
    front fender 80 rmb
    Acerbis hand guard(fake) 60 rmb
    Acerbis headlight (fake) 150 rmb
    rear fender 35 rmb
    LED rear light 15 rmb
    LED turnsignals 40 rmb for set of 4
    dash light bulbs 15 rmb for 3
    reapolster set 60 rmb
    Chain tensioner 26 rmb

    TOTAL 1722 rmb

    So with these part now arriving my garage in Shanghai I set out to begin tearing down the bike:

    First thing those stickers have to go, they're all over the bike!


    some loose plastic parts and lights



    Bike in Box....YEAH!!!!


    Old piston rings and cylinder say bye bye


    More engine work, includign polishing the vale seats for the new valves..


    fresh coat of paint for the frame, a little rewelding and reworking of the rear subframe


    Wow that old tired seat has to go...

    Oh much better!

    So after 3 days of working on the bike, replacing the clutch assembly and the piston set as well as redoing the wiring and hand controls and rebuilding the rear mono shock which at first would rebound slower then molassis on a december morning, the plastic arrives and we begin to see what she will look like in the near future:

    nice ass

    Looks nice but will they light up anything?( sadly no the lights are brite but are pink in color do to the refelectors, so they don't illuminate anything at all. the LEDs above on the side are nice touch. I wire the LED's for the low beam and the High Beam in the two front main lights...


    Again the Fake Acerbis head light, here you can see the LEDs as well as the twin mains(again this is no good for real driving) Nice turn signals though, really cheap and really bright
    Last edited by Shanghaifingers; 02-23-2010 at 04:20 PM. Reason: typo
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  2. #2 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    Shanghai'ed Shanghaifingers's Avatar
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    old guages still work so I just changed the bulbs for LED ones and bam! feels totally different


    knock off Acerbis hand guards, look the part and have a metal bar stock down the middle sooo, good enough!


    quick look at the new electric controls and the trick throttle assembly with the view window. sorry not a great photo.


    exhaust kit

    Along with some other missing parts that bike seemed to have lost over the year the original chain guide and safety cover were lost and even after much effort to find replacements I ended up using a universal chain tensioner and still looking for a chain guard.....Here is the cheap universal chain tensioner for square swing arms:

    seems to work well afer 300+km easy to install and line up, so far no signs of wear and tear, still not sure how many Km's its good for....All in all not bad, especially not for this price 26 rmb ($3.81 USD at 6.82)...

    from other side
    http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/...222c48b8_m.jpg
    from top

    The one outstanding major issue is the brake disk or more importantly the REAR brake disk.... It general thought that you shopuld not let you disks wear down past 3mm of in some cases 3.5-4mm my rear currently is at 2.78mm and while the bike stops fine it does consern me for the future... The disks are just nolonger available anywhere not even the HongDu factory(whats left of it)


    one of the replacement problems is the fact that the rear wheel which is original with inner mounted spokes... is fitted for a disk with a 3 bolt configuration (now a days its usually 4-6 bolts)
    So other then using a replacement rear wheel hub the brake are still a major issue.... Any ideas are welcome

    Aside from that here she is in here rebuilt second life form:


    Total cost for project
    2000 rmb for Bike, Plates, Regisrtation, Ownership book, Insurance for one year
    250 rmb for Shipping
    1722 rmb in part
    400 rmb in misc, and labor for the mechanic to help paint and for the paint itself(we painted everything)... I follow my old Army saying;
    IF ITS BROKEN, PAINT IT, IF IT AIN'T BROKEN PAINT IT ANYWAY
    so grand total of 4,372 rmb and 6 days of work.... a new 150 would cost 4,000-8,000 rmb+ delivery and then the hassle of plating... so while not a huge savings it was certainly more fun this way... I was bored anyway....
    Last edited by Shanghaifingers; 02-23-2010 at 04:21 PM. Reason: mathmatical erro
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  3. #3 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    C-Moto Not-so-Noob
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    Wow and I thought my project was gonna be done cheaply! Nicely done
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  4. #4 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    Damn fine work you did there, I always enjoy a good restoration thread .

    Thanks for sharing.... what's next?

    Cheers!
    ChinaV
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  5. #5 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    Rides with Ann Pfaelzer's Avatar
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    Great job and nice report !!!

    This is exactly the opposite of what I am doing, spending money and upgrading a new and well working bike. But at least one thing is in common - we like working on bikes. I enjoyed reading your post - hope to see some more pictures of the bike.

    Safe ride and greetings, AW.
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  6. #6 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    C-Moto Guru david3921's Avatar
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    Nice restro, Shanghafingers.

    Anybody know where I can get a chain guide like the one above in the U.S.? I know Forchetto had a post on how to convert a pitbike one but I would like something that I can just bolt on and go. The one on Shanghafingers is just what I need for my Qlink.
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  7. #7 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    Shanghai'ed Shanghaifingers's Avatar
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    Its a Universal style chain tensioner with a spring hinge.... I bought it on a chinese website TaoBao.com.... but that does you no good for the US. The closest thing I could find with a quick google search was this:

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Chain...31171007r25335

    Hope it helps....
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  8. #8 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    C-Moto Guru david3921's Avatar
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    Thanks. I saw that one too, fingers, but $99 is too steep. I think I might be able to find something at a wood working site. I know that they sell finger boards that have tensioned wheels to put pressure on the wood to hold it against the fence. I'll keep looking.
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  9. #9 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    Shanghai'ed Shanghaifingers's Avatar
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    I could ship you one.... PM me your address and I will check the cost to ship it....
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  10. #10 Re: My New old dirt bike project. Converting a beat up 2002 Hong Du GY 150 for fun.. 
    C-Moto Guru david3921's Avatar
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    PM sent, thanks.
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