Purchased in Haiti- Lifan 200 GY-5A

[benjamin550]

Now that I have the bike in my hands and have put some miles on it, I thought Id start a new thread with the some photos. First off, thanks to everyone for the help so far, its been a big help and Im looking forward to contributing to this board whenever I can.

My first impression so far is that this is a really solid bike. Being that this is my first Chinese bike, i cannon resist the urge to notice the little places where quality was overlooked (like cheap screws that easily strip, and evidence of bits of rust already forming) but considering I paid 1400.00 USD for it brand new, I cant really complain. Especially because a comparable Honda would have run me about 5-6K down here in Haiti, and with the possibility of crashing the bike or getting it stolen, that is not really an investment I wanted to make. Not to mention I couldn't really afford it either.

heres a list of Pro's and Cons I've noticed so far:

Pros:
1 Style- Personally I think it looks great, especially when compared to the design of many of the chinese bikes here.
2 Disc brakes front and rear
3 Handling and shifting have been smooth as butter so far, which has been really surprising and impressive. It really drives like a much more expensive bike.
4 loud horn (in PAP, Haiti that makes all the difference in the world.
5 Seat height- at 830mm, its just a bit lower than most of the other comparable bikes which tended to be around 850mm. This helps when you are short like me.
6 Top end speed, havent topped it out, but it cruises nicely in 4th and 5th gear

Cons:
1 Like I mentioned above, many of the screws flake and strip whenever a little too much force is applied. It is very easy to round them off.
2 Any where there is a paint ship missing, rust appears quickly
3 Low end power is definitely lacking. Being that most of the driving will be in the city, i might look into changing the rear sprocket to get a bit more power in the low end.
4 Seriously uncomfortable seat. I rode about an hour straight on it the other day, on good roads, and by the end my ass was in pain. I think it has something to do with how skinny it is, or maybe lack of padding


Thats all Ive got so far. Like I said before I really love the bike, and could not be happier with my purchase. Here are a few pics. Ill post more as I go on more rides around Haiti.

IMG_0003.jpgIMG_0005.jpgIMG_0006.jpgIMG_0009.jpgIMG_0010.jpg

[Kennon]

a nice little bike youve got there i do like the sharp front end and must be nice having a rear rack to load up on. any plans for small mods to make things easier?


Kennon

[benjamin550]

Kennon,

Well, thats sort of why I started a separate thread about it, hoping people would give me some input. Ideas?

I know I want to change out both the tires for some name brand ones. And Im thinking seriously about upgrading the sprocket to gain a little more low end torque. Possibly steel braided brake lines. I suppose I should find out what Japanese bike this is a clone of first.

Does anyone have any suggestions on things to replace to save headaches down the road and beef things up a little?

Thanks,
Kohl

[MJH]

Here is a good article on changing sprocket to get desired results.
http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/moto...ocketmath.html

What brand tires are on the bike now?

[benjamin550]

MJH-

Thanks for posting that article, it really helped me. I'm going to start looking for a slightly larger sprocket, although Im not sure i can pick one up here in Haiti.

Not sure about the brand of tires. I will check and post back. I will say when I went out this morning I had a flat already. Like I said, not good quality.

Kohl

[MJH]

Which tire went flat, you could get measurement off the sprocket and check for it online as well as the tire options.
You should be able to get things shipped to you in Haiti from the USA.

http://www.jtsprockets.com/
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com

[benjamin550]

TIres are Kingstone, and have tubes. Have another flat today. I need to replace with a better quality tube and tire. These are notorious for going flat especially with the bad roads here.

[MJH]

You should be able to buy tires online, will probably cost more for the international freight though.

[benjamin550]

So, 500 KM later and things are still running smooth (mostly). It has started having trouble starting in the mornings (it can take 5-6 minutes or so before I am able to drive it) and ive had about 5 flat tires. One which involved the guy that fixed it putting my forks on backwards and breaking all of my gauges on my instrument panel. But, other than that all good.

One thing I would like to fix/ change/ upgrade is the seat. Its horrible. After about 20 minutes my ass seriously start to hurt, and after about an hour its almost intolerable. As you can see in the photos, the seat is very narrow and there isnt much padding. Does anyone have experience modifying a seat like this. I would like to make it wider and have more padding. I dont know if there is a seat plate from another model that would be better to start with, or if I can just add foam, shape and recover this one.

Suggestions?

[Deom2i]

Congrates mate,

Could you tell us how you break in your engine?