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  1. #1 CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Bikerdocs 650TR/TK review

    CFMoto CF650TR/650TK taller custom screen fabrication.

    Basic design concept:

    650TR screen RHS.JPG

    650TR screen rider view.JPG

    Finally got somewhere with CFMoto today. After multiple calls to CFMoto factory over the last month or so, in which CFMoto has denied the existence of a taller screen option or it's availability in PRC, we were referred to a specific individual in CFMoto.

    Initially this reps response was that there was no tall screen option. When he was informed of the various links where tall screens were commented on including 'the motorcycle obsession blog' and 'the great ride of Ch!na' the CFMoto rep finally admitted that there was indeed a tall screen.

    However the screen is undergoing some design element changes including the mounting method and will be available as a general release/upgrade including for those of us inside PRC due for release after October 2013. The rep also acknowledged and admitted that the 650TR released, available and sold inside PRC differs from the model sold to export markets. The latter of the two products gets numerous upgrades and better level components than the model sold on the mainland. The rep agreed that this was plainly unfair but that almost all companies in PRC were guilty of this practise. Shame, shame, shame! It makes sense then that most more discerning Chinese shy away from locally manufactured products in favour of imported ones. Who can blame them?!

    This reminded me of my first CFMoto buy, a CF250T-VIP maxi scoot back in 2006. I'd gone to my local motorcycle shop (Suzuki) and viewed a number of CFMoto products and felt a 250 maxi scoot would be a great ride for these parts. When I said I wanted to buy one, but none of the ones that had clearly been sitting on the shop floor, most of which were 150cc anyway, and that I wanted a brand new 250cc from the factory, the head salesman made a call (likely to the factory or distributor) and I was dutifully informed I had two choices. One was a regular 250-VIP for the domestic market or the second choice being a 250-VIP for the export market at a additional 50% premium. I chose the latter.

    I'd forgotten about that until this telephone call with the CFMoto rep. I guess I'd come to believe that CFmoto with all it's increasing export marketing and so forth, would be upping the ante and looking after it's domestic market consumer - but obviously not! My bad!

    Well back to the screen, apparently there are 4 to 5 components that are being redesigned and planned for release after October. Some of the items are related to the screen and how it mounts, though it is unclear if all items are exclusively screen related.

    Later today I'll be speaking with a Taobao seller who deals in motorcycle screens, who has offered to have a prototype taller screen fabricated at his screen suppliers factory.

    I'd initially considered to have the additional 100mm at the top also made slightly wider than the rest of the screen below, but decided that for now I'd leave it to the most simplest design/fabrication, to see how it turns out. If it seems the fabricator can handle this task easily then I might go with the additional design elements.

    Stay tuned...
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  2. #2 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Unfortunately my laptop with AutoCAD and other 3D drawing programs has crashed, so I'm making do with the basics.

    650TR screen-1.jpg

    Side profile with yellow line to indicate to the fabricator that there is a small lip at the tip of the of the screen

    650TR screen-2.jpg

    Arrows reaffirming the lip, and that I'd like to see the angle altered slightly allowing for more of a lip.

    650TR screen-3.jpg

    Basic dimensions of the key elements on the standard screen. Note the milled out mounting holes on the screen. I have the screen mounted so that it raised from the fascia by 10mm at the lowest mounting points and some 40mm at the top mounts. The milled holes allow for the change to angle of the longer Allen headed coach bolts I use to achieve the altered screen angle/profile.

    650TR Screen 20130915.jpg

    The screen in the picture doesn't really show the change in profile, but it works in practise.
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  3. #3 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    After viewing Buck and Amy's 650TR export model provided to them direct ex-factory, it's obvious that the screen in the photos of the 650TR via their Flikr account, pretty much contains most of the design elements I was contemplating. There are several differences, the first of which is taking the nose of the screen down to a more pointed position to fit in with the tupperware on that portion of the 650TR. Actually this was a suggestion by Prince666. The other design element is what I'd contemplated having fabricated first go around, but then omitted pending revisions etc. as needed for the first screen prototype. This allowed for the top 100mm to be wider across the top width wise be approx 50mm each side. Another element was allowing for a more increased up-sweep at the top of the screen - unsure how this is factored into on the tall OEM screen.

    All in all the OEM tall screen seems like a suitable replacement for the shorty screen based on the 650TR in the Flikr photos.

    So I've put my prototype tall screen to one side and await the availability of the screen ex-CFMoto after October.
    Last edited by bikerdoc; 09-20-2013 at 04:37 AM.
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  4. #4 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    KING of MCM LOL prince666's Avatar
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    Hi Doc will try and ring you about the new screen
    "Arguing on the Internet is like running in the Special Olympics, even if you win you're still retarded"
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  5. #5 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
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    Hi Guys,

    Mine came with the taller screen, i requested it as a no cost option uograde...

    Regarding different spec of the bike I note that even in the UK we have been shortchanged on soec. And see that American version has as standaed what all versions should have... low fuel warning, tripmeter, clock... I have been trying to locate CFMoto customer service details to ask them why USA has these and no one else.. and to find out if my instrument cluster can be retrofitted... oh one other very serious oversight the speedo is not dual MPH/KPH . not noticed before as dont ride outside of UK.... but hey guys at CFMoto if you really want this bike to do well in UK market you must at very least provide those basics... otherwise it will fail to sell in big numbers, and many UK riders, prospective customers are waiting and reading forums and blogs such as this in UK... before they decide to part with their money... so overall the bike is ok with some really stupid minor oversights that could chnage it from an OK bike to a really good bike... ph and sort out the cheap nasty steel used to make the ignition key.. really crap quality as are the locks...

    So they dont have yo chnage much to improve the bike, just a shame they didnt do it with the first batch they exported...
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  6. #6 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    Senior C-Moto Guru ZMC888's Avatar
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    650TR rider, unfortunately in Chinese culture finding short-cuts in your work and money saving tricks makes you 'clever'. Which is the main reason why companies with a Japanese or European work culture generally make better products in China than domestic brands. Also why many motorcycle companies manufacture in Thailand. It's not impossible to change but tough.
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  7. #7 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by ZMC888 View Post
    650TR rider, unfortunately in Chinese culture finding short-cuts in your work and money saving tricks makes you 'clever'. Which is the main reason why companies with a Japanese or European work culture generally make better products in China than domestic brands. Also why many motorcycle companies manufacture in Thailand. It's not impossible to change but tough.
    ditto... with emphasis on the word tough!
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  8. #8 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
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    Hi Guys,

    Its a shame, with that way of thinking to see how they will ever crack the worldwide markets with their home products…

    On many forums people are saying (and you may have read) that anyone who buys Chinese home made products is crazy as they are unreliable, workmanship quality is very poor, the spares supply chain is rubbish, and they fall apart… they say better to buy a 3 or 4 year old Japanese or German motorbike than a new Chinese motorbike..

    Well, I have taken a chance on a Chinese produced Motorbike and hope that it does not prove all those people correct and that I can say to them in two or three years time, I made the right decision to give Chinese made products a try.
    Although I must agree on some points regarding quality, especially the areas of the motorbike I have previously mentioned.

    if either of you have lived outside of China you will know what I mean when I say…

    What manufacturers in China regard as acceptable quality, which is imposed on their internal customers… outside of PRC in just won't hack it…If customers outside of China feel that they are getting substandard products, substandard service then they will not buy a Chinese motorbike, moreover they will broadcast it around the world.

    This will not only impact Chinese motorbike sales but a potential to affect sales of any products made in China, in a world that is already is suspicious of the quality of the products produced by China and the back up service provided. I know they manufacture for other companies outside of Chine, but I am refer to home grown, branded products that they wish it to be seen as a quality product

    As you say it is not impossible to change, but tough, the sooner they change the sooner everyone in China will benefit.

    It is a total mind set change that has to happen at the very top and filter all the way through, if they want to be successful selling home made goods outside of China… then they have to wake up and smell the coffee as they say.

    It needs to happen sooner rather than later though.

    As mentioned previously, in this particular case, CFMoto only need to make a few small changes to make the bike more appealing and marketable outside PRC… as for reliability, only time will tell :)
    Last edited by 650TR Rider; 09-20-2013 at 06:20 AM. Reason: some additions
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  9. #9 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Here are photos of the 2013 650TR export model with the tall screen, from Buck and Amy's the Great Ride in China Flikr photo collection.

    Bucko 650TR-01.jpg

    Bucko 650TR-02.jpg

    Bucko 650TR-03.jpg
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  10. #10 Re: CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade 
    foreign China moto dude bikerdoc's Avatar
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    Note the screen profile, widening as height increases.

    Bucko 650TR-04.jpg

    Bucko 650TR-05.jpg

    Bucko 650TR-06.JPG

    Notice how the screen fits the contours of the underside of the dash better than the shorter OEM screen which is rounded. The tall screen comes to more a point at its base. Nice.

    Hope to have one of these screens end of October if CFMoto's words ring true.

    Will update post accordingly.
    Last edited by bikerdoc; 10-04-2013 at 12:18 AM.
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