CFMoto 650TR screen upgrade

[bikerdoc]

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...

[bikerdoc]

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.

[prince666]

Hi Doc will try and ring you about the new screen

[650TR Rider]

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...

[ZMC888]

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.

[bikerdoc]

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!

[bikerdoc]

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.