Another China to Europe thread. How to prepare old"ish" bike for this trip

**ChinaV** · 01-11-2016, 04:12 AM

One other handy tip... Check your cables and buy an extra set. Zip tie the extras onto the existing cables. If you break a cable, the replacement will already be routed in place and all you have to do is connect it. Also saves room in your luggage.

**W3HS** · 01-11-2016, 08:37 AM

A few comments to compliment what's been mentioned above; China had a great network of prepped mechanics so if you speak Chinese you can get in with the club and those guys stick proper parts. Don't touch oil unless you know the brand, 40rmb Castrol seems like a good deal until it's completely burnt out 500km down the road. A heavy weight 20-w40 Motal or Repsol (~140rmb) will give you a good 3k without issue. The problem is that it's only found in 'real' garages' which are hard to find without proper knowledge.

Every time you change your oil make sure to grease the chain and check your tyre pressures. There's no need for fancy chain lube, you can just slap a load of engine oil on the chain for good measure.

High altitude plugs are a lie, it's the carb needle that upgrading at altitude. I've bought into triple header spark plugs before and they really don't make too much difference at all; we're talking thousands of km of latitude and standard plugs run fine. It's the carb that you should attend to.

If you have any serous issues feel free to email me@ sjskerr@gmail.com for in particulars.

I do apologise if my English is poor or I've missed something because I'm on a very slow phone and I'm slightly drunk due to Bowies death.

**ChinaV** · 01-11-2016, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by W3HS

There's no need for fancy chain lube, you can just slap a load of engine oil on the chain for good measure.

No No No .... That is one of the worst possible things you can do to a chain. The used engine oil contains all kinds of contaminants that quickly destroy o-rings and the rollers. That little bucket of used engine oil with a paint brush sitting outside every rinky dink moto shop is a chain killer.

My 3rd world back up plan for no chain lube... go to a truck stop, get some heavy duty GREASE, smear the chain completely. Ride for 15 minutes, pull over, wipe the excess off.

Cheers!

**Zorge** · 01-11-2016, 05:47 PM

New word for today - "Scottoiler".

BTW, no one fitted some full chain guard on bike like YBR? This thing and grease are "winning combination".

**prince666** · 01-12-2016, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by ChinaV

No No No .... That is one of the worst possible things you can do to a chain. The used engine oil contains all kinds of contaminants that quickly destroy o-rings and the rollers. That little bucket of used engine oil with a paint brush sitting outside every rinky dink moto shop is a chain killer.

My 3rd world back up plan for no chain lube... go to a truck stop, get some heavy duty GREASE, smear the chain completely. Ride for 15 minutes, pull over, wipe the excess off.

Cheers!

+1

good chain lube is a must ??? sorry to ask W3HS are you Thail ??? because i am in Chiang Rai just now and i have seen how you guys work on bikes not much better then the Chinese yes bettter but JUST ??? IMO

"Look after your chain, and your chain will look after you" ??

Old engine oil contains nasty carcinogens and teratogens (eg dioxin). Avoid skin contact. If its very used it can also be acidic and cause corrosion when mixed with water, which can happen on a chain.

P.S. After reading some of your post and it seems you are not Thail so please forgive me my wrong but with a remark like

There's no need for fancy chain lube,you can just slap a load of engine oil on the chain for good measure.

you just sounded like one of them Thail famer I see on their Honda waves LOL

**modron** · 01-13-2016, 06:57 AM

Thanks ChinaV for taking the time to write such an informative post.
It would be awesome to be able to replace oil after 6-7k km but I recon its impossible on my bike. Even when I used most expensive 15w50 Motul oil, my bike started to complain at about 3-3.5k km, is Spectro oil really twice as good to double the intervals? . I My bike does run a little hotter then it used to. I probably am going to stick with changing the oil cooler though I noticed the way the tubes are attached to the engine is a bit funny and Ill have to find a way to attach the ones from taobao.
However, didnt have time to dwell on this much as am trying to sort out the legal issues. I hit the wall contacting customs about documents Id need to leave the country and enter again. Nobody seems to know in my little town, they are busy drinking their green tea and posting selfies on wechat.

Their is a friend of a friend in Urumuqi to whom Ill be sending tires and some other stuff. I remember reading on MCM that Urumuqi Yamaha center is nice and helpful so I will visit them for sure. I recon Ill need a check up after Mongolia.

Nice tip about the cables, Thanks.

@W3HS
Thanks for the info on carbs. YBR250 is fuel injected so no problems here. It does run like a 50cc scooter at around 3500-4000m ;)

**Zorge** · 01-13-2016, 01:19 PM

Modron, do you need more "things to thought about" concerning your journey? I'm convinced that forum folks can collect buck or two by giving their two cents.

What you mean by "the way the tubes are attached to the engine is a bit funny"? As Chris Rock said - "ha-ha funny" or "this milk tastes funny"? What, fittings are not common?

Two more issues that no one mentioned so far: fuel filter and inner tubes.

What kind of fuel filter/s you have on YBRahim? It seems to me that you'll need really good filters, because no one can guarantee you that you'll fill your bike with decent gasoline in some God-forgotten gas station in some of those #####-stans. I believe that it is not so easy to tamper with clogged EFI as with carb is. Plus, it would be good to find out what is the crappiest gasoline YBRahim's EFI system can digest - in ex-USSR countries you can find RON 76 or 80 gasoline.

Are YBRahim's stock tires tubeless or with inner tubes? I any case, take with you set of matching inner tubes. Also, patches, tools and even can of tire sealant wouldn't be a "dead weight".

BTW, did you checked so far is it all OK with injector, pressure regulator, pump, fuel lines and all those sensors - 40k kms is decent mileage.

**ChinaV** · 01-15-2016, 05:44 AM

Originally Posted by Zorge

Two more issues that no one mentioned so far: fuel filter and inner tubes.

Very good point Zorge

I don't know much about the YBR fuel injection, but most FI bikes can't take any kind of inline fuel filter. The fuel pump is usually inside the gas tank and they run at very high pressure. I had some problems with my V-Strom, but I had much better luck after changing to Sinopec.

If the YBR has filters in the tank, I would change them now and maybe carry an extra set if they're small.

Cheers!
ChinaV

**prince666** · 01-15-2016, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by modron

Thanks ChinaV for taking the time to write such an informative post.
It would be awesome to be able to replace oil after 6-7k km but I recon its impossible on my bike. Even when I used most expensive 15w50 Motul oil, my bike started to complain at about 3-3.5k km, is Spectro oil really twice as good to double the intervals? . I My bike does run a little hotter then it used to. I probably am going to stick with changing the oil cooler though I noticed the way the tubes are attached to the engine is a bit funny and Ill have to find a way to attach the ones from taobao.
However, didnt have time to dwell on this much as am trying to sort out the legal issues. I hit the wall contacting customs about documents Id need to leave the country and enter again. Nobody seems to know in my little town, they are busy drinking their green tea and posting selfies on wechat.

Their is a friend of a friend in Urumuqi to whom Ill be sending tires and some other stuff. I remember reading on MCM that Urumuqi Yamaha center is nice and helpful so I will visit them for sure. I recon Ill need a check up after Mongolia.

Nice tip about the cables, Thanks.

@W3HS
Thanks for the info on carbs. YBR250 is fuel injected so no problems here. It does run like a 50cc scooter at around 3500-4000m ;)

Fitted a oil cooler to my YBR 125cc with a TTO spark plug head readout found this is the best and easy way to check the engine temperature. found the engine around town run nice at 120/140c but would rise to over 180c flat out hard riding made a point to keep it under 200c much about this you will be running into the danger area but at lest I had this TTO as a warning? cheap to buy but you need to buy from a eBay site?

Here are a few pictures of my oil cooler set up.

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 236.jpg

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 238.jpg

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 447.jpg

hainan&thailand& china 2014 2015 510.jpg

A few links to TTO for sale ...

http://www.trailtech.net/digital-gauges/tto

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?poi...d=966987923148

**modron** · 04-07-2016, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by prince666

found the engine around town run nice at 120/140c but would rise to over 180c flat out hard riding made a point to keep it under 200c much about this you will be running into the danger area

I bought meself that TTO spark plug thermometer but didnt have a lot of time to try it out. However I did have around 20min ride around the city and the temp got up to 160C and it wasnt a hot day.

Whats the max safe temperature for cylinder head? I did google and some say its around 250-260C