Soberpete's YBR 250

[marcomagica]

I put 570 Km (well the bike arrived already with 85 Km on it...)

So far so good I've to say, it's a nice bike indeed. As I said I'd like more power, but that's as good as you can get in China without too much hassle.
You change the oil every 1000 Km? I've always wondered why is that, even with the car they advise change the oil every 5000 km, but back in europe I would change it every 15000 Km. Is it the oil quality difference? Or the air very dusty here? Still every 1000Km seems a bit too precautionary in my opinion.

[ZMC888]

Marco, generally the more oil in an engine the less often the oil needs to be changed. Most 250cc motorcycles use about 1.5 liters of oil, whereas a small car will use 4 liters. In my experience judging from the color and being cautionary need to be changed every 1500 kilometers with filter-less Honda type 250cc engines and 1,200kms with a 125cc. However with a YBR250 you can change the oil less often as with these engines, unlike Honda based engines, the YBR250 has an oil filter. Although finding a source of these is not as easy as you might hope.

So with a trustworthy imported oil and a filter every other change up to 10,000 kilometers according to the manual, although it does no harm to just check the color of the oil and change it when it looses its golden color and gets black.

[Fred]

I wouldn't sweat it, the Sakuras are high end in China, and Sakura are part of Cheng-Shen Rubber, who also produce Maxxis tires. I'm fairly certain that your tires are of a similar quality to Maxxis. Although the Pirelli Sport Demons (on the Brazilian version) may be better, they would certainly be worth the effort to try a set.

I'm back with more question for Pete and everyone who own a YBR 250 !
About the tires : how are they faring in terms of durability and more importantly safety in the wet ?

I ask the question because the stock tires for the Honda "Shadow" 150cc are good (normal I'd say) in the dry, but terribly bad in the wet. I did some ass-tightening slides on the white paint in the wet, at less than 15 km/h and with a very limited lean of the bike (almost straight up !...) Not really a confidence inspiring experience...

[soberpete]

Hello Fred,
The tires, I have to say, have not let me down at all so far. I can get a good lean out of them at any speed up to about 70 or 80kph.
I've ridden a few hundred kilometers in the rain and I've never experienced a slip, however, riding in the rain terrifies me and so I naturally ride more slowly and don't put much of lean down around corners. I'm no expert but I'd say that white road-paint is the nemesis of any tire, good or bad. I only ever ride over it when I have to, and when I do, I don't accelerate or alter my course (taking the surrounding traffic into consideration first). If I were riding a beasty 600cc bike with a rear wheel that is more than twice the width of that white line then I may not be so cautious of it.

[Fred]

Thanks Pete, you answered exactly my question, as always !

I'm planning to write a small report about the Honda 150cc, as I will part with it after the October holiday, for a new YBR 250. In the report, I'll mention the tires.
I'm also very cautious in the wet, and this is what is "confidence-destroying": even by being so cautious, with almost no lean at all (maybe 10-15 degrees max), at a very slow speed (15-20 km'h max), and without any acceleration or braking involved, I did 2 slides on the white paint of pedestrian crossings (wide painted lines), the 2nd one sending the kind of terror wave through my spine (you know the kind...) because the rear tire slid for almost all the width of 1 pedestrian crossing line.... I usually avoid those white paint lines as the plague, but it's not always possible.

Of course now I have 0 confidence in those tires in the rain...

[ZMC888]

Honda 150cc? Are your tires branded 'Duro'?

IMO the most damaging thing for confidence is coming of your bike, but not knowing why. This applies to all 2 wheelers. Coming off and knowing why is OK so long as you aren't badly injured as you get a chance to assess why and improve your skills or change substandard components.

a beasty 600cc bike with a rear wheel that is more than twice the width of that white line then I may not be so cautious of it.

But remember there could be over 500% more power going through that tire, desoite the better quality and width.

[soberpete]

But remember there could be over 500% more power going through that tire, desoite the better quality and width.

Indeed. But whatever the power, I still have about 60% of my tire on the road and not the white paint. That's better than 0%.

[soberpete]

... almost no lean at all (maybe 10-15 degrees max), at a very slow speed (15-20 km'h max), and without any acceleration or braking involved, I did 2 slides on the white paint of pedestrian crossings (wide painted lines), the 2nd one sending the kind of terror wave through my spine (you know the kind...) because the rear tire slid for almost all the width of 1 pedestrian crossing line...

Of course now I have 0 confidence in those tires in the rain...

Jesus, Fred, I didn't realize the tires were THAT bad. That does sound terrifying and my hat goes off to you for dealing with those tires for as long as you have.
I'm excited to hear that you're getting a YBR 250! You won't be disappointed... hahaha.

The most recent ride I did with ZMC888 was a 130km route in constant rain. It wasn't heavy, it was more of a constant drizzle that followed a night of heavy rain so there were some puddles and just a lot of wet road which sometimes included some mud and other crap. It took me a while to push myself but towards the end of the ride I was putting down some 15-20 degree leans at about 30-40kph with no hint of a 'rear wheel slide' (is there already an TLA for that? RWS?). I really don't want to push it an further but I think the tires can handle a little more. There were dozens of white lines and a few zebra crossings; I handled them as I normally would and there were no surprises.

I have done another two rides down to Mengyin and back recently (both in dry weather) and experienced two RWSs. The first RWS was on the first ride, going down a very thin, concrete, farmer's road that featured small patches of sand from time to time. I was going around a fairly sharp corner in first gear (about 10kph) and put the power on just as I was coming out of it. The rear wheel must have been spot on-top of a patch of sand because the rear wheel shot out really fast. I was about to land on my right hand side but I somehow managed to kick myself upright just before it was too late. The same thing had happened once before while I was still rocking the old 150cc JIEDA cruiser: I cut too close to the wheat that farmers were drying out on the road on a sharp corner, had an RWS and managed to kick myself back upright before I even knew what was going on.

The last RWS was on a very sharp corner of a very wide road during the ride home. I took it in 2nd gear and really leaned into it at about 50 degrees putting the power on as I exited the corner. I felt a slight slip that I recovered from simply by leaning in the opposite direction. There must have been some oil or something on the road because I've done heavier corners at faster speeds before then and since then.

[soberpete]

***YBR 250 UPDATE***

Good news:
During my last trip down to Mengyin I had another chance to speed test the bike. With the wind behind me, the YBR 250 got over 141kph. The needle was still going up but I had to slow down because of traffic ahead. I would really like to GPS test it one day to see how far off the speedometer is.
I'm also over 5000km now .

Bad news:
A warning to all who either have a YBR 250 or anyone who is considering the purchase of one (Fred): There is a large amount of rust building up on the engine-end of the exhaust pipe. It took me a while to notice this, and after I did finally know what was going on it took me even longer to make a note of it on this thread.
There was a very small patch of rust on a single metal strut at the back end of the exhaust pipe a while ago that was easily dealt with using some anti-rust paint. That wasn't my fault; I think it was a very small piece of metal that was neglected in the factory but I think this new problem is my fault.
I believe that I ignorantly removed the layer of rust protective paint (from stock) the first time I used a pressure washer to clean mud from it. The rust then slowly began to build up and for a while it just looked like dirt to me so I just kept washing it so the rust is worse now. It stops near the front just underneath the engine. The rear end isn't rusty at all and I think it's because A: I could never get that close to it with the pressure washer and B: it never got as dirty as the front end and so I never paid that much attention to it.
I asked the mechanic if I could remove the exhaust, scrub it clean and then apply more of that anti-rust paint he has but he said that it would not be able to withstand the heat from the engine. It worked on the small patch of rust at the back because that end never gets as hot as the front.
I guess that I'm going to stick with it until some kind of a hole appears in the pipe, by which time I would have a new exhaust waiting for me at the dealer. After that I'm only ever going to wash the pipe with a soft sponge, by hand. That won't remove the anti-rust paint will it?

I will take some photos of the rust tomorrow.

[soberpete]

Tomorrow... ends up being next week. My time management skills aren't what they used to be.
I have the photos of the rust ready but, hey, why can't I insert photos directly from 'My Computer' anymore? - After clicking on the 'Insert Image' button it only gives me the option to import a URL .
The 'Attachments' button isn't too convenient either. I can never upload anything from there anymore .

Anyway, after discussing the rust issue with ZMC888 I've also been able to accept the idea that it may not just be my fault; the exhaust's quality may simply not be as good as the rest of the bike and so it's just going to get worse the longer I leave it outside.
Since I moved to my new home (in the school dormitories) a few months ago I've been able to leave the bike indoors, underneath the south stairwell. I doubt others would agree with it being there but I'm the only one who uses that stairwell and it's out of the way so nobody really knows . It's a bit late for the exhaust pipe but I'm confident that the bike will retain a better condition this way.