My new JH600

[Pfaelzer]

Pfaelzer hi again, how are you?


can you tell me where I can buy oil filters, air filters, oil ... all for my engine




you know a reputable dealer (cheap) on line?

thank you very much.

Hi artop,
I buy parts directly from Jialing. My office in China is ordering those for me. I have no idea on ordering parts online for the JH600. I also do not know, if Jialing can ship parts to other countries or how this works. If you have any specific questions I might check it out for you. PM me in this case.

Cheers,
AW.

[Pfaelzer]

While trying to make my clutch and brake lever point it bit more downwards, because I don't like the levers to be almost at the same horizontal position as the handlebars. I found out it's not possible. Due to the electrical parts having only a limited narrow space at the back for the levers to be able to be fully pulled back towards the handlebars, ofcourse I thought then move them as well! But as mentioned by someone (probably ChinaV) about another bike, these parts are fixed by a small hole drilled into the handlebar.

So I ended up moving the whole handlebar forward to get the prefered angle between handlebar and levers. I hope this won't cause any back problems after a long ride. We'll see!

Hi Barry,

At my bike, the clutch lever bracket is not connected to the electrical switches and can be moved easily. The box with the switches is indeed fixed in its position and can't be moved, but this seems also not to be necessary.

Clutch lever bracket


The break lever assembly can also be adjusted


I do not clearly understand the problem you are having. pictures might help...

I found raising the handle bar helped quite a bit in seating position. you might consider this. However, my bike is not the "latest version". Raising the bar, madethe clutch cable a bit tight. I am trying to get a longer cable from Jialing now.

HANDLEBAR RAISER

Cheers,
AW.

[Lao Jia Hou]

Hi,

been away for a while. Business... Finally I have completed and updated the front spring modification post here:

PROGRESSIVE FRONT SPRING MODIFICATION

I will have some days off over the eastern holidays and plan to make a 4 days ride in Fujian province together with my better half. After that I can give more feedback on this modification and maybe fine-tune the front if necessary.

Cheers,
AW.

Welcome back AW! It is great to see what you've done with the front springs - thanks for sharing!

While waiting, I managed to acquire a set of JH600 fork tubes from a parts bike. I'm about to ship them off to a suspension engineering company back home along with additional details about the bike & load measurements. I've asked it to design & engineer a dial-in, adjustable front suspension system that is slightly more robust, easily swapped over, and still remains within a typical consumer budget. I've also asked the company to review the stock fork seals, as I've seen a couple of JH600s that have done extended Xinjiang trips on washboard - the seals started to leak after a few thousand kms. We'll see what it comes up with, but I am guessing it won't be immediate.

I haven't used my JH600 under heavy load, so the rear shock hasn't been an issue for me. If I was loading the bike, I'd consider going with TA's option of an adjustable unit. Nor am I racing the JH600, nor doing hard off-roading for extended periods. I have had, however, my JH600 touching the pegs at speed in corners and have not felt any concern with the suspension off-tracking or overly compressing from inertia load.

Stiffening up the rear end might result in the 99% of my casual riding to be a little more jarring, and my own personal preference is for smoothness. From my own experience, my only suspension issue appears that the front is a bit too prone to dive when braking, but that could be partially attributable to my size / position / style / etc. Eh ... I've just adjusted the way I ride the JH600.

I'm still very happy with the bike for what it is. However, I may change the brand emblems to "BMW" to avoid having to listen to "really? you bought a Chinese bike? why?"

Enjoy your upcoming ride!

Cheers
Richard

[Pfaelzer]

Wow, Richard,

Cool plan you got here with the front fork. Can't imagine that this can be done in a "developed" country at a "typical consumer budget". Really looking forward to see, what comes out of this. I had a small lunch-time ride today again, much on unpaved roads and I must say, that simply changing the springs (90 Euros) and the oil made a big, big difference. I am almost at a point of total satisfaction, almost. TA's hydraulic spring-tensioner would make things much more smooth, very sexy. Instead I have to fiddle with tools all the time to play with the spring-load. Another thing, which I need to check - maybe someone knows here - is: When the front get's "aired", decompressed suddenly, then the front-shocks hit a kind of end point and it makes a quit unpleasant sound - like metal hits metal. I understand some models have rubber dampers inside to avoid that...

About the rear shock - I fully agree to what you are saying, nothing really wrong with the original part. Having said that, I changed to a custom Wilbers shock on my R1150GSA after running down the original one with permanently riding fully loaded, and it made a huge difference in the way, how the bike feels. Even solo. It's not really about stiffening up but more about a solid feel and faster response. Same thing on the JH600. Come to Fuzhou and try it out...

After all, looking at the performance, it is still a China-bike, far from anything close to a BMW, even though with big fun factor. I really like the JH600 too and we should not be shy to show it. A BMW logo on it would be kinda weird.

Hope you will post news on your modified "front-end" soon (ChinaV, I know what you are thinking now ...but I mean the front suspension of the JH600).

Cheers,
AW.

[Lao Jia Hou]

... I must say, that simply changing the springs (90 Euros) and the oil made a big, big difference.

Yeah, I'm really eager to get my dirty little paws on those springs - alas, Franki has disappeared & I think TA would ship me his wife before he'd part with his unmounted springs.

I think I might try just changing the oil viscosity, first, with the stock springs. Did you try that out? Would you have any recommendations for replacement oil? I've also thought about increasing the spacer size, to put a slight pre-compression in.

Hope you will post news on your modified "front-end" soon.

I suspect that I won't get any news for several months - my objective was to reduce the dive, and also have it adjustable. I'm lucky inasmuch as it is a relative that owns a group of performance mod shops back home, albeit primarily for racing bikes (those things I love to hate!). He'll set me straight, I think, for someone within a consumer budget (i.e., it doesn't have to be perfect for making 200 kph corners).

[Pfaelzer]

I'll be in Germany again next month. The springs are not heavy, if you like I can bring you a set - between 80 and 100 Euros as I remember. I didn't play with the oil so far. The oil I used (see picture) was based on several suggestions.

Might be helpful to use a thicker oil and a higher pre-loand (extended spacer) to reduce travel and response for your road-riding focused purpose. Changing the oil should be definitely a great idea as you can see in my post about that.

PM me for the springs if you like.
Cheers,
AW.

[Barry]

Might be helpful to use a thicker oil and a higher pre-loand (extended spacer) to reduce travel and response for your road-riding focused purpose. Changing the oil should be definitely a great idea as you can see in my post about that.

I found a Motul 10W and a 15W on taobao both RMB 120 / L. But I was wondering how much does outside temperature affect the front shock travel/response on top of the oil you are using in it?

Furthermore how often do you normal (need to) change fork oil?

[Lao Jia Hou]

Great find Barry, thanks. Motul is a trustworthy brand, I think, and seems to be widely available in China. I'm going to go for the manly stuff and order 15W. If that doesn't do it for me, then I'll definitely be taking up AW on his very generous offer (I have first dibs, folks!). Hmmm, i wonder if heavier oil would be more prone to blow the seals?

No idea about temp on fork performance.

Most manufacturers recommend changing the fork oil about every two years, or 20K miles. From AW's informative notation about discolored oil in one fork, maybe the JH600's original oil is not very good and the first change should be sooner.

[Barry]

Most manufacturers recommend changing the fork oil about every two years, or 20K miles. From AW's informative notation about discolored oil in one fork, maybe the JH600's original oil is not very good and the first change should be sooner.

While changing oil wouldn't it be a good moment to replace the seals as well?

[Pfaelzer]

While changing oil wouldn't it be a good moment to replace the seals as well?

Not necessarily. Changing the fork oil does not require to take the seals out. I wouldn't do that unless to prepare for a major trip involving lot's of gravel roads... Even then, maybe I'd just carry a pair of spare seals with me.

AW.