Dong Fang DF 250 RTB Bobber Information

[Petec112003]

I had the same thing from Sunny Sports in CA. The 150cc they shipped me,there # MC-D150H, had no Carburetor drain screw in it. I think when they shipafter testing, as mine had 1.2 miles on it, they drain the fuel so they canship it. I bet the guy never put the screw back in and shipped it like yours Idumped gas on the floor until I smelled it and thought I flooded the Carb Ifyou look at your Carb you will see a tube leading off the very bottom of thecar bowl towards the ground. There should be a taper threaded 6mm screw with an“O”- ring on it and a slot head to screw into the metal fitting on the end ofthe tube. I got one from a local scooter store in town so I could start mine.Of course they messed up the MSO with the wrong cc’s on it so I can’t registerit yet either and I’m frustrated but looking forward to joining the Chinamotogroup of riders.

Good Luck

[barnone]

[QUOTE=bobber250;33501]I couldn't wait... I went out in the dark with a flashlight and a screwdriver and found the pesky little drain screw and closed it... Its beautiful.... a work of art... Thank you sir, sometimes my elder brain needs a kickstart...
/QUOTE]
bobber250,
Your welcome. Something about even an old blind dog can find a bone applies to me. My oldest child will be 41 years old in December.
Oh, the rule on this forum by Crazy Carl is that the bike don't exist without photos.

I thought that we might get together since I am just over the border in Robbinsville,NC but then I found out you are 250 miles away in TN.

[bobber250]

It just plain looks good in my drive.... and... now it is real... =)

The damp spot in the exhaust is where the gas dripped when I un-pinched the drain line from the float bowl last nite...

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...8&l=3b8ccaa134

follow the public link, I can't get a picture uploaded...

[bobber250]

barnone , would be nice to see your mods firsthand... I really appreciate your help... we may catch up with each other some time in the future... =)

[tomjohnson]

Barnone et al,

My name is Tom, and I am hoping to pull the trigger on one of these by weeks end. I do have some questions. First off thanks for all the info it has been a wild ride reading about this bike through the posts here. I found this bike by accident when I found out the HD Crossbones was no longer being made and there were only 5 units available, none of them to me. But $20,000 vs <$2,500 seems like a no brainer anyway. I have owned other bikes in the past most recently a new 2008 Honda Rebel 250. The rebel like the DF250 is a 250cc class motor (the df at 229cc and the Rebel at 234cc; 2.24% difference in displacement.) On the rebel I was able to travel from Lake Charles to Beaumont,TX (68.3 mi), Bridge City, TX (45.1 mi), and Spring, TX (~134 mi) consisting of Farm Road, Highway, and Interstate traffic. On all these trips the speeds ranged from 45-75 mph. The rebel would struggle at 68-75 depending on wind direction and if I was trying to pass a semi or not but it could do it.

From reading the thread it seems like that is not possible with the DF250 does the 2% difference in displacement really matter that much? I am not really a gear head (I couldn't have told you what a carburetor did before a few hours ago) but I do want to understand.

Barnone: You said this bike is not an interstate bike, but did you mean you wouldn't take it on the interstate or it can not handle the interstate. The rebel did work on the highway, it was far from fun when there was lots of traffic but we made it, throttle open all the way but it was great on an early morning ride when traffic was low.

Any thoughts would be appreciated,

Tom

Here is a pick of the rebel I had, it is no longer with us had to trade it in for a real car when my wife got preggers almost 2 years ago. :'(

[tomjohnson]

Also is there a reserve on the tank? The rebel had a dohicky (petcock?) that you could turn if you ran out of fuel in the main part of the tank. Does the DF250 have something similar?

Thanks
Tom

[barnone]

tomjohnson,
Of course you can take the DF on the interstate and I would expect the DF and the Rebel to have the same performance. When I say I don't consider a 250cc bike an interstate bike, I mean I would not buy it if I was doing long distance high speed travel on the interstate. I don't believe running my bikes wide open to keep up with highway traffic. BTW, I had a Nighthawk 250 which has the same engine as the Rebel and it was not IMHO an 70 MPH highway capable bike.

I've ridden I10 from Lake Charles to Houston many times and you need to be able to cruise at 75+ MPH to keep up with traffic. I don't dare go through Atlanta on I75 without a 80 MPH cruise bike. 80 MPH cruise in my opinion means you have a bike capable of 100 + MPH.

There is a reserve on the tank.

[tomjohnson]

So if I am comfortable going 65-70mph on I10 anywhere from Baton Rouge/NOLA to Beaumont I should be fine on this bike. (Its mostly for day trips to see family or Work)
Can you get 65-70MPH wide open without the Sprocket/Carb mods referenced throughout the thread? BTW I am 5'7" 180ish.

Thanks
Tom

[barnone]

So if I am comfortable going 65-70mph on I10 anywhere from Baton Rouge/NOLA to Beaumont I should be fine on this bike. (Its mostly for day trips to see family or Work)
Can you get 65-70MPH wide open without the Sprocket/Carb mods referenced throughout the thread? BTW I am 5'7" 180ish.

Thanks
Tom

You will have to change the rear sprocket to a 35 tooth one ( http://www.oldbikebarn.com/Motorcycl...?search=JTR279 ) because the stock one is geared too low to run 70 MPH.

My DF came with a 88 main jet which would not allow the engine to run at high rpm. I put in a 100 which fixed the problem. Some are now reporting that their DFs are coming with a 105 so you will need to pull the float bowl and check the size of the main jet.

You need some mechanical skills to own one of these Chinese bikes unless you have access to a good mechanic.

You might be better off to buy a nice used Japanese bike like a Kawasaki Vulcan 500 for your interstate riding.

[tomjohnson]

This bike looks to cool to pass up. I have very little in the way of mechanical skills, but you have to learn somewhere, this seems like a good place. I do have access to people with mechanical skills, but I think I will try my damnedest to learn how all this works.

Thanks for the insight.
T