Thread: Zongshen RX3 report
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#1 Zongshen RX3 report12-28-2013, 02:33 AM
So I finally got my motorcycle! I decided to go with the Zongshen RX3. I found a shop in Zhuji and ordered it in the first week of december and was told to pick it up on the 3rd of January but a couple weeks later they called and said it had arrived early! This happened to be on the same day as I was scheduled to take the driving test for my license and the shop is right next to the traffic police station so I had a great feeling that everything was coming together perfectly! That day though turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I couldn't take the test and I couldn't get the plates for the bike that day so I was told to come back the next day.
The people at this shop were great though. The next day they picked me up from the bus station and drove me to the insurance company. I stood around while they argued with the woman there and then they drove me to the police station where I picked out my license plate number. This is a funny process. I was lead over to a touch screen computer and told to push a button. A group of other people crowded around. Then numbers started spinning kinda like a slot machine and a few seconds later I had 10 choices. People in the crown started shouting and pointing at one choice or another but most seemed to like this one with two 6s. I picked that one and was congratulated by a few in the crowd, "ohh very good!." A few minutes later they handed me the plates and we went back to the shop to attach them to the bike. By this time though, it was getting dark so the owner offered to drive my bike back on his flat bed truck. So they loaded it up and drove me and the new bike complete with registration papers, plates, and insurance back home.
The main reason I choose this bike over a few others in this price range was the reputation of the company within China. Zongshen is said to produce some of the most reliable bikes in China and their engines are frequently used by other chinese companies. This bike also apparently has been on a couple long distance trips before and although both were designed as promotions and neither was quite as long as my trip, that gave me some confidence. I did have to sacrifice engine size, the RX3 has a 250cc engine, and, more importantly, mechanical simplicity. The RX3 is water cooled, EFI, and the engine is often awkwardly arranged. The water cooling might be nice though. I will be traveling through some pretty hot areas, and the EFI will definitely be useful for when I go through the high altitudes in the Pamirs and Tibetan Plateau but I doubt I will ever be able to learn how to fix them should a problem arise.
Overall, I am happy with my choice. It has a powerful engine, it runs very smoothly in low and high gears (there are 6 gears) and it looks pretty sweet. One thing i expected to be a problem, but probably wont be is the lack of a center stand. There seems to be a place to install one.
Although i really do like the bike, there are a few potential problems. The first and most important is the service manual. I did get a book, but it's in chinese, its large index card sized and only about 20 pages. From what I can tell, it covers only the very basics; oil change, spark plug, turning on the engine and probably a few other things. Another issue is the oil filter. No one I've talked to knows where it is. I have a guess and it's pointed out in this picture but if thats right, then it looks like i'll have to remove a good portion of the engine to get to it. Related to this, there is no dip-stick. It uses the oil window system which is kind of annoying.
So, at the moment I'm still breaking in the engine. I decided to go with the most conservative hard break in procedure i could find which included fast accelerations in each gear (it accelerates really fast!) followed by engine breaking back to 2nd then moderate speed with constant throttle fluctuation and plenty of breaks. The large wide shouldered mostly empty village roads are perfect for this. I changed the oil yesterday at 100km and found a few metal shavings. I forgot to put the o-ring back on which had fallen into the oil pan so it got a bit messy. I have this next week off so I plan to do a few more longer rides.
I can't get the pictures to upload... I'll keep tryingWill the Zongshen RX3 survive??http://kelleyssilkroad.blogspot.com/
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#2 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-28-2013, 06:45 AM
Congratulations, you need to have the images on a website in order to upload them you cannot upload off your computer hard drive. Find yourself a photo hosting site upload them to it firsthand then they can be either an embedded link with an html address or uploaded to this site.
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#3 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-28-2013, 06:51 PM
Congratulations...this bike seems to have potential to be a great bike. I have a TMEC 200 enduro (I think they only export out of China, and/or rebrand) with a Zonshen 200 engine that does not miss a beat in my 30 mile roundtrip daily commute (while the rest of the bike needs tending) for over a year (I bought the bike used).
A recent interview in Chinamotoworld Magazincoming from ae with the founder and CEO of Zongshen, Zhu Zongshen (maybe not the correct spelling) did have him mentioning worldwide quality as being his goal for his products, and the Chinese industry in general. This bike is supposed to be one of the first ones produced with this in mind. In the last few years, there seems to be quality coming from China, and this will be among one of the best, IMO.
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#4 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-29-2013, 01:38 AM
I think this is the oil filter... Not really sure though.
Will the Zongshen RX3 survive??http://kelleyssilkroad.blogspot.com/
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#5 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-29-2013, 07:44 AM
your blue arrow points to the starter motor.
i guess the filter is on the right side, but from your photo i cant see itSWM RS500R, R1200GS LC
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#6 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-29-2013, 08:08 AM
its on page 9, item 15
http://svitmoto.com/GEON%20engine%20250%20(4V).pdf
part number http://new-minsk.ru/zap-r250.html 14210-ME30-0000 is universal for that engine.
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#7 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-29-2013, 01:37 PM
Ah thanks MJH. I know exactly where that is. Yup on the right side just below view in the picture and to the right/ toward the front. I completely forgot to check for info on the russian version of this bike.
Will the Zongshen RX3 survive??http://kelleyssilkroad.blogspot.com/
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#8 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-29-2013, 06:31 PM
Your very welcome...
here are those filters on taobao
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=...id=36016456722
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#9 Re: Zongshen RX3 report12-31-2013, 03:33 AM
Thanks again MJH. I also found what looks like a parts guy in Zhuji. Hopefully they'll have these things too.
So, I've broken the 500km mark on the bike. The past few days have been pretty warm so I've taken the new bike through some of the beautiful mountains around my little Zhejiang village. I also went through my first poorly lit long tunnel with on coming traffic... that's quite an experience. It's especially exciting when the cars coming at you have forgotten to turn on their headlights.
Most of my day trips have been on paved country roads but I did find a nice dirt track through a mountain pass the other day. The bike preformed brilliantly. The shocks were wonderful and it's easy to stand on.
[IMG][/IMG]Will the Zongshen RX3 survive??http://kelleyssilkroad.blogspot.com/
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#10 Re: Zongshen RX3 report01-02-2014, 06:24 AM
Great report, I am hoping to get one in March haha same colour, put extra lights on too.
Does the front headlight the little blue bit light up,or is it for show.
Seen same design on a Honda hornet (I think)
Keep the picks coming, great looker
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