THE THUMPERGARAGE PAGE.... more moto-stuff for all you FSSNOC members and fans!
(01-16-25 ... an update of this site with photo above)
Yup, you guessed it! That's as far afield as I have gotten with my new ride! If this is new to you, scroll down and read from an earlier update for some background information on this topic. We still have snow and ice with random patches of asphalt showing through on the side streets so no riding yet for me, not since Dec.31st, my last day to ride to date. The main roads are pretty clear except where the shade of a building or tree falls across ... then, "Ya better watch out!".
This weeks featured photo here on the ThumperGarage Page is of the addition, as in latest, to my stable (shed) ... a 2024 mail-order motorbike from Venom Motorsports in Anaheim, California. Fresh from the Orient, it arrived by big truck at my door, in remnants of a cardboard box with QIPAI printed across it, though the bike is branded by LIFAN KPX250. It was shipped "ready to ride, just add gas ..." that was to be the purchase premise.
The reality was a bit different but I'm slowly getting some of those neglected things taken care of; like greasing the clutch lever pivot points and oiling the clutch cable itself, greasing the axles, checking the wheel-bearings, balancing the front wheel, loosing the too-tightly adjusted drive chain, changing the oil and cleaning the oil filter (non-paper, reusable) and the sump screen, greasing under the throttle twistpipe, resetting the air pressure to 29 in front, 30 in rear as per manual (which depicts an earlier model of the bike, I hope the specs are still current?)
I probably should check the steeringhead bearings for grease, and the swingarm pivots, the fork oil, ... but I think I may delay that until after I get a chance to put some miles on it. In the conversation below, I had asked for some input from interested members about the motor oil weight (15-W-40 suggested by manual -1.2 Liters).
I finally did change it out last night after a couple of run times of 5 minutes or so, to 1.35 quarts of Motoul Oil 15-W-50 (because the original oil only reached the far end of the dipstick (?) after the Venom servicing). Guess what? I measured the oil I drained out - was 1.2 Liters pretty much on the money. Another mystery. The manual and all the YouTube videos all say to NOT screw in the dipstick to check the oil. In my case, this makes the oil level much more likely. Is that enough oil or do I go by the dipstick and add additional oil? Sherlock Holmes, where are you?
As you can see, the bike is drop-dead gorgeous! The finish is good, the seat cover appears to be quality and it feels good to my bum, at least so far, in the shed. I have found a number of cross-threaded bolts, the count is up to four as of last night. In every case, I was able to save the threads on the bike, but chose to toss the afflicted bolts. The seat height is just under 36 inches according to the spec sheet, I haven't actually weighed the bike yet though that'd be a project for later this afternoon perhaps. I did some comparing of oil filters, the stock reusable one vs a new Honda paper filter left over from Carrie's CBR250R (and I think maybe the Rebel 300 as well), they appear to be very similar in size, etc ... except the Honda filter has the bypass valve on the outside of the case, the Lifan filter has the bypass valve toward the innercase, so that makes me nervous but I am of the opinion that it might work, any thoughts from you guys on this? I do prefer a paper oil filter.
Changing gears here, dramatically ... an update on my personal state of health, ie, the cancer I've been dealing with: Progress appears to be very good. I'm going to a different type of treatment now that is said to be less aggressive and the prognostication is very positive from the current indications. I'll take that... (grin)! Thank you all for your support, your comments of encouragement, and your prayers for healing ... all of which I appreciate very much! Thank You again!
Now back to the topic at hand, the Lifan KPX250:
From Lynn, FSSNOC #139 - CO. -
Hey, Naught-Naught-Naught (#000)... I don't have a clue about your new ride so my comments below come for FREE; just enjoy the additional power surge from that non-o-ring chain while you can - maybe 8,000 miles or so with good maintenance? You're gonna want to gear the bike down (one new sprocket or both) anyhow. As for that air filter needing to be oiled (?), oil and paper don't go together under my shade tree. Well, that's my dime's worth and it's your bike so.... - Lynn, #0139 - CO.
(REPLY from #000) Good stuff, Lynn ... you make a good point. Any suggestions on oiling a non-o-ring chain? It's been so long? I'm thinking maybe just some cheap 10W40 or maybe a 20W detergent car oil ... I'm not sure that 90-140 would ever reach the chain pins and roller internals? - #000 Anyone? Email your responses to: [email protected]
So ... end of this page, go to the other pages on this site - navigational aids are above on the masthead.
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Update of copy only (no photos) from last week... (below)
Lifan 250 Questions from an earlier ThumperGarage Update:
Good Morning Jack -
Let's read what Fran says for today? - #000.
A) Future pics will be transmitted in larger format: The fuzzy results of the Neuro Surgical team at work, works in this case as there has been much muttering and Gnome teeth mashing, making me thinking “much” closer supervision will be required.
Yuup. Those Elves, or Elfs, well ... it all about the details, and when the details get tooo small, well, things get fuzzy ... like photos. For me, on my camera, errrr ... my phone, it gives me a choice, I go with the "large" format and that seems to work for me and my I-phone. - #000.
B) Lifan 250 questions. First off I must confess your new ride looks like a lot of Thumper Fun awaiting you.
It is sweet to the eye at speed, for sure, or at least I think it will be, as I've yet to take a ride, and now with this snow and ice, it could be awhile ... but I, like Dr. Kildare, have lots of patients... - #000.
C) - A non-O-Ring chain? This question is, I believe, best answered by the Emporer’s own vast knowledge, preferences, and experiences. My 1/2 cent worth is a “O-ring" chain has the advantage of less sprocket teeth wear and “lubing” time.
You are correct. The only thing negative about an o-ring chain is there is more rolling resistance due to the rubber o-rings, the chain weight, and the chain price but the positives of less oiling, longer life, less mess, etc. FAR out-weigh the negatives, or so everyone in 2025 thinks ... so why am I stalling around now to replace that 1960 replica non-o-ring chain, he asked? Well, this whole project might be about the road less traveled, or perhaps the road that is yet to even barely exist, so maybe I ought to go un-orthodox and get a can of lighter weight motor oil, maybe a detergent 20W and slush away, maybe it'd be fun to find out just how far that 1960 setup will take me? Or not? We are SO spoiled, and it's hard to ignore that ... or is it? - #000.
D) Oil / not oil ... the air leaner paper element? If your rides are not to dusty, my opinion would be not to oil the element. If they are dusty, oil with a light spray of something like 3 in 1 or similar light weight oil. However oiling the filter might have a choking effect on the carb. Is there a K&N or similar replacement?
All good questions. Oil will likely increase the blockage of air by the element, no doubt there. If the bike is setup to run like that, no problem. If it is not, it'd be a bummer, right! Wintertime riding, if it ever happens again here in T-Ville this year (woeful grin produced by moto-cabin-fever), is on dirt roads but most of the time the dust is fairly miinimal ... until someone else joins on the ride, then the second rider rides in the dust plume of the first, and so on ... though almost ALL of my rides are solo rides so not a problem per se. I, by nature, just want to get it right, to get it the way it was engineered, and that is why it is frustrating to not to be able to find out what the factory setup uses, oil? Or not oil? Hmmmmmm? - #000
E) More questions? Looking forward to them.
Oh, yeah ... here's one. Why is the owners manual for an earlier model of the Lifan 250? Photos, etc, are not correct so just how much of the dated information is pertinent to my updated model? A little? Most? None? - #000.
D. Personalized Plate? Go ahead Jack and treat yourself. You deserve it. My vote would be for “CheePAH”.
That's an easy question. Except Kansas only does five numbers/letters per plate so ... "CHEPA" ... was my solution. One thing about it ... if this thing winds up in the acreage of the back-forty, it'll look great to the drivers-by, eh? One time I noticed a personalized plate on a rag-tag Chevrolet Station Wagon, that car ahead of me was more rust than metal, more bent that straight, more abused than used ... the tag read: ONE OWNER. - #000.
... from Flying Fran 1440 CA ---
Great stuff, FF #1440 ... Thanks for the moto-conversation! Anyone else got anything? Come on, play the game, eh? [email protected] It's what we do on a winter's eve, eh? - #000.
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A couple of weeks ago, here on the ThumperGarage, we all viewed a photo of a big bent-in-the-middle truck parked at the driveway leading into FSSNOC National Headquarters here in ThumperVille, USA. Shortly after the sound of air-brakes, I was outside to see what was comin' off? ...
It was my latest leap of faith (or foolishness as we shall determine later), ordering a mail-order motorcycle that I'd never seen before, a Lifan KPX250. Oddly enough, the box was labeled QIPAI ... which even more odd, translates into something like - Chee Pah - or in English, "Cheaper" . Is that wild or what? Is that the ultimate tongue-in-cheek? If not, it almost is...
Just how cheap? $2900 and change, by the time it got here. I had added some bar-end protectors for $79.00 and I paid a setup fee of $199.00 to have them do what they call a PDI. I had wanted and planned to assemble it myself but they knocked $100 of their setup fee at the last minute so I went for it, my reasoning being that if it didn't have a piston, they shove it over into a corner and grab another, while if I discovered it had no piston in my shed, things would get complicated in a hurry.
I must admit, it is a beauty to the eye, don't you agree?
Very striking, indeed. Much better finish on just about everything than I had expected ... but life isn't always a PBJ, right? For example, last night I discovered it has a non-o-ring chain (??) on it? Who does that in 2025? What do I do? Run it, oil it, run it, oil it? Or change it out to save the sprockets?
In my maturity, I remember chains from back in the day before O-ring chains became the standard for about everything. Life did go on. Lube it often, lube it again, we didn't know any different, did you?
Rear rims never rusted out, no Sir. Shiny spokes were not the case, everything on the chain side of the motorcycle from the counter-sprocket back got treated to a healthy coating of lubricant, there was something in an orange can that we used, particularly on our British bikes, though my brain fails me as I write ... it was a little round squirt can and the lube was a nasty brown color ... do you recall it as well?
Initial shed-service revealed no grease under the throttle twist-pipe, no grease in the lever/cable pivots, no grease on battery terminals, in the motor/transmission the factory oil was on the low line on the dipstick - they recommend a 15W40 oil. The manual says to oil the paper air cleaner element but doesn't ever say what weight or type of oil and, of course, the air cleaner element as delivered was dry as a bone.
I called the dealer, Venom Motorsports in Anaheim, California, to little avail, I plan to call Lifan, USA to check on that as my answer from the dealer was pretty inconclusive. The lady I visited with apparently had no idea of what an air cleaner even was, but she did send me various links to random YouTube videos, which did not comment on the oil, no oil, question so I'm at a standstill there. I do remember when paper elements were to be oiled, back in the days before foam filters, etc. I think I do have some K&N spray-on oil on my shelf... but as I recall, a K&N is gauze-like material, not really paper ... got any suggestions?
In the process of removing the right side covers (3 pieces), some 11 bolts of various lengths and designs (flanges, non-flanges, sheet metal screws) to gain access to said air cleaner, I ran across two bolts with damaged threads, and one bolt on the luggage rack was also cross-threaded.
The really nice appearing tubular rack was sorta warped, so when I put it back on, I did a bit of re-tweaking to better align the holes on the rack with the holes on the frame, presto ... it went right on, and looks great with a pair of shiny new bolts.
I was able to save all but two bolts on the right side cover, and all the threads came out okay after I "chased" them with my handy-dandy tap and die set from 40 years ago. That kit has bailed me out several times over the years!
In fairness to the motorcycle's manufacturer, I'm relatively sure that the above damage was done in the PDI with the over zealous "tech" using electric power tools and working with little regard for what he was to accomplish.
When everything was back ship-shape (no pun intended, but...), upon re-installing the side cover panels, I spent about 45 minutes sorting out the bolts, where they went and which went where, with no luck.
I finally figured out that during the PDI, the tech had removed both side's covers and had probably co-mingled all those bolts, so when he put them back on, guess what ... wrong bolts in the right holes. Makes for slow work to rectify but kinda fun in a weird way if ya got lights and heat on an early winter's night, eh?
Yes, I did start it. It does run. Sounds good.
But, before I ride it, I plan to run it a few minutes, then drain out the mystery oil, what little there is to drain, capacity is 1.3quart if it was filled to the high mark, and I plan to go with a 15W50 Motoul oil that I have on the shelf ... then I will load it up in my truck, haul it down to the Police station to have the VIN number cleared because it was purchased from out-of-state, then over to the tag department near the courthouse for a paper tag ... and I might just be foolish enough to order a vanity license plate that reads "ChePa" ... or should I use the Chinese spelling of QIPAI? What would you do? My email is ... hey, you already know that ... Again, what would you do on the:
A) non-O-ring chain?
B) oil/not oil the air cleaner paper element?
C) I'm sure to have more questions, so stay tuned ... and tell a friend.
D) Oh yeah, the personalized plate, what would you do?
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