California Scooter Co. 250 ADV MC?

I found a few more photographs of the Zongshen, Z-One Sport motorcycle.



















The center stand on this bike is a very nice touch.

Spud

I have riding buddies here that ride the Z one. They are satisfied with it

The ADV market is huge right now , and I think the price difference may reflect that !!.


I know a lot about a few things,a little about a lot of things but I don't know everything about anything !!.

Spud, in the 67,000 miles that you have put on yours what kind of service have you done. Of course besides the normal lube, oil, filter stuff.

I have only needed to perform the routine maintenance you would expect for an air cooled engine. My Zongshen ZS200GY-2 employs a 196cc engine which is a virtual copy of the engine installed in the currently manufactured, Yamaha TW200. The only difference is my Zongshen engine has a shorter, XT200 counter shaft, rather than the long counter shaft employed by the Yamaha TW200. Therefore, I can, and I have used some Yamaha parts to maintain my Zongshen engine.

I just replaced the piston and rings for the third time. The first two times I replaced the piston and piston rings with Yamaha TW200 parts, and I had a machinist bore, and hone the cylinder. This last time, instead of having a machinist bore, and hone the cylinder, I bought a new Zongshen cylinder from China. I also used a Chinese piston, piston rings, and gaskets. Every time I remove the cylinder, I also lap the valves and replace the valve stem seals.

My starter motor failed around 10,000 miles. I replaced it with another Chinese starter motor for about $55, and it has performed perfectly ever since.

I haven't needed to touch the bottom end of the engine. The crankshaft and connecting rod are in excellent condition. The transmission shifts very smoothly, and has never caused me any problems.

I change the engine oil every 1,000 miles. I use Mobil, Delvac 15W/40 oil. I check the valve clearance every 5,000 miles or so; I usually don't need to touch the valve lash. After maintaining and riding this bike for 67,000 miles, I can testify this Zongshen engine is manufactured as well as any Yamaha TW200 engine. I refer to the Yamaha, TW200 Service Manual for torque specifications, et cetera, when I work on this Zongshen engine. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Zongshen manufactured some of these engines for Yamaha.

I currently own four motorcycles.

1998 Kawasaki KDX220
2004 Honda CRF250X
2005 Honda XR650L
2006 Zongshen ZS200GY-2

Of the four motorcycles, my Zongshen ZS200GY-2 is the easiest bike to work on, requires the least maintenance, and is far and away the least expensive bike to maintain, repair, and operate.

Spud

Hey Spud,

Why did you replace the piston, rings, etc.? Worn rings? Piston seizure?

I've never pulled the head or cylinder on my Lifan 200 since it uses no oil and power seems as good as ever at 52,000 miles.

Do you ride the Lifan off road? I ride my Zong in the Rocky Mountains on single track and dual track trails up to 9,200 feet above sea level. I frequently climb about 5,000 feet in elevation before reaching the top. Therefore, this Zongshen engine spends a lot of time running at high rpms.

I replaced the piston rings because the engine was burning some oil, and because I frequently ride all my motorcycles into the wilderness. I don't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere; therefore, I consider rebuilding the top end of the engine to be routine, preventive maintenance.

I also replaced the piston and rings on my Honda XR650L at 29,000 miles, because the bike was burning oil. I have replaced the piston rings on my Honda CRF250X several times, with far fewer miles.

If the engine has a cast iron cylinder, I always bore the cylinder and replace the piston with the piston rings, because I want to repeat the job sooner, rather than later.





Are you a member of the China Riders forum? If not, please do join us. I also invite everyone to join our Zongshen RX3 thread at the following link.

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=13440

Spud

A man and his wife rode Zongshen ZS200GY-2 motorcycles across China and Mongolia. If you haven't read the following ride report, I think you might enjoy it.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=371656



Spud

It's probably 50/50 on/off road on the Lifan. Much of the on road is full throttle on the highway. I hear ya on the wilderness riding, I do the same here in central and eastern Oregon. No cell coverage, no people, no Spot device. No Rocky Mountain riding but lots of riding in the Cascades and Steens Mtn (9700'). I also ride the trails in Death Valley and southern Arizona every year.

My username on China Riders is Mudflap, where I'm relatively new. A friend of mine is interested in the Zongshen so I try to keep up with the news on that. Hope Zongshen can make a name for affordable and reliable Chinese bikes in the USA.

I recognize your user name at China Riders. I'm glad you joined us.

Spud

It's a shame it is difficult to do something like this anymore in China. This was written in 2008--back then, and not sure when the Chinese gov't threw in the proverbial wrench into the 'cogs', one could buy a brand new ZS200GY-2 for about $1100 brand new, register it with a Chinese citizen, and ride without a license on trips like this. Too many people must have done this, and had problems and issues legally, as well as the Chinese government decided, for image sake, they don't really want motorcycles after all, so banned them in many places.

I guess one could fork over the price of a RX-3 and figure out how to ride on a international license and still do a trip like this, but it is not the same as it was just a few short years ago. I miss those stories...

I don't know why China is banning motorcycles in so many cities; perhaps this policy is politically motivated. Zuo Zongshen believes these motorcycle bans are stifling the development of the Chinese motorcycle industry, as related in the first two paragraphs of the following article.

http://www.chinamotorworld.com/index.php?c=news&a=view&id=1396

In one of my many trips to China, I learned that Guangzhou had banned motorcycles and scooters. As it was explained to me, there was an issue with scooter bandits (folks who would ride up to someone, rob them, and them make their escape on a scooter). The solution was a scooter/motorcycle ban. This is anecdotal data, but it was explained to me by a person who had his scooter confiscated by the government. I referred to that finding briefly here: http://motofoto.cc/china_2011.htm

Thanks for posting the link to your webpage; you are an excellent photographer. The views of Guanzhou from the top of the Canton Tower are impressive.



According to the following link, Chinese cities might be banning motorcycles and scooters for the following reasons.

http://www.quora.com/Will-a-full-ban-on-Motorcycles-be-enforced-in-Chinas-major-cities

1) Many of the popular Chinese scooters are loud and have dirty exhaust emissions.

2) Motorcycle and scooter owners ride dangerously, creating chaos in the traffic pattern and endangering pedestrians.

3) Thieves riding scooters and motorcycles can easily escape from the police.

I am beginning to better understand why clean energy and electric motors comprise one of the three, major production operations at Zongshen Industrial Group.

Zongshen entered a hybrid motorcycle, the ZX 450 Hybrid2, in the 2014, Sonagol Africa Eco Race. The Zongshen bike introduced heated water vapor into the fuel mixture. The Eco Race was completed in January, 2014. Here is a link to the race website.

http://www.rallyraid.net/2013/11/sonangol-africa-eco-race-2014-the-route-5542



Willy Jobard, the winner of the 2011 SONANGOL AFRICA ECO RACE, rode the Zongshen, ZX 450 HYBRID2 in this year's race.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/B-V4kQkjtOE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I believe Jobard finished fifteenth in the overall, motorcycle standings, and finished third in the special motorcycle classification.

http://www.africarace-live.com/en/cla-etp11.html

The ZX 450 motorcycle confirms Zongshen's commitment to develop motorcycles with larger displacement engines. However, Zuo Zongshen is convinced the motorcycle ban in many Chinese cities is slowing the growth and progress of the Chinese motorcycle industry.

Spud

Beginning in 2010, Zongshen has been competing in the TTXGP, electric motorcycle races in Europe.

Ho Chi Fung of Zongshen was the European champion, and world co-champion of electric motorcycle road racing in 2013.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/bostrom-fung-win-fim-eroad-racing-world-cup-titles/

Ho Chi Fung of Zongshen was the MotoE racing champion of Europe in 2014.

http://www.motoeracing.com/#!standing/c1kev

<iframe width="854" height="510" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BqWNFqpVzwQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>


Here is an interesting link to the Zongshen webpage describing the company's motorcycle racing team.

http://www.zongshen.cc/en/discovery/02.aspx

Spud

Here is a video of the qualifying runs for round 2 of the TTXGP European Championship 2012, at Assen TT Circuit in The Netherlands. The Zongshen bikes are present.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OfoJJJs220k?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Spud

Here is a cockpit view as Ho Chi Fung rides his Zongshen electric motorcycle during practice for round 2 of the TTXGP European Championship 2012 at the Snetterton 200 Circuit in the United Kingdom.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/j3o0G6esOeA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Spud

I have ridden trails all over AZ on my XT, from way up north to way down south. Desert riding is great right now, but no fun in the summer. By next summer I hope to have a way to haul my bike up north in air conditioned comfort so I can ride it in cooler temperatures. There are thousands of miles of dirt roads/trails/forest routes in the Payson, Forest Lakes, and Show Low areas.

$4700 USD for the RX-3 in China? I sure hope that doesn't happen in the U.S. That would take away any reason for buying it, as it would be so close in price to many 250cc Japanese bikes.

I used to live in the middle of the Navajo reservation in Pinon in northern AZ, and we were surrounded by mostly dirt roads. It was like I was being punished--I couldn't afford a bike, so never got to ride any of the roads. A friend just moved to Ganado, which is not as remote as Pinon, but is on the 'rez' so now I have an excuse to get back up there. I told him I am going to ride up to visit him on my cheap Chinese 200, and he doesn't believe me. I will probably wait until spring due to the mountain weather.