LED Dashboard Gear Indicator

Some people may say "this is not necessary". I say "your an idiot". OK, maybe not an idiot just a dummy! This LED dashboard gear indicator is one of my favorite features on the Qlink XF200. In this photo the "N" indicates the transmission is in neutral.

I use it CONSTANTLY. I use it to tell me when I am in neutral at stop lights so I can be sure I can let out my clutch without bucking the machine and stalling out, I use it when I am coming out of a turn onto another street to be sure I am not in too high of a gear, I use it when "splitting lanes" on the highway or in heavy city traffic to feel more secure in maintaining control (splitting lanes only legal in California FYI).

It comes in handy at all times when riding and saves a lot of avoidable abuse and wear and tear on the power train. Not to mention, this is a major benefit to beginners for obvious reasons. The xf200 is my first street motorcycle. This feature was/is so beneficial to me I felt it was long overdue for a mention in the XF200 Blog.

Rebuild Status

Well JP hooked it up. The new top end, which is basicly a new engine runs better than ever. It is as simple as that.

I have to tell you all that I freaked out and I mean I am embarrassed about how I acted when I found out the motor was being rebuilt instead of replaced. It is a long story but I was not understanding a lot of the procedures involved including making an appointment with the CHP to get the new engine registered . To make a long story short, my dealer JP motorsports was absolutely amazing. They actually had the bike ready so fast I could not get down to the shop fast enough. They saved me a lot of time and they built one hell of a motor.

New Top End

The result of my engine failure was a broken valve. It snapped off and destroyed the head and the top of the piston. So the plans changed. I did not get a new motor. Qlink shipped the the needed parts and my dealer rebuilt my top end. That saved me waiting for the new engine. I have to say the rebuilt the engine seems tighter than the one from the factory.

I will brake in the engine a little bit and make sure nothing comes loose and then resume using it to commute.

Qlink Free Roadside Assistance

Qlink offers free roadside assistance for the first year. I am looking into getting the phone number so I am not stranded on the side of the highway again.

Here is the link http://www.qlinkmotor.com/owners/owners.php announcing the program.

UPDATE: Qlink roadside assistance phone number 1-866-602-6881

I Blew Up The Engine.

Well I was going down the highway at approximately 65-70 mph when the engine blew up. I was stuck on the side of the highway looking for a way to get it to the dealership. It would have been nice if my dealer provided me with the free roadside assistance phone number (http://www.qlinkmotor.com/riders.php) Qlink offers for the first year but that never happened. Not the end of the world as I understand this is a newer company and I am sort of a guinea pig.

Now for the good news. The dealer took the bike, contacted Qlink, pulled the engine, looked at it and sent them the pictures of the damage. Qlink is now sending a new engine. I should have the bike back in 10 days.

I still have 18 months left on the warranty. The best warranty available today (that I have found) from any manufacturer. Now we know Qlink is fulfilling their obligations of the warranty. The dealer is doing the work without a fuss. So once again I am happy with them. They have updated me with the communications from Qlink and assured me the engine would be installed the day it is received. I did sign an invoice with an hourly labor fee on it but I should not have to pay labor on warranty work. The order was created before the problem was officially determined.

I have roughly 6,500 km on the odometer which converts to 4,039 miles. I have heard from a few sources that this engine has an expected lifespan of roughly 20,000 miles and even though I was pushing it pretty hard I was keeping up on the maintenance with regular oil changes and a valve clearance adjustment so it appears the engine may have been defective. I only redlined it once (I think as I did not get a chance to look at the tachometer) when I missed second gear and shifted into neutral.

So we will see if the rest of this ordeal plays out hassle free as planned and I will surely update. I know that most of you will be most interested in the results of this warranty issue as the warranty issue has always been a top concern of anyone considering a purchase of this machine or any other china bike for good reason. So far Qlink the North American importer of Quigqi machines has separated itself from other Chinese importers/manufacturers.

Sputtering

My sputtering and lurching at highway speed took 3 trips to the dealer and 4 mechanics to resolve. Turns out it was just a vacuum lock in the gas tank. Now my machine is blazing down the highway.

Damn I am glad it is fixed. I did not talk about it much because I was still riding it everyday to work and having fun since it was only happening at top speeds. I was having troubles getting to 70 miles per hour but now back to 80 if I want it.

I did go down on the jet while diagnosing the problem and it only made things worse until the vacuum problem was fixed. My dealer thought I was full of it. I had to race out of there to get to work and did not have time to talk about the resolution and jet size when I was there.

If you have not been following the story I went from a 122.5 jet to a 135 jet. it ran fine but I was wasting fuel. I knew that the problem was not the jet because it ran fine for months before the stuttering problem began. So I got the valves adjusted and put a better suited jet in. I am not too upset as those things are were necessary and now they are out of the way.

It is just a little frustrating having someone look at you like your nuts and you can tell they just want you to get the hell out of their store. In their defense they did one more pow wow and came up with the vacuum lock scenario and thank goodness because now like I said before, it is fixed and running better than ever. I can appreciate all the modifications now.

44 Tooth Rear Sprocket Installed

Wow. I just had the 44 tooth rear sprocket installed. That is 4 teeth down from stock. I was worried about loosing power but it has werked out great. no notable power loss.

I really like it. I now have a long 4th gear. That is great for around town. I actually sometimes do not realize I am still in 4th gear and anyone who has ridden this machine knows that you are in fifth gear before you can say "God bless America"!

The new custom 44 tooth XF200 rear sprocket brought the rpms at 75 mph down a full 500 rpms to 7,000. not bad for $29.95!!!

I got the valves adjusted and it was needed bad. The high speed stuttering is gone. The mechanics eliminated a fuel issue as the cause and quickly determined the valves needed adjusting. I am definetly going to go back down on the jet as I am dumping too much gas on the plug. It was really black.

I noticed that I am having more fun on the XF200 with the new sprocket. It acts a lot different. Some of the characteristics take a little while to realize. I have had it on for about a week now.

Get one for yourself from JP Motorsports. They have them in stock now!!!