Author : Rocky from Bad Boy Bikes

Assembly Fore-note

First off like to shed some light on the whole Chinese ATV persona. These Atv's have come a very long way  from the beginning and now control 45% of the power sports market in Canada and its growing everyday. This is not the ATV of 2006 and is by far a high quality top notch unit. Some common know how and common sense it required. The whole lock tite every bolt and nut on the thing is myth. I am a dealer and I have never used lock-tite on 1 machine yet. Simple common sense is required. When I uncrate a unit, I simply go thru every thing and snug up all nuts and bolts (these units come weeks by sea and things do come lose). And then again at the 10hour Interval Mark, I check once again and re-torque if necessary. With this method you will not have any falling off items. This new T3 Shows that Gio is able to make a very advanced high quality, tough as nails swing arm. Overall it's a Very stout unit. That being said lets get into some very crucial tips and tricks

Rough running  No Idle, Hard Starting 200cc Beast and T3  200cc Zongshen engines.

These units 95% of the time idle rough and also are hard to start, there is much speculation about this across the net. The truth of the matter is you don’t need a new carb or anything new for that matter. It's simply a matter of the air/fuel mixture. These bikes as we know are engineered here in Canada but are assembled overseas. That being said the climate is very different (much hotter) where the bikes are assembled and tested before they are crated and set for shipping on the long boat ride over to Canada. So to make your 200cc Zongshen drive train (bulletproof engines I might add) purr like a kitten its a very simple process. First thing I do is make sure there is not to much slop in the throttle cable, by simple feeling the thumb play at the throttle, If it is excessive simply unscrew the lock nut on the throttle cable adjuster (you will find this metal piece just follow the throttle cable from the hand/thumb lever) Unscrew the lock nut and adjust it accordingly to just a tiny bit of play. Do Not take out all the play as it will affect the idle. 

Air Fuel Adjustment. The crucial second step.

Take the seat off.

Then unscrew the top cap on the Carb.

Next pull the slider out of the carb (the throttle cable will come with it) it will come free from the carb completely. Compress the spring and simply unhook the cable from its resting place. Once cable is free simply use needle nose pliers and pull the locking pin from inside the slider set it aside

Next pull the needle out from the slider you will see 5 notches at the top of the needle and a E-clip in one of those 5 positions. Simply pull that E-Clip (careful not to lose it its small and hard to find) and move it up or down a notch at a time. Re assemble and check for how it runs, if it runs a little better then try moving in the same direction one more notch and try again. This whole process only takes about 2 minutes for each setting adjustment. When you put the slider back into the carb just be sure it drops all the way down to the bottom, As it can go in 2 way but only 1 way it will go all the way down, if it isn’t in right then when you start the unit it may be at ½ or ¾ throttle so be careful it does drop all the way down inside the carb. Another way to be certain is there is 2 slots in the slide one slot is skinny and longer than the other. That other wider slot goes where you idle screw is (the screw with the spring on it). And the skinny slot simply slides along the little nub inside the carb. Very simple stuff just take your time and be sure it drops all the way into the carb.  Now your all set for a puurrrrfect running machine. Easy starting easy idle strong running. Also as you break in your machine you may have to adjust the idle its the screw on the side of the carb with the spring on it, simply turn the flat head clockwise for faster and counterclockwise for slower idle.

Break in.

Run premium unleaded fuel

Stay off the throttle (no more than 70%) for 3-4 Tanks of PREMIUM Fuel. (A little trick I use is screwing in the limiter screw to make sure its impossible to give it 100% throttle). Turn the limiter phillips head screw clockwise and feel with your thumb throttle that it stops at about 70%!

I Personally Idle my machines for ½ hour after initial assembly. Then I change the oil (change oil when engine has been warmed) these engines take 800ml of oil. Use 10-40 or 15-40- 4 stroke motorcycle or ATV oil. Just regular old oil I don’t use fancy synthetics as they have additives and modifiers that can make the wet clutches slip. keep it simple.

I use crappy tire 4 stroke motorcycle oil at $4.00 per litre. Maintenance is key and at about 3-3.50 per oil change then the more the merrier. I change mine after the initial half hour idle, then again after the beak-in period of 4 tanks of PREMIUM fuel. Then depending on your riding habits every 3 months or 6 months if you don’t use it much.

Chain also will stretch its completely normal with any new machine. I will go into this below

Chain Adjustment and Maintenance

This is a Honda style rear carrier (the best style there is in my opinion)

The carrier is oval it has 1.5 links of chain adjustment. Now there is a flaw that I am sure Gio will work out very soon. That rear carrier has holes in the side on the sprocket side. The sprocket is supposed to have holes in it (it doesn’t) so for chain adjustment you simply would put a screwdriver thru the holes in the sprocket and into the hole in the rear carrier. Then simply rotate the rear tire to spin that carrier as it rotates it will tighten or loosen the chain. Of course common sense tells you that first you have to loosen the 2 long 10mm bolts that lock the carrier into place. And of course some wd-40 helps for ease of rotation. That being said there is no hole in the sprocket so what do we do. Well 2 things. Drill holes in the sprocket (just be sure you drill 2 holes opposite each other to keep everything balanced) then your all set. Or you can do what I do and use a large pipe wrench or adjustable water pump pliers and spin it that way. You can also get a strap around the carrier as well.

DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN THE CHAIN. Its the #1 cause of bearing failure and swing arm bushing early wear-out!! You want ½ Inch of deflection or Slack in the chain in the middle point.

Also there is a alignment on the dirt bikes as well as the atv's. Count your turns and keep them equal if the axle isn’t straight it will throw the chain steadily and cause serious damage like, Chain cover breakage, Personal injury and also it can and will tear up the stator coil wires and gear shift indicator sensor wires as well, Resulting in a lot of cash for a simple mistake.  If in doubt what I do with my used machines is run a string or twine from the front sprocket and just be sure it lines up and looks straight with the rear sprocket. If you follow this guidelines you will have trouble free atving and very long lasting machine. Just like any name brand unit.

Next issue is the Gas gap. Loved them when they first came out, they look awesome. But they simply don’t work, they splash gas in your face and water gets into the fuel and causes very annoying issues. Do yourself a favor and go get a normal gas cap from gio or eBay at very little cost it will fix it right up if you have a leaky one and save you a lot of headaches.

One more thing. I haven’t had this particular rear carrier out as of yet so I am not sure which bearing they used, if they used tapered needle bearings we are all set. But a lot of this style uses roller bearings which are fine but we don’t want any water penetrating that housing. So very simple fix I do is go to parts store or hydraulic shop. Get a .59 cent grease nipple drill thru the aluminum carrier (use a vacuum to suck the debris away from going inside. Then simply screw in the new grease nipple and tighten and your done, a 100% serviceable last a lifetime (as long as you keep grease in it) bulletproof rear housing. This is really a 5 minute job and I highly recommend. You can also do this in the middle of your Swing Arm as well (make sure not in the first 2 inches of either end where you bearings/bushings are!) here’s a pic of one I did recently in about 10 mins. You can do this while its on the machine, just use the vacuum to keep as much debris out of the arm or carrier as possible (but a little chunk or 2 is OK).  Extra Tip Silkolene Pro Synthetic Grease actually repels the water and pushes it out. All these tips combined will make for one long lasting machine. If you are not mechanically inclined and don’t want to do maintenance you probably shouldn’t own a ATV or pay someone to do it for you. I recommend if you are not mechanically inclined then simply pay the extra money and get GIO to assemble and P.D.I. The machine for you or buy for a reputable Gio dealer like myself. You will only pay 200.00 more and you get all these little things and more so it is well worth it!

 Get out there and ride. Till next time

Cheers

Rocky

Bad Boy bikes