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Which road to take?

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Matty`s sunk cost fallacy (Bashan street quad)

15K views 109 replies 12 participants last post by  Mattson 
#1 ·


So yea I bought a quad and now trying to decide what to do with it. My original plan was to do a no-fucks-given burnout reverse trike out of this to hoon around the SMASH fighter festival next summer, BUT as I realized upon pickup, this thing has a valid street registration, albeit the inspection has run cold a long time ago.



The reason I got this quad for peanuts is that it has suffered some fire damage due to a flooding carb conveniently positioned right next to the exhaust. It`s not extensive almost only concentrating on the electrics but should keep me busy for a couple nights to rebuild the main harness (or get a new one) But why oh why did they paint the engine green...

Oh, I managed to find the model shield, this quadbike is as I suspected a "Chongqing Astronautic Bashan Motorcycle Manufacturing Ltd" model BS200s-7 from the year 2002.





The CDi is totally fried but as far as I can tell all other damage is wiring only so shouldn`t get too expensive to fix. There`s of course an arm`s length worth of list of other stuff to swap including but not limited to the chain/sprocket combo, at least one ball joint up front, all fluids etc. I should have one battery still in decent enough condition to use in this.



The rear frame loop is bolted on so not considered a part of the frame = ditchable!

So what I`m thinking is:

OPTION 1: Quick tidy-up, flip and turn a profit

Pros: shouldn`t take TOO long, possible chance to profit, open to do sth else afterwards

Cons: Eats build time/motivation of the sth else, profit margin slim so would have to keep an extremely tight budget

OPTION 2: Full ground-up custom rebuild with possibly custom self made alu sheet fairings

Pros: To own a unique street legal quad, have a proper long-term project

Cons: Might get costly, insurances are sky high, it`s only a 200cc so not a whole lot of umph, no SMASH hoontrike.

OPTION 3: give zero fucks, return plates, trike it.

Pros: To have a project with zero limitations, do whatever the fuck you please, have an absolute blast at SMASH

Cons: Expected lifetime/use of finished product from Friday evening to Sunday morning with very little use after that. No hope of getting it re-plated after that due to extensive frame modifications.

As a side note I could always either have two sections of metal pipe cut that will fit over the rear tires, or have spacers made to temporarily fit car tires and rims at back.

Taking into account the last statement I`m personally heavily leaning towards option number 2. What do you think?
 
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#83 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

Last minute roadbumps. I started investigating why isn`t the speedometer working contrary to the prior owner`s promises of it been working when the fire accident happened, turns out the speed sender is completely obliterated. The circuit board inside and the sensor itself looks to be intact but the sensor casing not only has a chip missing from the tp of the thread, the entire metal casing has split in two. My guess is the brake disc has warped enough to touch the tip of the sensor and one of the holes in the disc has collided with the sensor tube. Only problems is almost EVERYONE is out of stock so I`m either stuck with waiting for a new sensor for up to a month, or trying to modify a speed sensor from some other ATV to fit mine.

The second issue came when I tried bleeding the brake system. I got all three calipers bled, ran several reservoir tanks worth of fluid through the system to flush it as well as I could, got good brakes on the pedal, buttoned up and cleaned up. Then after about half an hour returning to the quad I pressed the pedal and it`s completely limp again. WTF?! Do I still have air in the system or is my master cylinder ripe for a swap?!
 
#84 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

Pretty sure I just figured out the issue with the brakes, must have been tired or sth last night as the answer was blatantly obvious at first glance today, so much so I`m kinda embarassed to even tell... You see this thing has the same brake caliper on both sides up front, which means the left side caliper is upside down... You guessed it, caliper off and open the bleed valve, bubbles rush out even without pumping. Re-bled the right side to purge the line, got quite a bit of air out from there too. Pedal seems nice and solid now, report back tomorrow but as it stands I might not need new parts after all.
 
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#85 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

24hrs passed, still got brakes. New speed sensor ordered, if all goes well should have valid inspection and be road legal within July.
 
#86 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Now it`s a bolt...



...now it`s a hose nipple.





Didn`t fancy buying a new carb boot as this one`s already brand new just lacking the vacuum port. Been trying to find one online but with bad luck. Managed to locate a few but both companies not only wanted 10eur to ship a 1.50 part, they also wanted to charge me 20eur for "small order extra" like really?! Took me less time to fab one off an M6 bolt than what I`ve been using online searching.

Speed sensor should arrive monday, given that fixes the speedo I might have a valid road inspection by the end of next week.
 
#87 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Gave the fairings a proper wash last night to rinse off all the orange paint dust and slapped on a few go-fast stickers since I happened to have some (another pair in the rear mudguards currently covered by the sun glare)

Today I was planning to try get the carb fine tuned to get rid of that mid range sputter, rolled it on the street and started 'er up. At first it only agreed to idle dying at the first twist of the wrist then refused to start altogether. At first I thought the new vacuum nipple is leaking but since even a buttload of donkey kick didn't do nuffin I suspected it cannot be that. While taking off the carb for further investigation I noticed water droplets all around inside the carb throat. WTF?!



This is how much water I drained off the bowl and the fuel tank!!! So apparently that gas cap isn't sealing worth a damn! Note to self never leave it in the rain if it can be avoided!

I also took off, finished and painted the fog light brackets, and improved the seat front locking lip a little. The fire has melted the original one so the PO had fitted a metal strip in it's place but the roofing screws he fixed it with weren't quite up for the job so I drilled a few holes and put machine screws with nylock nuts in to reinforce the structure and shaped the strip a little to better catch the locating bolt on the frame crossbeam into the slot in the middle. Currently debating with myself whether or not to paint the flywheel inspection cover, and the starter cover orange.

Far as I can tell should be ready for inspection now, trying to get an appt sometime towards the end of the week.
 
#88 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

I have now officially reached the point of this build where I`m either gonna start laughing maniacally flapping my sleeves around claiming I`m Batman, setting the quad back on fire this time not putting it out, or selling it for the first punter for a dollar...

New speed sender and extension cable fitted, still no speed reading. At first I noticed the extension cable was pinned wrong assuming it should be color for color from the gauge to the sender ( HOW can you mess up three wires?!) changed that, measured everything, I have ground, I have pilot power and I have sensor power, BUT the sensor wire is giving me a constant voltage reading instead of a pulse like it should, I even tried the remnants of the old brake disc in case the new one would be somehow of wrong metal, and failing that with a magnet but it`s not responding at all. So either they sent me a bum sensor, OR my gauge is busted.

NOTHING, NOT ONE THING of this build has gone smoothly or worked properly. I`ve worked with car engines, big motorcycles, RC motors of the ICE kind but this blasted contraption is taking the cake of being the most uncooperative vehicle I`ve ever poked my tools in!!!
 
#89 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Not sure if it`s the 13 years as a private contractor or what but I just cannot sit on my hands when there`s stuff to be done. Also might have helped to have spent three years studying as an electronics tech so I might have a certain edge over an average forum user on this but just broke my own record of fully wiring up a gauge cluster. For the heck of it happened to clock the attempt, without counting in the time spent for mapping out the wiring on the quad as normally I`d have a wiring diagram, took me an hour and a half to fully wire this thing in. Ok ok speed sensor needs fitted, a mount made to the handlebar clamps and it needs programming but all wired up functions do work. Apart from a parking light indicator as this cluster does not have one, and that`s required to pass inspection so an external light needs to be fitted for that.

BTW a big shout out to Kimmo57 for offering this Acewell ACE-5856 gauge cluster for me at a VERY affordable price! Pearls for pigs IMO to fit this kind of a computer on a quad like this but what needs must.
 
#90 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



A small thing but still a thing... Made this mount plate off a piece of scrap so it's not particularily clean. Meant to be a temporary thing but if I know myself at all it'll turn into a permanent one, and I have to live with myself every day so...





Could have made the groove more shallow since I decided to bend the bracket back. Oh well I'll make the permanent one better (as if...)

I managed to trace down a 14mm hose block for the coolant temp sensor but to get that means a trip to the city so gonna wait til sth more comes up to make it more worthwhile.

I also fiddled with different options on how to mount the new speed sensor to the rear, proply gonna drill a hole through the sprocket to fit the magnet bolt onto it and mount the sensor under the swingarm. I was thinking whether or not to make a bracket then bolt it onto one of the underswing mudguard bolt holes since I won't be fitting it back on but swiftly solved that problem by promptly snapping a tap into the thread when cleaning it up. Yea, thanks, guess I'll just weld the bracket on then...

Right side rear rim has been painted with the first color but the paint seems to dry reeeeally slowly so gonna let it cure for a week to make sure the masking tape won't lift the paint off.
 
#91 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Wheel #1/4 ready to receive the tire back on. Next I need to figure out a way to jack the quad up on the table so that I can take both front wheels off. And get some other brand silver paint, the silver needs a WEEK to fully cure, the black was touch dry enough to remove the masking tapes in 15 MINUTES!
 
#93 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

...ooooor maybe it was the bottom shelf paint that was on three for two discount at the local hardware store ;D

And thx, the idea originated from the SMASH hoontrike concept. I had a plan of painting all sorts of figures like this, half n half, spiral etc on different wheels and swap them out as I go through them. Didn`t happen so figured it`d be prudent to conserve at least the spirit of that idea.
 
#94 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



That`s 3/4 rims done, the fourth one needs to be sent for straightening as it`s had a bit of a ding at some point. The tape I used to do the borders left a bit of glue behind on the black but that can easily be wiped off with a squirt of label remover spray, that is after the silver paint has fully cured first.

Oh, and actually did a bit of studying on paints. The silver on the rear rim is alkyd paint which apparently is cheap vegetable oil based, it cures more glossy but takes forever to dry. Whereas the silver I used on the front rims is acryl which seems to be water(and solvent) based. Leaves a bit of a semi gloss finish but boy does it cure quick. Might clearcoat the whole lot once I get the fourth rim back, might not...
 
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#96 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

Thx mate, must say these probly have been the most challenging thing I've ever spraypainted as the bowl shape provides it's own twists to the plot as well cause you have to not only paint in slow bursts but to angle the can so that you create a sort of a spiral inside the rim or else the propellant gas coming from the can hits the rim does a 180 and blows the rest of the paint out of the rim onto your face and creates a rough satin finish inside the rim but once I got the technique down I eventually got them done. There's still crap under the paint in spots, and the electrical tape I used for borders apparently react with the solvents in the paint and shrink a little so the bottom corners lifted up a bit creating a bit of a shadow but since these will most of the time be both full of crap and, well, spinning I'm not gonna lose any sleep over that.

And for the rest of you that likely missed the joke, due to a typo (or was it... :) ) in a WhatsApp messaging ring these rims have been called, quite befittingly I might add, black and shite checkerboards for a while now :D
 
#97 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Not entirely sure what happened here... I debated a long time with myself whether or not to paint the ammo can/battery box but as it was the only green and/or army thing in the whole build I decided it doesn`t fit and gave it a squirt. Etch primer first then wrinkle black on top. What you`re looking at is me putting a third coat of gloss black on top as the wrinkle black paint decided for reasons unknown to me cure light grey. At first I was accusing the etch primer reacting with the wrinkle paint but then remembered these were the exact same paints that were left over from painting the valve cover of my old Benelli Tornado and that came out black as the night. All fixed now but got me way more pissed than it should have.
 
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#98 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

Well who would have thought this project could ever suffer a setback!

Dropped the front wheels off to a local tire shop for a remount this morning, at about 5pm the guy called me... One of the rims actually collapsed the lip during the process as it was rusted so thin it couldn`t take the pressure, and with the other pair the bead of the tire ruptured. So now with three bum rims (left rear is bent) I`m looking at buying a complete set of BOTH new rims AND tires, another 500 down the gutter feck yea!!!

On a brighter note I found a local metal shop willing to have a go at truing the rear axel for me so need to disassemble the back end next.
 
#99 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



OMG THEY'VE STARTED TO MULTIPLY RUN!!!
 
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#101 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

I actually did the math, this was the most cost effective way of getting the build finished. Just to get four new rims would have cost more than I paid for this, not to mention a fresh set of tires, or the fact that this one had a near mint condish seat. Gonna reuse the rear tires and remount them to one of the original rims, and one orange (one of the rear rims on this is bent too) and use the front tires and rims as is. I will likely paint the front rims (and the rear orange) and buy tarmac tires up front as well, but granted the inspector will pass these tires for now that can wait. Once I get the kids to bed gonna go dis-assemble both back ends and drop both rear axels to a local metal shop for truing tomorrow morning, then replace the upside down front brake caliper with the left caliper of the new one that actually is upright so either they used different calipers on different years, or some numbnuts had fitted a wrong caliper to the left on this one.

Here's the best part... Once I get the original one finished and off the lift table, what remains of the parts donor which btw is a runner will be built according to the original idea as a zero fucks given reverse hoontrike with the sole purpose of turning rear tires into noise and smoke for as long til the engine goes boom.
 
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#102 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad

Here's the best part... Once I get the original one finished and off the lift table, what remains of the parts donor which btw is a runner will be built according to the original idea as a zero fucks given reverse hoontrike with the sole purpose of turning rear tires into noise and smoke for as long til the engine goes boom.


YAY

:D
 
#103 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad







Tongue deep enough in cheek for ya? :D Thought so. For anyone that doesn`t recognize the SFT logos, StuntFreaksTeam is a Finnish show/stunt riding group that don`t take themselves too seriously and just wanna have fun, as do I. If you haven`t already you should check their youtube channel out as most of it is in (bad) English. Veri nais, veri faaast :D

Back axels of both quads been in a local metal shop for some truing, one came out straight, the other ok as a backup. Currently as I write this awaiting for the primer to dry on the rear rim so I can flip it and do the other side then hit the sack as it`s 1am and I gotta get up at 6:30, silver overcoat and black sectors to arrive over the coming days.
 
#105 ·
Re: Matty`s China Street Quad



Made a bracket for the speed sensor to the rear swing and drilled a hole to the rear sprocket for the magnet bolt. The two piece bracket was solely for the single reason to be able to realing the sensor after tightening the chain and had zero to do with the fact that I was being a tit trying to eyeball it in place after midnight failing miserably to get it anywhere close where it needs to be.



Coolant temp sensor adapter block fitted to the coolant hose. I was fearing not getting proper readings til the thermostat opens but that proved to be in vain as it`s getting readings from the moment the coolant starts to warm up. (man I`m in love with the Acewell gauge, seems to be of much greater quality than any Koso product I`ve used before)



My neighbour has a sticker cutter machine so he made me these warning light indicator stickers, Didn`t even accept any compensation for them (we have a great back and forth favor for favor relationship going on)









Pretty much finished. I rejetted the carb with a 110 main and it made a big difference but still needs some final tuning later, for some reason the foglights are shorting out but that shouldn`t take too long to fix, gauge needs programming once I find the manual etc little things but for the most part the quad is done. Well except of course the front rims that still need to be painted, probs gonna do that with the tires on though...
 
#106 ·


Front rims painted, front tires swapped and inspection passed with zero complaints. This thing is now officially road legal!
 
#108 ·
Lol sales ad pics already taken, ad going up after I come back from walking the dog. Doubt this thing would even have the oomph to do it. Any two wheeled pics you'll see from me will henceforth be featuring a Yamaha XJR.
 
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