All:

I added a page to my Hi-Bird report today. It's short - honest!

Now that there are two of these machines in the family, I put together one short page describing the differences in the second machine. The second one was better - and the first wasn't bad at all.

http://users.wildblue.net/thearbees/nado/NO2.htm

 

hey i took the time today to drill and put greese zerts in the front control arm bolt tubes. wow what a difference in the ride it's like a different machine it rides so smooth now and its alot easyer to control. just thought i would pass it along. easly the best 20 minutes applied so far.

 

That is something I need to do as well. What size bit did you use? I take it you had to tap them as well? Damn I need more tools! LOL! I like this little machine alot and I actually enjoy fiddling with it. I finally got the carb issue delt with and now I need to deal with the valve deal then I can look at the grease zerts. I wish they had them on the ball joints as well. Myabe I can get replacements with them if they ever do/when go out.

 

Hey, the grease fittings sounds like a GREAT idea... I'm looking forward to hearing more.

 

i bought self tappin zerts from the local hardware store all i did is drill a pilot hole it's real simple just make sure they dont have super long threads use some brains and it goes easy it cost about $3.00

 

I want to say thank you your for the write up. Your research was the deciding factor for me what to get for my kids (ok for me as well).
I bought 2 Hi-Bird 200's in March. This is my first adventure into the cycle world so I am learning from scratch. I am a stock car kind of guy. Man I could have had a V8
Me and my 12 year old daughter put the first one together, about 4 hours between messing around and going in to cool off. Tonopah AZ gets pretty hot.
We hooked up the battery started it with no choke and let it idle for 30 minutes. She has been riding it since with no problems. OK 10-15 stalls before she learned how to use the clutch ?

My first question is what is the best oil to use? I put in Castrol 20-50 because I could not find what the recommended oil was.

The second unit it took about half the time to put together, I was better at reading the engrish *smile*
Problem
Had a heck of a time to get to idle, finally got it to idle but it was pretty high, got the idle down and did the let idle for 30 minutes or more.
I haven't got the idle right yet, I figured out the not starting was from the vent cap not allowing fuel to get to carb. Any suggestions on how to make the cap vent itself?

I also have the loud ping (detonation) and noticed a little oil out of the head area. I have stopped running it until I figure out why it is detonating so much.
Could it be the valves? Possibly carb adjusted badly?

All in all I am thrilled with $1700 for 2 of them delivered and the kids are loving their summer Christmas presents ?

Sorry if these seem like simple questions, maybe I should modify and stick a small block in it LOL.

 

hello there! for your first question i run the same oil and for the rest of your questions my buddy has one of these also and he had alot of problems with the carb first too. they tell you to run these for 30-45 min. because they put jell packs in the float boal to keep the floats safe in shipping they are designed to desolve and burn with the gas but!!!!!!!! they almost never do they gum up and cause problems right from the get go. i removed mine before i even added gas when the carb was clean and new no problems. my buddy an the other hand had to remove and clean his after the fact no big deal but not what he wanted to do. he cleaned it real good and added alot of octane boost in the first tank and it's fine now so you may want to try that. also i found that the stock plugs are about a joke get an NGK you'll be alot better off

 

I guess I got lucky on carbs. On both of these 'Nados I let it idle for 30 minutes after first start, and no probs since (although the first machine did fuss about starting that first time).



OK, here's question for anyone:

My experience had been exactly as described above, the valves would clatter like crazy about an hour out. I finally did my initial valve adjustment, following mbp1971's procedure above.

From the factory there was no clearance whatsoever that I could see. I couldn't slip my thinnest feeler in there. I set 'em to .002", and changed out the factory spark plug for an NGK. It CLEARLY has more power now, but I can't really say it "almost like it doubled the power" the way mbp did. I havent' taken it for a long ride yet to see how it acts after an hour on the trail.

The thing is, though ... now even at an idle I've got what I'd call "tappet noise". I can hear 'em ticking away in there, which I could not before. This is not the same noise it used to make when it got hot - that was a loud clatter while this noise is a barely audible "tickety-tickety". Let me tell ya what I think, and then someone please pitch in and critique my reasoning:

1. I can hear them now becausde THERE IS a gap ... I couldn't hear them before because there wasn't one.
2. this is probably OK

Whaddaya think, Am I right? 'cause I'll open 'er up and re-do the job if I oughta.

 

Also, I gapped the new plug at .25", only because that's where the OLD one was set and I didn't have any better info. Does anyone have any better info to offer? Thanks.

 

i bought a repair book for 1971 and on honda 72cc to 200cc off ebay brand new for $11 got it today it says valve clearance is .002 intake .003 exhaust, plug gap .024/.028 this engine on mine looks almost like the 200 honda with the exception of the kick start all info must be close to the same they were modeled after the honda (i hope anyway)