The SkyTeam 'Ace' Resource

[waketrip]

Luck would have it that I've had to refuel this morning coming back from work. Filled it not up to the very top, but a little less, to show that under a normal fill up, the new fuel tap still leaks a little.:

.

Notice in the first shot top left side just above the logo, there's a brownish fuel streak. Same for the top shot, to the right of the fuel tap.

 

[sunbeam61]

Just a thought re leaking tank cap. I noticed that the rubber strap was preventing mine from closing properly . I pushed it to the side a little and have not had a problem. The strap will tend to sit off to one side.
Chris.

 

[sunbeam61]

Just read back a page and will try for some photos of Ace updates....Chris....ACT.

 

[sunbeam61]

Rego today, and 1st 17k now on bike. My 1st new bike , so will be run in before mods. Can't wait, as the bike is so slow at the moment....I got on my pushbike for a speed fix...LOL...Chris...ACT

 

[sunbeam61]

Just took a peek at WAKETRIP's photos.. My kick starter is the same ,( looks a bit like the 250 kickstarter) but my rear brake is quite a bit different, and I have the pointier blinkers. I think, as pointed out elsewhere, that Skyteam have a few different suppliers and just fit what is available at the time..just like an old Mazda I used to own...one model had 4 different headlights..none interchangable.......Chris..ACT.

 

[sunbeam61]

Photos of new model (2014) rear brake/shocks mods.
Chris.

 

[sunbeam61]

more

 

[orrible-64]

ha..agent 86 nice sunbeam alpine

 

[waketrip]

Photos of new model (2014) rear brake/shocks mods.
Chris.

Mmmm. Chris, it looks like your rear brake connection to the brake pedal is bent ? was that by design? Mine (bought 2014 too) looks like it follows the same geometry, but it has a straight line?




PS: just noticed the rear brake light switch is completely different? mine is at the 90º bend going down to the pedal. Yours looks like it goes behind the frame? Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

 

[sunbeam61]

The rod on mine was bent from factory , and from what I know your brake set up is the original style.
My front actuating arm comes directly off the pedal shaft. Have now done 105k , and I find the brakes are quite good....
all be it that I hav'nt gone over 70km/h yet. All I did was sand down the pads(front and back) and clean everything with brake cleaner. I can almost lock up the rear brake. Have found the bike tends to nose dive a little under brakes, so will do the fork mods soon. I,m not overly heavy (68K) and I find the suspension a little jarring over rough roads. Anyway, will cruise around for a bit ,then decide on some mods.

 

[sunbeam61]

Actually , when the two rear brakes are compared side by side , there is a lot of difference. the whole set up is changed.
Even the relationship between the foot rest and the brake pedal is different. Looks to me, as if the whole thing...pedal and brake...was modified. Got to admit I,m impressed that the crowd at Skyteam have bothered to go to so much trouble for a bike that is mainly for third world basic transport. Although if you cruise the net , there are a lot of riders in a lot of countries, that love this little bike and are treating it as more than basic transport.......count me as one...
Just glad they did not call it the GURKA here in OZ or paint the frame yellow....LOL.

 

[waketrip]

Thank you for pointing that out! I see now that the geometry is indeed completely different. in fact it seems not only the brake assembly but that whole chassis part has been modified ( see the tubing angles, your middle tube goes perpendicular against the rest of the frame, while mine and others go at a slight 30-35º upwards angle. As you say, it is a good thing skyteam keeps developing this bike! For now, I've found the rear brake sufficient, If you manage your expectations around a rear drum design from half a century ago. ;D Also, If you really need to brake hard (I think the name of the game with the Ace is ''anticipation'' ), I've found that engine braking is really a factor with these bikes; go down a couple gears, while aplying front and rear brake, and it bleeds speed surprisingly well for its specs. It certainly would be interesting to try your rear brake configuration and compare!

On an unrelated note, my K&N filter is about to arrive. Along with it im planning on upping the main jet (currently set for the air box; I'm guessing around high 80's value) on to a 95 main. To fully profit from this, I will try to remove the butterfly choke: not only is it a major disruption to airflow, as stroker crazy put it, but I've found out that the whole choker lever assembly is slightly flawed, and the lever that is at the carb doesn't rotate far enough to fully set the choke to the full open position, leaving about 1-1.5mm play, and the choke slightly canted downards.

Crazy, (and anyone else that has removed the choke) is it easy to remove the choke? I see that the choke itself has 2 screws on the inside of the carb to remove the flat bit, but how do you remove the metal bar that rotates the whole thing? On one side of the carb is the choke lever itself, that doesn't have any screws, and on the other side there's just a flat bit of metal, also without screw. I'm thinking of having to push the bar from the flat side with a cylinder and a hammer, but again, I'm not the most mechanically sound person of the bunch. Anyone with more experience know a better way to do it?

PS: photos as soon as i get home from work. It's being a sloooow day here at the legal department. ;D ;D

 

[stroker crazy]

is it easy to remove the choke?

First remove the two screws holding the butterfly to the pivot, then dismantle the lever assembly to enable the pivot bar to be pulled out by the lever.
Cut the bar from the lever and re-assemble the lever components in order to block the pivot hole.

This photo shows where the bar was cut:

I didn't do anything fancy because the carby is going to be replaced in time.

Crazy

 

[Tad]

Hi Waketrip, I didn't like the choke on the H/Bar so I did away with it by replacing carb with a Sheng wey.
The carb is slightley bigger than Std.
It has the choke lever on carb body so it doesn't hang on due to cable.
Then I used Std air filter element as a template to cut out a new filter from a larger Mollossi sponge.
Haven't had any problems with starting hot or cold.
Poor thing will now rev until it vibrates like an old two stroke even in top gear.
Next thing it needs is a smaller rear sprocket.

 

[f3nrich]

Hi All
New to the forum, been lurking for a while and I'm interested in buying an ace for weekend and evening fun.
Was a touch apprehensive due to the Chinese bike stigma and roll of the dice quality.

Anyway, one popped up on ebay repetitively local (it's in South Wales {GB}) So I may go take a look.

Anything in particular to look for?

It's a '13 125 with...

• "Improved CDI"
• "New exhaust"
• "Sprocket Rear and front"
• "Jets have been changed"
• "Emissions blanked off"
  

I've read this whole thread on Sunday so I've I pretty good understanding of the bike and I'd class myself as quite technically minded so the odd tinkering is welcomed.
I want a wee bike to play with as I'm bored of cars but don't want to give up dirty hands and joy rides.

Thanks Paul

 

[Maladept]

Paul

It sounds like the same bike I linked to on the Ace Facebook page - at the price I thought it was a steal.

I've done 2k on mine and it's been mechanically sound barring suspension made for skinny kids and blowing headlights.

Plus it's had a number of the "essentials" done already of course

Adam

 

[f3nrich]

I was hoping someone would have seen the listing.

Suspension is on my budget for immediate attention.

Lights will be something I'll have to look at as I'm sure it will get ridden at night.
What's been causing them to blow?

 

[sprocket2cog]

What's been causing them to blow?

the globes are cheap and vibration causes the filiment to break, or in my headlights case the little reflector fell off and broke it.
you can get BA20D from phillips in a normal globe or bosch do a BA20D halogen globe, search ebay for them.

 

[f3nrich]

Nice one, Ill pop the bosch BA20D on my list.

 

[stroker crazy]

I want a wee bike to play with

Welcome to the Skyteam crew Paul!

I think you're going to have fun tinkering. I've done nearly 9000k on my 'Ace' with very few problems. Cush drive bushes were the worst thing I've had to deal with but it seems to not be a problem for most.

Enjoy, and keep us posted.

Crazy