$2000 Brand New Dirt Bike...How Bad Could It Be? 

I’m starting to think he’s just buying more bikes to use his spark plug tester 😂

Why is this channel relaxing? Is it because he doesn’t say “be sure to hit the like button, subscribe, and turn on notifications”. Or have sponsorship BS? Or have “guests”. Or making it about him? All that stuff likely.

Wife has a different pair of shoes for every day of the week.. Joe has a different bike for every day of the month! 😂

Run a small sheet metal screw down through the small hole ( on the idle mixture) - it will pop the cap right up. (Look at me telling *the man* how to do it) _Absolutely love the channel, I learn so much_

Famous words of a seller, It was running when I parked it.😂😂😂

"...and this, my son, is a factory-spec POS...". Thank you for taking the hit for us, 2V. 😅

Little trick to the plastic welder, if you just slightly twist once the medal goes in it will bite into the plastic and hold really well.

Guy at work bought a very similar 250cc Chinese bike except it has lights and blinkers making it street legal. Think he told me he paid like 2k for it new in 2019-ish? He rides it to work pretty much every day, says he travels 25 miles to and from work and has had no real issues with the bike. I was just looking it the other day, he has almost 30k miles on it too. I think like you said, these things probably wouldn't take a true off road beating for long, but as a trail/street bike they seem fairly capable.

That bike is very quiet and for $850 not to bad. There's really not much you could find for that price in running condition. I'd keep it as a back up bike for that friend that doesn't have a bike. Love the content. Looking forward to next video

I stumbled on your channel about three weeks ago and have been binge watching ever since. Your content is excellent and you sure know your machines. Great job!

Man I bought 2 apollo rxf 150 dirt bikes and I had no problem with them at all! Hard to get little parts like bolts and faring parts, but the motor is rock solid. My son in law did a ride at sam houston national forest with us, I was on a 23 beta 200 and our other buddy was on a Honda cfr 250 and it kept up with us for 20 miles thru sandy trails. We had a blast! For the money? Yea great beginner bikes!

The small little details you show is great ... very helpful... thanks

Ah, Great to see one of these come through your garage lol! There is a pretty decent following/modding community for the cheap chinese bikes. The Oil Line you were mentioning is a EGR line. Best to delete, block off those and rejet the carb. One of the cheap things that make the bike run much better. The highest mileage I've seen recorded (online forums) with one of the CG250 engines has hit 60,000 miles before a complete frame strip down, engine out rebuild. Full disclosure, I decided to rebuild mine at 5k miles with a "bigbore" kit. I know that this the OHC version of the CG so not sure how reliable they are. These bikes are great for learning mechanical skills, relatively simple and it will need attention.

Joe must have bought everything within a 4 hour radius at this point so he’s down to snagging Chinese cheapo’s. Keep the content coming!

My friend bought a daul sport from a dealership. The Chinese carb is the weakest link .followed by the fuel & vacuum lines. Keihin carb would be my recommendation & use ethanol free fuel. Thanks for another great vid Joe 🎬🔧🔥🔥🫡. Safe travels & happy holiday everyone 👍

Ol' Joe loves his dirtbikes. Good looking cycle, now let's tear it apart! Thank you, lots of learning moments

Glad to see you on the China bike struggle bus. I bought a replacement carb on Amazon for $28 for my daughter’s quad. It has removable float bowl and metal slide instead of plastic. It runs night and day difference.

I have a 1 year old and the slight sound of the background crying had me think I was losing it lol great work joe

Great work as per usual. Im sure u had a great chuckle off cam. Cheers

Who else just immediately hits the "like" button before even starting the video??? 😂😂👍🏼👍🏼

sometimes the platics up by the tank flare out like those do to help "scoop" air toward the engine to help air cool it. no clue if this is the case on these apollos. GL and thanks for the great content.

2 vintage I knew you was going to get it to start I that wasn't even a challenge for you

Loving. The content man

Love the channel buddy,great knowledge you have,this guy should be a mechanic for a motocross team,,but it's crazy how people won't take the time to try and fix something, ya maybe they don't know how to work on quads/motorcycles but alot of fixes are sometimes pretty easy, but none the less awesome channel!

At 31:16 I suggest you put an appropriately sized drill bit on your drill into the brass seat and put your drill in reverse at full speed and just tap it on the seating surface. It grinds it down just a little bit. that has worked great for me

Great video mate 👍

Nice!!! I was starting to get worried about my Sunday morning joe ☕️ with Joe!!! Let's gooooooooooooo!!!! 🏍️

Great video. Glad to see you're mixing it up.

Happy Days Joe Has Posted 🔥🔥🔥

That was a nice changeup to your videos.A little variety is nice to see. 👍

The Bob Ross of motorcycle mechanics.

Something fell off the bike when you 1st took off

I have been absolutely addicted to this channel since I found it a few weeks ago. It motivated me to do some upgrades to my bike. Does anyone know what he does with the bikes? Just wondering if this is his full-time job? Edit: I'm sure he edits the videos, but I've never seen bike work go so smoothly. I get aggravated trying to put plastic back on, this guy breaks apart a transmission like it's nothing. He is a beast of a mechanic.

I had a few similar bikes. They were GIO 250s, I got 3 for $1150 Canadian total. One was a 3/4 size frame with smaller wheels, one was a bit on the small side, with full sized wheels, and the other was a full sized bike. Two of them ran, the middle sized bike, I ALMOST got running, but gave up when I couldn't get the carb out (identical looking frame to the one you got. I suspect they probably all had the same base engine as your bike, but they were several years older. They are good bikes for what they are - cheap trail bikes for someone who isn't doing anything too serious - and a buddy bike you can loan out to someone who wants to ride with you, without worrying that they might ruin your much more expensive Japanese or European bike. Careful of those wheels though - the 3/4 bike, my dad and I actually bought for my sister. She had lots of fun on it until on one ride, the front wheel dipped in a rut, got grabbed, and twisted the handlebars from her grip. The wheel bent, and flipped the bike on her. I still think the wheels on a Japanese bike would have held up, and cut loose from the rut. To put it in perspective, a replacement rim, complete with tube and rubber, before it was discontinued, was $107 Canadian - they are junk wheels.

Bravo, again your patience and knowledge paid off. Quick flip, or additional to the Ol' Joe World of Wheels

Joe, I appreciate the thoroughness of your videos… even a seasoned mechanic like myself has learned a lot of troubleshooting skills from your videos. Sometimes I wonder why you don’t just go straight to starting fluid or a squirt of fuel in the spark plug hole and then I remind myself you are a teacher… teaching the correct way to diagnose. I wonder how many thousands you have helped with your videos. You keep putting out the videos and I’ll keep watching… nice work sir! 🫡💯👏🏻

Pretty cool. I recommend that you get Pri-G fuel rejuvenator. Stuff really works well on stale gas.

Man, I look so forward to your videos.

Tire chalk / stop installation in wheel will stop that inner tube from spinning while Is acceleration so valve stem won't tear. Or try loosening valve stem so it floats a little

A tip for the First Person Shots, turn off Image Stabilisation and set the lens angle to it's max. If you want to go a step further buy a cheap set of ND filter (20$) for your action camera and look on a tutorial on how to set up the Iso, Shutter Speed and FPS

Interesting, wanted to see one up close.

Love the content, I work mostly with Chinese bikes like that, was fun to watch u figuring all out : )

For future reference, when you drill out your air fuel, just drill out the plug with a small drill bit, then use a small screw to thread into the brass plug, then pull out with a pair of pliers, it’s easy and you won’t risk damage to the carb

I got the Hawk Dlx 250 about 3 years ago . Have just over 5000 relatively trouble-free miles on it now . Keep up on the oil changes and valve adjustments . Mine's fuel injected, so no carb issues, obviously . My check engine light did come on. I'm not sure why . The bike runs fine , though maybe a bit rich . She's due for some new tires now and also a chain and sprocket set . Otherwise , no complaints for an $1800.00 Amazon bike shipped right to my door . It owes me nothing if it craps out tomorrow.

Great video. Wouldn't be bad for tooling around on the hunting property but, only if I could get it for the price you did. Lol. I keep bread twister ties around just for cleaning carb jets. Once you get it through, put a couple kinks in it with your thumbnail. Work it back and forth. Works great.

Great content!

Drill a small hole in the air screw plug then use a small self tapping screw. Then you can grab the screw to pull the plug out.. I was cringing while you drilled it LOL

Joe, next you clean a needle seat, use a Qtip in a drill with some fine valve lapping compound. It works amazing

I play your vids on repeat. Literally my background noise all day long

The shrouds are wide because it's not an efficient engine and they need more air to keep it cool.

Damn. Pretty cool that you graced that Chinese bike with your knowledge and experience. Kinda felt like it wasn’t worthy of a stand in your garage but you didn’t hate on it. Basic run through inspection for any manufacturer that comes in not running.

Use strands from a copper wire to clean out the jets. Less likely to elongate the jet hole. Its harder than most clogs too. Compressed air is your biggest friend for cleaning a carb.

You're not sure why there's a light bar on it? To see in the dark perhaps?

I loooove the Ape hangers! You better watch out brother,the local MC’s might get jealous!

Thank you. I can only assume you bought this bike because you were curious. Great ecucational video for anyone who has one of these or something similar. I think you got it at a fair price as they aren't easily sold. It sounded okay but the true proof of the internal machine parts will only come with time and running hours. The real question will be can you get parts if something goes wrong or wears out. I'm sure that the carb is made inaccesible to dispute warranty issues if they occur. No doubt that in the foreseeable future upgrades and mods will become available for these bikes if they prove to be reliable.

Another great video!!!

Great video as usual

what fell out of your pocket or off the bike at 42:07? thanks for the videos love how you break everything down.

In the shot where he takes off next to the trees you can see the back wheel and swingarm have a lot of axial play (moving left/right vice versa)

I feel like Joe wants to hate it, but is actually liking it much more than he ever thought he would. They are cheap, but not the worst for how much you pay. I did get my 09 KX450 for $1800, and other than oil and tires, I have not had to do anything else other than ride it. Came with full FMF exhaust, so your point is valid that you can get a decent "proven" bike for the same price. Good video, would like to see an updated after you get the new tube and can really give it a full test ride.

I’m guessing that’s a 230cc Honda xr type engine. Get the carb sorted and you are good to go! Nice work

Is it just me, or does anyone else like to hear the sound of those carb bolts breaking loose?

Great video! I love my Chinese Kayo.

I'm so glad you did what they didn't want you to do, lol (taking apart the carb).

Those front shrouds act like air brakes because that thing is so fast.lol. I had to say it. Looks like something off a airplane

I bought one recently for 400 dollars all it needed was a carb clean but a little after riding it the rear sprocket destroyed the rear rim hub and had to replace the rear rim for it but other than that it’s been pretty good .

Try using lapping compound on a Qtip to clean the needle seat.

Wanna see the completion of that YZ

i bought a bike with the same engine that is "mid-size"(something between the small dirt bikes and full sized ones) for around 450$, it is really fun to ride as it is so light yet has so much torque, though it can't keep up with bigger 250s in the forest and i get stuck on a lot of things easily, it works better on trails and gravel road.

Favourite channel learn so much and so much content ✌️✌️

Snap On Tool USA 208CP Battery bolt Pliers Side mount angle nose offset jaws red, a great plier to get those stuck philips head screws out, you would be amazed!

I had a 1982 YZ 125 , the brass washers on each side of the piston arm wear thin , when you replace the piston , send in your crank for a rebuild

I've seen the street legal version of these and some other brands from India I believe, upgrades are available for the carb, springs, never saw an air filter setup like that but I didn't look too closely, with the exception of the size I'd say it was good for the money, I'm tall and don't like being cramped especially on a motorcycle

23:19 I would replace the studs with bolts. That looked like the main problem with removing it from the top.

I had a Kawasaki 250cc enduro motorcycle once. It did not seem like much of a dirt bike and I never took it in the dirt however the engine was like a pet rock and you could take it on the freeway with no problem. The engine in that thing was slow but it seemed like it would run forever without breaking down.

What you need Joe is a Gun cleaning kit ,and an Airbrush cleaning kit ,both kit's will be excellent for cleaning Carb ports ,Jets

I'm sure the plastics flared out in the front is so it can pull in more air for cooling.

Hey, at least its got a locking cheap gas cap, although I wouldn't use it because I'm sure it will fail LOL... I would make sure I had channel locks any time I rode this thing because the gas cap will probably have to be broken off after a couple rides, although it may just break and come off on its own... The light will be handy so you can see where you are going when you have to push it back to your rig. I've never understood why people wear gloves when working on bikes or cars, but after seeing the metal housing on the spark plug wire, I would definitely wear gloves working on this thing. The edges on the metal look like knife blades, and a really good way to slice open your fingers... I'm trying to be positive about the bike, but I'm not having much luck.

Riding on a flat tire could get really ugly . Not a smart thing to do.

On the 2020 XPro Titan that line that was in the way was for emissions standards i just deleted when i got a new carb, ive been beating on the bike for a while with regular maintenance, also my model sits a lil higher it seems

Your phone going off is like the smoke alarm beep in some other videos I've watched.

Love it!! Joe and Mike Sabo crush it!!

Joe buddy next seat u need to clean try some old crest white toothpaste on a qtip and a cordless drill. It'll clean better where needle point sits and come out about spotless inside. But that's a cool cheap dirt bike for the money

Replace the stock carb with flat slide carb night and day difference you’ll have to do a cone filter tho

Use a q tip and valve laping compound to clean seat

There is a pretty big community around these bikes. There are aftermarket carburetors you can get for them that will wake them up a little. Not too expensive either.

That line what was blocking you from checking the exhaust valve is a egr line not a oil line you can blank the egr and remove it not really needed

If you would have used an EZ Out on the screw blockoff, it would have preserved the bloomin' carb. Annnd, a throttle pumping good time!!

Nice job. Carb issues seem to be a common issue.

In China before shipping these bikes out to Amazon they use vegetable oil in the motor because it's cheap no joke .

Thank you, lots of learning moments. Tough knocking Chinese (or Mexico) made, as we once did japanese. They are set to become the world's largest vehicle manufacturers

Tip to clean needle seat. Use toothpaste and qtip in drill to polish seat and clean needle.

Got a Chinese kayo T2 250,seems okay so far but like everyone says the carbs are crap and it bogs when you snap the throttle too quick,it is no Honda but is fast enough for trail riding and much better than a pit bike !

When you checked the tank for water the fuel that comes out is from a inlet that's a few inches up from the bottom of the tank so if there is water at the bottom you wont see it.

I use amsoil power foam for cleaning jets let them soak in it works great

The size looks almost like an 80 but with larger diameter wheels.

As much carb work as you do, and all the other tools you have, buy yourself a welding torch tip cleaner. It has a good selection of small wire tip cleaners that would be ideal for what you do.

I have a 21 tbr7 tao tao. Same engine on all these chinese 250's. They come jetted lean for import emissions. Change the jets to a 38 - 110 and she'll be happy and run way better. Same as another guy said, delete the egr "system". Best is a carb swap but the jetting change will do the job if that carb works.

Why doesn't he buy a set of torch tip cleaners ?

My 87 xl600r uses the same air filter concept