Chris
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Chris
Reliability mods on a CJ ?????
Firstly it all depends on where you source your bike from, the Chinese restorers promise a lot but seldom deliver the full package.
The restorers will say that all the engine bearings etc are upgraded to German, Swiss or Japanese but you have no way to check this.
That said I chose a M1M side valve as they have a reputation for breaking down less often.
Being in Oz I think that all states now require a LH bucket to register for road use this fouls the kickstart so the electric start on the M1M or M1S OHV is more or less essential.
Chinese stuff is not that reliable even when new or NOS parts are used.
Get the frames re welded as they are old and probably had a hard life.
Ask for the fuel tank to be lined or do it yourself ASAP as they are old as well and will lift the paint if leaky.
A Honda petcock is a good upgrade when doing the tank, sourced from the US via ebay, order early as it takes a few weeks to get delivered.
Mikuni CV carbs are a better than stock ones.
Replace the engine and transmission oils on arrival with good quality mineral oils, I use Penrite.
Tyre will wear quickly as they do not have the flat profile of the Avon tyres that are best for sidecars.
It is a bit of a lottery as to the quality of the build, some people report no problems from a builder that others have had lots of problems with.
Without a doubt the best quality builds come from Jim Bryant, a bit more expensive but a quality builder, mine came from Big Bill and is OK.
In order to get the bike into Oz it is best done under the pre 1989 scheme which means that the brakes will have to be standard as any mods to the bike will probably disqualify it as a original bike and require all sorts of engineers checks and possibly even require it to conform to the current ADR's which need a lot of work.
The whole import procedure is fraught with pitfalls and hidden expenses, mine required the brakes removing whilst in bond store to test for asbestos which takes a week just to test and cost me $660 in fees, I was lucky to get my bike released by customs without the brakes fitted or I would have been up for about $1600 a week bond storage charges, eastern state imports don't seem to be checked as much as Perth imports though.
Personally if I were you and wanted a no hassle restoration and especially no import problems I would email http://www.cj750.com.au and see if they can get you what you want, the price is good for a no hassle bike delivered in Oz, they have a string of mods done that bring it up to current ADR's.
They do not list a side valve model but maybe you could get one on special order ?? if not then the OHV is pretty good anyway.
I can see no reason why they could not order a PLA painted bike but check with them.
Best of luck
Oz

Hi Chris,

What state are you in? you could e-mail me if you do not want to share that info on the board.

Well I suppose everyone has had different experiences of buying, Importing and owning a Chang Jiang motor cycle. My experiences are from long ago back in 2000. On the reliability of the bike i have to say that after a few teething problems were sorted out I could never complain about my bike. IT is a side valve and the one that i would recommend for that "authentic" look. As standard you could expect problems with fuel supply due to vaporisation at the Carbs. Lumpy idle mostly due to the above when hot, plus carbs not correctly balanced and also timing due to contact breaker bounce.
I dealt with all these issues and detailed the work on my website that you no doubt already read. However today there are conversion kits for the charging system and electronic ignition system all in one unit.....looks very nice. Link is here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/CJ750-Electronic-Ignition-System-/231032895132?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35caa2369c&vxp=mtr

On the carb front I replaced my original carbs with BMW carbs (see web page for all the details nd drawings for the carb stubs).
The charging system can leave a little to be desired and eventually everyone has battery charging issues. Again the all in one kit (Linked above) looks like the way to go as it replaced the rotor and magneto, voltage stabaliser and voltage regulator with electronic items. all "under the hood" so not noticeable to the outside looker.

Brakes are feeble at best and scary at least all the time until you get used to riding a Change and using engine breaking.....forget any form of emergency stop......it just is not going to happen, believe me. Best standard option is to have all brake shoes relined with Australia standard brake linings and as "Oz" said now the Imports are looking for Asbestos free linings of brakes and clutch it would seem best approach to not have these supplied on the bike but bagged separately so you do not have any linings hidden away insde the brake drums or gearbox.......means you have to get the loose items re ligned and then fitted in Australia.

For the next non standard modification to the brakes you could fit a front Disc brake (http://www.changjiang750sidecar.com/partshtml/01-0028.html), add a side car braking system and now i see they have a rear disc brake system. But my opinion of these are they look terrible! I'm going to investigate if it is possible to fit internal brake cylinders and a descreet hydraulic master cylinder in some way to get more efficiency without deviating too much from a standard look. (a project for later).

http://www.changjiang750sidecar.com/all-parts-list-001.html this site has many accessories for the Chang Jiang and is the one that "Oz" mentioned for ordering a bike I think....

So really the Custom modifications are many so you need to look and choose what you think you want, the ones above are my "essential" ones (Carging, electronic ignition, replacement carbs, upgrading brake shoe linings).

Some others:
Deep oil sump pan
High output oil pump
High quality pistons & Ring set(Alloy with Ceramic coatings)
International enging and wheel bearing set
Stainless steel bolt set
Stainless steel wheel spokes
Re chrome all part
Blast and powder coat frame
Repaint Tank, fenders and mud guards.
the list goes on.............

To do all the jobs would cost you a small fortune, better to get a standard Side valve bike and then do the customising yourself.

Regards
Chris A.