My Sinnis Apache..

[LiamB]

Right.. this is a bad idea but some people are actually interested in it so fk it. Thought I'd follow the format of the bike pool thread because that will probably answer most questions people have.

First of all for Scott are pictures.








Why I bought it:
I knew of them for a while after someone I know bought one, he never had a problem with it the whole time he had it until he got his proper license (3 Years) so that made me look at them. I was also watching a guy called Spicy110 on youtube who had a Pulse Adrenaline for 5 years before crashing it and buying a Sinnis Apache. I recommend watching his Sinnis Apache Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrK8hmzpe6Y
These are decent bikes and the quality of chinese bikes really are improving.

The reason I bought this actual one is because I was going to buy a brand new one but decided against it to save a bit of money to put aside for a car eventually. I saw this for sale on a 62 plate with 6600 miles quite local in North London with the extras of a DEP exhaust (DEP make them for this bike, it's not a bodge job) handguards and renthal bars which I would of bought anyway so it kept the costs down as the DEP can is £200 alone. It has FSH up until late last year just to keep within the warranty, came with all the receipts of purchase and work done, the stamped service book and a user manual for the bike too. As well as a tool kit which is handy! It came from a nice mid 20's guy (Who was chatting up my mum while I was test riding it!) who had just passed his big bike test and had a loovely looking GIXXAH next to this so it isn't from a teenager. Which is good. I would hate to buy a bike from me.

Things I like:
- The sound
- The looks, I think it is quite good looking to be honest.
- The amount of miles I can get from one tank
- How cheap it is to fill (£7-8!)
- Can get 70mph eventually but it's revving a lot, a tooth up on the front sprocket is a popular thing to do so I might do that
- Fun to ride
- You can get every single part on the bike brand new from one website, and they have engine and wiring diagrams
-Easy to service

Things I dislike:
- It's chinese so relentless piss taking
- The downpipe is made of steel but you can get the standard downpipe in stainless for £40
- The standard front tyre
- The stickers and decals
- fking monster stickers

Plans:
1 tooth up on the front sprocket
Contitwist on the front to match the rear
Stainless Steel downpipe to replace the rusted one
Take all stickers off
Keep it clean and maintained


If anyone has any questions about it please do ask them but if you're just going to slag it off, please just don't bother. I've heard it all already and I've only had it a couple of days.

[LiamB]

Cheers guys. I hope it lasts, and obviously I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about it just melting and rusting away as I used to take the piss out of chinese bikes and even did out of my mates when he got it but as I said I wouldn't of bought it if I thought it would. I've done A LOT of reading on them on so many forums. There is a review on the Apache in an MCN magazine that is in a PDF on the internet somewhere. I'll find it if people want to see that.

castex said:

Won't higher gearing take a lot of the fun out of it?

I don't think so. It will just make the gears a bit longer so it's not as higher revving at top speed.

bass gt3 said:

Nice one Liam,

It's a tidy looking thing and hopefully this one will keep you mobile longer than the others!!
Agree in the tyre change but as for gearing, work out the final drive ratio. If it's 3:1 then 1 tooth on the front is equivalent to 3 on the back, so going 2 up on the rear might give a better overall ratio than 1 on the front. But it gives you some options to consider.
As for the exhaust, maybe look at getting the current item media blasted and use high temp paint for now. If the SS header is made by DEP then fair enough, but chinese stainless might not be so good.
Anyway, enjoy and ride safe.

Ratios.. I was never good at maths. Let alone ratios! It has a 16t front sprocket on at the minute and a lot of people change it to the 17t and say it improves it so I'm pretty sure they have that all worked out.
The downpipe isn't a DEP it is just the standard one, DEP do one but it makes the bike sound horrible, that spicy110 had one and didn't like it. The stainless one lasts snd they come standard on brand new ones now, I've seen a Sinnis that had a stainless one for 2 years and it was fine apart from a few black marks by the exhaust hole.

Deranged Granny said:

That looks nice mate, hope it stays in good working order! Hope you enjoy it. Does it sound good with that can?

Cheers mate, I love the sound. I know most people hate the sound of 4 stroke 125's with aftermarket exhausts but I love it, sounds like a mini 400

I got a st video of it after I realised it spits flame if you go to the limiter (Only did it a few times before it got boring.. barely go near the limiter normally) I'll get a better video soon. It pops and bangs a lot and as immature as it is I blip on the downshift just to hear it pop.

Hopefully this link works http://web.stagram.com/p/690027747622970648_366237...

Edited by LiamB on Tuesday 8th April 00:55

[LiamB]

Thanks for the good comments. Which I wasn't expecting.
Right, bit of a long post to answer questions!

3DP said:

Looks nice. Lot of bike for the cash if it's well enough put together. Perfect bike to learn to wheelie on too.

On those sort of bikes, you ride on the front end with the weight forward, so I'd want to get a decent front tyre ASAP.

What are the brakes like (spongey, budget feeling, or up to the job)? Will it stoppie?

Yeah that's why I want to replace it soon, in the dry I will throw it into corners all day long and not worry. But it's when it starts to get wet that the performance of the tyre just starts to suck and I lose all confidence in it.

The brakes are excellent. Braided lines and wavy discs as standard, the rear isn't just like an on or off, it has quite a bit of feeling before it locks up so it's good for traffic. The front is very good, it will get on it's nose very easily but it can be a bit too much even with the slightest pull on the lever, but I suppose that is better than not stopping at all.

Chipchap said:

Liam
Congrats on getting a much newer and hopefully more reliable bike. One point borne out of years and years of experience. Learners tend to thrash small bikes so maintenance is everything.

1] Frequent oil changes are a must. Oil is cheap rebuilds are not.

2] Adjust the chain frequently as if it is allowed to run too loose it kills the sprockets

3] If you clean it using water then make certain that it is fully dry and apply a good coat of WD40 or ACF50 or similar.

4] Touch in any paint chips on the frame or painted surfaces as these will rust quickly

Look after it and it will certainly look after you.

I agree with all learners thrashing bikes. Bunch of hooligans

1. It will be being serviced regularly. You can buy service kits that come with everything.

2. It has just had a new heavy duty DID chain and sprockets but I always keep an eye on chains anyway

3. I haven't washed it once yet but I will do that

4. and I shall do this too

sprinter1050 said:

Glad to see you got summat newer & (despite all the chinky piss taking) hope it's reliable for you to have fun on. As said, keep on top of it & reports do seem to suggest they hold up if looked after.
Then get a test passed & move off trailey style chavvers onto a proper bike.

Plans are to sell this next year to fund my license and then I don't know what bike.. it will probably be a 400 but I might stick to SM's, they're a lot funner

y2blade said:

Mr2Mike said:

LiamB said:

I was also watching a guy called Spicy110 on youtube who had a Pulse Adrenaline for 5 years before crashing it and buying a Sinnis Apache. I recommend watching his Sinnis Apache Review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrK8hmzpe6Y

I had to stop watching that, I just couldn't take the constant sniffing. Spicy110 needs to learn how to blow his nose

Hmmm I was going to watch Sniffy110's video while eating lunch in a bit...perhaps I'll not then.

I never noticed the sniffing until you pointed it out..

[LiamB]

y2blade said:

Watching Sniffy110's review.... 6 years of riding 125s! why?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJGI6a-TQdw

Money basically. I would of gone insane.

[LiamB]

y2blade said:

As soon as he said he rides around with main-beam on in daytime he became a tt .

Bike looks decent though, he mentions they changed tail light to LED to stop it blowing bulbs yet the sidelight it still a regular one that he said keeps blowing.


Sounds nice and fruity through the DEP.

I ride around with my HID looking LED light on in the day and normal low beam at night. The lights are plenty bright enough unless mine has uprated bulbs or something.

I love the noise, managed to get a better video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7csxZBGZdY

[LiamB]

y2blade said:

Mr OCD said:

Has it gone bang yet?

I doubt it.
He's probably out enjoying the nice weather on it.

Went out at 9 and just got in, lovely weather . I cleaned it yesterday too as places like the swingarm were annoying me with dirt and I started taking stickers off.



Still not clean enough. I need to attack it and get all the dirt off. And that tank sticker is a bd. The tank is metal, does that make it harder to get a sticker off? I'll be attacking it with the hair dryer again today.

[LiamB]

Something catastrophic has gone wrong that has made me never want to buy a chinese bike again. Pieces of st.
















The left fork seal went
While I get that replaced, I might as well put a new front sprocket on with a tooth up.

All is going well. I have almost done 1000KM already, it is such a fun little bike. I love it.

[LiamB]

SAS Tom said:

Why would you purposely make a 125 accelerate even slower? Isn't it slow enough for you already?

No, it's fine.

[LiamB]

Just had a look online, £10 for the front sprocket (Would be £5 if I was getting normal size) and £4 for the fork seals.

Aren't parts just sooooo hard to get on chinese bikes?

[LiamB]

LordFlathead said:

You may as well order two and do the other side at the same time. If one has gone, chances are the other will be on its way.

£4 for the pair

RumpleFugly said:

Out of interest, has the engine still got the oil it had in from the factory Liam? If so, could be worth swapping it out as the quality and quantity can often be a bit dodgy.

Nope, the chap I bought it off showed me the oil used, I forgot what (Just normal 4 stroke engine oil I imagine, it's in my little book for the bike somewhere all the different oil grades and st confuse me) but it was castrol.

Hooli said:

I'd do this & change the fork oil too. Factory stuff is ste in Jap & Yank bikes so I can only imagine chinky bikes have ste in too. Should improve front end feel at least.

I might get them to change the oil if they have any in, but if they have to order it in I won't bother. I'm impatient..

[LiamB]

topsprayer said:

Surely no mechanic would re use old fork oil!!

I have no idea. I don't even know if you can choose to change it or what, never had to get fork seals done before.

[LiamB]

Hooli said:

They should have oil in, that's what does the damping. They'll have it on the shelf as you just pick the right weight in the same way you pick the same engine oil.

Ah I see, they should change it then. I'll find out what the standard stuff is, it's probably in the manual somewhere..

Jammez said:

I had one of these for a few years to commute on as I didn't want to put the miles on my big bike. I had a 20 mile motorway, then 10 mile town commute. It was a pain on the motorway unless you could draft a megabus!

Round town it was great fun, really cheap to run, I managed to get it trade so only paid about £800 brand new and sold it with 20,000km on the clock for £500. Various bits of plastic would fall off but the important stuff all worked fine. Changing the sprocket did make it a little better on the motorway but the main thing is to keep it really clean & use a protector on in as things do rust if it's well used.

I used to constantly paint the exhaust and down pipe to try & stop it dissolving so if you can get a better quality one it's worth it.

Have fun and enjoy it!

Great to hear another person had a good one
Yeah I keep cleaning it but I'm not sure I will bother with protecting it until the weather turns for the worst again, doesn't get too dirty now.

I might just paint the exhaust with heat proof paint, then eventually buy the stainless pipe. It's still strong, it just looks st.

Yazza54 said:

May as well order 4, 2 for next week

They shouldn't be bloody going this soon!!

They lasted 2 years

[LiamB]

Yazza54 said:

True, see how long the second set installed using Liam's technical wizardry last

fk that st, I hate forks. I have literally no idea about them apart from they are two pieces of metal that make it more comfortable. It's going to the bike shop so they can change a couple of other things too.

[LiamB]

13aines said:

Only way way to learn indeed...

If you MUST take it to a garage, at least spare some time to watch this video... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrmYJgcGX30

Then at least you'll learn something about how the forks come apart and it won't be total black magic anymore, but if I was you i'd watch some videos, read some stuff online and just have a crack!

You're best learning on this simple st than the bikes you'll have in the future thats for sure.

Good video, certainly helped explain the voodoo magic. Cheers for showing me that guy, he's got some helpful stuff.

I would do it myself, but my tool kit consists of a hammer, a mallet and masking tape. When I get some decent tools I will attempt st like this.

Jammez said:

I'm pretty sure I've got a standard front sprocket kicking around in the garage somewhere. Brand new, bugger all use to me. PM your address & I'll chuck it in the post to you if you want it.

Cheers mate, very generous of you. I'll PM you in a bit. Always good to have spares.




I have done 1000km on the bike now and I am very happy with it. I would say it is my favourite bike I've owned so far

[LiamB]

LordFlathead said:

y2blade said:

How is it going Liam? Good weekend on it?

Yeah safety check needed.. first time I changed fork seals it tried to kill me, better see he's still alive

Still going. I haven't been riding it much as I haven't had the seals done yet, and the rear pads need replacing too.
I'm still waiting for the parts to arrive because I couldn't order them until Sunday because I lost my wallet

They should be dispatched today, then I am going away for 3 days work tomorrow so should be here by the time I am back.

[LiamB]

LordFlathead said:

And hopefully by then we have had some better weather in which to enjoy it. If you're going to do the fork job yourself you will need a large vice fitted onto a sturdy bench and preferably someone that has done it before. I struggled with a load of different ways and eventually managed to cobble something together as a compressor which allowed the energy in the spring to released SLOWLY

Before I do anything like that, I need decent tools. Until then it will be going in the garage for work. Cheers for the advice though


The work I had got pushed back to next week so I got to clean the bike today and get some T Cut on it. Mainly on the exhaust and swingarm as they were annoying me the most. I think it came out better but it still needs work.

Before (Should of taken the picture without the soapy st)


After




That exhaust is really starting to annoy me too, need to replace it with a shiny one.

[LiamB]

catso said:

In the meantime you could clean the loose rust off and spray it with some black VHT paint.

Yeah I could do that, my mate has a tin of it laying about he said I could have.

Mr2Mike said:

Why is there a pink rat on the swing arm?

Rat life

sc0tt said:

Just browsing this thread and a chap walked up behind me and asked was it mine.

How embarrassing.

I bet you took great pride in saying 'No, I ride an R1'

y2blade said:

Liam told me it was 4 stars on MCN!!!! the little fibber!

"And yes, it is Chinese. It is a Sinnis Apache, they are top bikes and have a 4 star review From MCN, I have read all about them and I KNOW they are decent bikes, I wouldn't of bought one if it was a pile of rusty chinese bolts"

hmmmmmmm

I thought I sent you the page it was on? It wasn't on the website but in the magazine.
http://www.sinnismotorcycles.com/push_pdf.php?pdf=...

[LiamB]

y2blade said:

What no update? You ok?

All is goooooood, finally de stickered it, looks st because I melted the hair dryer internals half way through taking the first side off so I sort of just slowly ripped them off, need to get some glue residue remover on it.



Booked in for work to be done next week (Pads, fork seals and a carb jet) and I keep washing it.. A LOT.. other than that it is going to be used for work everyday starting Thursday because I got myself a 3 year mechanics apprenticeship, hopefully by the end I won't be so inept with everything mechanical

That's really it, I am loving it.

Prof Prolapse said:

Maybe he managed 88mph downhill then went back in time and stopped himself from buying this bike?

I'd still buy it

Edited by LiamB on Tuesday 6th May 15:39

[LiamB]

Cheers guys, I'm really looking forward to it. Especially because my boss said if I wanted he will teach me other things like painting and panel beating separately, so that will be handy to know as well and fun to learn at the same time.

Now is the time I need to rely on the bike to work because where the job is, you can't get there on public transport..

[LiamB]

Update

Bike is good


Job is good