Archive for the ‘Top End Rebuild’ Category

I decided to trade my long-loved Husky for this CRF 450R Supermoto.  It has many nice upgrades on it, however it is definitely in need of some TLC and service.  The most attractive part of this bike is that it is TAGGED!  It may not seem like such an amazing thing, but in the state of NC, it is near impossible to tag a bike that started life as an off-road only machine.  This bike came with a clear VA title.  Once the vehicle has been titled in another state, NC will allow you to transfer it in with no problem.

The electrical was a complete mess, so I basically removed the baja designs dual sport kit and started over from scratch trying to sort the electrical all out.  Now that I have that mostly under control, I moved into the motor, chassis, and suspension.  I removed the clutch cover, and much to my suprise I found an STM slipper clutch installed on this bike.

Since the internals of this bike are unknown, I removed the entire top end down to the connecting rod.  The cylinder is on its original bore with the factory cross-hatching, the forged piston looks like it was installed recently, all top end measurements are still within factory spec.  After some cleaning, and installing a new wristpin, circlips, and gaskets, its going back together.

Inside the carb I found a clogged pilot jet which is fairly common on any FCR carb that has been sitting a while, but more disturbingly I found the needle clip position in the top position.  Perhaps this in conjunction with the clogged pilot jet was causing the popping and backfiring prior to me tearing it down.

The suspension is being serviced and re-valved by Fast Bike Industries and should be done later this week, so hopefully I can have it road-worthy by the weekend.  More pics to follow.

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This 125 belongs to one of my regular customers.  Over the last year, I have installed a new clutch, trued wheels, replaced fork seals, re-packed the silencer, etc.  Recently the owner had accidentally put non-mixed fuel in the tank and ran it for a while.

The pictures show the galling of the piston and the cylinder.  This may have been caused by the non-mixed fuel.  I removed the seat, tank, exhaust,  and  radiators to access the cylinder.  I then removed the cylinder.  The crank has some minimal side-to-side play but has no vertical play, so we are going to send the cylinder off to Millennium Technologies for repair and also replace the piston, ring, and wristpin.

Update 3/8/12:  I finally added some more pics of the bike going back together.  I powder coated a few parts for some added bling.  The owner of the bike TJ Maher, went on to take a win at the WNC ag center that weekend.

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Last weekend I had the opportunity to buy this beauty.  Its a 97 Suzuki Savage with 29k miles and a clear title.  It needs a few things, but for the price I paid for it, I figured it will be a fun build.  I don’t normally have any interest in cruisers whatsoever, but this may be fun to ride around on for a while and then put it up for sale.

First things first, it needs a head gasket.  The previous owner made me aware of this before buying.  I didn’t think that would be a big deal, but when I got a service manual for it, I was disappointed to find out that the motor has to be removed from the frame in order to remove the head.

Also, I was told that it needs a clutch.  Well I assumed that meant it had “worn out” plates or a basket and not “the clutch assembly was stolen off the bike then the cover was put back on”  So I have sourced a used clutch assembly and a few other things that are on the way.

Other items it needs are:

• Gaskets for the clutch cover, stator cover, head, valve cover, and cylinder
• Speedometer cable
• Battery
• Starter solenoid

There are probably a few other things I am forgetting, but ill get to those later.

If anyone is interested in buying it when its complete and restored, contact me.

Edit:  I lost interest in the project and sold it to a friend.  He has finished it and you can see how it looks in the final picture.  I think I will stick to dirt bikes!

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This is a customers quad that was brought to me with a seized top end.  I was hoping to find something like a cooling problem or a damaged piston, but instead I found that the crank bearings had failed.  This machine is an 87 and I would guess that the crank has never been changed before.  On most any engine, there should be no vertical play in the connecting rod.  This one has about 1/4″.  In addition to that, all the pieces and fragments of the old bearing are now in the crankcase.  Unfortunately, the parts list and associated labor for this repair is too expensive for the customer at the moment, so I am returning it to him in its current state.

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