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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This doesn’t really fit the site, but I have been having fun building up a jeep I recently got. It is a 97 TJ Wrangler SE with a 2.5l 4 banger.  It was bone stock when I got it, but I have since installed a 4″ rough country short -arm lift, a set of 15″ rock crawler wheels with 33×12.50 Maxxis Mudders.  I also fabricated some control arm bracket braces, sway bar quick disconnects, and installed extended brake lines for the front.  The best mod to date is the oooga horn from harbor freight.

Its pretty impressive what this jeep would do stock, but now its even better.  It’s nice to have another hobby to participate in when its either too cold or rainy to ride motocross.

Future plans include lockers, custom built front bumper with winch mount, and custom built rear bumper with spare tire carrier.  Looks like I found another wealth-prevention program!

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Here are some rear sets that a customer wanted powder coated.  We decided to go with flat black.  He also wanted to have the fasteners coated.  I took a small piece of steel plate and drilled and tapped threads into it so I could thread the bolts and screws into the steel and have them stay put while they were sandblasted, coated, and baked.  When coating aluminum, it is important that the item be “de-gassed” prior to applying the powder.  Aluminum is more porous than steel and thus grease and oils tend to hide out in these small orifices.  Essentially, by cooking the items after sandblasting but before applying the powder allows the oil and grease to be cooked out, however it must then be sandblasted again. So the process goes as such:

• Sandblast
• Bake (de-gas)
• Sandblast
• Spray with iron phosphate and let dry
• Coat with powder
• Bake

You can see the final product in the pictures.  This process took me a little over an hour, and greatly enhances the look of these rear sets.  Contact Joe @ 828.337.4009 if you are interested in getting some parts coated.

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This 94 RM 125 had a serious problem of water getting into the oil.  I pulled the clutch cover and the transmission fluid in the gear box looked like pepto-bismol.  I assumed the water pump seal was to blame, and I was correct.  Once the seal was removed, it was evident it was leaking because the 2 bearings behind the seal were rusted and seized.  These bearings should never be in contact with water unless the seal is leaking.

With the installation of the new seal and bearings, the bike was ready to go.

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I have been really busy lately working on bikes and I have been neglecting this site.  I have a lot of new material that needs to be uploaded, but I currently do not have the time to post it all.  I will update soon.

Also, I have decided to disable the comments section since the majority of all comments were spam.  If you would like to contact me, please call or email.
That’s it for now, were off to Durhamtown to check out the new pro track for the Labor Day weekend!

-Joe

Here is a customers bike that has some clutch problems.  It started out as just some noise, but then developed into some more serious problems and even some breakage.  Upon inspection of the clutch basket, hub, and pressure plate, it was obvious that they all needed replacing.  If you have ever priced these clutch components, you know how expensive they can be.  Before bringing the bike to me, the customer had taken it to a local shop and received an estimate of approximately $1200.  I was able to replace all of the clutch assembly, and even upgrade the clutch basket to a forged wiseco basket for less than half of that estimate!

Look at the pics below and notice in the 3rd and 4th picture you can see the notches in the original basket.  When they wear this much, clutch engagement becomes rough and choppy.

The 5th and 6th pictures show the wear to the inner clutch hub.  This part also develops notches from the steel plates in the clutch stack.  There is also a very noticeable trough cut into the edge of the hub.  Compare it to the new hub in pic 7.

Images 8,9, and 10 show the wear on the old pressure plate compared to the new one.  Again, notice the trough cut into the outer edge.

In order to install any new aftermarket clutch basket such as hinson, barnett, wiseco, etc., you must remove the original primary gear and kick start gear and install them onto the new basket.  This can be slightly time consuming.  The original rivets must be drilled and removed, then the backing plate can be gently pried off.  The rubber cushions have to be re-used also, so pay attention to their orientation, it is easy to reverse them.  The kick start gear must be pressed off.  This can be done in a vice with a socket and a section of pipe.  To install this gear on the new basket, the simplest way is to put the gear in the freezer and the basket in the oven both for about 15-20 mins.  If you can do it fast enough, it will almost drop in.
Once you have the gears installed, and the backing plate screws are torqued to the proper specs with loc-tite, you can start putting it all back together.  New clutch friction plates must be soaked in oil prior to installation.  Refer to your manual for re-assembly if you forget where any parts go.

With the new clutch installed, it now engages smooth and there is no more noise.  The lever pull feels like a hydraulic clutch instead of a cable-operated one.

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I have an 03 TTR 125L for sale.  Runs great!  Has new rear tire and new plastics.  Great beginner’s bike!

Comes with old plastic too so if you you are buying it for a beginner, they can dump the bike and not scratch up the new stuff.

Call Joe at 828.337.4009 or email if you are interested.  The price is firm and I feel this bike is worth it considering its condition.

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This is a customer’s bike that had some serious carburetor issues.  It was having trouble starting and coming off an idle, but eventually got so bad it would not even run.  I went into the carb several times and did find some clogged orifices that once cleaned, caused the bike to run a little better, but the main problem was 2-fold:

• Bent Needle.
• Bad gas.

The WR comes with a non-adjustable needle, so I removed the bent one and installed a new yz-style adjustable needle.

It’s surprising how fuel can go bad so quickly and can even come from the pump bad.  Also, there was no “bad-fuel” smell when smelling the fuel in the tank, but I am certain it was bad because after correcting the needle and jetting, I installed my YZ tank onto the WR with fresh race fuel and it ran perfect, but when switching back to the WR tank, would not even run.

So after draining the fuel, re-jetting, and installing some new fork seals, this bike is ready to go.

Here is the jetting that worked well for me:

Elevation:  2500 ft.
Main:            175
Pilot:               42
Leak:               40  (this helps increase the initial squirt of fuel from the accelerator pump, and decrease bogging)
Air Screw:     2.0 turns out.

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A customer brought this bike in for repair because it is running terribly rich and fouling plugs.  I immediately assumed it was a carburetor issue, and I did find some clogged jets and orifices in the carb that did contribute to the rich condition, but soon found out it was something more than just the carb.  The amount of black goo coming out of this bike was more than I have ever seen on a 2 stroke.  So bad in fact that the rear tire looked like someone had sprayed it down with “wet-tire”.  Also, while testing the carb work I had done, the bike started smoking something fierce with the smoke being white and smelling like burning oil and not the typical blue premix smoke.  After doing some research on thumpertalk.com the symptoms lead me to believe it was a failing right-side crank seal.

Fortunately, for this repair you do not have to split the cases.  The clutch, water pump, primary gear and a few other misc. stuff must be removed, but nothing too complicated.  Of course, with this being a 24 yr. old bike, any disturbed gasket had to be replaced.

With the new seal installed, the problem is corrected.  There is still a lot of residual goo coming out of the pipe just from the old rich condition, but the bike does not foul plugs anymore and runs and idles the way it was meant to be.

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