XT 600 motor needed?

[frankk]

I got a beautiful '83 xt600 that gave me no grief so far. Until nasty noises in 5th gear occured. With a little oil leak I gave it to a workshop and had to pay 500$ in advance. Info now is: can of worms, need a new motor, the old one is done. The motor was going perfect before. What to do? Where can I get a new old motor. The workshop tells me that it is not worth to go into reconditioning the old one... I am not too sure that that is true. Any adress around Chch to get a second opinion?
Cheers, Frank

[F5 Dave]

Ring a few wreckers, but not all do trail type bikes. These engines were popular to singles race & tended to die violently when used for this so finding one may be an issue.

Yes rebuilding an engine can get expensive. Would the bike shop get more money rebuilding it or replacing the engine with a 2nd hand one? So if they are telling you to find another one, either they don’t want the work (unlikely) or they have identified that there are a few things on their way out that would likely fail shortly after & they are doing you a favour.

They have obviously been stung by people getting bikes rebuilt & then deserting them if they want $500 up front. It happens all the time. Guys just don’t come back abandoning a $1500 bike for a $700 bill. Crazy

But it would be frustrating pushing the bike in & out of the workshop for a year, maybe half finished, wondering whether you will ever see any money for it & at what stage can you legally sell it to recover costs.

You may ask if the top end is ok. Maybe if you can't find a full engine a Bottom end may be located.

[Motu]

I have an SRX600 engine here,but am pirateing it for bits in my XT500E project.5th gear failure is common with these engines,one of their few faults - but like Dave says,the bike shop is hedging their bets,a 1983 bike is not usualy an option for major repairs...a can of worms for them.

[Ixion]

Up the final gearing and ride it as a 4 speed.