A little guidance required

[Ayrtonsenna]

Well….I've done it now……just brought a KTM 450 EXC-R 08….with 90hrs on the clock….shes going to kill me!….but its from Santa!

[Grashopper]

Haha, was just reading your last post and was thinking 'he's so going to go for the 450'

Congrats! Have lot's of fun

[Skiwi]

Well….I've done it now……just brought a KTM 450 EXC-R 08….with 90hrs on the clock….shes going to kill me!….but its from Santa!

Welcome to the club.

I have a 13,14 & 15 tooth front cog, in about 5 minutes you can change the bike to do just about anything.

Oh, and remember to keep the medical insurance payments up to date

[Ayrtonsenna]

A little guttered tonight guys….
I purchased the bike unseen from a guy in Taranaki, having had several phone calls with him, sounded honest enough, looking at lots of photos I decided to purchase the bike:
450 EXC-R 2008 91hrs $6k
When it finally arrived in Chch thanks to bike tranz the first thing I noticed was the side plates, and rear guard didn’t look right? upon inspection, I found the sub frame had been broken and welded in 4 different locations. He’d even drilled through side covers lacing them to the sub frame with Zip ties.
Air-filter was dirty as hell….chain and sprockets were stuffed.
Yeah I was disappointed…but I dealt with all that, buying a new sub frame / air filters / chain sprockets / changing all the fluids…..one thing I noticed was the gearbox oils was new…great at least he had done that I thought……mistake.

The bike sat in the garage for awhile before getting everything sorted….then I had to buy a trailer….finally I thought…time to go for a ride!!!

immediately I had trouble changing into third…bushing this off to new boots and a lack of experience.

Second ride, exactly the same….what the hell? back at home I noticed the shifter had come lose…thats gota be it!

Third ride…something’s wrong.

Replaced the gearbox oil again…no debris……rocking the bike through the gears in the garage – Good
Riding the bike at low speed- Good…..Under hard acceleration- the shifter feels Locked.

Time to take the bike to Superior motor cycles. Received a call today, that they need to split the case….engine out- full strip

Absolutely guttered $$$$$$$$$$$

[Jay GTI]

Aw man, gutted for you. Shame you didn't mention you were buying it unseen, plenty of us would have done everything to talk you out of that idea.

Hope it's not too catastrophic inside!

[Ayrtonsenna]

Received another call today, they striped her down and found the gear selector barrel has a scuff mark on it, which would warrant a poor gear shift…..so I now have to wait 3 weeks for the replacement part to arrive from Austria- gives me time to save some money! !

Thought about sending the worn barrel back to the original owner with a small note “Just in case you were wondering what was wrong with the gear box” - wanker!

Ants

[Ocean1]

Received another call today, they striped her down and found the gear selector barrel has a scuff mark on it, which would warrant a poor gear shift…..so I now have to wait 3 weeks for the replacement part to arrive from Austria- gives me time to save some money! !

Thought about sending the worn barrel back to the original owner with a small note “Just in case you were wondering what was wrong with the gear box” - wanker!

Ants

Do it!

Hope the barrel's not too much, the labour's going to be bad enough.

I had a longer list of shit to do on my 525, but I managed most of it myself. And the good part is you'll know it's right when you're finished, eh?

[flyingcr250]

itll forever be a problem bike, fix it then get rid of it...

[Ayrtonsenna]

itll forever be a problem bike, fix it then get rid of it...

Really?? but I stand to lose a lot....I mean what else could go wrong....guys at the shop said it looks pretty good inside...

[speights_bud]

Bugger dude, I Just bought an "04 250 EXC myself this week, first 'proper' dirt bike. I hope it doesn't bite me in the ass, I had Sketchy go check it out and he was pretty happy, but you never really know until you start giving it a workout. It's arriving at my place Saturday .

Anyone know how long the 2T cranks last? she's got a few hours on it but from what Glen said about the other stuff in the Guys garage it was pretty well looked after and his mate was the original owner.

[Jay GTI]

Really?? but I stand to lose a lot....I mean what else could go wrong....guys at the shop said it looks pretty good inside...

The bike has obviously not been looked after, but that doesn't mean it's a grenade with the pin already pulled.

Talk to the guys at Superior and get their professional opinion and maybe put together a condition report. While it's all apart, ask them to give everything a closer look to see if they think there any other issues or wear that could cause problems in the longer term, i.e. play in the crank, valve clearances, any wear marks on the cams, condition of the cam bearings, play in the water pump etc. Might cost a little more for them to do this, but if it is a dog, it will save you money in the long run.

Also ask why they think it's worn out the shifter barrel in just 90 hours, as this may point it to not being close to 90hrs in reality. Often it's the second or third owner fits the hour meter, so there's a large chunk of unknown ride time on the bike as well as what's on the meter.

The thing to remember is while 4T bikes have something of a reputation for fragility and expensive repairs, because sod all riders are good enough to put a 450 through it's paces, they are generally unstressed and can actually handle a bit of poor maintenance. The dirty air filter doesn't fill me with confidence, but if the top end is checked and it's all looking healthy, then as long as you look after it properly, you should be ok.

[Crisis management]

The thing to remember is while 4T bikes have something of a reputation for fragility and expensive repairs, because sod all riders are good enough to put a 450 through it's paces, they are generally unstressed and can actually handle a bit of poor maintenance. The dirty air filter doesn't fill me with confidence, but if the top end is checked and it's all looking healthy, then as long as you look after it properly, you should be ok.

This is a good point... my 450 was a bit disappointing when I serviced it, clearly the previous owners idea of servicing was a quick squirt with the hose and the hours were way off. However it's been bullet proof (not crash proof, but that's the muppet in charges' fault) and I wouldn't consider getting rid of it. The 450 will last a long time if servicing is kept up, I'm expecting to see 400 plus hours out of my engine without major repairs, yours is the "new" engine so there are some differences there but listen to the mechanics advice once he has inspected it.

[Katman]

Anyone know how long the 2T cranks last?

It depends on a number of things - primarily though, how good the oil you use is and how fussy you are with air filter maintenance.

[speights_bud]

It depends on a number of things - primarily though, how good the oil you use is and how fussy you are with air filter maintenance.

For sure, I think perhaps I should have been more specific, is 200 hours on a well maintained crank considered near the end of its life? I allowed for a rebuild but have no idea what they are capable of when looked after

[Jay GTI]

For sure, I think perhaps I should have been more specific, is 200 hours on a well maintained crank considered near the end of its life? I allowed for a rebuild but have no idea what they are capable of when looked after

Katman's answer is still correct. It's a how long is a piece of string question, depends on the bike, the year of manufacture, the condition, how it's been ridden, what oil was used and how often the air filter was cleaned... Next time you do a piston-swap, check for play in the crank, if it's all good, keep going.

Just for reference though, I did about 200hrs on my RM250 without even a piston swap, but I was very strict with the air filter and gearbox oil changes and for the most part of the ownership, trail rode it like a pussy, I was waiting for it to show signs of needing a new piston or rings before doing the swap and they never happened. It was still running sweet when I sold it and the new owner carried on with the same maintenance for a good few hours.