From: Tiago on
On Jan 18, 4:40 pm, HardWorkingDog <har...(a)mush.man> wrote:
> In article
> <83f63d2c-c45b-496e-98e5-fdc70e171...(a)v25g2000yqk.googlegroups.com>,
>
>  Tiago <diariodastril...(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> > Thanks.. Not pissed, just deluded... A big part of me want to tear
> > into the engine tonight, but the other part might be stronger...
>
> Any chance you can find a donor engine? How popular is your XR? It may
> be less expensive to find another XR250 that belongs to someone who
> has given up and use it as a parts donor. Just a thought...

There are good and bad news.
The best news of last evening is that I found the wristwatch I thought
I had lost. It was on the car, amid the mess that is the floor on the
rear seats...

Conn rod has just a little side to side play and no noticeable up and
down play. Cylinder looks ok, piston is shiny new - as it should, it's
less than 1 year old.

Head is completely toast. It had no compression because one of the
exhaust valves was stuck open. Both cams are now paperweight. Aluminum
shaves everywhere.

Bottom end is stuck. I can't turn the crank one complete revolution.
It was a lot of trouble to remove the piston, as the pin was below the
bottom of the cylinder, between the cases... Lots of hard pulling on
rear wheel to free it, but it doesn't turn freely.

Guessing gearbox broke and the metal shavings took the toll on the
head. ? No, I was able to shift all 6 last saturday... Weird... Will
have to disassemble...

No bearings on the cams, it's metal against metal (I knew this was
dumb the day I heard about, before buying the bike) and if the oil is
half metal shavings, good things can't happen. Don't think I had an
oil supply problem there, when I disassembled, head had lots of little
oil pools.

Tonight I think I'm pulling clutch and oil pump, tomorrow magneto... I
plan on splitting cases before weekend.

Used engine is one more step toward illegality and away from "back to
the street" project... Already considering buying gf's '01 CG125
(http://www.cidadedasmotos.com.br/fotos/3420090504092902.jpg not hers,
just exactly the same looks and just a little more than probably I'll
be paying to fix mine...)

-- T
From: Volker Bartheld on
Hi Tiago!

On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:57:05 -0800 (PST), Tiago wrote:
> It's the classical simptoms of a ruined conn rod. [...] I've heard lots
> of tale like this: You have an aging engine and refresh top end just for
> the bottom end give up the refreshed top end power and let go, ruining
> the top end again...

Makes perfect sense, yes... I remember a big overhaul with my CR250R
(2-smoke). I pulled the cylinder and found piston/rings to be worn. Those
piston kits normally also contain the upper conrod bolt with bearing and
clips, so that's usually not a problem. However: The lower conrod bearing
was a tiiiiiiny bit loose (barely noticeable, I checked with locked clutch
and pulled/pushed very hard to be absolutely sure there was no other
reason).

*dang*

After a good night's sleep, I decided to do a bottom end as well (no fun
separating the crankshaft etc.) just for safety. Who knows - maybe I could
have experienced the same damage as you have...?

> Why is it that this bike every year requires a major overhaul on
> some system or other? I'm sure, due to the abuse I do to the poor
> thing

I'm sure, too. From your riding stories I deduce that your sand-/mudpits
wear out all accessible bearings in no time and since the 250 is not
exactly what I would call a two wheeled dragster, you're continuously
operating it near or at peak performance.

> When I changed the oil I noticed lots of shiny spots on the filter.
> Not nice in any level!

Second that. Especially, if they are hard chips probably with a copperish
colour to them.

> You know, bad things happens in waves.

Too true. I sometimes say "Can it get any worse?". Heck, it can. It can get
A LOT worse. Probably, I'm a bit anal with my preventive maintenance - but
I'm too old to find last-minute wrenching sessions on the race track any
fun. A riding buddy once appeared at the MX track of Mantova (Italy)
KNOWING that he'd have to change clutch plates, fork seals and (hydraulic)
clutch fitting. I asked why he didn't fix it at home and he replied that it
was much more fun wrenching "on location", having a can of beer and
friends nearby. Also, if he wouldn't have gone riding, he probably
wouldn't have fixed it at all, leaving the bike to rot in the garage.

Hmmm. Not my piece of cake...

>> That reminds me to have a look at my YZ426F piston's status. Actually, it's
>> not mine anymore, I donated it to a riding buddy to rid him of his
>> offroad-phobia. But anyhow - after that amount of usage, I sure have to
>> check things out. A stuck piston is nothing I'm really after. Could sure
>> ruin the day (or the entire season).

> Why do you have to disassemble a perfectly working engine if not to
> replace leaky gaskets or worn out rings?

Well, such pistons can crack after prolonged use. Do you have an idea what
a cylinder rebuild costs for that bike? I don't want to know...

> "If it's not broken, don't fix it", I say...

I say: Better do preventive maintenance under well controlled conditions
than having to do priority bugfixes when you least expect it. I'm not eager
to pull the YZ426F's head, trust me. But it would be a real shame if this
engine blows apart right in the middle of the riding season...

>> What a pity for your XR250 Tornado...
>> Good luck and try not to get pissed that much...

> Thanks.. Not pissed, just deluded... A big part of me want to tear
> into the engine tonight, but the other part might be stronger...

Hrhrhr. I know. Reminds me of my tax declaration 2008. Yes, 2008. I just
finished 2007 the other day - trying to anticipate the tax office GUESS my
income...

> I'll be sure to update you guys... Wait for the next chapter of this
> soap opera...

IMHO, your story would indeed suit as a very entertaining soap. We have
pretty dull TV shows about some blonde renovating needy families' houses
on tight schedule, about fat scrap yard junkies trying to find meaningless
parts for pretty dull cage vehicles, a more than boring "Pimp My
Ride"-clone and some know-it-all "Autochecker" who liases used cars to
clueless chicks. *yawn* Unfortunately, I can't receive "Top Gear" via my
satellite dish.

So the "Brazilian Enduro Wrestler"-McGyver-story along with some rental
bike offroad abuse, beer and beatiful scenery would surely make my day!

Cheers,
Volker

--
@: I N F O at B A R T H E L D dot N E T
3W: www.bartheld.net
From: Dean H on

> > You know, bad things happens in waves.
>
> Too true. I sometimes say "Can it get any worse?". Heck, it can. It can get
> A LOT worse.

This what I was thinking about those poor folks who were in that
Haitian hospital that collapsed. You know, you're laying there in the
hospital thinking "God, this sucks being in the hospital. Could it be
any worse?" Then the hospital collapses.

Bummer.
From: JayC on
> This what I was thinking about those poor folks who were in that
> Haitian hospital that collapsed. You know, you're laying there in the
> hospital thinking "God, this sucks being in the hospital. Could it be
> any worse?" Then the hospital collapses.

Remember 20 years ago when San Francisco got hit by the earthquake,
and all those people got squashed when the double-decker highway
collapsed? I wonder how much money Haiti donated to the US back then.

JayC
From: Dean H on

> Remember 20 years ago when San Francisco got hit by the earthquake,
> and all those people got squashed when the double-decker highway
> collapsed?  I wonder how much money Haiti donated to the US back then.
>
> JayC

Both of their dollars?