Dakota Dual Sport Riders

I've done a couple of rebuilds of bikes in the last few years.  I've found that a winter rebuild keeps me in better spirits   This year I thought that I'd try something new and maintain a thread about it.  We'll see how it goes.
I recently sold a bike that I had minimally rebuilt, with intention of turning that project into a more "custom" bike project for this winter.  With that void created I needed to fill it with something.
I've found myself riding a lot more off-road than I have in past years and I needed a true "woods" bike.  I've also found myself wanting to check out the 2 stroke side of riding.  Some folks think that the 2 stroke engine is the only way to go when it comes to woods riding.  From what I understand, they are generally lighter, generally have better throttle response, and are generally cheaper to maintain in the long run.
I was initially looking at purchasing a new KTM 300 with all the bells and whistles (electric start and all) but I couldn't rationalize the cost.  I then started looking for an older YZ or CR two stroke.  Everything I was finding was pretty beat up.  They'd either be around $2,500 and ready to ride but pretty spartan or around $1,000 and needing a new top or bottom end.  I then came across a GAS GAS EC200 through a friend of a friend in the price range I had set for myself.
I knew about GAS GAS bikes from a few of the Euro magazines that I pick up from time to time, as well as some of the large "hard" enduro events around the world.  It's a Spanish brand that came out of the demise of BULTACO.  They are primarily known Stateside from the trials motorcycle world but also make competent enduro machines.
I looked at the bike and found that it had a whole lot of aftermarket parts on it and ran well, thought I couldn't take it for a ride since it was in suburban Minneapolis.  I thought about it for a day and committed to purchase it the next.
I got it down the stairs and into my basement for the winter.  We'll see how this goes..........
Here's the photo as it appeared on Craigslist and how it appears now after last night's work of tearing it down.  

It looks like its in good shape, very cool.  The frame looks huge.  This ought to be fun to watch. 

When you are done with the rebuild, take some video when you ride it up the stairs and out of the basement. You are going to ride it out of the basement, right?   ;D

The bike is in good shape.  The weekend after I purchased it, I took it out to a trail ride with my moto club.  I was a little concerned about switching over from my four stroke DRZ to a two stroke. 
The last, and first time, I rode a two stroke was when my friend offered me to take his daughters KTM 200 for a spin around the yard.  In my first 20 seconds on the bike I killed it once and nearly sent it bars over rear fender.  It didn't bode well.  I wasn't used to the power.  Of a 200!!!!!!?????
I must say, I enjoyed the 2 stroke woods bike that a EC200 is.  The GAS GAS took a little more speed to get over the bits that a bigger bike would take in it's stride, but it was just as comfortable.
Where the 2 stroke excelled was in the muddy sections, where I usually call it a day and wait it out.  The weight difference became obvious.
Tonight I encountered one of the first differences between a four stroke and two stoke mechanically, the reed cage.  While a four stroke carb feeds right into the cylinder, a two stroke uses a reed to perform the duties of the valves of a four stroke, only allowing air in during the intake stroke.
So far everything looks good.
I'll attach photos of the reed cage.
And no Bogus Jim, I won't be riding it out of the basement.  You might be able to see, it's pretty tight down there.  There's a tough chicane at the bottom of the stair where the chimney exists.  Plus, I had to use a tie down to bring my fork height down to 46 1/2" just to make the stair ceiling height.

Today I pulled the cylinder and piston.  I wanted to check the specs on the connecting rod and piston rings.  The person I purchased it from only had it for a short time and couldn't tell me how long it had been since the top end was last rebuilt.  Usually, people get about 75 hours on a top end before it's rebuilt.  It doesn't seem like alot can happen in that time, but that's the way two strokes are I guess.  I just passed 40K miles on my KLR without doing anything other than oil changes, checking valves, and other usual stuff.
Upon pulling the cylinder and piston, I found that it almost looks brand new.  The connecting rod tolerances were from 0.8mm-1.0mm and my reading was 0.7, a little tight but there's not much I can do about that.  The ring gap tolerance was 0.4mm-0.6mm and mine read 0.5 an 0.45mm so those were good too.  It should at least get me through one more season.  My mind will be at ease knowing that. 
So the only thing that I need to do is clean up the power valve cavities, reassemble the cylinder/piston, and perhaps replace the gaskets at the same time.  I'm thinking I might just reuse the current gaskets since they came off so well.  I have a feeling they're pretty new too.

I was just watching the GNCC Hare Scramble last week and noticed all the Gas Gas machines out there. They are gaining ground on the KTMs.

Cool project. Will be fun to follow.

Last night I got most everything put back together.  It all went smoothly but I'm questioning my decision to reuse the cylinder gasket.  I'm thinking buying a new base gasket might be the prudent thing to do.  No sense on skimping on an item that only costs $10 or $15, right?
The current tank capacity on the bike is pretty good, being about 2.5 gallons.  I did find a used oversized tank that would give me 3.5 gallons.  I figure that's a pretty good upgrade, so I'll see if it's in the budget.  I could probably ride for 4 or 5 hours with that large of a tank, though I'm still unclear as to how far a tank will take me in the woods on this bike.
To make up for my lack of real progress today, I thought I'd go back and find a video that talks about the difference between 2 stroke and 4 stroke engines.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwFB3RcVcHI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwFB3RcVcHI)
I also came across another odd bit about the two stroke engine, the power valve.  It was something that I had to disconnect during the cylinder removal but I really didn't understand it until I looked it up.  Take a look.......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD8QnsY925Y (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD8QnsY925Y)

I think while you got it broke down it would be wise to eliminate a potential issue by replacing that gasket. Think how pissed you'd be on the trail if it failed. Worse yet, how pissed your buddies wound be having a short day and dragging your ass back to camp. >:( When in doubt, throw it out.

Having been away from 2 strokes for many, many years, I take it this has a pretty sophisticated oil injection system. I was always so scared that that system would fail on my old Honda and detonate my motor. Worried about my outboards doing the same when I was into boating.

After having a day to think about it, I'm definitely going to change the base gasket.  There's no sense not to, other than the fact that I've got the top end put back together again.  Still, it came apart in an evening and, it will go back together in an evening.
Tonight I took a bit of the dirt off the plastics.  I got an extra, used, set off of Ebay about a week ago.  I never spend much time thinking of the appearance of my bike,  this is no different, so the plastics will only serve as a back up set.  I've twice torn the radiator shrouds off my DRZ and once twisted the hell out of a front fender.  I need replacements on hand.
The bad news is that I didn't get the oversized tank that I'd been eyeing.  When it came down to it, I figured that even the standard tank of 2.5 gallons will likely provide more fuel than most of the other folks that I ride trails with, so why spend the money?  There's always some hidden costs in a rebuild.
Concerning the oil system on the bike.........this bike has nothing sophisticated about it.  It's premix gas only.  50:1 ratio.  No fancy oil injection but no extra weight either.  I think the dry weight on the bike is around 222 LBS. 
My work for tomorrow will be making up a parts list and placing an order with my local GAS GAS dealer which happens to be about 50 miles from Watertown, SD and about 170 miles from me in Minneapolis.  Parts next day!!!!!!!!!!!!  Not bad for a Spanish bike.

I was away for a long weekend.  When I returned my box of parts came.
I ordered a few things for the engine:
-base gasket
-head pipe gaskets
-fuel filter
-radiator hose gasket
I also ordered a few things that I'll need in an attempt to make the bike street legal:
-rear fender extension with plate holder
-tail light
I was surprised that everything, including the bodywork and tail light, was in stock as the bike isn't commonly considered road worth in the States.  I know that the state can be picky that all the added components, to make a bike street legal, come from the manufacturer as available "original" equipment.  This makes a lot of bikes ineligable. 
My plan for the next couple of days is to take the cylinder back apart and install the new base gasket and get the engine back together.

I got everything back together again without a hitch.  I really dislike putting things together only to take them back apart again.  My frame of mind is that once you take things apart, they never go back together quite the same again.  I suppose engines are different, especially if you're installing new components.  Anyway, now the new base gasket is in.  I installed it with gasket sealer on the cylinder side for good measure. 
Today I figured that I'd pull the shock.  When I was messing with the sag and the all the settings, when I first got the bike I noticed that there might be some maintainance required.  I'm mulling over doing the service myself or if I should send it off to be serviced/rebuilt.  I've found the shop service manual for the shock so that's the way I'm leaning right now.  In case I don't.............
Does anyone know anyone around who offers rebuild service?

This guy gets a lot of thumbs up on advrider, but maybe you want somebody local.

http://www.stmsuspension.com (http://www.stmsuspension.com)

If you are just changing oil & seals and you can find someone to do a nitrogen fill, it's tempting to do the work yourself and save the labor/shipping costs.

Theres also a guy I've delt with in Idaho that goes by Sasquatch on ADV. He did work on my Tiger shocks.

Well, I've done a little bit of digging through the box of bits that I got with the bike.  I discovered that I've got an extra spring, of the same spring rate, for my Ohlins as well as a receipt in the paperwork that suggests that the shock was reworked sometime before I purchased it.  I think that I'll pass on servicing it now, unless I feel differently later this winter. 
I did find that the going rate for giving a shock a once over is around $100 to $150, plus the cost of any replacement parts.  Not bad if you ask me.  I think for that price I'd definitely hire the work to be done by someone who has the expertise as well as the tools and replacement parts at their fingertips.
I also just scored a rear subframe off of Ebay.  When I disassembled the bike, I noticed that a tab was broken off of the left hand side of the subframe.  It didn't hold much more than the airbox and bodywork but I feel better knowing that everything's as it should be.
I'm also finding that one of the previous owners kindly used anti-seize on a number of the bolts.  I'm happy to know that the PO was thoughtful of what they were doing.  It bodes well for the true condition of the bike.
Next step will likely be greasing the swingarm and linkages.

+1 on sasquatch in idaho.  he does good work, and a very nice guy to boot.

Yesterday was my lucky day.
On top of scoring a subframe for next to nothing on Ebay, I scored a piston kit for the bike for half price in the flea market section of another moto forum.  I wish the piston kit had come up about a week earlier.  I'll just have to hold onto it until next winter when I figure I'll need to rebuild the top end.  
A question for those anyone who's had a shock rebuilt............Does it notably improve the performance of the suspension?  I'm often suspect of such things.  Today's performance suspensions have so much adjustability that it makes me wonder if it's more in the head.  I can see if the suspension is valved WAY off you'd want to do that sort of work but it looks like the changes that were done to this bike, as far as spring rate goes, is pretty much in line with my weight.  Any thoughts?

As I see things, there's a difference between rebuilding and tuning. Rebuilding is replacing worn seals and bushings, and fresh oil. Tuning is rebuilding if necessary, and then possibly changing oil weight, oil level, spring rate, bushing tolerance, and the valve stack. I would not expect a big performance difference from a rebuild, unless the shock was seriously out of spec. On the other hand, suspension tuning can dramatically change performance for better or worse. But take this with a grain of salt because I'm not a suspension expert.  ;)

Neduro sells a $15 eBook on suspension tuning. (http://dualsportriding.com/ (http://dualsportriding.com/))  This was very helpful to me for understanding suspension problems, and what can be fixed with the clickers, versus what needs to be fixed with a revalve, re-spring, or other tuning. 

if it aint broke (or blown) don't fix it.

seriously.  ride it as is, see what the adjustments will do and after some time in the saddle you will know what kind of changes you desire out of your suspension, if any.  i would wait until the shock is blown (leaking oil) before i spent the money for a rebuild and a re-tune.

I agree. Run it at least for a while. If it works, wait. If it doesn't, take notes, what it well, what it does poorly. Then when it comes time to rebuild/tune talk to your rebuilder. If he or she knows what they are doing, they can tune the shock to your weight, type of riding you do and other needs. Sasquatch took all this into account when he did mine. Mine is tuned to carry my not so toned self and lots of gear on light gravel and 2 lane roads. It does those things well and other things ok. Unloaded and off road, not so good, but I do it anyways. ;D It's really amazing how much difference changing the weight of the oil in your shocks as BogusJim eluded to, can really take the mushyness out of a shock.

I'm just going to clean it up, bolt it back on, and go.  I may as well save something for next year besides the piston and rings I guess. 
As suggested, I think a bit more time on the bike would be a good idea before needlessly tossing money at a "problem" that doesn't exist.  The one weekend that I had it out, I didn't notice anything horribly wrong with the ride.  Even though I had the front end set seriously hard, it still rode just as good as my DRZ, and I think I've got that bike pretty dialed in.

Sounds like a good plan.

I had a 1980 ducati 900 ss (old bevel drive), and the shocks were bagged from sheer time, they didn't have many miles. I had the rear shocks rebuilt (seals and fluids, gas), and new fork springs and oil (1 step heavier), and the difference was dramatic. "Tuning" is a crapshoot until you know the bike, Rebuilding/replacing is almost necessary for any OEM shock over 10 years old. IMHO.

With the decision to leave the rear shock as is, I continued on and pulled the swingarm from the bike.  I tend to do this with everybike that I purchase within the first year, new or used.  I know a lot of folks who have had real problems removing their swingarms due to the factory being quite conservative in their lubrication.  I want to avoid having such a problem.
The swingarm bolt came out but it wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done.  I had to loosen all the engine mounting bolts and be pretty aggressive with a hammer and drift to get the swingarm bolt out but it came out without damage.  It looked pretty dry but there was no corrosion to speak of.  Almost every other bike I've done this to has had a fair amount of white corrosion on the bolt.  A good sign.
With the swingarm off the bike, I can clean up the places that would be impossible to reach with it in place.  The area around the shock and swingarm is pretty dirty. 
The bearings all seem to be in good shape.  I'll likely just repack the bearings I can and reassemble it.

I got a little further into the linkage and found that the rocker arm needle bearings were pretty solid.  I'm guessing that this part of the bike hasn't been through in it's 8 years of existence.  I'm guessing that the seals went bad. 
The bushing looks pretty bad on account of this.  I'll have to clean it up, get out the caliper, and see if there's hope for it's reuse or if I'll have to find a replacement.  New seals, and possibly new bushing and needle bearings, will have to go on the next order list.

Yeah those bearings look pretty tough.   

Watching this makes me want to start another project.

Last night I was able to remove some of the bearings with a hammer and drift but others will too well frozen in place.  Here's a photo of a little trick that I came across that makes it possible to press out the stubborn bearings.  I'll do something similar when I need to install the new bearings.
I'll also put the new bearings in the freezer overnight before I install them to help the metal contract a bit first.  I did this once with my KLR steering head bearings.  I'm not sure if it helped or not but the install did go well.
I priced out OEM bearings to run about $20 a piece.  I'll need 5 for just the rocker arm and another 2 for the swingarm, $140 plus the cost of the seals, another $30 or so.  Ouch. 
Instead I found that both Moose and All Balls have replacement kits for the linkage and swingarm for less than $100.  I've used All Balls before in my KLR but haven't used Moose bearings.  Anyone have any experience with any other brands that they could suggest or recommend?

I have All Balls bearings in my TDM wheels.  I don't have a whole lot of miles on them, but so far so good.

You might want to just measure them and run down to your local bearing house and have them cross them.  A Whistler or Cartney Bearing house etc.

If you ever need to remove wheel bearings, Pit Posse has an awesome tool for it.  I think it was maybe 40 bucks and it makes wheel bearing removal literally a 5 minute job.

I do have a bearing house just a few blocks from me.  I've gotten wheel bearings from them in the past.  I don't remember if I was able to get seals from them as well.  I don't even remember if there were seals on my wheel bearings.  I'll have to call and check tomorrow.  I'm sort of at a standstill until I get them and I'm eager to move along.

I needed something to do this evening and since I have to wait to solve the bearing question I did a little work on my rear brakes. 
Right when I got the bike, I noticed that it was seriously lacking rear brakes.  As you can imagine, it's quite a surprise when you're riding along and realize that you don't have all the braking power you'd like.  Especially when your riding in the woods.  Sure your front brakes provide most of your stopping power but there's only so much front brake you can use without loosing your front end.
Anyway, tonight I decided I'd try taking the rear caliper apart.  I hadn't done this before and thought it might be a bit of a challenge.  I did a little research online and found that calipers are surprisingly simple.  It's just a piston in the caliper housing and a seal or two. 
Upon attempting to free the piston from the housing, I found that it was fighting me.  I applied a little penetrating oil and let it sit for a few hours.  I read that applying some compressed air would pop the piston right out.  It didn't work for me.  I reinstalled it on the bike and tried to use the normal action of the brakes push out the piston which didn't work either.  I ended up just prying it out as much as I could with a screwdriver and then pulling it out with a vice grip.  Not the best way but no harm was done either. 
I discovered a great deal of corrosion in the piston and the seal and o-ring were pretty gummed up.  I took everything out, sanded down the piston and cylinder with fine grit emery cloth, cleaned things up as best I could and put it back together.  The piston slid in remarkably well so hopefully that solves the braking situation.  I've also got a new brake line on it's way so I'll wait to install it and bleed the system until then.
I also need to find the tolerances for my rotors.  None of the literature that I've found on the bike give any specs for maximum wear so I'll probably just look in my DRZ or KLR's manual for their specs and assume they're similar.
Here are the before and afters of the cleaning process..........

I've decided that I'm going to order a kit to rehab my linkage bearings, bushings, and seals.  I figure it's just easier to get a kit since I need all the parts.  The bearings and seals would likely be easy to get my hands on but the bushings would be a bit more difficult.
I'm unlikely to get much work done the next few days on account of my lack of needed parts and the fact that it's my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow so hold tight for a few days.

Smart move on replacing it all. I had it when I try to save a few bucks and order just I THINK I need. Just to get into it and you have to order more parts.

I'm still waiting on the linkage bearings that I need to get on with the next step of the process.  I thought I'd spend some time seeing if I could brighten up the bodywork a bit.  I found a product the is supposed to restore plastics to "their original shine".  I'm not much for keeping my bike too shiny but I thought I'd try it out just because when you bike a new-to-you bike, you want it to look close to new.
Here's a photo of the before and after. 
Hopefully you can see the difference. 

Plastic surgery!   ;D   Do it once a year, like Joan Rivers.

Funny. 
I was not thinking that plastic rehab would turn out.  I put a few more coats of the restorer on today and it sure shines.  A person could spend quite a lot of time sanding out scratches.  I just wanted to take care of the worst of them.  I've averaged about 30 minutes of sanding per side cover and did it while I was watching TV so it went pretty quick.
Today I repacked my silencer.  I've repacked my KLR and DRZ silencers each a few times.  Their packing was just a bit grey  but the Gassers packing was pretty saturated with oil, as one would expect with a two stroke.  When I bought the bike there was oil dripping from the end cone of the muffler. 
The new packing sure seemed like alot of material to get into the housing.  Where as the four stroke packing that I've installed came as a matt that you just wrapped around the silencer core, this was like loose batting with no shape at all.  I just had to lay it out and wrap it around the core, using masking tape to hold it in shape.  This was the method suggested by the instructions that came with the packing.  Usually I'd use fiber tape generally used for taping drywall instead of the masking tape.  It all went in pretty easily.  I sealed the end with high temp silicone and put it aside to cure.

I also replaced the breather hoses of my carb.  The old ones were dry and discolored.  This will just make things look a little better.

I received my linkage bearings in the mail yesterday and found time to press them in tonight.  There wasn't anything to difficult about it, just the opposite of their removal.  I packed the bearings last night and threw them in the fridge so they'd contract and make their install easier.  I pressed a few in with my bench vice and a few were installed with a common C-clamp.  I actually preferred doing it with the C-clamp as it made the final placement more accurate.  A person needs to ensure that they are pressed in to the proper depth to allow room for the seals to be positioned correctly.
I also used emery cloth to take any of the corrosion on the bolts before coating them with waterproof grease and installing them.  I also made sure to use anti-seize on all the bolts/nuts.
I got everything reassembled and now need to torque everything to spec.   
You'll also notice that I got the expansion chamber reinstalled and that my basement needs organization.

As I was going through the box of parts that came with my bike, I found a part that you wouldn't usually find installed on a two-stroke bike. 
Any guesses as to what purpose it serves?

Quote from: Osnabrock on December 06, 2011, 10:15:43 PM
As I was going through the box of parts that came with my bike, I found a part that you wouldn't usually find installed on a two-stroke bike. 
Any guesses as to what purpose it serves?

looks like the temp sensor on my KTM? not a usaul thing on a 2 stroke, but nice in the tight stuff ;)

I think it's a rear brake light switch.

You are right Hank.
The bike came with a the pressure sensor for the rear master cylinder.  I was going to purchase one in an attempt to license it here in MN.  There it was in the box of stuff that came with the bike.
There's also speedometer and a few other bits of wiring that I have yet to sort out.

Tonight I torqued all my linkage and swingarm bolts/nuts, installed the Ohlins, and installed the airbox/subframe.  Once again, I made sure that everything was greased and anti-seized.
The airbox and carb were a little tough to get mounted up just right.  I spent a little time tweaking things until I got things just right.  On every bike I've worked on, this part of the project is by far the most difficult.  If everything isn't "just right" they just don't go back together as they should. 
I also got a new supply line run from my rear brake cylinder to the reservoir.  The old one was showing some wear and it was cheap to replace so I thought it prudent.  The new line seemed a little shorter than the old one.  I may have to reroute it.
I've been eager to get the subframe on so I could start with the routing of the wires to receive the new taillight.  I may look into ordering turn signals as well, so I want to get everything in order to receive them once the time comes. 

I spent the little time I had today installing the new stainless brake line from the rear master cylinder to the caliper today.  I also replaced the two o-rings in the caliper, just to insure that everything is as it should be.  The rear brake was not working as it should have when I bought the bike.  I've replaced or rebuild everything I can shy of the master cylinder.  Hopefully this will solve the problem.  I figure that it was the gummed up caliper piston that was causing the problem.  Also, the brakes on these bikes are notoriously difficult to bleed apparently.  I don't know why it would be any more difficult than any other bike but that could have been the problem as well.
I got the rear fender and tail light on as well so the bike is starting to look like a bike again. 
I need to start working on the electrical now.  I need to make sure that all the wires are where they should be and that they aren't rubbing on anything before I install the tank.
I also need to get the rear wheel back on, perhaps after replacing the bearings.
Does anyone know what common tolerance levels are for the thickness of brake disks on a bike?  I haven't had much luck finding anything about this in the manual or online.

QuoteDoes anyone know what common tolerance levels are for the thickness of brake disks on a bike?

On my bike - front: 3.5mm spec, 3.0mm limit, 0.15 deflection limit
rear: 4.0mm spec, 3.5mm limit, 0.15mm deflection limit

I haven't found time to work on the bike too much during the last few weeks.  Most of the major work, that I intend to do, has been done.  I may still replace the front and rear wheel bearings before the Spring comes. 
I was pretty eager to get the bike back together, as the weather has been pretty nice here and my buddy and I have been visiting about getting out for a trail ride while the weathers still around freezing.  There's also an indoor track in the metro area that I may visit to keep the skills and fitness up. 
Here's a photo of the bike as it sits tonight.  I found some plastics on Ebay and a seat cover to match from the local dealer just to make it pretty. 
There are still things that I plan on doing before the Spring season starts.  I'll keep posting as they come along.  Most notable will be a trip to the DMV to get a plate for it.

Have you made it to the DMV?  Wonder how that will go.

I have a plated KDX200 I plan on taking to MOAB or the Hills this year.

:evil

I made a trip to the DMV early this week.  I walked out with a plate.
I hesitate to get too excited about it because, apparently, it needs to go through review before I get a proper title and registration in the mail.  I don't believe that I'm trying to "pull one over on" anyone either as all the required safety stuff is on the bike and it, in fact, comes from Europe as a street legal bike.  I'm hoping that since it's an "exotic" or 2 stroke they don't decide to put an end to my fun. 
There are other avenues that just came into play here in MN to plate, but not title, an OHV so if this fails I'm still not out of luck.  I'd just like to have a title for it as well.  I should know in a few weeks what the true outcome will be.

No dice...........
I received a letter from the State of MN saying, "We do not title off-road vehicles you need to return the plate and apply for refund."
The next avenue is the new allowance for off road vehicles, registered with the MN Dept. of Natural Resources, to apply for a a plate but not a title.  There's a certification checklist to certify that the motorcycle has been converted to meet the requirements for use on public roads and highways.  The requirements are a headlamp, rear lamps, reflectors, a mirror, horn, DOT tires, and a suitable muffler.  No sweat.
I'll see where that gets me.

Well, I went straight out to the DMV since I had some time today.  My plan was to return the plate, file for a refund, and renew my DNR off-highway motorcycle registration. 
As it turned out, I walked back out the door with the very same plate that I went there to return :o.
The very helpful person at the DMV said that "we do not title off-road vehicles" may just be part of the truth, indeed.  I got to keep the plate but I may never get a proper title. 
A new statue, that I was eager to test out, passed late last year to allow off-road vehicles on public roads is a reality as long as you have the proper street legal items installed.  I had the paperwork required and it went off without much of a hitch.  It was pretty clear that this was the first time the good sir at the DMV had worked it up but his computer system lead him through it without much effort.
It's a happy day but, since this is a new deal in MN, I'm still hesitant to get too excited.  I wouldn't be surprised to see another similar letter arrive in the mail asking for the plate back followed by more trips to the DMV.
It's snowing here in Minneapolis now and my studded tires are back in ND but I sure wish I could capitalize with a quick ride around the neighborhood on my plated two stroke.

For what it's worth....I will bet you could have someone in South Dakota or ND transfer the title to them and license it.  Wait awhile and sell/transfer it back to MN in your name and walk in and get both a MN title and plate.  In SD, I think you just sign an affidavit stating it has all the road worthy essentials required by law, they change the title from "off-road" to road, issue a new title and buy a license plate.  In SD, if you license an ATV, you complete the aforementioned paperwork and you are done.  At least that's how I remember it.  I plated my ATV couple of years ago. LD

Dave,
I'll keep that in mind as a last resort.  I'm sure by the time I pay all the fees involved in multiple states it could turn out to be a costly affair.  As always, convenience comes at a cost.

A fair amount of stuff has been going on with the bike the last week or so.  I got to thinking about the piston and ring situation.  I planned to reuse the old piston and rings since they were well within the limits specified in the manual so it was reinstalled over a month ago.  I had reused the circlips at the end of the wrist pin.  I also didn't deglaze the cylinder with a ball hone when I had the cylinder off.  I should done both properly when I had it apart initially and it drove me nuts thinking about the possibility that overlooking these could destroying everything. 
In my last two rebuilds of engines, I didn't skimp on such things because of the wisdom of others saying, "If you're in there, you may as well do it right."  I had to remedy it.
As you may remember, I did score a new piston and rings from an online forum dedicated to Gas Gas bikes some time ago.  I decided to pull the head off again and start from scratch with this new piston.  That meant that I had to remove the tank, plastics, and drain the coolant but now I have a very fresh top end.  It took me about 2 hours to pull things apart and put them back together. 
Two days ago, my buddy Robert came over to help me get the bike out of the basement.  Just as when I brought it down there, I had to compress the front forks with a tie down strap to clear my old home's stairway ceiling.
Just this afternoon I got out to the gas station and picked up some nonoxygenated fuel and mixed up a couple gallons of premix.  It went straight into the bike.  I kicked it over a few times, nothing.  I gave it a little choke, nothing.  I made sure the petcock was on, nothing.  I decided that things would go better if I connected the spark plug wire, so that's just what I did.  I gave it one kick and it came to life. 
I was curious to see if my wiring was in order.  I had found some wires that weren't connected when I bought the bike and had added a few things myself, like a tail light.  Everything worked.  The tail light lit up when I engaged the brake and now I have both high and low beam.  I didn't check the horn. 
I still need to do some tweaking of the carb. I had taken it all apart to clean it during the rebuild so the idle setting is a little off.  There's a little stutter down low as well that jetting should remedy. 
It's recommended that the engine be broken in by bringing the bike up to operating temperature three times, letting it cool between each operation.  I was on the bike for about 15 minutes today.  I'll do the same over the next few warmish days that we have and be ready to ride.

Sounds like your project is cookin right along. Very cool!

Good stuff.  I get a kick of the combination of nervousness and excitement I get the first time I bring an engine back to life... Ok what did I forget.. hold together baby!    I'm sure it gets routine if you rebuild enough engines, but I don't do it all that often....

Even firing up a bike that has sat for 10 years is fun that way.

Nice work on the rebuild!

I might have missed it, but are you bringing that to the spring rally? it looks really great.

I haven't yet decided if I'll bring it out to the rally or not.  I'm between this and my DRZ400.  The DRZ is a perfect machine for the type of riding around there. 
I need to do some work on the DRZ as well.  Maybe that's the next project.  I split open a radiator running an enduro last year and lost all my coolant with about 7 miles yet to go.  It finished the race but now I have some metal showing up in the oil.  I ran it for the rest of the season without any problems but it's been good to me and I need to return the favor. 
I've been holding out on doing any work on it because I'm looking to do a 440 big bore kit, and it's my "around town" bike. I also don't want to toss the money at it right now.
If I bring the GasGas, I'll be looking at doing more single track riding than dual sporting.  We'll see................I do love my DRZ

Today I took the Gas Gas out for it's 3rd and final break-in run.  To properly break in the bike after a rebuild apparently it should go through 3 heat cycles, bringing up the engine temperature to operating temp and back down again to fully cool.  This apparently seats the new rings in the freshly honed cylinder. 
I've been doing this over the last week as the weather permits.  I'm lucky to have an industrial area near my house so I've been using this as my test grounds.  Generally, I let the bike idle for about 5 minutes and then go out for a 10 or 15 minute ride.  There are some potholes and railway tracks to push the suspension just a little but nothing like trail riding so I won't know how that stacks up for a little while.  I'm also not so confident not being on a bike much for the last few months.  Safety first.
It's quite a strange feeling being on a two stroke bike.  The exhaust note is so high and thin.  The four strokes that I'm used to are so soothing. 
The next step will be either taking it out on the trails a bit North of the Cities or taking it to the indoor track just across the border in Wisconsin.
Here's a photo I took on today's final break-in ride.  It was pretty gorgeous here in MN today.  With weather like this and the talk on the forum about the Spring rally, I hope I'm not getting to far ahead in my thoughts of an earlier than normal riding season

Thats a fun lookin bike. Awesome job on the build.

Yep, very nice job. I bet it would a riot in the tight stuff..  ringdingdingding...

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I've kind of let my updates slide.
I'll try to work my way backwards at some point and hit the high points when I have time.
This last week I came across something on Craigslist that I've been interested in for some time.  Michelin mousses.  I was made aware of them over the years by watching Dakar riders burn them up due to their high speeds.  The idea is that you'll never fall prey to a puncture though they can deteriorate over time.  While I take pride in being able to patch a flat I really like the thought of them for certain purposes.
While , I never wanted to spend the $300 on a set.  I found a slightly used set on Craigslist for $50 a few weeks ago but didn't want to spend the money one them right away.  I thought they'd sell due to the great deal that they were but, no, they were still available this last weekend.
Here's a link http://www.michelin.co.uk/motorcycles/michelin-bib-mousse (http://www.michelin.co.uk/motorcycles/michelin-bib-mousse) and a stock photo.
I installed the front tonight and will do the rear tomorrow.  I've got a buddy coming over to work on his bike in my garage as well so I'll try to get some photo's of the install then.

often wondered how this stuff worked.

I installed my rear Michelin Bib Mousse today and took some photo's to share.
I've done my fair share of tire changing in the past but always went the traditional route of using innertubes.  I've suffered through install and removal of radial/tubeless tires and patched a couple tubes in the field but I had never installed mousses.  I had heard that they were a pain to install because it's essentially the same as installing a tire on a rim and tube that's inflated.  I had done the front a few days ago and it went pretty smooth but this time I found a few other tricks that made a "not so difficult" task a little easier.
First of all, the materials........
-A rim from my Gas Gas
-A Michelin Cross Competition M12
-A Michelin Bib Mousse
-A tube of Bib Mousse lubricant
-Assorted tire levers
-A rim lock
-Rubber glove
-Not shown: a C-clamp

The first step is slathering the Michelin Mousse lube onto the inside of the tire.  The directions on the lube tube say to use a half tube for a front tire and one full tube for the rear.  I wanted it to be lubricated well since it was a used mousse and a used tire.  I had cleaned the inside of the front tire of all the old crusty tube bits and did the same of the rim itself.  I used the remaining on the mousse itself.  There were a few spots where the previous owner had nicked the mousse so I put a little extra lube in those areas.
Next I tucked the mousse inside the tire.  I did my best to keep the lube on the mousse from getting on the bead of the tire thinking that it would keep the tire from holding the rim well. 
I put the tire on my tire changing stand (5 gallon bucket) and installed the rim lock loosely.

The next step was to install the tire on the rim. 
I started near the rim lock, making sure the rim lock was where it needed to be.  I then worked on the first bead over the rim.
The second bead I started opposite the rim lock.  The trickiest part is the rim lock because you have to compress the mousse inside the rim with the rim lock to get the final bit of the bead situated.  This is where the C-clamp comes into play, using it to compress the rim lock into the tire and mousse.  The carcass of the tire is more resistant that the mousse so it pushes it in nicely to get the bead where it needs to be.

The final bit is the part that was a new discovery for me.  I had a hard time seating the bead on the front tire. Since there's no tube, there's no valve stem, and since there's no valve stem there's really no way to use air pressure to seat the tire's bead.  In fact, I had plugged up the old valve stem hole with a rubber plug and wrapped the rim with a few layers of duct tape to keep dust out of the tire's interior.
I made it work by using the tire levers opposite of how you usually do and sort of pried the tire's bead onto the rim.  It was less than perfect and I'll have to go back and use the method that I discovered when doing the rear.
What I found when I did the rear is that I could force air in through the rim lock hole by making a gasket out of a piece of rubber from an old tube and putting my compressor's air nozzle over the rim lock bolt and force air in temporarily to seat the bead.  It worked perfect. 
The wheel goes back on the bike........

Thanks for posting up that guys like us can install those using our fancy wheel change stands.

Please keep us informed as to the performance of it when you get out on the trail. I'm torn as to whether the pro's outweigh the con's or vice-versa. Low speed trail riding in MN should not cause heat related failures, so the only other negative is no adjustable pressure. This could be good, and wind up with a consistent feeling bike, or you might find yourself looking for a little more stability that 5 more psi could offer. I just don't know really, but you will soon enough :evil

Both my brake rotors need replacing.  They are both at minimum spec thickness.  They cost about $120 a piece so I was hoping to get a little more life out of them. 
The one ride that I took before the riding season was over told me that the rear brake system needed some attention, which I seemed to fix by rebuilding everything from the master cylinder rearward. 
I recently acquired a cheap (used) rear brake rotor that had a lot more life in it that the one that I was presently running.  When I took off the old rear rotor I discovered that it was bent VERY badly.  It seemed to be evenly bent.  Definitely not normal, just weird.  The bike even has a "sharkfin" protecting the rear rotor.
I'm guessing that with the new, straight, rotor installed it will perform much better.
Take a look.  Any ideas as to how this rotor was bent so badly? 

It could've happened during a tire change, if someone was careless. But odd that it's so uniformly bent.

Good thought.  After looking at it with that in mind, it's actually bent away from the tire and towards the swingarm.  Perhaps they turned it around but the writing on the disk would suggest differently. 
I can't figure it out.

The fact that it is so evenly bent maybe means that it warped due to heat?  Previous owner could have been a rear-brake-dragger and that combined with maybe a sticky guide pin for the caliper to slide on could have caused one side of the rotor to heat up for a long period of time resulting in warping to one side?

That sounds about right. 
The brake caliper piston had some pitting on it that I sanded off.  That could have caused the pads from releasing fully and causing heat to build up.
The whole brake set up sit much better on the bike now.  Before caliper would sort of shift when the brake was applied.  No longer.  I'm hoping all is solved now.
This weekend I'm riding the trails so I'll find out real quick.

If it got that hot, wouldn't it be really discolored?   I can't imagine heat doing that.   Looks like physical damage to me, but its hard to say!

I'd think that if the perimeter of the rotor got hot it would expand, whereas the center wouldn't, and cause the cupping.  I'd think that the uniformity of the cupping would mostly rule out mechanical means. 
To make matters worse, the wear pattern from the pads on the rotor show that they were wearing more on the inside radius of the rotor.
I don't know what to think.  I'll give up figuring it out unless it surfaces as a problem again.

I remember from working in the exotics car biz that when cars would warp brake discs it was usually from severe overheating and rapid cooling. A dragging brake, through a creek and stuck?

I got out on the bike today to test things out.  New mousses, fresh top end, and fresh forks.
A half hour into the ride we were shooting through a fast section.  I was higher in the gears than I had been before, I think it was 5th, when I heard a bit of a shriek and a weird noise followed.  I down shifted thinking that their might be a problem with that specific gear but the weird noise continued and then the bike just died.  I coasted to a stop.
I paused for a little while to think if it was wise to attempt to start the bike and decided that it should be ok.  I was betting that it wouldn't start but it did but it still had the same odd noise so I tried to hone in on where it was coming from.  The exhaust? A loose motor mount?  The clutch?
I pushed the bike off of the trail and found a nice place to spend some time with the bike and told my riding companions to check back with me in about an hour.
I checked all the bolts, the power valve, pulled the plug to see if there was anything rattling around in there. I then pulled skid plate and pulled the magneto cover off and found that there's some play in the crankshaft.  I think one of the crank bearings went bad.
This rebuild thread is about to get a bit longer.  I think I'm going to have to pull out the engine and split the cases. >:(

And that.. is why I hate two strokes..

That sucks man!   Well, if there is a bright side, you'll have a practically new bike when you get done.   Keep us posted!

Yeah that sucks. Hopefully the bearing didn't spin, I guess you'll know soon enough. Check the crank runout before assembly, so you don't have to take the engine apart a third time.   ;)

Here we go.
I started taking the bike apart just after I got home and posted. 
Here's the result of todays work.  An empty frame and an engine in my basement.

I'm starting the parts list for it's reassembly. 
Right now I'm hoping that the cases and crankshaft are reusable and it's just a matter of replacing a few things.
I'll pull the crank and bring it to be measured.  I also intend on getting a new connecting rod and associated bearings.  The old crank will have to be broke down and the new connecting rod pressed in. 
I'll need new gaskets and I'll replace what other bearings are in there as well. 
Like you said Hank, when I'm done I'll have a practically new bike. 
I'll need to look into measuring runout, like Bogus Jim mentioned.  I've heard of it but don't know what it's all about.
Stay tuned.

Things aren't going so good.
I've disassembles as much as I can but am stuck with the crankshaft gear bolt.  The thing is really in there............
I've tried heat, impact wrench, penetrating oil, and everything else I can think of.   The darn thing just won't budge.  It's factory torque is somewhere around 80-90 ftlbs so it shouldn't be easy but I'm really getting frustrated. 
It's a reverse thread bolt according to the manual so I know I'm turning it the correct way.
I've sheared off a 3/8 to 1/2 inch adapter in the process and destroyed my impact wrench somehow.  Not good.
Tonight I'm going over the a friends house with the engine.  Perhaps fresh eyes and four hands will sort things out.  Wish me luck but I forsee either a sheared off bolt or a rounded of head will be the result of tonights work. 
Likely a new crank will be the outcome rather than just a rebuild. 
I'm sad and frustrated. :-\

 :(

Sometimes, the problems seem to come in bunches. I hope your luck changes soon.

Maybe a pipe would work better than an impact wrench. When I was growing up, I helped my dad overhaul a Cummins diesel from one of our tractors. The main caps called for 400 ft. lbs. of torque. The air wrench we had wouldn't budge them of course, so we used a big-ass pipe to break them loose and a torque multiplier to tighten them. It was 110 degrees in the shop, and that was the day I decided I did not want to pursue diesel mechanic as a vocation.   :P

Bummer with a positive. You will eventually have that feeling that the bike is done and what more could go wrong. Fix a few things after that and be done. Get bored. Sell it for cheap, and move on to another questionable bike 8)

Last night went as predicted.  The head didn't shear off but it did round off. 
I decided to grind the head off the bolt.  Last night the shop work was done at my buddy Robert's place and all he had was a cutting wheel for his grinder so we tried to cut some hash marks in it to get it off.  I realized that it could quickly go wrong so I opted to wait until I got back home where I had a grinding wheel of my angle grinder. 
Today I started in on it.  I ground off the head of the bolt almost flush with the gear, marked the center, and started drilling.  I made a small pilot hole with a small bit and then went up on size until the bolt head came off. 
Then crank gear is now off but I need to drill out the bolt.  That's the next step.
Thanks for the words of advice and general moral support folks!

do you have a welder? in the past when I've rounded off bolts that were uber-stuck I've welded a second bolt, bolt head, piece of rod stock, anything handy, to the bolt for extra leverage....

The suspense is building...  :D

McMaster-Carr has left hand thread metric taps, in case you need to clean up the threads. Not a cheap item, though. If you're going to have a shop press the crank together with the new rod+bearing, it's possible they would already have the correct tap.

Good tips all.  I don't have a welder on the farm but not here in the city but I'll remember that one......
I've come out the other end with good news.
First of all, the cases separated with just a few taps from the mallet.  Secondly, one of the main bearings came out of the case with a bit of heat from the heat gun. Thirdly, the second main bearing stayed with the crank, as it should due to a bushing, and came off with a little heat from a torch.  So in a way, much of the work is done.
Now I have to get the bolt out of the crank.  I've drilled through it and have started peeling out the threads of the old bolt.  It's slow going for the moment.  It's bound to get tougher the further I get in there. 
No pictures for much of it because I was in the heat of the moment and VERY excited to be making progress. 
Tomorrow I'll likely go to the bearing house and source the bearings that I need and perhaps bring the goodies out to the machinist. 

I looked at McMaster.  Thanks Jim.  That might be the route that I have to go because I'm having a hell of a time getting the remaining bolt threads out.
I priced out the machine work for the crankshaft.  To press in a new connecting rod will cost between $40 and $50 dollars, the connecting rod kit will cost about $60.  Likely I'll have to pay a bit extra if I'm unable to get the last bit of bolt out, if they'll do it at all.
I also found a used crank online for about $130.  I'm tempted to snatch that up and throw it in just to get through the season and have the spare done whenever I've got the time.  I know that's crazy talk though.

This weekend I went to do some trail maintenance for the club that I belong to in Northern MN.  I rode my DRZ400 since my GasGas was on the bench.  WOW what a bike.  It had been my dirt bike before I got the GasGas.  I rode my first enduro on it and ride it around town (just got busted by the railroad police today riding in a place I shouldn't have been.:evil) So reliable and good for most everything.

Anyway, on the topic of the rebuild.

Parts are on their way.
-----Crankshaft--------
I didn't want to deal with the remaining bolt in the crank at the moment so I bought a used crank online $105.  I don't like putting used parts in a bike but I'm going to do it this time because it's riding season and it's a used bike.  A buddy of mine recently picked up a GasGas of roughly the same vintage so it won't be so bad to have extra parts around.
----Crank bearings-----
New crank bearings ordered from Tull Bearing here in The Cities.  $26 a piece compared to $46 from GasGas.
---Gaskets and Seals----
New bottom end gaskets (except for the easy to cut ones) ordered OEM. Master bearing seals, bolts, and O-rings (OEM) $150
---Cylinder-----
New circlips and new wrist pin bearing from Dennis Kirk (CR250).  New cylinder base gasket OEM. $50
Right now I'm up to right around $350 and done mostly right.

A lot of people I talk with assume that I'd be let down by the amount of money that I've put into this bike.  I don't feel that way at all.  I feel that anytime you buy a used bike (or new for that matter) you'll be putting some amount of money into it.  Right now I probably have more money hanging off my KLR, that I bought new, than I do invested in my Gasser.  I expect them to repay the favor and haven't been let down yet.

I like your attitude.

Quote from: greatbuffalo on April 24, 2012, 02:18:06 AM
I like your attitude.

Me too. You can't take it with you.

I've found the only way to really get your money back is to ride it out, and you are setting yourself up for one reliable rider that will give you many smiles. Not to mention, you will know that bike inside and out, which gives me a sense of comfort when I am miles from anywhere.

The bearing house, huh? Sounds like a cool store. You big city guys have all the luxuries ;D

My new (used) crank arrived yesterday.  I didn't have time to open the package until today and when I did I realized that it wasn't the same crankshaft.  The shaft wasn't threaded to receive the primary pinion.  I was really bummed.  There's a 14 day return policy so hopefully I can return it with out loosing too much.
I was back to square one.
I really want to get the bike back together so I made a call to one of the places that I was looking at having the new connecting rod pressed.  I asked them if they had that ability to remove the leftover bits of bolt.  They said that they couldn't but referred me to a place in the South suburbs.  They said that they had a machine that could "burn" out a bolt.
I called them and they told me to bring it down.  I had new hope.
When I got there, the guy took a look at it and told me that it was doable.  He said that he couldn't burn it out but, if I wanted to pay shop charges of $90/hr he would take a burring device to the bolt, bring it just down to the crown of the threads, and remove it like a reverse Helicoil.   I told him that I was hesitant to get into that situation as it seemed that it could take a lot more time and money than I really wanted to spend.
So what does he do?  He takes me into the shop and shows me exactly how he'd do it so I could make my own attempt at it's removal.  SWEET.
I went out to FleetFarm on my way to work and got all the bits that he showed me.  When I got home from work this afternoon I got to it.
Within one beer's time I had the bolt remains out on the table.  It was much like what I'd imagine drilling out a tooth and picking out the bits.

I also got my gaskets gaskets and seals in the mail today.  Well, almost all of them.  They didn't have the center case gasket so it will be sent our right behind this order.  Last time this happened, it came just a few days later so there's hope.
I installed the main bearings today.
I used this video as a reference.  And yes, it did go just as easy as it did in the video.  I was surprised.
As soon as things cool down from the oven, I'll start putting things back together but will need to wait for the center gasket to arrive before I can progress too far.

Wow, that looked almost too easy!   :o

Last night I started reassembly. 
I followed the shop manual's instructions, starting with the Right side case.  The crankshaft went in, the crankshaft o-ring, and the crank seal.  Next went in the transmission gears.  The gears are all on two shafts.  I pulled them at the same time when I disassembled it and kept the gears together as they came out to insure everything stayed in it's correct place.  Both the shafts that they were on were hollow, so I ran a wire through them to hold everything together.  There was one gear that needed to be separated from the rest so I marked it's location on the shaft as well as how it joined up with the corresponding gear.  I marked it with black marker as well as a scratch just in case the marker came off.

Once the transmission gears were in I had to install the shift drum and the shift forks.  It was clear where everything went though I did have to spin the gears slightly to get them just right.  Once I had them in, I could cycle through the gears just to see that everything was as it should be. 
Here's a picture, without the shift forks, that shows the drum.  It's a surprisingly simple thing.  The shift forks fit in the grooves. 

Now I'm up to where I have to wait for the center case gasket to arrive.  Getting to this point last night only took about 30 minutes. 
I'm eager to get the thing back together again. 
I may spend some time cleaning up the frame.  There are bound to be some parts of the bike that never get cleaned because they are blocked by the engine.  I also might spend some time going over the powervalve to be sure that everything is as it should be in that department as well.
Here it sits until parts arrive.

It's been a tough week.
I was waiting on my center case gasket, I called the shop (Tuesday) and they said it would arrive in a week.  I was bummed out since I was planning on riding this weekend. 
Some lines must have been crossed because it arrived the next day (Wednesday).  I feverishly began assembling the engine the day it arrived.  I got it assembled that night.  No sweat.  That meant that I had Thursday night to get the engine in the bike since I was going to leave Friday after work to ride.
Once I got the engine into the frame, with all the fluids in as well, I learned that the kick start wouldn't spring back to it's starting position.  It wasn't a big deal. I drained the oil and coolant, removed the clutch side cover and corrected the problem (a misaligned plastic bushing for the starter spring), closed things up, and put the fluids back in.
I turned the fuel on and tried to kick start the bike but it wouldn't go right away.  I heard fuel dripping, or rather pouring, onto my garage floor.  The float bowl had stuck open when I pulled the engine from the frame so fuel kept being sent into the float bowl.  I had to, once again, remove the carb and reset the float bowl.
When I got things back together it started up right away.  No weird noises.
I did have a problem though. 
I had put different bars on the bike while the engine was out.  I like to run narrower bars on my woods bike so I don't clip trees.  I had put on a pair of ProTaper Woods High bars that I had cut down and needed to mess with the clutch and turn signal/horn/kill switch bits to make them fit on the cut down bars.  When I was doing that the piston of the hydro clutch popped out so I needed to bleed the system.  I had done it once before, but this time it was awful.  Any air in the system means it doesn't work well. 
I was up 'til 2AM trying to get things right so I could leave for the trails on Friday.
I postponed the trip and requested help from a buddy to sort things out.  He came over with syringes and tubing for bleeding the system.  It didn't solve things, but it made it ridable.  I was off to the trails.
So, this weekend I got to ride my "new" bike but had to pretty much forget about using the clutch.  It wasn't too bad though.  I still had fun.
When I came home, I bleed the hydro system again.  I think that running the machine dislodged the bubbles and I was able to purge the system. 
I'm no longer afraid of splitting cases.  The bike purrs like a new machine.  All is well.

Syringes... were you trying to reverse bleed the system? I would like to try that sometime, it sure looks easy (or easier) on YouTube. I have always used the ole' hose in a tin can method.

Glad the bike is running again! Wrenching is fun, up to a point...

Last weekend was my first real ride on the Michelin mousses that I put in a while ago.  If you didn't catch the details or the install, they are essentially foam innertubes that make your tire impervious to flats. 
I ended up taking the rear one out because the "discount" pair that I purchased included a 19" rear.  My Gasser runs a 18" rear.  It was just too loose.  I, instead, installed an ultra heavy duty tube.  I did keep the mousse in the front.
The mousse seems to jar the front end when encountering hard edges.  It's not awful, and perhaps the knowledge of not getting a flat is reason enough for some.  When I change out to new rubber, I won't purchase a new mousse.  I'll reinstall the old mousse or just go back to tubes. 
My riding buddy picked up a new set of mousses after I got mine second hand.  He rode a weekend with the standard tubes before switching to the mousses.  In the first minutes on the bike with the mousses, he "laid 'er down" in a corner.  He said the bike behaved differently with the mousses.  He went on to say that the rear didn't feel that different.
To me, the $125 per mousse just doesn't make sense as I don't have a problem patching flats. 

Well done. Not sure I would have had the ambition to keep everyone updated on the rebuild, for doing that, I applaud you and thank you. Maybe this will inspire me to take on a similar project.

Doing the write up was a little tough.  At first it was hard to post my progress because I was set on the project more than it's documentation. It was also hard to take the time to do a write up when the progress was swift.  When things got a little tough, it was nice to step back, look at things, vent, and ask for suggestions.  There are certainly some significant gaps in the project, and more pictures would be nice, but the project comes first ya know.
As it stands now, I have about 6 hours on the bikes new bottom end and all seems well.  I'm headed out to a big trail ride here near the Cities this weekend.  Two very large days of riding. http://www.goldeneaglesmc.org/trail_rides.htm (http://www.goldeneaglesmc.org/trail_rides.htm)
I sent some more fluid through my hydro clutch again this week and it seems to be behaving a little better.  I'm eager to feel how it rides this weekend.
I've also recently learned that my bike has just about every little bit of "bling" on it from a local manufacturer of parts.  I've even got some parts that aren't documented on their website but are clearly from their shop.  http://checkpointoff-road.com/index.html (http://checkpointoff-road.com/index.html)
I've all my camping gear ready to load up tomorrow night (Thursday) so I can head out straight from work on Friday.   

Enjoy your ride and let know it performs.

The trail ride was a success.
The bike performed better than it did the previous trip out.  The clutch still isn't acting quite like I'd like it too but it may just be down to adjustment now.  Rocky uphills are still a little bothersome for me right now.  The gearbox doesn't always want to drop down through the gears so technical uphills are awful if I hit false neutral. 
I feel that I'm finally getting used to the power delivery of the two stroke bike.  It's been a lot of getting used to but I can already tell that I'm a much faster rider because of it.  I used to ride mostly in first, but now I hardly touch it, and spend most of my time in second and third.  The bike needs to be pushed for it to work well since it doesn't have weight working for it like my other bikes. 
I need to spend some time on the suspension set up.  I like the front end but think the shock needs some attention. 
Right now the bike is up and I'm changing the oil and I'll bleed the clutch once more for good measure.  I pulled the clutch cover to check the clutch disks and they look alright.  I'm switching gear box oil to a different brand to see if it makes a difference with clutch performance.  I've been using Castrol GTX based on the results of a dude on a forum but have switched to a Motul product.   I use Motul in all my four stroke bikes and love it so we'll see if this stuff works well too.
I'm waiting for one of the guys I rode with to post some video of the trails so this one will do in the meantime. 
It's pretty reminiscent of the woods portions of the area but there are some wider flowing sandy sections near the river bottoms that were good practice for cornering.  I'll post video of some of those sections if they get posted.
 

Awesome! That's some tight stuff. Hoping to ride stuff like that with my new WR.

Nice to see the bike out and working. Nicely done.

Don't get the wrong idea.  It's not my video.  My bike is yellow.

I've made it a plan to do one enduro an year.  This last weekend was it.  The Akeley West Enduro.  It was a true test of man and machine.
I did my first enduro last year on my DRZ400S.  I wanted to see what it was all about.  My goal was to finish and I achieved that goal. 
I had a couple of buddies who planned to do the Akeley West Enduro this year.  I decided that it would be my one enduro for the year and the first enduro for my Gas Gas.
There were three of us, Robert on his YZ250, Jeff on his G450X, and me on my EC200.
We got to sign up on Saturday night and drew starting numbers.  There's usually four people per minute in an enduro,  multiple classes in each line.  Early numbers get fresh tracks, late numbers get ruts, roots, and rocks.  Slow riders in early numbers get passed, fast riders in the back have to fight through the pack.
Robert drew minute #1.
Jeff drew minute #10.
I drew minute #11.
There proved to be about 32 lines of riders, if memory serves me correctly.  It was to be a hot race.  I think it got into the mid 90's.
I'm not normally an anxious person but this time was an exception.  Though I'd prepared myself by drinking copious amounts of water over the previous few days, practiced my form on rocks and hill climbs at the DDSR rally, and prepped my bike as much as I could, I was still very anxious.
Sometime around sign-up time who did I run into but Lance and his wife who had been at the DDSR rally.  We visited for a while and put a few thing together and realized that a year ago he helped Robert out by taking the clutch cable off his WR to replace a broken one on Roberts YZ.  It saved the weekend's riding for Robert.  Then at the DDSR rally I was able to help Lance by providing a master link for his bike.  What goes around comes around.
Anyway, the next day the race started at 9 AM.  Robert was off first, then Jeff, then me.  The first part of the course was pretty tough.  There were lots of rocks but, hey, I was just riding in the Black Hills.  I know rocks, and pine needles......it was all about picking a line. 
Before the first checkpoint I came down a rocky downhill and found Robert at the bottom.  He had started at minute #1 and was likely keeping up with his line but he had taken a bad spill and had broken his leg/ankle as well has his water pump.  If it hadn't been for his waterpump going I'm sure he'd have ridden out, but he was forced to wait for the sweepers to come and help him out.
This first section on the enduro was tough.  There was fresh cut trail that wasn't yet burned in so it was slick.  Since it was the first part of the race there was a decent amount of congestion in the tough spots as well but I think that I avoid a lot of that since I had a reasonably early number.  If there's one thing that takes the steam out of you, it's crashing and having to expend the energy picking the bike up and getting yourself back in shape.  There were at least 5 folks in front of me that that kept on passing me, then crashing, then I'd pass them, only to repeat the situation again in a couple of miles again and again.
Jeff and I arrived at first gas about the same time.  His girlfriend Jackie was there and helped us sort out our fuel, food, and water and got us back out on the trail.
The second portion of the trail was on more established trails but not very well maintained so the underbrush kept things pretty slow.  Here's a video that someone else posted that shows part of either the first or second section, lots of close trees and underbrush.
At second gas I filled up with fuel and water again and found Lance and his wife there as well.  I was in "a race state" and didn't bother with too much other than myself but it was sure good to see them.  Again, Jeff's lady Jackie made sure that I had everything I needed to go on.
The last section of the race I just wanted to conserve energy by staying on the bike and finish.  The heat was proving to take a number of riders and in the end, Jeff was feeling symptoms of heat exhaustion and wisely stopped at final fuel.
I ended up placing better than expected and hope I can improve next year.
I think that I'm going to plan on a Black Hills trip before next year's enduro even if it doesn't coincide with the rally just to get that "on bike" experience that builds the confidence needed for such an event.

Very cool. I've been thinking about doing one of these sometime too. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Time for an update........
Last weekend was what I believe will be the last ride for the season for me and the Gasser.
The bike was awesome to have around this year.  It started off with a "stumble" first thing, needing the crank bearing replacement but once that was done the bike gave me nothing but joy.
I did some jetting and some gearing things, but that was all minor stuff.
I've now committed to keeping my oversized tank on, which gives me a solid 60 miles of range that's as good as the folks that I ride with and enough for the enduro loops that I go on before refueling. 
I've ridden highway speeds with allows me to use gears 3,4,5, and 6.  The gears I don't use in the woods.All is well.
All I need to do is fix the bits I wrecked when I've "wadded it up" on the trails.  It's amazing what punishment these bikes take.
I thought that my first foray into two strokes would leave me wanting to exchange this "old" bike for a newer version when the time came but I see no reason to ride it for another season or two.
I'll keep things up to date as they come along but I don't see anything will change over the winter.  I'll likely focus on my YZ125 rebuild as a winter project once the new year comes.

Glad to hear its been treating you well. Sounds like a fun machine. I haven't ridden a 2 stroke for many, many years.

Tomorrow's the big assembly day.  I'm going to put my bike back together after slight disassembly over the winter.
I'm gonna get at least one more year out of the old girl I expect.  Perhaps more.  I really do like the bike.
On the list is a new front sprocket.  I've been reading forums of people running a 13 tooth sprocket on the bike.  It's the stock, and gold standard, sprocket that comes on the bike but I didn't really take to it.  I ride mostly in 1st or 2nd with 13 tooth gearing.  To me that's a lot of waste of gearing.  Most people I know talk about riding in 2,3, and 4th gear.  My bike came with a 12/51 combo so that's what I'm going back to.
Today I picked up my expansion chamber after having the dents taken out.  On a four stroke, I doubt I'd ever fret too much about a ding in the header but my pipe had a few significant creases in it and the expansion chamber is an important part of the two stroke cycle. 
I've also spooned on a trials tire.  I've heard good things about them so I thought I'd give one a shot.
Lastly, I feel comfortable enough to mess with the jetting a bit.  I've ordered a few jets and needles to mess with when the season comes around.  I've HATED jetting in the past and have thought "as long as it runs ok, it's ok with me"  I've seen a lot of people mess around with it for naught. 
I'll try to post some photos tomorrow if there's anything photo worthy.

Fletch and Bogus Jim.  Do you have any baseline jetting ideas for me when I come out to "The Hills"?

Quote from: OsnabrockDo you have any baseline jetting ideas for me when I come out to "The Hills"?

Well... I have not ridden in the hills yet, just out at Farmingdale. Which is 2400-3000' versus 5000-6000' for most of the singletrack.

I think the owner's manual should get you close. I used the recommended settings in the KTM manual for current temps (45F) and Farmingdale altitude, but found I still had to drop the needle one position and fiddle with the air screw a bit. Runs perfect at 45-50F but today was almost 70 and it was running a bit blubbery. So I will need to rejet again as the temps warm up and I start riding the Hills.

I downloaded the Gas Gas manual just out of curiosity and I noticed they show quite different jet sizes for unleaded versus leaded fuel. That is something I had not considered before. So I guess if you are running leaded race gas, you would need to jet differently than for pump gas.

Quote from: Osnabrock on March 15, 2013, 10:13:28 PM
Fletch and Bogus Jim.  Do you have any baseline jetting ideas for me when I come out to "The Hills"?

I have found one step leaner than the manual is usually pretty good. Another thing to remember is your mix will affect it as well 32:1 will run leaner than 50:1 as the fuel mixture is thicker.. I will check my 300 and see what I have in it as it seems to work pretty good..

This long winter season is just about over.  I held off as long as I could to do any work on the bike rather than have a well prepped bike just sitting there.  Now it's ready.
-New rear Dunlop trials tire
-New front Duro tire
-Dents removed from expansion chamber
-New countershaft sprocket
-New chain guide rollers and wheels
-New shroud graphics
-New seat cover
The picture was taken before the 10" of snow came in the last few days. 
I'm not sure the graphic are necessarily an improvement but for me bikes aren't all about looks.
It's only a waiting game now 'til the season starts.

Are you still running a mousse in the front?

Yes, I am.
It's holding up very well.  I see no visual evidence of any sort of breakdown of the mousse.  I'm sure it's gotten a bit softer after running if for the whole season.  I think I'll keep running one even if it means paying full price for one next time.

Another winter is in full effect.  I haven't thought much about riding for the last few months.  I did manage to wash my bike before I put it away for the season.
A few weeks ago, DDSR member Toadl had a few of us Minneapolis locals over for a garage night and it got me thinking that I need to start thinking ahead to this years season.  I've decided to take a shot at racing the D23 enduro circuit this year.  There are a couple other folks I know that are interested so that should help out a bit when it comes to logistics.
In order to get ready for the season I've done a few things.  Firstly, I've picked up a second rear wheel assembly with the thoughts of having a tire set up for dry and intermediate conditions and one for wet ones.  I plan on running a trials tire for the dry and intermediate conditions and a Continental Gelande Sport for wet conditions.
I found a great deal on the Conti's at $109 shipped for the pair.  Usually I end up spending at least $160 on a pair so I consider it a win. $51 dollars saved.
Next, I plan on sending in my WER steering damper for service.  I've had the bike for two full years now and have no idea of how the damper was cared for before my possession so it's long overdue.
Winter and Spring are long so I'll try to keep up with some updates as time moves on.

That rear looks pretty cool, big lugs spread out, should clean out well in the wet. Ever ran that tire before?

I haven't run the tire before. 
Like you noticed, the lugs are spaced pretty far apart.  They're about an inch tall off the carcass.  I fear that they might get thrown pretty easy but only time will tell.