Gas Gas EC200 Rebuild

[Osnabrock]

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.

[Osnabrock]

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.

[Osnabrock]

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 .
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.

[Lonesome Dave]

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

[Osnabrock]

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.

[Osnabrock]

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.

[greatbuffalo]

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

[Hank]

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!

[jacin theis]

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

[Osnabrock]

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

[Osnabrock]

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

[greatbuffalo]

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

[Hank]

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

[Osnabrock]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

[Osnabrock]

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 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.