Posts
2197
Joined
3/4/2013
Location
Pink Hill, NC
US
Fantasy
2020th
Edited Date/Time
3/12/2022 8:33pm
Hey guys, I have been working on this build just at a month. I figured I would wait to post so the thread wouldn't go on forever. I am done with the cleaning and hopefully close to putting it all back together.
On June 27th I sold my 2005 yz125 that I owned for about 6 years. this was the first bike I bought on my own when I was about 17. I was able to sell it for $2000 surprisingly the same price I bought it for. While I owned it I put in 2 sets of fork seals, front and rear wheel bearings, linkage bearings, chain and sprocket, and a top end about 6 months before selling. The reason I decided to sell was every time I tried to work on the bike it would fight me with seized bolts, axles, etc. the bike had never been taken apart before and I doubt the previous owner used a torque wrench. The chain and sprocket ended up being a new axle, axle blocks and wheel bearings due to a seized axle.
The 125 was plenty fast but difficult to get over jumps. If the jump wasn't freshly faced and peaked I would have to hit the jump faster than I was comfortable with, which meant coming up short meant high speed swap. I had the chance to ride a 250 and I was hooked on the power.
So on July 5th I drove 3 hours to look at a 2009 KTM SX 250 and a 2011 YZ250. The KTM was my first choice as I saw it as a better bike (not calling the YZ a slouch) but it had trouble running when we looked at it plus odd parts like an 18 rear wheel. A few weeks later the owner found it was shattered reeds making the bike run bad. So while we were 3 hours from home we looked at the YZ, the bike was clean, and ran great. It was listed at $3500 and I took it home for $2800. I talked him down due to a bent radiator, worn tires, and a few missing bolts. Even though the KTM was first choice I was happier to take the YZ home its just so much cooler. Coming off a YZ I felt at home, I knew the bike would fit me and knew there was tons of knowledge and parts for the bike, and it felt good to buy with my heart than with my brain. young and stupid feels good.
for the title, I was able to buy this bike through working my first Engineering Internship this summer. So I spent instead of saving. I have one more semester left before I graduate with a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering Technology. So the first part of this build is just cleaning sanding, and getting the bike track ready. The nice parts will come after I graduate and start making good money.
This was my 2005 YZ125
and this was the night before selling. The posting was up less than 24 hours before this buyer contacted me.
Here is the new ride the night it came home.
On June 27th I sold my 2005 yz125 that I owned for about 6 years. this was the first bike I bought on my own when I was about 17. I was able to sell it for $2000 surprisingly the same price I bought it for. While I owned it I put in 2 sets of fork seals, front and rear wheel bearings, linkage bearings, chain and sprocket, and a top end about 6 months before selling. The reason I decided to sell was every time I tried to work on the bike it would fight me with seized bolts, axles, etc. the bike had never been taken apart before and I doubt the previous owner used a torque wrench. The chain and sprocket ended up being a new axle, axle blocks and wheel bearings due to a seized axle.
The 125 was plenty fast but difficult to get over jumps. If the jump wasn't freshly faced and peaked I would have to hit the jump faster than I was comfortable with, which meant coming up short meant high speed swap. I had the chance to ride a 250 and I was hooked on the power.
So on July 5th I drove 3 hours to look at a 2009 KTM SX 250 and a 2011 YZ250. The KTM was my first choice as I saw it as a better bike (not calling the YZ a slouch) but it had trouble running when we looked at it plus odd parts like an 18 rear wheel. A few weeks later the owner found it was shattered reeds making the bike run bad. So while we were 3 hours from home we looked at the YZ, the bike was clean, and ran great. It was listed at $3500 and I took it home for $2800. I talked him down due to a bent radiator, worn tires, and a few missing bolts. Even though the KTM was first choice I was happier to take the YZ home its just so much cooler. Coming off a YZ I felt at home, I knew the bike would fit me and knew there was tons of knowledge and parts for the bike, and it felt good to buy with my heart than with my brain. young and stupid feels good.
for the title, I was able to buy this bike through working my first Engineering Internship this summer. So I spent instead of saving. I have one more semester left before I graduate with a bachelors degree in Industrial Engineering Technology. So the first part of this build is just cleaning sanding, and getting the bike track ready. The nice parts will come after I graduate and start making good money.
This was my 2005 YZ125
and this was the night before selling. The posting was up less than 24 hours before this buyer contacted me.
Here is the new ride the night it came home.
I didn't take this bike out to ride, instead I decided to jump right into the build. With my internship I didn't have time to ride and I wanted to do this right and know the first time I take it out everything will be right.
So this bike has been recently taken apart and sand blasted, which is good and bad because it was spotless and a dream to take apart as the owner worked at a dealer and did a good job of greasing and putting it back together. The bad being the swing arm was blasted and took the clear coat off, the frame was dull, and some bolts were missing on the plastics. The rims are spray painted black but look okay, and until I get more money they will stay that way.
The radiator was just a hint to the wreck this thing had. After taking it apart I realized the triple clamps are out of line also the shifter side foot peg is different and also bent. I imagine the new plastics are due to the crash as well. So I'm glad I took it apart before riding.
My girlfriend doesn't want to be replaced so I am having to do this build at her house so I'm limited on tools. You will see at a point I had to take the bike home to break all the big bolts loose and then take it all back to her house for cleaning and storage. My dad drives a service truck and has every wrench and socket, hammer, punch, and allen key I could need as well as grease and cleaners so that Is why I took it home for the bigger stuff.
As you can see this bike is clean, I did not clean as I took it apart.
my girlfriend decided her bike needed cleaning too lol.
I will add pictures of the sanding and clean up in about an hour
Make sure you check the frame for any damage or possible cracks!
The Shop
I was able to fix the radiator myself, these radiators are very thin and can be twisted by hand. Sometimes you can get away without cracks but this one ended up with a few. So we put some jb weld on them. In the future they will be replaced. For now it saved me about $80 vs a repair shop.
I did not take the engine out as it ran great and the previous owner already went through it. From what I have found taking this bike apart I trust his inspection. And I was going to change oil but when I took the inspection plug out the oil was new. I did however take the carb off and check the reeds for cracks or gaps as well as take a look down into the case for dirt. It was all good there.
The sanding was done with 220-400-600-2000 grit sand paper. For the mirror like shine leave at 2000 for the non mirror shine I did green scotch brite and WD-40. To remove casting marks I used a dremel with 120.
This is the swingarm without factory clear coat. There was still some left which made sanding a terrible pain and not all came off. It came out okay but I plan to eventually change it out for a 2009+ yz450 swingarm.
The only bolt to give me trouble, had to cut a groove for a screw driver.
This is how it sits now, nearly ready for rebuild. I picked up that carpet at lowes for $23 and it's so much better than hard concrete.
While at work I ordered a computer cart. It came with a strap that they were going to throw away. I took it home and used it to strap the frame to the stand. it doesn't have hooks so I will be able to assemble the bike with linkage and still get the strap out.
I did plasti dip on the ignition cover to see if I liked it, I will dye it later if I decide to keep it black.
I did have one set back. After cleaning and assembling the subframe it was sat in some gas. For some reason the airbox plastic is white with a thin black coating. The gas ate through the coating that later flaked off. I'm gonna try plasti dip, if that comes off I will just put graphics over it. $80 for new panels is to much since they will just be covered.
Im not sure if the airbox manufacture, but the rest of the plastic is UFO, I will check to see. I would stay away from these panels.
Everything has been disassembled, cleaned, and most parts have been shined. I plan to order a few bolts and Plastic collars along with a stand, hour meter, and a cheap chain. The old chain was so bad it would stick in whatever form you could bend it. The sprockets were in decent shape though.
Later I will order new tires and handlebars.
I am also going to grease all bearings and axles, grease brake caliper pins, along with new brake fluid. I plan to run non ethanol 93 and maybe vp110 50/50 with yamalube 40:1.
This year has the low compression head so I can get away with just pump gas but would like the added security of 110. I like the idea of castor oil but I don't like the gummy residue. I'm running 40:1 to start because I won't be riding hard while I get use to the power.
I am 2 weeks from starting school and a few friends have hit me up to ride before then. So this first part will just be getting it ready enough to go to the track within that time frame
so far I'm in it:
sand paper and scotch brite $30
dremel bits $10
small bolt kit $20
jb weld $5
floor mat $25
plasti dip $5
grand total $95
But I do think blue wheels, dep pipe,new swingarm, and those graphics are within reach.
I believe the ultimate engine package would be rb designs head and carb, boysen reeds, single ring piston, port work, vortex ignition, dep pipe, Hinson clutch, fly wheel weight, and the 3rd gear from a 250x. I don't think I will ever get to the point where I could handle all that.
Since your '11 is basically the same as my '15, here's a couple small suggestions you can do on a budget.
1. Flywheel weight is highly recommended if the bike doesn't already have one. Pulling the ignition cover real quick will reveal that.
2. This bike is really sensitive to sag it seems like. I run right at 100mm and it works out well, but I also run the forks probably 5mm up in the clamps. I've found that running too much sag will really make the bike turn like crap and want to climb out of ruts, so it's well worth checking. If these bikes had a little steeper rake angle I think they'd be perfect, but I do what I can to get some weight on the front wheel on tighter tracks.
3. These bikes kick ass on the trails, so don't be afraid to go bash some rocks and fly through some trees!
4. I actually like the spark arrestor muffler I have on the bike believe it or not, it makes it rev smoother and doesn't have an abrupt power sign off. That's personal preference though, so keep whatever you like.
5. Honestly, these bikes are damn good right out of the box. Everybody and their cousin is going to have that "perfect setup" or "absolutely necessary" mod, but you can ride that thing bone stock and be totally happy with it. I doubt that KTM would have been a better bike, and on a budget the YZ is a much friendlier bike, that's how I ended up with one over a KTM. Look up some OEM prices for both and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Enjoy the ride, you got a lot of cool stuff going on right now so have fun your last semester! Good luck with the build, looks like you have it pretty well under control.
I also traded out a lot of the bolts for new ones from my kit, rusty or dull bolts irritate me plus many bolts had weird sized heads compared to my 125.
Also ordered parts today
Ebay
Foot peg $20
Pipe mount $25
Motosport
Air boot clamp, collars, stand, chain, and a filter cage for my girlfriends bike. $145
Wanted an hour meter and wash cover but I can get by without until next order.
Pit Row
Once the parts come in I will go over everything, add fluids. and start it up.
I think white fork guards would look better though.
Also my friend called me yesterday and said he was getting a 1974 (I think) Elsinore 250 for free. It's in his family and it's one owner. He asked if I would help him build it. Been told it's all there too. Newman where you at??? I'll try to update today on both bikes if I get anything done
This always makes me laugh,
Hopefully the Elsinore yeilds a better result.
Here it is 1976 MR250 Elsinore. This bike was only made one year as an enduro version of the CR. Said it ran a year ago.
When I arrived at the track I had to bleed the rear brake and tighten a few bolts. On the first start it started leaking coolant again, which it was slowly doing the night before. I pulled the tank off and moved a hose clamp closer to the radiator and tightened it better. Leak stopped.
Bike ran great and was a blast. The track we rode is a private track with very small jumps, good track for getting use to a new bike. It wasn't prepped so it was hard and dusty. A hard track, 250, and a very worn rear tire turned into a day of power sliding around the corners......most of the way down the straights too lol. I have a lot of adjusting to do from 125 to 250 but every time I went out I felt better and better and with about 5 rounds of riding I think I am close to where I was on my 125. I'm still pretty hesitant with the power in corners.
The power is just what I wanted. I was able to go inside, seat bounce and use the power to get over a small double that my friends on their 125 had to go ouside and hit faster.
The only bad that came was the plasti dip didn't hold (figured) the o rings for the pipe are bad, and my girlfriend broke her brake lever.
Also you can see we have switched garages.
Time to clean it up, go through it to make checks, and go again.
Unboxing after Christmas. Some will go on immediately for next year, some will stay in the box until I get all the parts. Don't want to wear out the shiny bits before I get everything.
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