AssistSuper
Member
- Apr 4, 2005
- 287
- 0
Howdy howdy everyone. I've already got a dirt blog going on about my new found misery, but I thought I'd start a thread here to get more feedback and maybe someone will chime in with something I'm missing, or something I'm doing wrong.
The Bike
I bought this bike a year ago, it's my first bike. I ride motocross primarily, and plan on racing arenacross this fall/winter. Beginner level rider, expert level ego. :)
How It All Began
I was loading up about 3 weeks ago to spend a night out the track, as I was tightening the tie downs, I heard a very suspicious clunk come from the forks. I knew that this wasn't going to be good. I pulled the fork caps and the left fork leg was in disarray. The top collar was in two pieces, the piece that sits inside the top of the piston assembly (not sure on what it's called...it's about a 3 inch long little pin) was not in place, and the piston rod assembly wasn't even attatched to the cap. I knew this was way out of my scope of repair. I called up Marshall's Racing which is a great shop in the state of Oklahoma and he told me to go ahead and bring it on by to inspect the damage. Turns out the entire rod assembly was bent. This makes perfect sense of a problem I had last year when I changed the fork oil.
I was trying to get the cap on and could not get the thing to thread. If I just put the cap on without the rod assembled, it threaded fine, otherwise it would not thread. I somehow got it threaded, I had no idea the rod was bent.
Anyway, the assembly is running me $250, so Marshall's is fixing the fork, and I sprung to have the forks and shock revalved and resprung since they cut me a truly sweet deal.
Now that my bike was half apart, I decided to go ahead and pull the swingarm, linkage, and steering stem to replace the bearings and seals.
Then, I decided since I was going to that much trouble, I might as well get it down to the frame and slap a nice coat of paint on it. Somehow along the way I've decided to restore this bike to pretty dang close to perfect.
The Reason
So why am I restoring an 8 year old bike?? Because I'm poor and don't want to spend any more money on a new bike. This one is paid for and college is expensive. I plan on keeping this bike until I get done with college. I might as well have it look, run, and perform like it should and is capable of. Besides, I think this type of thing is fun as I enjoy wrenching. Furthermore, I've got the time right now to do it. Most people do this type of thing during the winter, but I'm going to be down for jaw surgery this summer and after that I'm working 60 hours a week. No time to ride as it is. Another positive is this is my first bike, and I've only been into the sport a year. This gives me a way to learn about how my bike operates the best way I learn. Tear it apart and put it back together.
The Plan
Revalved and resprung suspension for my weight and skill
Paint frame and subframe
New wheel, swingarm, linkage, steering stem bearings and seals
New plastics
New graphics
Fastway footpegs (I'm 6'4, need to drop them)
Tall seat foam
Gripper seat cover
Repack silencer
Have carbon removed from expansion champer
Rebuild top and bottom end
Polish swingarm (yes, I know bad idea, but the paint looks awful)
Black rims to get a little bling
New front tire
New chain and sprockets
Radiators straightened
Replace any and all broken/missing pieces (i.e. - rear caliper guard that's broken, random bolts that were zip-tied, missing radiator guard)
*I'm sure this list will grow, I know I'm leaving stuff out.
All pieces will be thoroughly cleaned and inspected before they're put on the bike.
And the pics....in chronological order.
Before the madness
It has begun.
The Bike
I bought this bike a year ago, it's my first bike. I ride motocross primarily, and plan on racing arenacross this fall/winter. Beginner level rider, expert level ego. :)
How It All Began
I was loading up about 3 weeks ago to spend a night out the track, as I was tightening the tie downs, I heard a very suspicious clunk come from the forks. I knew that this wasn't going to be good. I pulled the fork caps and the left fork leg was in disarray. The top collar was in two pieces, the piece that sits inside the top of the piston assembly (not sure on what it's called...it's about a 3 inch long little pin) was not in place, and the piston rod assembly wasn't even attatched to the cap. I knew this was way out of my scope of repair. I called up Marshall's Racing which is a great shop in the state of Oklahoma and he told me to go ahead and bring it on by to inspect the damage. Turns out the entire rod assembly was bent. This makes perfect sense of a problem I had last year when I changed the fork oil.
I was trying to get the cap on and could not get the thing to thread. If I just put the cap on without the rod assembled, it threaded fine, otherwise it would not thread. I somehow got it threaded, I had no idea the rod was bent.
Anyway, the assembly is running me $250, so Marshall's is fixing the fork, and I sprung to have the forks and shock revalved and resprung since they cut me a truly sweet deal.
Now that my bike was half apart, I decided to go ahead and pull the swingarm, linkage, and steering stem to replace the bearings and seals.
Then, I decided since I was going to that much trouble, I might as well get it down to the frame and slap a nice coat of paint on it. Somehow along the way I've decided to restore this bike to pretty dang close to perfect.
The Reason
So why am I restoring an 8 year old bike?? Because I'm poor and don't want to spend any more money on a new bike. This one is paid for and college is expensive. I plan on keeping this bike until I get done with college. I might as well have it look, run, and perform like it should and is capable of. Besides, I think this type of thing is fun as I enjoy wrenching. Furthermore, I've got the time right now to do it. Most people do this type of thing during the winter, but I'm going to be down for jaw surgery this summer and after that I'm working 60 hours a week. No time to ride as it is. Another positive is this is my first bike, and I've only been into the sport a year. This gives me a way to learn about how my bike operates the best way I learn. Tear it apart and put it back together.
The Plan
Revalved and resprung suspension for my weight and skill
Paint frame and subframe
New wheel, swingarm, linkage, steering stem bearings and seals
New plastics
New graphics
Fastway footpegs (I'm 6'4, need to drop them)
Tall seat foam
Gripper seat cover
Repack silencer
Have carbon removed from expansion champer
Rebuild top and bottom end
Polish swingarm (yes, I know bad idea, but the paint looks awful)
Black rims to get a little bling
New front tire
New chain and sprockets
Radiators straightened
Replace any and all broken/missing pieces (i.e. - rear caliper guard that's broken, random bolts that were zip-tied, missing radiator guard)
*I'm sure this list will grow, I know I'm leaving stuff out.
All pieces will be thoroughly cleaned and inspected before they're put on the bike.
And the pics....in chronological order.
Before the madness
It has begun.