f'in chipper

[breakdirt916]

chipper says "why don't you just get a full size bike?"

and I'm like "they're too expensive!"

but he got in my head...

I saw a 1996 CR125 rat bike and 1995 WR250, he wanted 650 for both together, both run...bought both and gave away the WR so now I have riding buddy, and he'll store the bikes





I'm going to ride the CR until it stops running, or gets close to it...no money goes in here!!!

if any of ya want to visit socal for MX or desert riding, I've got a ratty bike for you to ride!

[gregp]

Wow. To me, that was a great deal! CR's of that era are *great* bikes, although you should expect to install a top end (preferably, soon, so you know what you have), and maybe even a crank at some point. Those high revving 125's need some love in order to be reliable.

[JettaJayGLS]

Wow, thats a killer deal...no money into the CR is not the brightest move. Pop the head off and take a look. A new top end for that bike is sub 200 bucks and super easy to do. Well well well worth it for piece of mind. Plus, there is ample space to work with the 125, its a really easy, cheap project.

Do the maintenance on one, ride it, and then do the maintenance on the other while riding the maintained one.

[Pigman]

Killer deal and +1 on the CR......I would just clean up the bore and throw a new piston and ring in it at the least

[Chippertheripper]

Other than that seat, I'd say you did well! Tear it up man!

[Pigman]

Looks like it has an oversized tank, works connection frame gaurds, and bars and a set of tripples also on her too......and a new jug for that may be cheaper than cleaning up the old one

[Paul_E_D]

I'd start with the seat... can't ride MX like that.

[breakdirt916]

I'll get a used gripper seat and new top end, and that's it...right?

I don't want this to be another 1998 RM125 financial black hole like last time

if it ever needs another crank, I'll get another bike

can't wait to take it out to the desert! 97 mile drive!

[gregp]

To me, the wide open trails of the desert will be much harder on that poor little 125 than the tight New England woods would be. I do not suspect that the CR will end up like your old RM, but any tiddler will require motor maintenance to assure reliability.

[Kurlon]

Wait, you've seen the fun I have with my WR, and you gave yours away?!

[B440]

pull off the left side magneto cover and see if you can move the mag up and down with your hand. If it has play... new crank and main bearings. I had a 97 CR125 that ran great, fairly new top end but main bearings were shot. Previous owner had it as a spare beater for friends to ride. Sold it as quick as I could.

What were you riding that wasn't a full size bike??

[breakdirt916]

yeah, greg, I know the desert will hurt longevity or reliability for sure...and I know ya gotta pay to play. I'm going to get an hour meter and clock how much riding I do, and if it's a lot of desert, I'll do top ends. but main bearings? crank? suspension? it's gone!

Kurlon - the person I gave the WR to actually found the deal, and was eyeing the WR (had 3 of them along the years), is storing it, and has done/will be doing work for me. I took a KX out on MX once and realized I can't ride a 2-smoke for spit...I want to get on the smallest/slowest one and max it out before going to a 250.

b440 - I also have an XR100R...this is for riding slow, riding cheap, and doing mini supermoto (also cheap!). if this bike needs any crank work, I'm out of it!

edit: glamis is just over 200 miles...about a 3-1/2 hour drive!

edit 2: just had my friend clean the CR up...he told me to get a new seat, plastics, and it's ready to get some laps around the mx track to start tuning

[gregp]

Yea, a lot of its longevity will have to do with how you ride it. If you constantly hold it wide open, and bounce off of the rev ceiling constantly, top ends and cranks will not last long. Of course, it is difficult to ride a 125 any other way, but there is a very fine line between using all the power it has, and really beating on it. That small difference will have a major impact on longevity. It is possible to go fast, and still not hammer on your engine. Most experienced desert racers know very well how to do this, as survival is part of the game.
In this forum there are a lot of generalities thrown around, like: 2 strokes are pipey, or harder to ride than 4 strokes. Or that 4 strokes do not last. Or that they all need massive amounts of $$ to run well. Most of these things are only partially true. A 2 stroke Husky WR is infinitely easier to ride in tough conditions than a big KTM RFS. Yamaha YZF and WRF motors are among the most reliable engines made. All of them, 2 stroke or 4 stroke will eventually succumb to abuse and neglect. 90's CR's are among the most reliable *high performance* dirt bikes ever made, IMO, but that does not mean that they are maintenance free. If anybody on this forum wants a maintenance free dirt bike, well there has not been one made yet, but lower performance 2 and 4 strokes will give you the best longevity. This means: KDX's, XR's, DR's, KLX's and the like. I have owned almost every dirt bike you could name, and I can tell you that they all need maintenance. My advice: Keep you air filter clean, change your oil often (skip fancy and expensive oils, and opt for more frequent changes), look your bike over before and after every ride, and ride your machine with longevity in mind. It is never worth blowing up your motor just so you can beat your friend to the next corner.
In the end, your CR is a great bike, and you got it at a bargain price, but you should install a new piston and ring as soon as you can, and I would expect to need a crank rebuild sometime soon. If you do both of these things at the same time, you will have a fast bike that will serve you well, for a long time. If you do not do these things, you will be walking back to the truck at some point. Probably sooner than you think. Right now, you have no idea how long those components have been in there, nor how the bike was ridden or treated in the past.

[breakdirt916]

riding style for longevity - no problems...we never rode together, but when I had the rm125, you'd see that I spent more time off the pipe than on it. I only got on the pipe if I had a wide open straight, and even then I was off the gas well before the next corner. even when I was on the pipe, I'd blip the throttle, let go, then feather the throttle in fear of the bike taking off...super slow!

and I know that lower performance bikes are typically lower maintenance as well...I beat the hell out of an xr80 and sold it with life still in them left to go. I have an XR100R now, and I'll keep that far longer than the cr

and based on what I'm reading on the thumpertalk forums, the mid 90's cr's do have quite reliable motors, and I know that bikes need maintenance to own, which is why I think a top end is enough (unless I want to end up with what happened to rex), but the bottom end opens up a can I don't want to get into

based on what I had with the rm (I couldn't get a crankshaft in and out of a case without tweaking it...I needed the $120 tusk tools, I couldn't interference fit the crank bearings without them going in crooked and damaging the case with coercion), getting the bottom end done will require me to outsource some of the work, and easily cost me $500...and even after that, it might still not work!

so unless you can show me links and table up that a bottom end won't cost me that much, I'll get a top end with gasket kit, hone the cylinder and install the new piston, and let the bottom end on its own

of course, there will be case fluid changes, air filter changes, chain adjusting, carb cleaning, tire pressure adjustment, and brake pad replacement

[gregp]

I understand. That CR has a plated cylinder, though, so no honing! Just clean it up with a piece of scotch brite, unless you see obvious damage.

[Pigman]

I would use a Flex-Hone tool if you are doing the piston and rings...



http://www.brushresearch.com/flex-hone.php

[breakdirt916]

okay, finally taking the bike out since I got it this Thursday. I swapped the seat with a $45 fleabay replacement, going to change the transmission fluid, air up the tires, lube the chain, and clean the air filter

what else?

and how do you know if you have a stock cylinder bore size?

I saw this guide: http://www.blasterforum.com/do-yours...re-pics-15642/

do you really need to spend $50 on a bore gauge and $38 on a micrometer to measure the bore size?

I almost feel like any CL mechanic will do it (cylinder off the bike) for a couple beers

[Pigman]

Hey FYI my bud bought a New head for less than what it would cost to redo his old one on hiz YZ125..... check on line there is some sources that are cheap

[tsorfas]

selling either one yet? lol

[Chippertheripper]

If you can't afford to do it right how can you afford to do it over?

[breakdirt916]

tsorfas - I already gave away the WR250!

chip - it's not about being able to afford it - just don't overspend on it! I bought whatever I was "supposed to" to "do it right" on the RM...I was in well over $3,500...and I barely rode it because it spent more time getting work done than running. For that money, I could've gotten a bike ready-to-go out of the box. Lesson learned? cheap bike - don't dump money into fixing. Just ride it until it dies then recover some money on parts. Spend the rest of the money on a newer, better condition bike!

anyways, doing a cylinder job w' eric gorr (replating w' nickel silicon carbide) is $275, but if you're that far you might as well get another top end ($152)

okay - so I'll start by cracking that top end open, inspect the cylinder to see if it needs work, but worst case scenario measure the bore and get a new top end.

bike also has AMA stickers and a PC valved suspension...sounds pretty trick!

where do you guys get your bore gauge and micrometers?

would something like this work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Central-Tool...item4d0878b1af

or this? $27 shipped for the the gauges: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cylinder-T-B...90524249512%26

and $9 shipped for a digital micrometer: http://www.ebay.com/itm/6-inch-Digit...item5aed0f25a8

[Pigman]

If you need Honda OEM shiat I use these guys.....


http://servicehonda.com

[breakdirt916]

finally took it out for my first ride on it



starts/runs/stops great! win!

as usual, re-learning a 2-stroke makes it feel like the bike wants to kill you

but I FINALLY figured out how to use the clutch...on a 2t/125. The way I'd ride it before was: I'd leave the rpm's high and feather the throttle to actuate the power, now I'll just slip the clutch once I get a straighten out, let the rpm's fly, then dump the clutch and shoot forward

still need practice on proper arm positioning, and I'm still not putting 2 fingers on the brake/clutch...I'm just so used to full hand coverage

[a13x]

Riding 9am tomorrow (Friday)
Glad your ring dinger works.

[breakdirt916]

where you rippin'?

I keep passing monster on the 91 in corona - is that you?