Broke all my stuff this weekend

[nick5446]

I'd start by saying "a bad day of dirt biking is better than a good day of work", but this weekend was still rough. I went out to western PA to join some friends and friends of friends at "Motofarm"; a 15 year tradition of renting this place out for a few days of dirt biking and general shenanigans: http://www.hilltoplodge.com/ (sidebar: this place is sweet if you're looking for a dirt bike vacation with the boys - old 70's AMA track with some trails too. The house is pretty dumpy, but who cares? It's a long haul from New England, but cool nonetheless).

I brought my trusty YZ250 and my relatively untested 90's Aprilia trials bike. The YZ lasted about a day and a half until the transmission locked up (fortunately at low speed). The Aprilia gave me some carb-related headaches which I eventually figured out. After riding it for a few minutes, the oil leaking out became hard to ignore. A quick inspection showed that the clutch cover and case were busted - sweet! The kicker on this bike travels enough that it crashes into the case (maybe something else is also wrong allowing that to happen?). I'm guessing during my carb diagnosis I was kicking with a little more frustration than I should have been and went right through some Italian aluminum.

Ah well, such is life, right? Now I gotta decide what to do with each. Parts for the Aprilia are pretty much unobtainable, so that may be getting JB Weld. I was getting ready to sell the YZ in favor of a newer CRF, but it looks like I'll be doing the bottom end on that first.

[aldend123]

The kicker on this bike travels enough that it crashes into the case (maybe something else is also wrong allowing that to happen?).

Check out how low any bike goes when it's bottomed out. I sometimes feel my heels tap the ground and surprise me. Some of that is fact of life, but make sure the bike isn't undersprung for your weight/style. Band-aid is cranking the compression up but then it kinda sucks on anything but the heavy hits. Check that it isn't set to full-soft though. Unless you want it that way.

[loudbeard]

That’s a pretty sweet picture.

[Paul_E_D]

Somehow I thought this was going to be a lot worse!

[csmutty]

That's what you get for trying to get rid of a 2 stroke for a 4 stroke.

Hope you learned your lesson.

[nick5446]

Check out how low any bike goes when it's bottomed out. I sometimes feel my heels tap the ground and surprise me. Some of that is fact of life, but make sure the bike isn't undersprung for your weight/style. Band-aid is cranking the compression up but then it kinda sucks on anything but the heavy hits. Check that it isn't set to full-soft though. Unless you want it that way.

Not sure we’re talking about the same thing. The kickstart on the bike rotates so far that it hits the case and cover. Don’t think it has anything to do with suspension unless I’m missing something.

- - - Updated - - -

That's what you get for trying to get rid of a 2 stroke for a 4 stroke.

Hope you learned your lesson.

Hah! Never again.

[Tekime]

a) That sucks
b) That place looks amazing
c) Sure it was the kicker? My brain can't understand how it would only smash the case at a greater distance from the axis of the kick shaft - unless the shaft had some play and was bending downward on a hard kick?
d) That sucks

[nick5446]

a) That sucks
b) That place looks amazing
c) Sure it was the kicker? My brain can't understand how it would only smash the case at a greater distance from the axis of the kick shaft - unless the shaft had some play and was bending downward on a hard kick?
d) That sucks

I’ll try to get a better picture of how the kicker hits it, but yeah, it’s the joint where it clamps to the shaft. I pulled the plug and rotated it really slowly and it was obvious.

[aldend123]

Not sure we’re talking about the same thing. The kickstart on the bike rotates so far that it hits the case and cover. Don’t think it has anything to do with suspension unless I’m missing something.

Shit, sorry I misread that as 'the kicker is ____'. Thought you were saying the bike rides low and was probably how the case got busted.

[Fast_Eddie]

Well, it could be worse. I have the exact opposite problem. I built my dream bike. It's a 2013 YZ250 2 stroke with a Lectron carb, GYTR flywheel and one size up on springs and I've only got 10 hrs on it. Now I realize I'm too old and asthmatic to ride it. So I'm going to have to sell it on CL in the Spring for $3900 due to the model year and I'll lose my ass compared to what I've got into it.
Be happy you can still ride. I miss it a lot.