CRM250AR Rebuild

[mekros]

I decide to have a change in riding style and go down the trail bike/motard path. A few other friends interstate decide the same thing and a bike is spotted up here that one mate wants, no problems, I can store it temporarily. The deal is done, a price is worked out and the bike lands at my place. A month later said mate says he will long term run into financial problems. I decided to take on the bike and fix it up, decide what to do later. Besides, who can resist a two stroke, especially one that has a reputation for being different.

So the bike is a 1997 Honda CRM250AR. It appears to have been an ex UK bike (most likely from Leisure Trail) and has been imported into Australia. It has been registered before so I know it will be able to be registered again.

(space reserved for a picture of the bike when I find it from the archives somewhere)



This is what I achieved in the first day:

corroded exhaust and suspension link





A lot of help from liquid spanner and the swingarm is free



Remembering to be methodical



Bagged....


...and tagged



end of day 1


DAY 2

Slow progress time because it is spent cleaning

first round of cleaning the expansion chamber from this...





...to this

[mekros]

Time to work on the front end. More bagging and labelling of bits








A well greased head stem, it's a shame the bearings weren't shown any love, the grease in both bearings had changed colour so they looked like rusty grease as lubrication.








The state the project is currently sitting in. I now need to buy parts and start taking the hard bits out. My supervisor is also telling me that I should stop work and spend time with the family.

[fallenmikethebike]

Well done mate, a good methodical approach always helps, talking of which, the trouble really starts when the " littleuns" want to help as well.
mike

[helisupp]

Especially as it looks like little one is actually doing the notes............

Good luck on the bike, hopefully it was a runner before stripping.

[mekros]

The engine was good before I started, I didn't get to give it a good run to test the power valves.

So far the boss has been good, I've found involvement and also the right distractions help in making them either useful/focussed on other things/suitably uninterested in what you are doing.

[mekros]

This week there is minimal physical progress. The linkage bearings are good so I am not going to replace them.

I've been tabulating bearings, looking for generic part numbers, and comparing quotes. I'm happy to post up my findings in a separate post if people would like me to share.

[mekros]

Bit of slow progress

Compiled the parts list and now I have to ring around and get quotes for the generic parts and Honda specific parts.

Got a mid 90s CR250 tank



















Did a 30 second dry fitting to see what it would look like:









Also taught myself an important lesson I to relearnt the hard way....don't work on the bike after only four hours sleep and 12+ hours at an office. I tried to Ezyout a bolt and managed to snap the Ezyout, only to realise I was working on a sprocket bolt rather than the brake rotor bolt.



I had a better look at the rear wheel while I was there and think it definitely needs a rebuild.

[mekros]

A couple of weeks of family duties and finally a get a few hours piece and quiet to duck out and do some work.


Headstem bearings removed:





I ended up using heat and ice, the dremel, and a drift (screw driver) to get them out. Due to operator incompetence the dremel did more harm then good though:









All that is left to do now is to try and get the lower tripleclamp bearing off the stem.



swingarm bearings removed:






suspension linkage ones are being annoying though.





I've done my pricing around of bearings and bits and pieces, would you believe I called 3 Honda shops in Sydney, the closer to the city you are, the more expensive it is, and one very well known dealer won't even call back after repeated messages left on the parts department message bank.

[helisupp]

As on most bikes, the headstem bearings should just punch out easily with a long punch, only takes a minute or 2.

Whats wrong with the linkage bearings, are they not ok to remove, grease and refit the loose rollers.

[fallenmikethebike]

Do you not have bearing factor type outlets? they're generally significantly cheaper.
Mike

[mekros]

Linkage bearings have lost their cage, all the rolling elements dropped out when I wiped the grease out.

There are generic bearing suppliers here, I've got quotes from them for that, it's the swingarm bolt, rear axle bolt and other bits I'd rather go genuine than work around.

[helisupp]

Linkage bearings have NO cage, rollers are loose..

[fallenmikethebike]

^^^^^ Possibly they have been changed in the past for something available, rather than OEM.
Mike

[mekros]

Considering my swingarm bearings were generic bearings that won't surprise me at all, and I'll be going down the generic part.

[helisupp]

I think you do have the original bearings, the spacer sleeves form the inner race.

The best way is to fit the XR400 Allballs swingarm bearing kit, as you will also need new bearing sleeves if changing the bearings.

4 bearings, 2 spacer sleeves, 4 seals, all in kit