I decided to trade my long-loved Husky for this CRF 450R Supermoto.  It has many nice upgrades on it, however it is definitely in need of some TLC and service.  The most attractive part of this bike is that it is TAGGED!  It may not seem like such an amazing thing, but in the state of NC, it is near impossible to tag a bike that started life as an off-road only machine.  This bike came with a clear VA title.  Once the vehicle has been titled in another state, NC will allow you to transfer it in with no problem.

The electrical was a complete mess, so I basically removed the baja designs dual sport kit and started over from scratch trying to sort the electrical all out.  Now that I have that mostly under control, I moved into the motor, chassis, and suspension.  I removed the clutch cover, and much to my suprise I found an STM slipper clutch installed on this bike.

Since the internals of this bike are unknown, I removed the entire top end down to the connecting rod.  The cylinder is on its original bore with the factory cross-hatching, the forged piston looks like it was installed recently, all top end measurements are still within factory spec.  After some cleaning, and installing a new wristpin, circlips, and gaskets, its going back together.

Inside the carb I found a clogged pilot jet which is fairly common on any FCR carb that has been sitting a while, but more disturbingly I found the needle clip position in the top position.  Perhaps this in conjunction with the clogged pilot jet was causing the popping and backfiring prior to me tearing it down.

The suspension is being serviced and re-valved by Fast Bike Industries and should be done later this week, so hopefully I can have it road-worthy by the weekend.  More pics to follow.

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This 125 belongs to one of my regular customers.  Over the last year, I have installed a new clutch, trued wheels, replaced fork seals, re-packed the silencer, etc.  Recently the owner had accidentally put non-mixed fuel in the tank and ran it for a while.

The pictures show the galling of the piston and the cylinder.  This may have been caused by the non-mixed fuel.  I removed the seat, tank, exhaust,  and  radiators to access the cylinder.  I then removed the cylinder.  The crank has some minimal side-to-side play but has no vertical play, so we are going to send the cylinder off to Millennium Technologies for repair and also replace the piston, ring, and wristpin.

Update 3/8/12:  I finally added some more pics of the bike going back together.  I powder coated a few parts for some added bling.  The owner of the bike TJ Maher, went on to take a win at the WNC ag center that weekend.

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This doesn’t really fit the site, but I have been having fun building up a jeep I recently got. It is a 97 TJ Wrangler SE with a 2.5l 4 banger.  It was bone stock when I got it, but I have since installed a 4″ rough country short -arm lift, a set of 15″ rock crawler wheels with 33×12.50 Maxxis Mudders.  I also fabricated some control arm bracket braces, sway bar quick disconnects, and installed extended brake lines for the front.  The best mod to date is the oooga horn from harbor freight.

Its pretty impressive what this jeep would do stock, but now its even better.  It’s nice to have another hobby to participate in when its either too cold or rainy to ride motocross.

Future plans include lockers, custom built front bumper with winch mount, and custom built rear bumper with spare tire carrier.  Looks like I found another wealth-prevention program!

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Here are some rear sets that a customer wanted powder coated.  We decided to go with flat black.  He also wanted to have the fasteners coated.  I took a small piece of steel plate and drilled and tapped threads into it so I could thread the bolts and screws into the steel and have them stay put while they were sandblasted, coated, and baked.  When coating aluminum, it is important that the item be “de-gassed” prior to applying the powder.  Aluminum is more porous than steel and thus grease and oils tend to hide out in these small orifices.  Essentially, by cooking the items after sandblasting but before applying the powder allows the oil and grease to be cooked out, however it must then be sandblasted again. So the process goes as such:

• Sandblast
• Bake (de-gas)
• Sandblast
• Spray with iron phosphate and let dry
• Coat with powder
• Bake

You can see the final product in the pictures.  This process took me a little over an hour, and greatly enhances the look of these rear sets.  Contact Joe @ 828.337.4009 if you are interested in getting some parts coated.

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