Advice on bike i picked up - progress updates as mods allow.

[ZZ4Blazer]

Started going through more stuff...and finding more stuff I dont like on the bike.

Grey wire removed, (looks to be taken out of the connector instead of just cut, glad to see that) throttle stop removed, exhaust pea shooter removed.

Bike was advertised as being stock.

Digging into it more, found mud inside the air box. And some right at the lip, behind the air filter. The air boot step up going to the carb appears to be clean though. Hopefully nothing got that far as to the carb/motor. From what I can see of the head intake, looks very clean.

Pulled tank, and theres mud caked inside the spark plug hole. As in, removing the spark plug dirt will fall into the motor.

Im eager to pull the valve cover and see what I got myself into. To check the valves, etc.

Bike fired up good, sounded normal. Its middle of winter in the midwest, so didnt exactly get much of a test ride. Didnt get into it, just down the road and back making sure it shifted through all the gears. Ran well and idled well despite being 20 deg that day.

More I check into stuff, more Im thinking about pulling the motor out to get it clean.

Am I being paranoid in wanting to pull it? Or should I dig farther in the motor?

Edited February 13, 2013 by ZZ4Blazer

[FORMA MOTO]

Paranoid.

Get it all nice a clean, check the valves, re-grease all the parts, di-electric grease all the bi-metal contacts, clean the harness connections, clean all the filter screens, put some fresh grips and mabye plastics, and go enjoy it.

[ZZ4Blazer]

Ideas on getting all the crap otta the spark plug hole? Was thinking maybe laying the bike on its side and spraying it out with some carb cleaner or something similar.

[YamahaRider485]

Lay it on its side and use a pressure washer to blast it away

[Kmiller2723]

Ideas on getting all the crap otta the spark plug hole? Was thinking maybe laying the bike on its side and spraying it out with some carb cleaner or something similar.

Break up the mud with a small pick and then just hit it with the shop vac.

[MANIAC998]

Break up the mud with a small pick and then just hit it with the shop vac.

Like he said, but also blow air thru the weep hole at the bottom to blow the dirt up and out of the sparkplug area.

[miweber929]

Started going through more stuff...and finding more stuff I dont like on the bike.

Grey wire removed, (looks to be taken out of the connector instead of just cut, glad to see that) throttle stop removed, exhaust pea shooter removed.

Bike was advertised as being stock.

Digging into it more, found mud inside the air box. And some right at the lip, behind the air filter. The air boot step up going to the carb appears to be clean though. Hopefully nothing got that far as to the carb/motor. From what I can see of the head intake, looks very clean.

Pulled tank, and theres mud caked inside the spark plug hole. As in, removing the spark plug dirt will fall into the motor.

Im eager to pull the valve cover and see what I got myself into. To check the valves, etc.

Bike fired up good, sounded normal. Its middle of winter in the midwest, so didnt exactly get much of a test ride. Didnt get into it, just down the road and back making sure it shifted through all the gears. Ran well and idled well despite being 20 deg that day.

More I check into stuff, more Im thinking about pulling the motor out to get it clean.

Am I being paranoid in wanting to pull it? Or should I dig farther in the motor?

Did you come from street bikes? Because all this stuff sounds completely normal and to be expected of a bike that spends its life in dirt.

The airbox of a modern dirt bike is not like either old dirt bikes or street bikes in the fact they do not 100% seal and have drains at the bottom for mud because that is environment it's designed to run in. Heck, my old CR250 didn't even have an airbox really as it was simply the rear fender and side covers and a bottom piece with a drain in it.

Now having said all that I hate old dried mud myself and how it gets everywhere so I avoid it at all costs; most don't.

Advise given for the spark plug cleaning is spot on as well: if you really want the bike clean then tear it apart, basically they are made for that and I usually do that with any new purchase first thing to fix whatever may be wrong.

Lastly, the mods you describe are considered. "stock" in the dirt one world. Anything to "uncork" a bike is normal, unless aftermarket is installed its stock.

So chill, spend some time this weekend going through your new purchase and all should be good.

Edited February 7, 2013 by miweber929

[ZZ4Blazer]

No, by no means. I started out riding a mini trail 50 back in the day. Finding a scrape-able amount of mud coating the inside the air box was a little concerning, as well as the mud behind the air filter in the air boot. The mud down inside the spark plug hole also concerned me a bit. The coil plug seems like a good fit and would imagine that was designed/would keep most things out. Most of our "dirt bikes" that I grew up riding were old 70's air cooled 2 stroke yami's that I was barely heavy/strong enough to kick start. My 01 YZ is the newest offroad machine ive had since this, an 08 btw, and obviously the plug is mounted very differently on the smoker. This will be my first performance oriented/ enduro style 4 stroke. Ive never managed to get much of anything in any of the air boxes though. However, none having the tool-less air filter/box.

I specifically asked the seller about the free mods, and was told nothing had been done. Also found the TPS (goes into the carb?) unplugged once I started pulling some stuff off. Completely caked in mud as well. The air box is unmodified however, as well as still retaining the AIS. Im gonna pick up a JD kit and a needle, then rip that junk off here relatively soon. Saturday its supposed to be in the mid 40's, ill get it back outside and get the crud off it. And pick up some electric grease and contact cleaner from the local parts store to clean all those plugs and electric up.

Thanks for the advice and keeping me sane.

[mslow]

some dealerships did the un-corking before they sold them or upon request. Might explain removing the wire, throttle stop & exhaust restrictor rather than cutting the wire, grinding the stop and/or replacing the exhaust completely while not modding the airbox or AIS removal.

either way, good luck, you've found a good group of guys to get tech help from for sure (not me though...ignore what i say..lol)

[beezer]

I'd get an adjustable fuel screw while you're at it.

Greasing the swingarm, linkage and steering head would be a good idea.

[ZZ4Blazer]

ran up to harbor freight and picked up some small long screw drivers and a couple of picks. Spent a good 4 hours or better spraying, soaking, scraping ,scratching and cleaning the spark plug hole out. Mud was caked up over the nut and wasn't even close to getting a socket on there. Got it cleaned up enough that I felt comfortable enough taking the plug out. Layed the bike over and continue to scrape and prod the cement like mud off the plug seat. Greased up the plug and ran it in and out of the hole a few times to make sure I didn't get anything down the threads. And if so, the grease would grab anything. So far so good. Hopefully get the rest washed up tomorrow to get the valve cover off and the carb pulled to check the jets.

[ZZ4Blazer]

Finally got a 14mm allen to get the crank plug off the motor so that I could check the valve clearance.

4 5 6 thousands on the intake valves from left to right. The left @.004 is easy to slide, but not quite enough to the the .005 in.. The right @ .006 is tight, but does fit. Now, should I worry that this one is technically out of the .0039-.0059 range for the intake?

Ive just got a standard craftsman guage set that goes every thousand. What are you guys using? Should I look for something more accurate? Thatd be .0254 mm every thousand if Im thinking right.

Exhaust were right in the middle of specs.

Jet kit and fuel screw on the way also.

[MANIAC998]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the .006 barely fitting and technically being out of spec. Loose clearance is waaaaaaayyyyyyyy better than tight!!! And like I said, I wouldn't even consider this being out of spec. It's fine!

[miweber929]

I would concur, loose is better than tight so I'd leave it. The .004 one that's close to the minimum spec, its your call but if I'm in that far I'd adjust, but that's me.

But technically it's fine as its right between .004 and .005 and if you check them once a year you should be fine until next time.

Edited February 13, 2013 by miweber929

[beezer]

I would just ride the thing. When the valves tighten up the bike will be hard to start.

A clean air filter makes the valves last a long time.

My 08 has never needed an adjustment.

[ZZ4Blazer]

Yeah, Ive always read that loose valves were happy valves. But, again, this is my first endo performance kinda bike. Im gonna find a set of metric feelers for the future so I can be more accurate.

The .004 is just a hair over .10mm. And .005 is nearly .13mm @ .127mm

Id bet its atleast .11mm on that left side tighest intake valve.

I dont plan on putting a ton of miles on this as such a dual sport would. This is a woods play bike for me. Most anything Id "dual sport" ride, Ill just rock with my new Explorer.

Checking them was way easier/less intimidating than I expected. And ton of room to actually measure. I know actually adjusting them is another story, but seems pretty straight forward.