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New Bike Taste On An Old Bike Budget – Dirt Rider Magazine

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Monday, February 28, 2011

/></a> <p class="wp-caption-text"></p> </div> <p>I was itching to get a new bike. I had big plans. I was going to take her to my favorite riding area and treat her to the finest aftermarket products money could buy. Then maybe in a year or two, we would part ways so I could move on to something younger and better looking. I couldn’t wait to load her into my truck and stare in the rearview mirror on the way home. At least that was my initial plan. Unfortunately, the company I worked for was bought out and thousands of employees were laid off, including myself. Simply put, I didn’t have the money for a new bike. I experienced the harsh reality that my 2008 KTM 250 XC would have to last another year. My itch for a new model turned into an irritation.<br /> <br clear="all">After a few days of grieving about my new bike dreams being flushed down the toilet, I began looking at my problem a bit differently. Sure, my bike wasn’t brand-new, but it was in decent shape. In fact, I actually still liked my old bike. She’d been reliable and still ran great. Although I didn’t have enough money for a new bike, I had enough in savings to take my old ride and completely refurbish it. I wasn’t talking about cleaning the air filter, slapping on a set of graphics and spraying the tires with Armor All. I was going to take each step necessary to give it new bike reliability, new bike feel and a new bike appearance. My budget limited me to under $2,000. No, not a drop in the bucket, but it was far less than a $9,000 bike with extra goodies. My plan was to take a methodical approach, step by step. Here’s how it went down:<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>1)</strong> Yeah, I know, washing your bike is a no-brainer. Believe it or not, there is a bit of technique involved. After using a degreaser, I laid the bike on each side and sprayed the bottom just as much as spraying it from the top. With a complete overhaul, areas that are typically ignored needed to be thoroughly cleaned.<strong>2)</strong> The next time you throw your leg over a brand-new bike, pay attention to the grips, seat and footpegs. The thought of buying a new bike with worn grips, torn seat and rounded footpegs seemed ridiculous. That’s why this project started with creating the feel of a new bike.<strong>A. Grips:</strong> Like underwear for the hard-core, grips tend to have a few holes before they’re replaced. Don’t let that happen to you. Of course, I’m referring to grips. MSR makes my grip of choice, and it was the cheapest part of the project.<strong>B. Seat:</strong> The seat didn’t need to be replaced, but the seat cover had been sanded down by three years of my sit-down riding style. Enduro Engineering offers a seat cover that fits the bill. With the proper covering method and a pneumatic stapler, installation was a breeze.<strong>C. Footpegs:</strong> The stock footpegs were still in solid condition, but they needed a good sharpening. I fired up my Dremel tool and gave the teeth a pointed edge.<strong>3)</strong> Strip-searching isn’t just limited to TSA agents. There is no better way to find potential problems than to tear down your bike and inspect every orifice. Faulty bikes typically DNF for a reason, and it’s not bad luck. Bike owners who meticulously go through their steeds with a fine-tooth comb and preemptively replace parts that have the probability of failing rarely DNF or have trail rides cut short. With that in mind, I pulled the fork, shock, wheels, subframe, headset, tank, swingarm and radiators off of the bike. My goal was to find anything potentially harmful.</p> <p>A. My thorough pat down revealed a leaking countershaft seal ring.<br /> B. Since a bike isn’t very responsive without a throttle cable, I routinely check the end for any fraying.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>4)</strong> You name the possibility of brake problems and I’ve had them. Since I’m a brake hound, a complete rear brake overhaul was due. The rear rotor looked like charcoal, so I replaced it with a disc from Moose. The rear master cylinder was leaking oil, so it was also rebuilt. I then checked the caliper and brake line, which were both in good condition. An additional checkup on the front brakes resulted in a clean bill of health.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>5)</strong> Although my bike started on the first kick, two years of use was a bit much. The old piston had seen its final days. Before changing, I looked through my stack of old Dirt Rider magazines, found an article with the proper method of installation and replaced the piston with ease and grace. It also gave me a chance to check for any play in the crank and main bearings.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>6)</strong> The small hassle involved with pulling off the sidecover to routinely check the clutch was well worth it. Although the basket, plates and springs were newly replaced a year ago, there was slight wear on the fibers. Since it never got hot, the springs were fine so a quick friction plate change and the clutch was good to go.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>7)</strong> If you’ve ever had a plugged carburetor jet, stuck float bowl or any other form of garbage, you can appreciate a clean carb. I disassembled and organized the parts out on a clean area. I then busted out the carb cleaner and gave the pieces a good shower to remove anything unseen by the naked eye. If your carb is dirty, it could be from a dirty or poorly placed air filter. Give the filter a bath, oil it and properly replace it. It’s also a good time to check the carb boots, reed cage and related parts.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong> <img src= The chain was rusty and the rear sprocket looked like it went through a meat grinder. They were still usable but not very presentable. With the help of Loctite on the bolts, the new chain and sprockets began to give my old bike that new bike appearance.

9) Three years on the same set of wheel bearings was a personal record. As cool as that record was, I knew they were on borrowed time. Both the front and rear were replaced.

10) My stock pipe was still in one piece, but there was black sludge seeping out of the manifold and the pipe looked like it had been through a hail storm. Although it was functional, it looked like junk. So I opted to get the FMF Gnarly. It’s a solid pipe with good low-end grunt. As far as the Enduro Engineering silencer, it was bulletproof and showed no wear or spewing gunk. However, it needed repacking over a year ago. EE sells an easy-to-install packing kit for its E3 model. I drilled out the rivets, replaced the packing and listened to that crisp barking sound that I remembered.

/></a> <p class="wp-caption-text"></p> </div> <p><strong>11)</strong> When lifting the bike off the stand, there was a sloppy feeling at the bottom of the shock. Almost like clockwork and a full year of riding, it was time to change the Heim joint. In the past, they were a pain to change, but now there are great aftermarket tools that make it easy.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>12)</strong> My bike had a laundry list of KTM parts to plaster with grease. I lathered up the brake caliper pins, steering stem bearings, swingarm bolt, axles and clutch and brake lever pins. If you’re a linkage guy, you’d want to include those parts into your grease job as well.<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>13)</strong> Ah yes, the smell of new rubber! Since I live in Michigan and it’s the land of sand, I opted for Kenda’s new Washougal II. It had that new tire smell, great pattern, good price point and cool little nipples. Did I mention it smelled great?<br /> <br clear="all"><strong>14)</strong> Oil is a lot cheaper than the parts it protects. Every bit of fluid was replaced. Transmission, brake, hydraulic clutch as well as the fork and shock oil.<br clear="all"><strong>15)</strong> Three years was a long time to routinely twist on frequently used bolts, especially if you’re dinking around with a bike as much as I do. I found a handy bolt kit to fit European bikes, and it had plenty of varying sizes to replace old bolts with a new appearance.<br clear="all"><strong>16)</strong> I usually cringe at the thought of someone painting the steel frame on a motorcycle. However, the area around my footpegs was chipped, missing paint and looked abused. I discovered a cool paint product called Chassis Saver; found in select automotive stores, it brushes on and is used to stop rust on vehicles. It’s flexible, won’t crack and is Hulk Hogan tough! Because Chassis Saver doesn’t have a UV protector, I brushed on a final coat of Krylon Industrial Paint to keep up a glossy appearance. The final result was a tough surface and a brand-new look.<br clear="all"><strong>17)</strong> If I was going to make my three-year-old bike shine and look new, I had to bring out my trio of big guns for the transformation. Parts such as the silencer, hubs and triple clamps needed Mother’s aluminum polish, and the crud on the cast-aluminum swingarm was brightened with Scotch-Brite scour pads. I will use Maxima’s high-gloss SC1 clear coat to keep the plastic looking brand spanking new.<br clear="all"><strong>18)</strong> This was the best part of the project. The time-consuming work was done. I not only dissected the entire bike, but also replaced and updated all necessary items to give it reliability and feel for another season. I could have mounted your typical orange plastic and graphics to make it look like every other KTM in a sea of pumpkins. Instead, I chose to give diehard KTM riders severe heartburn and replace the orange with white Acerbis plastic and bold green PG graphics. Although I didn’t secretly have a Kawasaki fetish, the new graphics made a big impact on the old appearance.Was it worth the time, money and effort? You bet. I stayed under budget and the final results blew away my expectations. It didn’t look like the same bike I started with, and I no longer sniveled about riding it another year. As great as that sounded, my project wasn’t finished. I still had the work of convincing my wife that the shiny green bike parked in the garage wasn’t brand-new.<br /> <h1>Parts List</h1> <p><strong><em>Enduro Engineering: <a href="" rel=”nofollow” onclick="javascript:window.open(www.enduroeng.com

Seat cover: $44.95
Roost deflector: $24.95
Debris deflector: $49.95
Shock oil change: $64.95
Twin-chamber fork oil change: $99.99
Lower Heim joint: $29.99
Front wheel bearing kit: $55.50
Rear wheel bearing kit: $55.50
E3 silencer packing: $19.95
European bolt kit: $19.95
MSR: www.msrmx.com

Grips: $12.95
Kenda: www.kendausa.com

Washougal II front tire: $65.99
Washougal II rear tire: $75.99
KTM: www.ktm.com/PowerParts

OEM friction clutch plates: $159.99
OEM piston and rings: $209.99
Rear brake master cylinder repair kit: $49.99
Shaft seal ring: $16.99
RidePG: www.ridepg.com

Graphics and background kit: $249.99
Moose: www.mooseracing.com

Front sprocket: $19.95
Rear sprocket: $55.95
Solid rear disc: $99.99
HPO O-ring chain: $95.99
FMF: www.fmfracing.com

Gnarly pipe: $229.00
Acerbis: www.acerbis.it

Plastic kit: $139.99
Frame protection set: $27.99

Total: $1,976.42

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