2002 RM 250 Rebuild Saga - almost there!

[Fluffyhead]

Hi Guys. Well, I sent my cylinder off for a hone and replate & the crankshaft for a rebuild and press at Rat Racing in Texas. Thanks so much OlSchoolFool393 for the lower end case hook up and the referral to Tom. It took a little time, but the end result looks very, very nice. It was a quality job.
I started with new crank bearings and seals and having just purchased the tools (flywheel puller, case splitter, & crank puller) to pull the sucker apart a few months back I was ready for the rebuild. This being my first lower end rebuild I was intimidated. The Clymer manual and The Rocky Mountain You Tube video on lower end rebuilding make it look really easy. I had to try just getting the primary and counter shafts back in together without the shift forks in place. Geeezzz what a major freakin' pain. I would love to watch some shop mechanics do this in an over the shoulder scenario. The worst part is the thrust washers at the shaft ends slipping around as you try to insert the two shafts together. Then, trying to insert the 3 shift forks and shift barrel was even more of a nightmare. I put in a new gasket and started seating the other case half. I used the crank puller to drag the two halves together. I had to tap on the rear end with a mallet to bring them together. Well, after I got it all screwed back together, I wasn't sure how to test things out. ***In hindsight I should have posted on ATM*** I spent a few hours getting everything back on the bike. I Belray greased the swingarm pin and it tapped through beautifully. I cinched the engine to the frame with its nuts and bolts; replaced the sprocket and chain; redid the stator and flywheel; replaced the FMF Gnarly and silencer; did the tank and plastics; replaced the coolant and new 80W Belray transmission oil; did a fresh 32:1 premix of gas and nonsynthetic 2 stroke premix (heard on here somewherethis was best for a piston cylinder break in) with a MixRite cup. She fired up on the 3rd kick with no choke. I had also during the replating period bought a set of replacement jets, needle, floats on Ebay from Moose racing for my carb. I didn't know what to expect - so I set the intake at 1.5 turns out from the get go. It chugged over smoothly and sat there at idle and with gentle blips while I was trying the first break-in of the new piston and rings in the replated cylinder. I was able to engage the clutch and get in first to gently ride up my street. Then, it would not shift!! up or down. ARRRRGGHHHHHH
Back to the garage. Then, I undid everything I had just spent hours putting back together. I removed the engine from the frame AGAIN and started to play with the clutch side first. I removed everything down to the shift shaft and shift detente hardware. Moving the petal with one hand and watching for the shift drum and the spring loaded roller to move = NO GO! So, I removed the cylinder; left the piston and rings in place; left the primary gear and exhaust valve arm intact. Then, I split the flywheel case half away to get back to the transmission. What did I see???? One of the thrust washers down against the shift barrel sideways. It must have popped off at insertion of the shafts and I didn't see it.
I got out the Clymer and made sure the main and counter shafts' gear hardware was all in order. I proceeded to spend the next 5 hours last night trying to re-orient them in my hands and carry them to the case half and insert them simultaneously. Let's just say that I used a lot of four letter words every half hour or so. Eventually I found that the shaft requiring 2 forks needed to have the lower fork in place to get the spacing correct. I was able to insert them a few times and get all the gears to mesh, but then I would try to insert the lowest shift fork and when I would lift the gear to insert it there was either no room or everything else got out of whack. At 11PM they all 3 dropped into the shift barrel and I could turn it to the left and right and get the forks to move. I super cautiously replaced the mid case gasket and used the crank puller to draw the cases together. Then before rescrewing the case bolts I played with the shift drum. I screwed in the middle bolt and then I could get the springloaded guide to move up and click through the teeth on the shift drum. It would only go one direction from what I felt.
Is there another way for me to double check myself before I take a few hours to drop it back on the frame?? If I put the foot shifter on with the engine on the bench, how can I test that I am going through the gears? Since this has been my first time at it I am not overly upset that I had to play with it twice - I just don't want to make it a 3rd time!! Thanks for any tips.

Peace,
Sean

[MXtras]

Provide rotation of the output shaft when testing the operation of the shifting. All of the gears, the spool and the forks should be assembled in the magneto side of the case and from there, you can run through the gears with the cases open. The shifting might be a bit rough since everything is not perfectly aligned and the shift fork supports will not be in on both sides, but you can at least watch everything move.

Scott

[Spikester]

Turn the countershaft sprocket and make sure it shifts, 1st, neutral, 2nd, turn the sprocket and count the shifts. You could use a wad of grease to hold the shim on so it won't fall off.

[Fluffyhead]

Thanks guys. I had the engine back on the frame from yesterday, but I had not reinstalled the clutch components. So I removed the right side outer case and removed the shift shaft; I also removed the shift pawl plunger and spring combo of the drum shifter and on Olschoolfool 393's advice removed the screw down center pin. I cleaned its threads. I got out Locktite, but first - I re-seated the shift drum center over the raised round bump (mating pin in the shift drum) after holding the spring loaded stopper arm assembly out of the way with a flathead screwdriver. Then, I screwed the center pin to place coated with Loctite - I did ratchet it down well. After that I reseated the drum shifter and its retaining plate with 2 Phillips screws. I re-engaged the shift shaft and meshed the teeth of the shift shaft and the drum shifter.
I reseated the right side outer case and its gasket. I then went to the flywheel side of the bike and screwed down the foot shift lever. As I went back to the open clutch side I tried to spin the mainshaft counter clockwise - it was in neutral position so it just spun. Then, I reached across to the foot shift lever and clicked it down - SUCCESS!!! It depressed readily and lifted as well. I could see the shift drum center rotate and then all of the sudden when I spun the mainshaft counterclockwise the rear wheel, sprocket, and chain moved beautifully forward!!!
Don - you're my hero. Thanks for the heads up advice. Having had three of these bikes you could easily visualize my engine's description over the phone. Count me as very impressed. I plan to put her all back together and go for round 2 of the break in after work tomorrow (with shifting gears this time = )

ATM rules! Thanks Mxtra and Spikester for your continued valuable input with my RM.


Sean

[OlSchoolFool393]

Anytime Sean........May everything run out good for Ya and Keep us informed And most of All ENJOY......You
will like the way the bike rides they really turn Good!
OSF

[Fluffyhead]

OK - put everything back. Fired her up and high rev ----air leak somewhere in my second putting it all back together. Now the question is where? I seperated all the parts of the clutch side and will start over tonight. The shift drum still feels like it is engaging the shift forks. When I took off the shift detente/pawls/drum and tried to move the shift barrel the little raised circle can be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by about 70-80 degrees. If I rotate the mainshaft counterclockwise to make the sprocket and rearwheel turn clockwise I can get the raised tit to rotate further around the bearing housing it is sitting in. I presume this is due to the shift forks in the innards lifting up and down and that different gears are being engaged - is this correct?
I don't want to take this to the local dealer and pay through the nose for service, but I am getting to the end of my rope.

Sean

[Spikester]

If I have my '97 RM set where it will idle when warmed up it will rev way up when I crank it cold, I always have to run the idle set screw back out when I start it up.

[Fluffyhead]

Spikester - RIGHT ON!! I slowly played with the shift shaft and found that as I rotated the main shaft counterclockwise I could shift up and down through all the gears!! on my 3rd time of reorienting the shift drum/pawls and springs
Then I actually added some miniscule dabs of grey gasket goo from a tube to tack the right outer case gasket in place. Then, I seated the outer case; rotated the water pump gear to seat and then replaced the clutch cover and its 6 bolts. I added oil, coolant, more premix to the tank and then tried to fire her up.
First few revs seemed super high. I cracked the throttle for a sec and it all the sudden balanced out and came down in revs. Then, I tool a flathead screw driver and played with the idle screw on the carb - SUCCESS!!
She pings and rattles and hums the way she should. More importantly as I tried a slow ride down the street - she shifted through all the gears up and back
I am going to slowly break the new piston in tooling around the neighborhood over the next day or two. Then, I'll be back in action. Psyched!!!

[Fluffyhead]

All is well. Gears are shifting nicely. Things seem to be running fine. At 32:1 I am definitely getting alot of spooge on the swingarm, pipe/silencer junction and even on the rear fender and side number plastics. I even saw a little spray on the back of my helmet.
Of course this was with plain 'Mag' 2 stroke premix oil I mixed up with one gallon of gas to break in the cylinder. I have Belray synthetic (HR-2? I think) which I plan to premix at 32:1-34:1 for starters and see what happens with the spooge. Maybe I just need to blow things out a bit and check again after I get on the gas - which I can't do in my neighborhood.
Happy RM rider

Sean

[OlSchoolFool393]

Sounds Excellent Sean.....Glad it's finally comin together
Keep us updated and You will need to drop the mix with synthetic I run amsoil at 44.1 and no spooge runs very clean Happy Motorin Bro
OSF

[Fluffyhead]

Well - I am a very happy MXer. I bought an open trailer for my RM and if I can twist my wife's arm enough - for an ATV for my daughter. There are so few places to ride in South Florida - there's lots of driving involved to get somewhere where you won't get hassled.

Miami motocross is a nice little track open every day but Monday (from 1PM - until dark on weekdays). Here's a picture of my bike the way it should be - nice and dirty!

I thought I would throw in a picture of my English Springers, Calvin and Chloe.

They are awesome pups - such wonderful family dogs.
The mangement and staff at the track were super accomodating. I haven't ridden on a true MX track since high school. At 43, I was a little intimidated. So, I rolled the course and jumps the first lap and then I was able to open her up pretty well. There is a really nice table top after a long straight away where I was catching some decent air. It felt safe. I was able to rip the berms and roost up a storm. With time and practice I think its going to be great. I would do 3-4 laps and then pull off to my truck and rest. I drank a ton of water and now 4 days later - my thighs are still sore. I can't walk down the stairs very easily. Riding up on the pegs has made me use muscles I forgot I had ; ).
Any advice on stretches or exercises to toughen up my thighs? Do I need to look into an elliptical machine? I'm 6'1" , 245lb. Yes, I know I am out of shape


BTW, The bike ran great! I am very proud of my rebuild. There was still some spooge to be found at the pipe/silencer junction and on the swingarm, but she ran solid; the gears changed seemlessly; and there was no hesitation when I got on the throttle. The FMF Gnarly does give it a lot of nice low end pull. Now, I just need another slow day to sneak out and make the Southwest hour drive to the Everglades.
Peace,
Sean

[OlSchoolFool393]

Sean
All sounds good and the only way to work out the soreness is Dirt ,Dirt and more Dirt and eventually
The soreness goes away
I went to Houston and put in some laps with My Son
about a week ago and found out I'm way out of shape
Myself couldn't hardly walk with wabbly legs for about
4 days But it sure was Fun mixin it up with the boy.
If You change to a good synthetic like Amsoil Dominator
or Motul 800 and mix at 44/1 is what I run the spooge problem will go away, And pistons will last alot longer!
Don

[Fluffyhead]

Thanks again, Don, so much. I wouldn't be riding without your help, my man. The lower end cases ROCK! I tried the Belray HR1 full synthetic at 38:1 in the Mixrite cup with 93 premium pump gas. I think I still need to burn out the ole crap in there. Like MXtras said in a post I read - 'you gotta ride it like you stole it' to get her cleaned out. I haven't really had the chance to get her up to fifth gear and wind it out on this track. I did open her up in fourth and she sounded happy - not even one sputter. I need to get to some wide open trails to let her rip, asap. Now that I can talk to some other MXers down here I can find out where else people ride.
Wish I could head North to Motoman's track in a couple of weeks. Too much going on to make it happen this year. Hope all the ATMers that can make it have a great time!

[OlSchoolFool393]

Try to make it to GMB in October if possible?
OSF

[Freak]

Sounds like you got it all worked out. congrats!