125-200cc New Husky owner needs tips

Hello all, glad to be a new member here. I've been riding since age 6 and have added a 1999 Husqvarna WR 125 to the stable. It's purpose is to be a backup bike for me and something for the wife to ride. It will be replacing her 1985 KDX 200 which mostly gathered dust. I got a super deal but it's a bit ragged out. My current bike (1999 KTM 380 EXC) started out that way and has undergone extensive work (frame up rebuild/upgrade) and is now something I get lots of compliments on. I could detect a small amount of play on the ignition side of the little Husky so thought it may need a crank bearings. The kid said it ran good but thought it may need a ring due to having to gas it a lot when starting. It started with one kick today when he rode it and seemed to run fine. I didn't ride it due to the crank issue which he was not aware of. I got it home today and immediately tore it down. The piston and cylinder are both within spec but the ring end gap is way off. I couldn't feel any vertical movement in the rod so I'm not sure if it does need a bottom end rebuild or not. What method do you all use for determining the need for a bottom end rebuild? I'm fine doing top ends and most other work, but have not ever done a bottom end rebuild so it will likely get sent out. I hate to make a huge initial post so I will stop here and ask more specific questions in other posts. Looking forward to good times on this bike and glad to be a member of another cool club.
Thanks,
Jason

Just an update. I read in Eric Gorr's book that play in the flywheel was indicative of a bad crank so I will go ahead and have the bottom end rebuilt. Better safe than sorry, especially on a bike with questionable maintenance history. So I've found a rod kit for $65.00 which seems dirt cheap. I usually use a bearing company for all my bearings. The crank bearings are 62x25x17mm. I can get those for $9 each in chrome steel with a limiting RPM of 14k RPM. From what I could tell the stock bearings are nothing special. Anybody see a reason to pay over double for the factory bearing? I'd get ceramic for fun if they weren't $250 each! So it looks like I'm off to a decent start gathering parts. I'll likely get the engine down to the cases then have a shop do the bottom end work. I plan to get a gasket kit and seals as well. Is there anything else I should do while it's torn down?

check for excessive side ways movement in the big end empty the engine oil and refill with diesel,clean motor thoroughly on the outside, fill cylinder/crankcase with diesel swill around and empty into a clean bucket and examine for metal fragments then do same with engine.this should give you some peace of mind put some oil into the crankcase before reassembly.splitting the cases is no biggy but you will require some special tools and patience.

Thanks for the advice. I think half the benefit of a project like this is having a nice clean engine and bike when it's all done. I think I'll strip it down to the cases then take it somewhere for the splitting and crank rebuild. I may have time to pull the engine tonight then it will be much easier to work on and clean.