TE450 Bike Rebuild (orignally "Lots of metal last oil change!")

This has turned out to be a very informative post. Can't wait to hear George's diagnostics.
I would caution you on the white frame-they do tend to mark up more than the silver. They seem to go off white, yellowish fairly quickly-only my 2 cenrs worth.
What were your head bearings and bearing seats like by the way

The head bearings and seats are like new, as well as all the swing arm bearings. I take all of these bearings out ever season and clean and re-pack them with grease. I had them apart not too long ago.

-Blake

Nice garage. I would not paint your frame white. Your frame color is MUCH lower maintenence. White looks great only when it's clean and new. I'm touching mine up now. White primer + white appliance enamel looks OK, but not perfect. Yours looks real good in the pictures. I would think with new plastics and decals it would look awesome.

I would definitely go powder coat since you've already got the frame stripped. I took mine here:

http://www.olympicpowdercoating.com/powder-coating/index.html

They did a great job. They do a lot of motorcycles, so they know what to mask off and plug. I think the frame was a little over $100 for the prep and coat.

Olympic is just a few hundred yards west of George's shop, right next to the railroad tracks.

Called Olympic, and they wanted $150. I called a local shop, Temecula Valley Powder Coating, and they were asking the same: http://www.temeculapowder.com I took it in this morning, and Mike said he was pretty sure the frame was powder coated from the factory. I had no idea! He said he would try hitting it with the sand blaster to see if it's paint, but if it was powder coat, he would have to send it out to be stripped, and charge me $40 more.

He seemed like a really nice guy, and knew his stuff. They are going to plug the head tube and all the threads, and tape off the VIN. They are going to strip it, blast it, and then bake it at 400 to get all the grease out, then shoot it and bake it again.

I decided on white since it was a bit cheaper than silver and I like the look of the new bikes. The reason he said it was more to go with silver was because to get a nice silver look, they would need to apply a clear coat, and that would be a bit more $$$.

I also wire wheel'd my headers last night to take all the dirt and crud off of them. They look almost as good as new.

I'm excited! This bike is going to look BRAND NEW!

-Blake

Any new info on the motor?

Just called George. He still hasn't broken the motor down. He has been working on rebuilding 2 others. He said that he felt the flywheel and he's pretty sure it's the rod, but I'll let you all know as soon as he splits the case.

-Blake

Please give the white paint a second thought. It really does yellow off and show marks and grime etc. more than the silver. It just seems to age more quickly.

Ya, I have thought about it a lot, and have really been going back and forth, but I really LOVE the look of the new bikes. I talked to Mike, the owner of TVPC, and he said that the powder he is going to use won't fade and turn to a yellow color, and I should be able to clean any grease/dirt/grime off it pretty easily. I hope it will make me keep my bike cleaner. If it looks like shit in a year, I will tear it back down and re-paint it silver.

-Blake

Thought about that too...but when I looked at the expense, I couldn't afford that AND rebuild the engine.

-Blake

Got the frame back from powder coating. Looks great. I'm going to start re-assembly this weekend. Check it out!

Ya, I took those photos last night, and the frame is still sitting there. So sad I have to take it in the garage tonight to start putting it back together. My girlfriend likes how smooth the powder coat feels

-Blake

Talked to George today. He confirmed it was the lower rod bearing that was going and that is what all the metal was. He's going to replace all the bearings as well as the oil pump. Also he found that the nut holding the impeller on the water pump had fallen off He said that my piston and cylinder were toast, so he's sending the cylinder out to get plated, and I'm getting a new piston.

All in all it is going to be a brand new bike! I can't wait to get it all back together! I'm gong to try and get everything assembled this weekend, so I can drop the motor in as soon as I get it back from George.

-Blake