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

top thread this, keep the posts and pics coming, please!

paul.

Ask and you shall receive.

I started putting the bike back together.

First I cleaned out all the bearings, and repacking them with waterproof grease.

Then I sanded down all of the points on the bike where a bolt will attach to it. I need to get the paint off of it, so the bolts don't come loose. This was a bitch. I guess that powder coat is on there really good.

I had previously sheered the steering stops of my lower tripple clamp. I posted a thread a while back on how I tapped the tripple clamp and installed bolts, but no matter how strong or soft of bolts I put in there, they just kept sheering off when I dumped the bike. I came up with this idea. Just add some rubber baby buggy bumpers!

I still have a lot of cleaning and work to do to get her back together, but it's coming along nicely!

-Blake

I had same thing happen on my 07 TE 450 at about 6000 miles. Lower rod bearing, oil pump, piston and cylinder work. Wish I'd have known about a better lower rod bearing and counterbalancer. Never been to worried about the vibes though.

Couple of questions for you. The swing arm, is it in just for show, the bolt also goes through the engine casings. the rubber steering stoppers, will they give you enough steering range-side to side. They look like a neat solution if they do.
Thanks for keeping us to date with this interesting project. Also love the pictures.
Cheers

Ya, swing arm bolt is in just so I can get the bike back together right now. It's just hand tight, I know I have to pull it to get the engine in. I am just re-assembling everything so all I have to do when I get the motor is throw it in, hook it up, fill it up with fluids, and take off!

I don't know if there will be enough steering range with the rubber. I don't have the bars on at the moment. I probably won't know till I actually ride the thing, but I think there should be enough. When I had just bolts in there, I never turned it far enough for it to touch unless I took a spill, then it just sheered off. Here's some photo of the original fix.

-Blake

Huh, had no idea the steer stops were different from 08+. Innnnterestingggggg.

more progress and photos. Im tearing into the wiring harness today, but it's kinda hard to route all the wires when I don't have the motor here.

Fantastic post!!!

I look forward to my regular installments. Keep the good work coming. I see you use the Aussie Motoz tyres-They are pretty darn good for wear and hook up. Its amazing with their side wall they are cool at 6- 8psi. in sand and mud etc.

Cleaned the air box, and the battery box, and got those installed. Spent about 4 hours going through the wiring harness and pulled out a bunch of unused wires. I also shortened up some unnecessarily long wires. Doesn't look like much progress, but here are some photos anyway:













-Blake

Blake, I have a 2008 TE 450 with 185 miles. I changed the oil for the first time at 140 miles and there was MORE metal on the magnet than you have shown in your picture There was so much metal that the magnet could not pick up any more. I cleaned it off, screwed it back in... took it out again and more metal had clung to it. I dont even want to know how much more was in the engine. So i flushed it with some cheap oil and then filled it with the motorex stuff and rode it for a few hours. ended up falling on a rocky hill and broke the stator so its been at the dealer and i havent had a chance to look at the oil again. Now im worried my bearing, or something else, is going. Did you see lots of metal etc after your first change. also, my filter was black like yours. What should i do? ride it until it breaks? fix it now?
I purchased a 4yr ex. warranty... hopefully this problem will be covered if it plays out.

BMXer,

Not sure dude, i would say that that is more metal than normal. I would think something is wrong internally to cause that much metal deposit. I never had as much metal show on the magnet as I did when I tore it apart. I would give George at Up-tite a call (714) 540-2920. He is really the one who can answer that question. Tell him it was more metal than what I was seeing.

You should check with the dealer and see if they are able to pull it apart based off the metal deposits. If not, ride the shit out of it (in an area where you can be picked up by a truck) and then take it in if they will cover it. I just can't recommend waiting till it breaks to have it fixed, because it will be a lot more $$$ than getting it fixed early on.

Input anyone else?

-Blake

Wow, thanks BC and colo for the quick response!
ATM the bike is at the dealer so next time i speak to them i will bring it up. heh, its been at the dealer so long im starting to doubt i even own it, it has become a figment of my imagination. I will also give george a call, see what he thinks.
I did find some silver pieces on the screens. i also found some turquoise plastic or something... that worried me a little.
I bought the bike at 110 miles from someone who knew NOTHING about bike maintenance and he definitely did not pay attention to break in procedure. He told me stories about how fast it was... im sure he rode the shit out of it. and to make it worse, it was all street riding. Could this have been the source of the sludge, silver flakes and plastic? could he have done permanent damage?

I did some more work on the bike tonight, and am pondering the question of radiator braces. Please post your opinion on the topic I posted in the common forum: http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8580

Thanks!

-Blake

Did some more work on the bike. I put the Stock hand guards on. I can't run wrap around because I am using George's throttle tube that had a bearing in the end, so I can't put an insert in the hole in the end of the bars. I tried using the Acerbis roost deflectors, but I couldn't find space on the bars, and I think they would break in a crash since they are only held on by some plastic brackets. I like the stock ones, and they do what I need them to: Keep the cactus out of my hands and protect my knuckles from branches.

Also I wired up the rear tail light and blinkers. This is the Enduro fender from UFO and the "unbreakable" blinkers from ElectroSport. I have, however managed to break them in the past. I have figured out a mod to make them truly unbreakable. I just crack them open and put hot glue all over them, then seal them back up. That way they can take any impact and vibrations without messing up the LED electronics. I mounted them to the tail light, so the license plate, fender, and blinkers can all be removed with 3 bolts and a 5 wire plug. Pretty sweet! Now I just need to go the DMV and a new plate since my old plate cracked in half.



























-Blake

Great idea using hot glue on those lights!

I wish I had that much time on my hands, I'm so jealous! Great work.

What is George up to with the engine. have you had any diagnostics from him after he split the cases.
Thanks for keeping us so well informed.

Ya, I will keep this thread up until the bike is completed.

My latest problem is my Flexx Bar pivot pins not coming out. Check out the thread I posted here: http://www.cafehusky.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8636

-Blake