What happened?

[DonTom]

I am junking my 2002 Suzuki DR200SE because of what happened yesterday (Wednesday, 1, July).

I was riding at WOT, which is only around 60 MPH on this bike and the engine dies instantly. Sixth gear, I think, but perhaps 5th.

Only 3,761 miles on this bike. It's my least used bike of my dozen.

So I try to restart the bike and notice the engine sounds like it has no compression, starter spinning way too fast. Right there, I know to call for a tow truck.

I was assuming the cam chain broke or fell off or whatever, but that was NOT what happened at all.

I have a big hole in the piston. Here is what the sparkplug looks like that I just removed. This plug has more than a thousand miles on it with no problems.

I have heard of preignition, but this looks more like the piston hit the plug. A few threads got cut off, and the plug was very difficult to remove because of that.

But how can the piston hit the plug? It is the correct sparkplug, and has around 3 threads gone and the center Electrode is broken off way inside.



-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Escape pod]

A Lean fuel condition Burns very hot. Aluminum piston can only take so much heat.
Possibly the carburetors main jet was restricted / buy some kind of debris. causing the fuel to burn very lean like a blow torch.
Sorry that happened to your motorcycle

 

[dravnx]

yep, ran too lean, burns shit up, especially at WOT. Max air, not enough fuel
clogged main jet
induction leak

 

[nakedape]

Don’t junk it. Take the head off and inspect for damage. It might just be a piston failure. If it didn’t melt the piston and damage the bore it’s an inexpensive DIY fix.

At least assess and tally the damage before sellling on to someone willing to fix it. Those are popular bikes for a reason. Kinda bulletproof

The lean condition diagnosis is likely. Infrequent use can do bad things.

 

[ratsblast]

Vultures are lusting, I bet they make a top end kit for it. Give it a bit of time before junking it.

Check for intake leaks when you repair it.

 

[ScottRNelson]

I have siezed more than one motorcycle engine running it at full throttle up an incline. In one case I was able to restart the engine after it cooled off and ride it some more. In the others the piston was destroyed.

You at least need to take the head and cylinder off and find out in more detail what happened. That's when you can decide if it is worth rebuilding or not.

 

[DonTom]

I

A Lean fuel condition Burns very hot. Aluminum piston can only take so much heat.
Possibly the carburetors main jet was restricted / buy some kind of debris. causing the fuel to burn very lean like a blow torch.
Sorry that happened to your motorcycle

I think that must be it. Just a few minutes before it happened, the bike misfired several times, perhaps because of a fuel problem, but I kept the bike at WOT, which now I realize was stupid. The gasoline was about a year old but it was the "clear" 86 stuff (no ethanol, which they sell here in Reno).

Don’t junk it. Take the head off and inspect for damage. It might just be a piston failure. If it didn’t melt the piston and damage the bore it’s an inexpensive DIY fix.

Yeah, I thought about fixing it myself, but decided not to bother. I decided I would like to replace the bike with another electric, such as another Zero DS. I already have a small Zero DS (smaller battery) that I take on my RV trips. That bike I leave at my house in Auburn, CA where I keep my two motorhomes. I am thinking about buying another to leave at this house.

I will also consider a new gas dual sport bike, but it will have to be fuel injected. I have a bad case of carbphobia. It will also need to have a bit more power than the DR200SE. I will soon be doing some bike shopping. Whatever I buy, it will be mainly used on the unpaved roads here in the Reno area. But I will need a bike to go on the highways to get to the unpaved roads, so it has to be street legal. And ever most of these unpaved roads I ride on require a street legal bike.

That was what I was trying to do yesterday, visit a buddy who lives out in the desert with miles of unpaved roads to get there. But I broke down right at the 65 MPH speed limit sign going north on the Pyramid Hwy. Close to Pyramid Lake (where the photo in my Avatar was taken of my Harley).

And my buddy there has a solar electric charge station, another reason a small electric would be nice. But there are many unpaved roads in this area, so I do not need much range.


-Don- Reno, NV

 

[ScottRNelson]

I will also consider a new gas dual sport bike, but it will have to be fuel injected. I have a bad case of carbphobia. It will also need to have a bit more power than the DR200SE. I will soon be doing some bike shopping. Whatever I buy, it will be mainly used on the unpaved roads here in the Reno area. But I will need a bike to go on the highways to get to the unpaved roads, so it has to be street legal. And ever most of these unpaved roads I ride on require a street legal bike.

Look into a CRF250L. It will go a little faster than the Suzuki and will likely work a bit better on the unpaved roads. I'll consider one of those someday when my XR650L starts to be too tall for me (as I continue to get older).

 

[augustiron]

I'll be your "junk" collector

 

[DonTom]

I have siezed more than one motorcycle engine running it at full throttle up an incline.

You may want to try an electric. You cannot even tell when it is going up a hill. You won't be anything near WOT uphill even on a a small electric motorcycle, such as with my Zero DS.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[Das MotorRad]

Look into a CRF250L. It will go a little faster than the Suzuki and will likely work a bit better on the unpaved roads. I'll consider one of those someday when my XR650L starts to be too tall for me (as I continue to get older).

I recently picked up a CRF250L from another member of BARF and it gets the job done. At 6'4" 200lbs with 34" inseam I make the bike look quite small but it gets me up to 60mph going uphill, and I can get up to 80+ with one hand on the bars, going downhill, WOT, with some wind at my back

 

[DonTom]

Look into a CRF250L. I

Will do. Before I buy anything, I will ask for opinions here. But I am leaning towards an electric dual sport. Like another Zero DS which I am happy with, but I want to keep that bike at my other house, 99.0 miles from here.

I see now they have the CRF300L. Looks good to me. If I decided to go with a gas engine, that will probably be it.

-Don- Reno, NV

 

[augustiron]

I know NV has looser plating requirements for motos (plated 2 stroke dirtbikes! Yay!) but that ability is the fork in the road for emotos.

I know when plating a dirt bike you need to have an inspection that shows it has headlight tail light brake light turn signals horn mirrors and DOT tires. I'd assume the same for an ebike, but definitely do some more research on that.

For most Moto's you can get a cheap generic dual sport kit and slap it on and make it work with some crappy DOT tires, with the boatload of new emotos out there, maybe it's the same, but you might have to cobble something together.

Something like the Zero that comes already set up like that makes sense if you're just doing dirt roads and not hard single track stuff.

Ai sez....

Google Search

 

[CDONA]

My TW has a rattle in the combustion chamber that sounds like preignition @ a certain high speed rev range.
Always done it, I did have the preignition @ low speeds almost lugging it, when slow dirt maneuvering,
a rev would clear the rattle every time.
I had it rebuilt looking for the timing issue, new cam chain, tensioner, piston & bore job, old piston no marks, just fluffy carbon layer on top.
After the rebuild, still has the rattle in the top end, at speed, and the low speed rattle has diminished, some.
My guess, too rich & fluffy @ idle speed when hot, carbon caused low speed preignition

 

[ThumperX]

CSC and CF Moto have some good electric PLATED dual sport options. Not sure if Auburn Extreme has them on the floor or not.

 

[augustiron]

My TW has a rattle in the combustion chamber that sounds like preignition @ a certain high speed rev range.
Always done it, I did have the preignition @ low speeds almost lugging it, when slow dirt maneuvering,
a rev would clear the rattle every time.
I had it rebuilt looking for the timing issue, new cam chain, tensioner, piston & bore job, old piston no marks, just fluffy carbon layer on top.
After the rebuild, still has the rattle in the top end, at speed, and the low speed rattle has diminished, some.
My guess, too rich & fluffy @ idle speed when hot, carbon caused low speed preignition

Maybe you shouldn't have put that 13.5:1 piston in there.

#twbomb

 

[DonTom]

Today, I took a quick look inside several motorcycle shops today. Eurcycles of Reno sells Zeros, but they have less in stock then I have ever seen in the past. But I could always order one, as there is no hurry. They say it will take a month.

I also went to Honda. where they had only one dual sport, a CRF450RL, which is something I can consider, because I now want larger than 200CC.

I also went in the Harley shop (had nothing in dual sport , as I expected) and the Yamaha and Kawasaki shop. Yamaha had nothing interesting to me.

But KAW was loaded with tons of dual sports to choose from.

I have not yet checked out Suzuki. I will check them out later.

But what will be perfect for mu use is a Zero 7.2 or a Zero Black Forest. Eurocycles has a used Black Forest for around two years unsold. But it is no longer there, so I assume it was sold or traded with another shop or whatever. I would have bought it today is it were still there. It had a 6.6 KW charger.

Zero Black Forest:




But I prefer this bike to have the smaller battery. I already own a Zero DSR/X but I do not like to take it far on unpaved roads. It's the main bike I use to get between my houses, 99.0 miles apart. I also prefer the luggage like the Black Forest. I am often taking things from one place to another.


-Don- Reno, NV

 

[ScottRNelson]

I also went to Honda. where they had only one dual sport, a CRF450RL, which is something I can consider, because I now want larger than 200CC.

The CRF450L is a serious dirt bike and needs a lot more maintenance than any of the other CRF models. It is in the same league as the KTM 500 EXC. Something to be aware of.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Spark plug tips burn off when exposed to excessive combustion temperatures, usually caused by a too-lean air/fuel mixture, over-advanced ignition timing, or using the wrong heat range of spark plug...

Also it's catastrophic if a valve fails and comes in contact with the plug and piston...

 

[DonTom]

I have made arrangements to donate the DR200SE. But perhaps that was a mistake as I should have asked here first if anybody wanted it, but it would have to be picked up here in Reno.

I have decided I will still look to see what is available, but I am pretty sure I will only consider an electric. New or used for this bike. Perhaps I will need to order what I want.

From what I see on Zero's website, I don't think we can buy the DS new with the smaller battery any more, and that is what I would want. I do not need a long range for this bike. Besides, there are plenty of places around to charge it these days here in Reno--and mostly free charges. But even if not, just 3 bucks will charge it to full from near empty. But that has nothing to do with why I wand to replace this with an electric.

-Don- Reno, NV