An 01 GG 300 engine in an 04 GG 200 or 300 frame?

[prentice]

I've owned, for some years, an 04 GG 200 and an 04 GG 300. Been very satisfied with these machines. Recently, when buying a GG part at my local dealer, I ended up also purchasing an 01 GG 300, that had been "traded in" with the top end off the engine and various parts in boxes, at a price I could not turn down.

It is not clear yet whether this 01 GG 300 engine will run - I'm working on that now. What I'm wondering is this: Will that 01 300 engine fit into either of my 04's - the 200 and/or the 300? I think both of my 04 frames (the 200 and the 300) are identical, but I'm not even sure about that. Are they identical?

What I'd like to do is fit the 01 GG 300 engine (assuming it runs) into my 04 GG 200 frame, as that frame has advantages (tuned suspension and licensing) over the 01 GG 300 frame. But I haven't tried yet, and I don't want to take my 200 engine out of the 04 frame if somebody has already tried and failed.

I did read some posts indicating that in 2003 GG changed the engine exhaust angle some, making it somewhat difficult to fit the same exhaust pipe on bikes before and after 2003, but it could be done with fitment work. I'm okay with that, mostly wondering if the main engine bolt holes/mounts will line up and fit. Any thoughts/experiences/guesses will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[iancp5]

I can't answer your question directly.
But ... It's actually not that time consuming to remove the engine. Also it may be worth trying to measure the mount points. Not so easy but may give a clue. Also have a good look at the exhaust stub as maybe they only changed that. I reckon you could remove and refit both engines in a day.

I'm sure GasGas would avoid major casting changes if at all possible. So it may be that the engine is pretty much the same and they just shifted the mount points slightly on the frame.

 

[GMP]

It will go right in. The angle change was done with engine mount position on the frame, not the engine castings. The pipes that go with the corresponding year frame will fit best. Also, for those years, the 200/250/300 used the same pipes.

 

[prentice]

Results of Installing 01 GG 300 engine in 04 GG 200 frame

This forum has been very helpful to me in the past, so I thought I'd post the results of my attempt to install an 01 GG 300 engine in my 04 GG 200 frame, for future readers who may attempt something similar in the years to come.

The serial number on the 01 GG 300 indicates it was built in February of 2001; not sure about the month my 04 GG 200 was built.

The 01 GG 300 engine fit nicely into the 04 GG 200 frame, meaning the engine mounting bolt holes lined up as they should in the frame. So far, so good. But the 2 engine mounting bolts, and the swingarm shaft, on the 01 were a smaller diameter than the same engine mounting bolts and swingarm shaft on the 04. The 04 bolts/swingarm shaft would not fit through the holes in the 01 engine case. What to do? Possibly one could enlarge the diameter of the holes in the 01 engine case, but I took the easy way out, and simply used the engine bolts and swingarm shaft from the 01, and installed them in the 04. This meant, of course, that the holes in the 04 frame, being sized for the larger diameter bolts/swingarm shaft, were a larger diameter than the same holes in the 01 frame. Maybe this will cause problems in the future and I will watch for that.

About the swingarm bushings, the swingarm bushings for both years had the same outside diameter and lengths, but of course different inside diameters, since the two swingarm shafts had different diameters. So I replaced the 04 swingarm bushings with the 01 swingarm bushings. I thought about simply using the 01 swingarm, and the casting numbers on both swingarms were the same, and they looked to be identical. But I ended up using the 04 swingarm, with the 01 swingarm shaft and bushings, for no particular reason.

About the exhaust pipe, I'd purchased a new FMF Gnarly for an 04 GG 300 (I've got one of those Gassers too, so I knew the new 04 pipe wouldn't be wasted). But the new pipe did not come close to fitting the 01 300 engine in the 04 frame. I should mention that the forks and shock in this 04 frame have been lowered an inch, so a 5-1/2 foot rider's feet hit the ground. So that could be the problem with the new pipe for an 04 GG 300 on this particular bike. But, in any event, the 01 GG 300 pipe fit like a glove, as did the 04 spark arrestor, so in they went, and easily.

All goes well so far, bike runs fine in a brief 15 minute run, we will see what happens in the months to come.

 

[GMP]

I forgot about the swingarm pivot and motor mounts. I would not ride the bike with slop between the frame and swingarm pivot. And spacers to the pivot shaft to tighten things up.

 

[prentice]

Spacers Added to Swingarm Pivot/Frame connection

GMP's comments seemed well taken to me, and another experienced person was also concerned about the "slop" between the 01 swingarm pivot shaft, and the 04 frame, even with the correct torque on the swingarm pivot shaft nut. The diameters of two swingarm pivot shafts are approximately 14 mm (01 model) and 17mm (04 model). So I added two spacers (ID about 14 mm and OD about 17 mm) at the frame/swingarm pivot shaft connection points, with the spacers slightly shorter in length than the frame hole into which the spacers go.

Not sure yet how long this 01 GG 300 engine will last, and maybe if I do a complete rebuild I'll have the engine mounting holes in the engine cases bored out to the 04 size; we shall see. Thanks again to GMP and others for your thoughts/suggestions.