dissapointed new gasgas owner

[lukemonroe]

I just bought a 2000 ec200 for my 14 year old son. The first time I took it out to ride, the engine lost power and started making a lot of noise. I took the cylinder off and found the main rod bearing is bad. I don't really want to go through the time and expense of fixing it. I am considering parting it out or selling as a whole. How much money should I expect to get parting it out?

Thanks,
Luke

 

[blitz11]

Why not just rebuild the crank? I think that you can get a CR250 rod kit, and have the crank rebuilt for $35 by RB Design. If you add in gaskets (and why not do main bearings and seals while you're there), you can do the whole job for $300. Then, you have a known good entity that the boy can ride for the next 4-5 years.

Actually, you two could do the job together, and he can learn all about engines and that kind of stuff. Good skills to have. The best way to learn is to do it yourself.

blitz.

 

[bondo]

Sorry to hear that the new bike blew up on the first ride - especially since it ws your son's first experience with the bike.

I bought my son and EC200 when he was 14 and on our first ride discovered that the front brake hose was frayed and wouldn't maintain hydraulic pressure (my fault for not noticing when we bought the bike).

Obviously, not as serious as a bottom end issue, but I can appreciate how you both must have felt.

With that background info., let me encourage you to either fix this bike or replace with a similar one. The 200 Gas Gas was probably the best thing that ever happened to my son as far as helping him gain confidence and skill in his riding. The 200 is an outstanding bike and I'm confident that your son will be faster and have more fun on it than just about anything you could put him on. (More background; my son came off of a TTR 125 Yamaha when we got the 200. Now, two years later, he's on a 300 GG - though sometimes I think he wishes he was still on the wonderful 200).

 

[gasser]

The connecting rod is the same for the GG250 and 300 so I would guess that it's shorter rod is needed for the 200.

 

[lukemonroe]

If he was interested at all, I would do it with him, but he has no interest in it. I can't even keep his interest long enough for an oil change. I know if I do fix it, it will end up costing a bunch of money, plus a lot of my time. I have been down that road before.

I have never parted out a bike before, and I am curious if that is worth my time.

He has outgrown his drz125l, and is now riding my wife's crf150. I did have hope that this would be the perfect bike for him.

 

[jhendr3702]

I have never parted one out either, but have given it some thoughts...

I watch ebay all the time for gasgas parts and there is not much on there at all... The market for those bikes/parts seems pretty small.

I think the best place to advertise is here. Maybe post up some pix's and try to sell it as is ? where is the bike located ?

on the other hand, my son was never interested in working on bikes either. If it got done, i did it..... but it was if I wanted him to go ride with me or not.... that did not make it any less frustrating, but that was just the way it was.

sorry to hear about the problems. The bikes are awesome...

 

[GMP]

That sounds like my oldest, would rather chase balls around a field than learn how to fix something. Anyway, it will probably take more of your time to part it out and ship, manage payments, etc than to fix it.

 

[marjastaja]

I recommend that you fix it.
I was 14 when i got my first ever motorcycle, it was a 50 cc.derbi
http://p1.bikepics.com/pics/2004\12\23\bikepics-262399-full.jpg

And the reason why we bought it was that it was broken/ didn't start. We tried all we could and finally the reason was reed valve, quick sandpapering and it worked well.
Then I rode it for couple hours and it was broken. This time we didn't even try to solve what was broken, but we opened up the engine and switched all new bearings and seals ( of course also piston and rod also). After that I've rode it for 8 thousand km. It was a great experience when we finally got it working (after changed almost all electrics) and I started riding it.

I've learned then (almost) everything I've needed so far on 2-stroke engine. And Gasser's maintaining is routine after doing that.
So, if you fix it, it will help your son to survive with possible problems with his Gasser.

 

[jostby]

my son was never interested in working on bikes either. If it got done, i did it..... but it was if I wanted him to go ride with me or not.... that did not make it any less frustrating, but that was just the way it was.

Here I thought it was just me with that type of kid

lukemonroe,
I split the case on my '00 to replace the crank bearings. Other than the flywheel puller (standard KX puller) and a modified steering wheel puller in order to split the case there was nothing scary or hard about it. I left all of the transmission parts in one side of the case (don't remember which) so there was no table full of parts to reinstall. Just the clutch basket, kickstart, waterpump and a few misc items. The dealer I was buying parts from back then even told me to skip replacing the shift, countershaft, and kickstart seals if they weren't leaking. I didn't replace them (not even the water pump seal) and the bike still doesn't leak. This was about 3 or 4 years ago. I did clean the seals that were exposed though. I think the bearings were about $60 but in your case have Ron at RBDesigns supply and replace them. Reuse a few parts and you will save a lot of money (exhaust o-rings included) Of course change the crank seals though. The rest of them are easy to acces if needed at a later date.

I weaned my kid off of a TTR also and he has been extremely happy also.
We're here for ya'

 

[jhendr3702]

Here I thought it was just me with that type of kid

lukemonroe,
I split the case on my '00 to replace the crank bearings. Other than the flywheel puller (standard KX puller) and a modified steering wheel puller in order to split the case there was nothing scary or hard about it. I left all of the transmission parts in one side of the case (don't remember which) so there was no table full of parts to reinstall. Just the clutch basket, kickstart, waterpump and a few misc items. The dealer I was buying parts from back then even told me to skip replacing the shift, countershaft, and kickstart seals if they weren't leaking. I didn't replace them (not even the water pump seal) and the bike still doesn't leak. This was about 3 or 4 years ago. I did clean the seals that were exposed though. I think the bearings were about $60 but in your case have Ron at RBDesigns supply and replace them. Reuse a few parts and you will save a lot of money (exhaust o-rings included) Of course change the crank seals though. The rest of them are easy to acces if needed at a later date.

I weaned my kid off of a TTR also and he has been extremely happy also.
We're here for ya'

no jostby... you are not alone.
the thing that really got me is he has way more natural talent on a bike than I ever had. Hop on anything and be pretty fast (compared to me anyway)
Just never wanted to take care of it... I had him a pretty nice gg 250 and he showed zero interest, so i sold it... The one time a year he wants to ride, he can ride my old rmx and still be as fast as me.........
Maybe someday they will grow up who knows..

sorry to hijack and back to regular scheduling....
jay

 

[Fred1956]

FWIW...I'm looking to get another bike for my son. He is 16 but only been riding for about 4 weekends, doing well on an 05 CR230F Honda. If this 200 would be a step up as I think it would, I might be a buyer for the whole bike if the money is right

 

[Rick]

Fred,
Go for it! The 200 is a great all a round bike!