[JimDirt]

You can check the valves again and see if they have moved from you last adjustment , if they have then yes , toast , but you have not run it enough to me to warrant the adjustment changing ....

The idling issue is more of the fuel/air issue , it is either sucking air , or the slide is not going down all the way ..... Question .... when you redid the carb , and you had the slide out , did you put the floating slide plate in upside down ???

the hole should be at the BOTTOM , and the point at the top , as that could cause a air leak , and cause the engine not to idle all the way down .... .... if you turn the idle screw all the way back to where the is no pressure on it , the bike should idle , or most likely die because the idle should be too low , then you can adjust it up to where the Tach reads correctly , then see if it will idle , you may have to play with the fuel screw to get the mixture dialed in ......

[thisone1]

Okay, I will pull the carb out again tomorrow and will post pictures. I did follow the manual. Before that, I will check too see if the the rubber boots to carb/airbox as well.
Let me get the idling done with and probably will take it out for a ride and then see the valve clearance.
Thank you for your diligence on this issue. Much appreciated, Jim.

[thisone1]

Here's a look at the plate.
Fully close and half open throttle. If you think the plate is incorrect or need me to open that up as well, let me know.

[thisone1]

Okay put everything back together. Fired back up 2nd kick and idling much better now 1680~1740rpm.
42,175,1-3/4 turns.
Regarding the clicking noise, the valve clearance didn't change but then again I haven't taken it out just around the neighborhood for 5 mins.
Should I put on a couple of hours(light trails) and check clearance again?

[JimDirt]

Yea , ride it , if the valves are going to move it will take a few hours to get them to move enough to where you would actually get a measurement difference from them , which would be smaller clearance , needing a smaller shim than installed , if it moves that much in that time , then plan on a valve job real soon .... sooner than later ..

As far as the idle goes , it sounds like maybe the floating plate was not seated on the slide or something , since it idles now , that would indicate something was holding the throttle open slightly , or allowing extra air or fuel to enter , that floating plate is held to the slide by engine vacuum , so if for some reason it was not flush and in the inset , it would not seal , and not allow it to idle correctly .. , not saying that was the issue , but it is a high possibility ... as the picture shows the slide plate is installed correctly

Was your hot start sticking maybe ?? , or maybe the choke slightly stuck , ?? they do get buildup on them and they will stick , I usually take both the Hot Start plunger and the Choke knob out , and polish the brass with fine steel wool ...

[thisone1]

Yup that's exactly what I did when I pulled the carb out. Cleaned hot start and added a dab of grease, choke was also cleaned.

I will ride it for couple of hours and check on the clearance again. If it is a bigger difference then I will take your advice and get the valve job done before I blow something else.
If it is the case of valve job, do you think its better to do a full rebuild also?

[JimDirt]

Honestly , it depends on the hours on it , and how it was used/abused by the prior owner ... you can go much past 100 hours on these bikes , my 02 I was at over 400 hours since the last piston change , and never needed to do a crank in the 12 years I had it , I ride my bikes somewhat hard , but I don't abuse them , oil changes , and air filter cleanliness goes a long way as to keeping these engines alive ... My plan on my 2020 is to do a piston at 100 hours regardless of what it looks like , I will most likely replace it with OEM or Vertex or JE , I am at 62 hours currently , mainly because I have not ridden in over a month due to needing to do some major remodeling at home , so unfortunately , my riding suffers , but I would have been close to 80 hours by now , as I average about 8 -10 hours a month on it , weekends only for the most part , sometimes I get to squeeze in 4 days of riding , but mostly 2 days per week/weekend

With that said , a compression check will give you some idea of how the engine is ... bottom ends can go a while , and generally unless you are racing hard (Pro level or close) a crank will last most of the life of the bike , unless a valve cuts loose or you have deep pockets and can go ahead and replace everything from time to time , as it gets to be a spendy rebuild (not really much more than a 2 stroke , but still a lot of money) ..... When you replace the valves , unless you are seriously racing and concerned about grams of weight , I would go with Stainless Intakes , I ran them on my 02 and have them on my 06 450X , and I have not had to do a valve adjustment on it since 2006 when I had them installed , if that says anything ... and on my old R , I rode it hard and the engine had plenty of punch , the Stainless did not affect the power in any way a "non Pro" would notice ... or you could get a complete head or have yours redone by Ken here , he has good prices on ready to go heads ... you have to be careful in getting the valves redone , most automotive machine shops don't have a clue as to how to properly do the valves on these bikes , if they cut the seats too deep they will limit the shim size , as the deeper the seat is cut , the smaller shim can fit , leading to the same issue as when your valves go bad , no shim that will fit in the remaining space , as the smallest shim is it , when you get to it or close you have no adjustment left and the head is toast ... so going to a reputable shop that knows these bikes is critical when making choices like that

If you tear down the top , check the piston for skirt wear , if its scratched or worn , replace it , then check the rod movement , side to side up/down , if anything beyond spec is noticed , replace the crank while you have it down , if a valve hits a piston , the crank , or rather rod bearings will be toast , so you want to avoid dropping a valve , as it will cost a new head , possibly cylinder and crank , and maybe even cases , so if the valves are moving , it is time to consider getting the valves done sooner than later... when doing a piston or replacing valves , ALWAYS , replace the timing chain

Otherwise , ride it for a few hours , and check the valves , if everything checks out to be the same specs as when you checked it last , then go have fun and ride , and maybe check them after another 10 or so hours , if they don't move , then keep riding , and maybe if you are concerned , do a refresh in the winter when riding season is over , that is when I do any major maintenance ... never during riding season unless something goes wrong and is mandatory to tear the bike down aside from regular maintenance before/after a ride

I do all bearings , either re-grease or replace in winter , I do any major revamping in winter , fork oil , shock oil , muffler repacking , so spring time comes , and I am ready to ride with a fresh bike that should last all season without issues ...

[thisone1]

First of all, thanks Jim for all this information. This gives me a whole new perspective on when to look for what regarding the maintenance of the bike. For now, I will only be hitting light trails(I've done hard MTB for more than 8 yrs, thus my love for trials for its playfulness and fun factor). It will be far far down the road for me to hit the track(or may be never).
With that being said, I will do a compression test as soon as I get the kit delivered and post the numbers.
Depending on that, I will put a few hrs(5~10) as I only get to ride 1~2hrs every other weekend, at best.
Then check the valve clearances and if out of spec, then I will tear the top end and looks for the things you mentioned.
I was told to go with fastheads by a buddy for valve job as he had good experience with them, but if Ken does that, I will give him a shot and go with SS valves since y'all have had yours' done by him and seen no issues over the years.

[JimDirt]

Yea , keep us updated on how the riding goes , hopefully the valves stay put ... but basically once they start moving , it is only a matter of time before they end up zeroing out for good ... and go with whom you want , no biggie , I just know Ken does excellent work , as I am sure the other guy does as well ..... I have nothing to gain by suggesting Ken , just recommending someone I know does reputable work at fair prices , and that is what all of us want ...

And riding track for the most part gives you a serious workout , more so than trail riding , trails are tons of fun , but track riding keeps you in shape ... I will be 62 in Aug. and I hit the track as much as I can , I have a blocked artery in my heart and a Stent in another from poor eating habits , I am missing 1/3rd of my right lung from cancer and have Emphysema and Asthma , I also have A-Fib and Tachycardia ... and to be honest , I don't think I would have made it this long if it was not for Moto , even my Dr.s all say , with as bad as I am health wise , I am breathing very well for the damage done , and have good stamina even with all my heart issues , and they all told me to keep riding .... how many times have you heard that from a Dr. ? .. ...I love trail riding , but track is just as fun and really takes a effort compared to trails , and I do some epic single track stuff , but it is especially satisfying when you are holding your own against much younger guys on a track ...

But it really does not matter when it comes down to it ... As long as you are riding , all is good , it does not matter what discipline of riding , just the riding , is what is important .....

[thisone1]

You Sir, have my atmost complete absolute respect.
I'm exatcly half your age, and now have no excuse to not hit the track (I just love track).
Thank you for the inspiration, Jim!

I always had a 2-stroke on track, hopefully I will get the same information about it when I buy one. Now, you inspired me to get a cr125 and hit the track.
Much respect!!!

[JimDirt]

Like I said , riding is what keeps me going , so I do as much as my body or free time will allow...

I put this at about 6 minutes in , so you don't have to get bored thru 18 minutes of video , but this is a local place I ride most every weekend ( I am going to go there tomorrow and do some laps) , this track does not have any jumps , and it is not maintained , I do some work on it by hand and a shovel and a rake and use a drag with my 4 wheeler , but other than that , it has not seen a tractor since about 2010 when my friend ran it , when it was 20 ft wide and fast , but I guarantee it is a workout for pretty much anyone of any speed , the guy that joins in a bit is 10 years younger than me , he starts cutting the track trying to keep up , you will see him fall back , then be real close again , and in some shots you will see him cut the corners by about 30 ft , but this is what I do to keep in shape , hopefully next month , I will be able to go to the main MX track I ride in Oregon , it has about 17 jumps , so it makes up for the lack of jumps with this one .... We call this the GP track , as it is reminiscent of the old school GP tracks , it is just a rough natural terrain track that beats on you constantly , most guys get on it , and do 1 or 2 laps and pull off

The full version is in the Riding Video section of the forum under "61 and having fun"

[Roy16861]

Crf 250 fi won't start . With kick start but bump starts and runs fine ! After a lots of testing eventually found the fault .. it was the temp sensor in the cylinder barrel changed it for a friend's now starts easy

[JimDirt]

Crf 250 fi won't start . With kick start but bump starts and runs fine ! After a lots of testing eventually found the fault .. it was the temp sensor in the cylinder barrel changed it for a friend's now starts easy

07 CRF450R is not EFI it has a carburetor , so not the same as that 250R .... But good work finding that issue ... hopefully if someone with a 250 or possibly later model 450 (09+) will have a new place to check ....

[manikkmanikk62]

I always had a 2-stroke on track, hopefully I will get the same information about it when I buy one. Now, you inspired me to get a cr125 and hit the track.
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