[Andy Salmonsen]

Yeah that is very true. If you don't live your life the way you want you will end up not really living life you know. Im still trying to figure how to keep my mouth shut around my mom. I tend to talk to much and put my friends and i in really crappy situations with the moms. My mom puts up with it but she doesn't want me too get hurt. You guys are definitely right about riding with other people. If something happens and you are alone, you are basically SOL. I even have to say riding with no one else is really kinda boring. Im lucky to have a good group of guys. Their are 3 of us and we are 15, 15 and 13 so we are gonna probably go through a lot of our riding days together. The other great thing is all our dads are into it which makes it super easy to get everyone out of the house and go ride.

Gonna take a go at the cam chain tonight with my dad, hopefully we will finally get this thing right!

[JimDirt]

Don't piss off your mom .... I just lost mine last January and I will tell you , you only get one , and you don't get do overs .... so treat her well and respect what she wishes , but still try to have fun ...... when you are older you will be glad you did ...... and yea , I ride with a guy that is 4 months younger than me (he is 60 as well) and another guy is 54 and the other 51 , the other 52 (so all around the same age) , 3 of us ride pretty much every weekend (mostly MX tracks) ... this is us having fun at 60 ...

[Andy Salmonsen]

So today my dad and I put the bike back together(for the third time) to see if it will fire up. Went to kick it and it just didn't feel right. Half way thru the stroke it felt like it was hitting the valves because it just didn't want to move at all. We were playing with the timing so we knew it was off so went to adjust it. Got the timing right again and what do ya know, our good friend mister timing chain decides to fall off the bottom sprocket AGAIN!!!!


I know that the bike is really close to being able to run and I want to continue on it but my dad and I both made the decision that enough was enough and that it is time to bring it into the shop. I know it may seem like we are quitting on the bike when we are so close, but my dad and I are just really tired of working on it. Things just keep screwing up and we keep having to fix them over and over and over. I know thats part of the process with bikes and all but man after a month of coming home from high school, trying to get all your homework done with decent time left in the night, work on the bike, get it ready to run and finally have something else break or screw up...it gets really frustrating.

I thank you guys for helping me through this rebuild and helping me get all the way to here. I couldn't have gotten this far without you guys and it means the world to me that 3 guys from different places around the world would help a 15 year old like me. If you guys are ever in So Cal, just know that the offer is open to go on a ride. Ill send you guys some pics of the bike and a video of it running when i get it all done to see what you guys helped me accomplish over this past month.

Thank you guys, ride safe

P.S. Jim, I'm sorry to hear that you lost your mom a little bit ago. I couldn't imagine how hard that would be to loose a mom. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Back2-2]

Sometimes it's time to just throw up the white flag. Sorry to hear that but understandable.
Good luck and I hope that you have some good mechanics at the shop you chose. You seem like a good, bright kid. I think you will do very well for yourself in the future ahead of you. It's refreshing to see that in today's youth.

[Aussiecrf230]

Landon,
A family decision was made and we respect that for sure.
Of course if we don't get an end to the story and some photos of the bike, well as Liam Said "We will find you". LOL.

Hope they don't charge you too much.
Keep up your studies you don't want to end up a bike mechanic!

[Back2-2]

Well - whats the outcome? The troops are on hold with abated breath?

[Aussiecrf230]

Neil,
You know shops take forever sometimes.
But I know what you mean.

[Andy Salmonsen]

The outcome is a bike that purrs like a kitten!!!
Just got her back today and she runs great. Timing chain got fixed, found that there was actually a problem with leak jet which was not letting bike start and idle screw was all the way out. Took for a drive around the house today and man she feels really good, runs a lot smoother and cleaner. Ill be posting a video and some pictures of her once i get the graphics on her!

I just got one last question for you guys. I want to keep up on changing the oil on my bike and my dad's, but the pro honda oil is pretty darn expensive. I keep hearing everyone using the rotella oil and how great it is and how cheap it is. My friend has it and uses the 15w-40 type in his kx450fs. Is the rotella stuff good, should i use it? also does it come in 10w-30 or 10w-40 or is it only 15w-40?


Thanks!
P.S. Now that she is running, when are any of you guys gonna be in southern california, because if so lets go on a ride!!!!

[Back2-2]

Excellent. As for oil I will not go on a Jim run but to answer your question - Yes, Rotella is good oil. Fact is there is no bad oil. The frequency of the changes is far more important than the brand. Some say you have to use synthetic oils. That could not be further from the truth. Again, frequency is the fact of oil life. as for weights that just depends on your climate. I have always used 20/50 Castrol in all my bikes, street and dirt. Where I live now I need to go to a lighter viscosity oil in the 10/40 or 10/30 wt.

Not sure that answers your question and as always it has more to do with opinion and brand name favorites then what the oil itself is doing. Change every few rides, keep a clean air filter and you are golden.

Glad it worked out for you.

[Andy Salmonsen]

Picture of bike... thanks for all the help, it led me to this beauty of a bike!!!

[Andy Salmonsen]

Here is a picture with better quality

[Aussiecrf230]

Looks a sweet ride and remember you and your dad did most of the work.

[JimDirt]

Yes ... Good looking bike , and even though you had to revert to a shop , be proud that you took it upon yourselves to go over everything ...... even though a shop finished it , you still did good .......

On the oil thing , the only thing I will add is make sure (for the tranny side) that any brand you do get meets the "JASO ,MA" requirements for a Wet Clutch (it will say it on the back of the bottle in amongst all the other info , with those 2 words and will also say "safe for wet clutches") ... other than that , yes Rotella is fine , I have used it myself ..... I do prefer Synthetics because I feel the bikes shift better with them than Petroleum oils .... but other than that , like Neil mentioned ... keeping the oil changed is what matters most , a clean engine is a happy engine .... Enjoy riding , and don't be a stranger ......

[Andy Salmonsen]

The oil I have is NAPA oil and it doesn’t say JASO-MA anywhere on it. It meets and exceeds API SN, API SN with SN plus and all proceeding API gasoline categories, but no MA. I know JASO is Japan’s oil certification and the USA’s is API, so how can I tell if the oil is safe in wet clutches with API certification?

[Andy Salmonsen]

Picture of oil specs on back of container