my poor 200x

[oscarmayer]

We went ridin over the weekend and a stupid stick jumped up out of no where and snagged the shifter, well it tore the shifter off and snapped the shaft off at the bolt where it bolts the shifter to the shift shaft. the engine needed some work and i was trying to decide when tot ake her down for maintenance. now i have to take her down.
here's the delima, do I just rebuild the engine completely, or i am thinking of what other engines i can drop into it. what modern motors would be a good compromise to the 200x and maybe even more powerful? i rememeber someone telling me about a "mini 450" motor? i assume it will bolt in fairly simple, but what bike did it come from and what kind of motor? would definatly like to see about electric start as i'm gettin olde rand this lazy bum would like to push a buttin to start it. but hey, if not then i'll still kick it.

ok so who's got some ideas? rebuild her, or go new and if new, what do i stuff in it? keep in mind, that i have welders, chop says, drill presses and access to oen of the best maching shops around, so i can mod pretty much anything as needed.

i am thinking of a black body, tank and dark blue anadized wheels and some dark blu stuff here and there. thoughts?

[jb2wheels]

Chinese clones - Loncin/LIfan. I put a 200cc OHV e-start in an 84X. That was a great trike. The also make a 250cc version that looks like the dimensions are the same but I did not try it so I can't confirm.

If you have deep pockets, a CRF230 engine would be grea.

Either route gives you a fresh engine and e-start with a charging system that can run some decent lights.









But you have to deal with a few issues:
- rear brake pedal - I used a 350X pedal and linkage
- wiring - you can use the stock switches and lights and most of the harness, need to add starter switch & circuit and charging circuit
- I had to "clearance" the frame crossmember for the oil drain plug
- battery - what and where

I bought my engine as a complete dirtbike donor with super low hours for $180. I was on Craigslist for 6 months looking for the right deal. Ebay used to have the engines in th $500 range. Might be worth it to rebuild the X engine. I did not have an engine - just a roller - so the clone was right for me.

[oscarmayer]

thanks for the info. now to see what a CRF230 will cost. my goal is to mod this triek to hell and back at this point. run 250r tripples, 350x rear shock and longer swinger or even swap to a trx 350-450 rear end assembly if i can make it work. so yea i may have a long row to hoe.


ok just looked up a crf230 bike. it is air cooled. i think i want to go with something water cooled this time. what recommendatios are there for water cooled engines?

[rg97]

I cant think of any engines that fit the criteria.if you want a water cooled engine, you'll need major frame modification IMO. Off the top of my head, i know that honda makes a cbr250 water cooled four stroke motorcycle. I dont know what the bolting is like on them though. They also make a crf250l (liquid cooled fuel injected DOHC 250 four stroke), which is in a dirt bike. I dont even know where you would mount the radiator(s) . you could try and build a 200r

[oscarmayer]

what about the crf150r? the later models with EFI and electric start? are they worth the $?

[rg97]

why take a 200 out and put a 150 thumper in?

[oscarmayer]

that 150 about 40% more hp stock than the 200x motor did. and ther are a ton of upgrades for it including a big bore/stroker to make it into a 200cc. so my thoughts were if i do (they can reach into the 30 hp range at that point) then i would have a newer easier supported engine. i looked at the chinese motors, but i am not happy withthe pushrod type. i want an OHC motor. they do make some. I actually have a lincon 300CC water cooled motor new. i may decide to look into seeing what it takes to use that in it. but then again it's chinese with no supported performance parts. for some reason they enver hopped up the bigger motors, only the tiny stuff.

ahh well, guess i will have to keep thinking. the sad thing is the trike is down for the rest of the year due to needing to split the cases to replace the shifter. that sucks. so if i got that deep, may as well do a full rebuild. and then do a full restore. (riding restore)

man, decisions, decision.... hahahaha
why did they not make a water cooled 250 that would be close to bolt in? the otehr option is to fix it and leave it not doign any major repairs and then maybe dropping a 450r engine to a 350 bike. what about that? i have seen a 2007 trx450r atv complete for under 3k. so that's another possibility. anyway, if someone has a good idea, please spit it out. i would hate to spend another $1200 on internal upgrades only to find out i woudl have had a better and longer running engine with a newer transplant so that is really my driving factor.

[oscarmayer]

ok talked to my friend i ride with all the time. he said to just fix the motor and then do a refresh ont he rest of the bike. he said i shoudl save my $ for something else, like a TCP trike if that is what I am after. so he had some good points and so that is what I will do. save my $ for a TCP trike.

[oldskool83]

You will find 1st year CRF230s for about 1500ish all day long. cheaper to buy the bike rob as much off it. however you can build a nice 200x motor for that cost for half the price which is what I did.

[oscarmayer]

yea, thanks guys, i am just gonna open it up, i have a new set of rungs for the piston of it's still ok (only has about 90-110 hours of run time, so should still be ok), do a complete refresh, and probebly redo the bearings and stuff just to do it. i'll get my machining friend to touch up the head and valves.

i'll at this point look at doing a blast and power coat of the frank black and work on getting the wheels anadized as i wanted too before. I have to find a good shop whom can re-place the parts like the new (used)axle, and stuff. (remember my splines have wobbled out and allow for rocking of the bike even with the brake on?) so i have a fresh newer setup to install, but as mentioned need sto be coated and looking fresh.

i did look at the crf230s and i saw several on CL for around 1100-1400 but i don't know. would it really be worth it?