going to rebuild my first top end

[trikes4life]

I have a friend that thinks he might need a top end rebuild he wants me to do it for him he says he has faith in me. it would be my first. Its a 200s fairly simple. i ahve taken them a part before. Is rings and gasket set all i need, or is there something else. He got it back from the dealer to have clutch work and carb cleaned in may and had no money to pick it up untill mid august. And it smokes know. dont recomend my bike going there now. i know they ride your stuff around the parking lot!!! but there was a few parties he had and there was beer a foot. So many possiblities .

[TravEX]

It's not too bad. I just did one a few weeks ago, my first. Make sure you keep up with the dowel pins, and EXACTLY where the came from and put them back in the EXACT same place. That was the only problem we had. Take your time and go by the manual.

Travis

[thefox]

Don't forget to hone the cylinder too! Not honing it will toast those new rings.

[sn22]

Do you have to pull the entire motor out of the frame to do a top end on a 200S?

[atctim]

You might want to do some valve work too while you go tit opened up.

[oldred95]

Its really pretty simple. Timing it and getting the wrist pin clips in are the hardest parts for me. It always takes an extra set of hands on the wrist pin clips for me. I'd highly recommend getting the valves ground. My 200X has next to no compression at all, was blowing oil out the exhaust and so on and when I tore it down the sleeve and rings had almost no wear. I refuse to overhaul an ATC engine like that without boring it so thats where the .040 bore comes in. No need to go that far other then I wanted to. But boring it will give you a brand new surface to work with rather then honing that just deglazes the cylinder. Also I'd recommend a simple port cleanup job. Honda left a nasty little ledge where the intake valve seat meets the head and it about has to pool gas up and restrict the flow. Just a simple blending of things and smoothing it out is sufficiant for a budget rebuild.

[Dirtcrasher]

It's not easy, not easy at all when done correctly. OK, it's not hard either but I spend allot of time checking and measuring everything when I do motor work. I run a tap through every hole, clean everything spotless and run a fine stone over every gasketed surface. People have trouble with the circlips and the spacing and location of the rings. Some of these four strokes also have an oil delivery that goes up a motor stud and into the cam area. Any leftover scraped gasket material can plug up an oil passage. There are also sometimes an oring that must be in the correct area along with a rubber plug that forces the oil to take the right path.

Anyone can toss in a top end and call it "rebuilt". Our original pistons sometimes last 20 years... Is your rebuild gonna live up to that?? The simplest of errors or neglected attention when you tear into it can make a huge difference. Almost all of these trikes need to have their cam chain, tensioner and guide replaced too.

Believe me, I had my share of stupid mistakes when I was younger. I even timed a friends motor wrong and bent his valves because I "thought" I knew how to do a topend. That poor kid probably never got that thing running again.....

[thefox]

Do you have to pull the entire motor out of the frame to do a top end on a 200S?

Yes, the cylinder is held on by long studs with nuts instead of bolts. You can take the cam cover off but can't get the head or cylinder off with the engine in the frame.

[sn22]

Thanks Fox, I was afraid of that! Looks like I know what Ill be doing in the morning!

[rally4x4racer]

The only suggestion I can add is use a digital camera if you have one. I work on so much stuff that I will disassemble one thing and when I figure out the problem and order the parts - I am tearing something else up... then by the time I get back to that first project (if it is complex - or something im not familiar with) I wont remember where half the stuff goes.

by using a camera and a manual things are much easier to figure out.

[Dirtcrasher]

The only suggestion I can add is use a digital camera if you have one. I work on so much stuff that I will disassemble one thing and when I figure out the problem and order the parts - I am tearing something else up... then by the time I get back to that first project (if it is complex - or something im not familiar with) I wont remember where half the stuff goes.

by using a camera and a manual things are much easier to figure out.

A camera is a great idea, I'll just add that I always keep a notebook handy too. It helps to write down where a washer was or a special bolt etc etc.

[bigreddaddy]

Thanks Fox, I was afraid of that! Looks like I know what Ill be doing in the morning!

So how did it go? Did you finish the top end rebuild?

[james9r9r]

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