how to tell if bike has stock piston '00 KX250

[hammerface77]

Hi guys - I just bought a 2000 kx250 - don't know much about the history of the bike unfortunately so I'm going over almost everything on it. The compression is up around 180-190. I don't know if the top end's ever been redone. Is there a way to tell if the piston has been replaced just by looking in the exhaust? I'd rather not have to pop the head/cylinder off if I don't have to. If i do have to pop the head off, will I need to replace the gasket?

I haven't even had the bike out once yet so I don't want to dump more money into it than I really need to. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks in advance :cool:

 

[TheJunkMan]

Well your compression test shows it is still in good shape unfortunatly it is not possible to know for sure if it has had a new top end in or not. The only way to know is pulling the jug off. About the gaskets you could reuse them, but I would advise against it especially the head and base gasket as you could have air/coolant leaks after inspection. IMO I would just ride the thing on what ever piston is in there until compression gets really low or it becomes a hard starter then the bike makes the choice for you.

 

[hammerface77]

junkman - thanks for the input. That's what I'm thinking. I'll just ride it till it starts acting up - if it runs good all this season then I'll do the top end next winter regardless. :)

 

[TheJunkMan]

good choice