my 01 wr426's falling appart!

[sfc crash]

after my second ride i noticed my left air scoop coming up against me knee as i was riding home, the screw had fallen out. tonight i was changing the oil and noticed the silencer to frame bolt right past the pipe/silencer conector, was missing. i know the manual says tighten, well basically the whole bike,after each race, but i ride like a little girl(who wrecks alot), i hope this isn't a sign of things to come with this bike.:think

 

[MWEISSEN]

The air scoop screws fell out of my '99 WRF too. I put a little threadlock on them, and the left-over tl has been enough to keep them in place ever since, despite a number of removals.

The exhaust bolt was also one that loosened up. Also watch the rear fender mount bolts and front engine mounts. Overall, the bike should "settle down" from loose bolts.

 

[SFO]

My wr426...

Watch the oill filter cover, blow it out before reassembly and the threaded holes where it attatches were buggered
up on mine. I ran a form tap through them when I noticed resistance on reassembly.
The drain plug is prone to buggering as well, beware the aftermarket magnetic drain plug with thick washer...
This cost me a time-sert in my drain hole.
ALL brgs shoiuld be greased, steering head and suspension pivots and links...
Relocate the crank breather.
Study the free mods on thumper talk and laugh at how much power is trapped in your bike.
Front wheel brgs are sketch-o-rama also.

 

[wayneo426]

normal maintenance

sfc-sounds like your experiencing normal wear and tear on your bike. They tell you to check EVERY nut and bolt after riding your bike. Have you done this? You know they dont use loc-tite at the factory, so your on your own. If you start missing nuts and bolts, then its time you gave some love to your scoot!

 

[dirtlord]

SFC, I occasionally noticed missing bolts on header exhaust guard, radiator shrouds, front fender so now I always have spare 8,10,12 mm nuts and bolts just in case. Oh.. yeah you may want to loc-tite and checks them every ride. ;) I don't think that your bike is falling apart, it just need some TLC! :cool:

 

[SFO]

After my Husaberg...

The wr is as reliable as a caterpillar tractor.
I was equally freaked though after signing a note for 10K with financing for my bike.
Then every burble is the end of the earth.
It will be all right...

 

[wayneo426]

10K for the WR?

Dont tell me you paid 10K when financing your WR? Please, dont tell me that! :scream:

 

[sfc crash]

i bought a handfull of 8,6 mm bolts, locking washers and flat washers. went over the bike last night,only things loose were the shroud/air scoop bolts , but the rest of the bike was real tight. i guess ya cant keep crashing, albeit at low speed, and not have some stuff start to loosen.:think

 

[JasonJ]

I got my bike used and every thing on it was sick tight! Even stuf that should not be. I cursed the previous owner up and down as I went to take stuff off for the first time. I left the shroud bolts a tad loose so I could remove them with a phillips head screw driver in the field if I had to, the next ride they fell out! So now I just make em tight and take the 10mm socket with :) . This motor is pretty well counter balanced but keep in mind that vibration wise, there is noting worse than a large bore single cyl.

 

[Tree Crippler]

That was the first bolt I lost too. Left air scoop!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wayneo426]

Spare bolts

I usually buy my bolts from Pep Boys. The prices are dirt cheap, but the quality is good. Home Depot used to have them, but have stopped selling them. Guess we were the only ones buying them. ;)

 

[DualSportr]

Check the spokes. These have been loose on the last 8 new bikes we've had in the shop (Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha)

 

[SFO]

Good one D-S

The spokes and sprocket bolts came loose when I let Derek ride my bike.
He thrashed it...
One ride everything was loose, and I check...
Bill

 

[DualSportr]

Bill, some people are just really hard on bikes, aren't they?
We have a friend like that - I almost want to have him leave a deposit when he rides one of our bikes - but he does fix whatever he breaks!

 

[sfc crash]

as to trashing some-one elses bike, we used to have an unwritten rule, if you let some one ride it, accept the results, you could have your buddy walk out'a the woods with the throttle in his right hand, carrying the partial front fender, walk up to ya, drop it,and say.."man, this bike sucks" and walk away. my wife let my sister rider her new 01 ttr 225, less than 10hrs on it, my sis went around the back of the house and ran through a chicken wire type fence. wrapped it all around the axle,chain,etc, tore up the frame, bent the rear brake etc. when we got back there ole sis said" you guys need to move that fence." ha!:think

 

[DeBarker]

As far as parts falling off.

I got 10 words for ya
Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite

Any new bike should have all bodywork fasteners removed and have Blue Loctite put on all screw threads.

And every time you take parts off later to work on the bike... You should use Blue Loctite on all screw or bolt threads again.

 

[Birgster]

My 99 blew a tranny

I don't want to hear about your reliable yamaha's, My brand new 99 wr 400f had about 700 miles on it when the transmission wore until it wouldn't shift, got stuck in gear and broke my heart. It was out of warranty and Yamaha wouldn't do anything about it. Luckily my dealer gave me a break on part but it still took $1,000.00 to fix. I now ride a ktm 300 mxc and this bike rips on the yamadog.

rb.

 

[SFO]

Yup,

My Husaberg ate parts like a rabbit eats lettuce.
3 trannys, the third one Chuck Sun "let" me have for 1200$$$.
My Yamaha can eat parts for a while before I snivel about buying stuff for a GP class motorcycle.
I love the handling, power, parts availability, KNOWLEDGE base, and predictability of maintenance of my yz-f.
I still love my Husaberg, Maico, Husky, Bultaco, Harley...
But I sure do love the one I am with.

 

[IM12RSPCT]

Left top air scoop was loose on mine too. Hmmm..... I smell conspiracy

 

[R White]

sure sounds like some of you guys got bikes built on a friday! its well known things assembled on monday & friday are of lower quality and go thru insp. quicker my 01 wr426 has had no problems all I.ve had to do is tighten spokes and I.ve tried yo ride it in to the ground. guess I got a wednesday bike :)

 

[wayneo426]

Likewise, I must have gotten a "Wednesday" bike. No problems, just FUN.:cool:

 

[IM12RSPCT]

I knew I should of waited for the next batch!

 

[Birgster]

That's just it.

That's just it, the japanese bikes are so mass produced your chances of getting a lemon is greater then if you buy USA or European. Like my ktm. They build there cars the same way. That's why I'll try not to buy another jap bike again.
Unless it's a honda, I've owned 15 hondas and not one broke down, not even my 74 cr250M, except the pipe fell off all the time over the woops. Funny.:eek: :confused: :cool:

 

[DualSportr]

your chances of getting a lemon is greater then if you buy USA or European

Worst "lemon" bike I've seen? ATK. A few locally have had many problems - including such assembly woes as a crank which was pressed together with no clearance, and a piston which was bored in with .006" clearance from the factory.

Although Japanese bikes are 'mass' produced, the production is done mainly by robots. They don't get tired, or have an off day.

The problems I see most with current models stem from what is required of the dealers - installing wheels, tightening bolts, etc. You know, they are only paid a few $$ to assemble each bike, and the job is typically given to the lowest paid employee (parts washer!). Then the employee is told he only has 1/2 to 1 hour to complete the job. This is where most of the problems seem to occur. For some reason, most KTM dealers I've seen are better about this (does KTM pay more for bike assembly?).

Internally - where you can really see manufacturing and assembly problems (where .001" is everything) - the Japanese engines are actually very well made. I put Honda and Yamaha up there with KTM for engine component quality and fitment. KTM does use more expensive materials for some of their four stroke parts - but Yamaha is catching up in this category (haven't seen the insides of the Honda CRF yet, so I don't know!).

BTW - If you ever have a need to disassemble a brand new engine (any brand) - you'll be astonished at all the burrs and excess metal which get ground away in the first few hours of running.

If you want a brand new bike to last forever and make the most power possible, the best thing you can do is change the oil (and filter) after the first 1/2 hour of run time, then again after another hour of riding. Then go to a regular oil change schedule. This will reduce any damage the metal shavings do to your brand new bike!

 

[TexKDX]

Originally posted by DeBarker
As far as parts falling off.

I got 10 words for ya
Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite Blue Loctite

Any new bike should have all bodywork fasteners removed and have Blue Loctite put on all screw threads.

And every time you take parts off later to work on the bike... You should use Blue Loctite on all screw or bolt threads again.

Agree, with an addition. When I work on the bike, out comes two things - a tube of blue loctite and a tube of anti-seize. One or the other gets used in most dissasembly/assembly/maintenance operations.