piston rings

[boogerboy72]

ive had my 99 rm 125 for a year now, i dont know how hard the other guy rode it but i ride about 9 hrs a month.

im kinda new at mantanience, so any advice would help.

also, what kinda stuff can i do (thats not really expensive) to make it more trail friendly, and dont tell me to change bikes.

thanks

 

[boogerboy72]

sorry i forgot the main part. Should i replace the piston rings now, cuz i can tell its eaiser to kick and its hareder to start.
thanks

 

[Glitch]

You might want to just do a new topend, replace piston, rings and everything like that, use the search function in top right corner of page to get more info. Hard starting could also be caused by worn reeds but since you said its easier to kick, I'm guessing its the rings.

 

[WFO]

Take some of the guess work out and get a compression tester.

 

[bclapham]

12 x 9hrs = 108 hrs on a 125 top end. i dont think we need to guess that the pisotn needs replacing!:)

 

[boogerboy72]

hey thanks, but how much is a top end gonna run. and which is the best brand to go with. ive herd wiseco and vortex, if ya can give me a little info on it.
thx again

 

[bclapham]

motosportoutlet.com does a complete Wiseco end kit with bearing gaskets etc for $120 shipped

if you do the wiesco piston, you will need to do a couple of heat cycles to run it in. do a search if you need info on this, there are plenty of threads that describe it

 

[MikeyG]

I STRONGLY STRONGLY reccomend the Wiseco piston (Eric Gorr and Rich Rohrich does too :)). Do the heat cycle break in procedure, and you will be set. Im not sure if this is true, but I have never had a problem. I put 150 hours on one in my KX125. The vertex I had before it shattered the skirt at 60 hours, it was a mess. I hear that the forged aluminum pistons won't break or shatter like the OEM, Vertex, etc. cast pistons. The Wiseco piston is also lighter. One thing to remember though, the piston expands as it heats, so don't beat the bike until it is fully warmed up. Good Luck!
P.S: Do the full top end now, it will cost much less now ($120) than it will when that piston shatters (cost me $600).

 

[jjcobra99]

$600?!?