Help....i Just Boughta Basket Case...

[pete1781]

Hello everyone,

My name's Pete and I very recently purchased a 2001 250cc rev 3 which with a quick once over didn't seem in to bad a shape however I now realise I should not impulse buy and that perhaps I could have found something a little more loved.

So from front to back....kill switch not working, header bolt holes chewed and gasket missing, various fixing bolts missing/sticking out/cross threaded, bash plate bent, motor did run but I used it for 15mins or so yesterday and it got bloody hot and didn't want to start again,closer inspection shows a thermostat wire not bloody connected, rear mudguard a bit of a mess as someone has started to strip it to paint it but then left it half stripped, rear brake is pretty poor and rear wheel bearing pretty much had it.

I'm concerned mostly about the motor....everything else is running repairs/cosmetics but my experience is limited and I'm not really sure where to start....although the plug is the wrong one there's a good spark and what seems like good compression, it did start briefly earlier but was pretty Smokey and died after 20 seconds or so at which point I abandoned it for today and decided to confess online of my limited knowledge and hope that I haven't just thrown my money away....all encouraging comments help and heckling welcome in equal measures....

Pete.

[chuckindenver]

if you search the history here, youll find many posts on fixing the heat and cooling on the Rev 3..fix it right, so that the fan works, ect..or you will be sorry .

[joekarter]

I'm almost with Chuck. My vote is to fix the cooling issues right after you make sure you have a working kill button. You'll find these little devils can take off on their own at the most surprising moments.

A couple of other thoughts:

Clean the carb before you go much further. If the bikes been pressure washed it's just about certain to be full of water.

Change the oil and make sure it actually looks like oil and not some version of a frothy milkshake. Beta's have a thing for eating up the side case where the water impeller is and dumping coolent in the transmission.....not good.

Since you bought the bike used, I'd make sure that the jetting is at least close to stock so you have some sort of a baseline to go by if it still seems too rich.

If you didn't, start with some new gas at the correct mix ratio. It's WAY less oil than a regular dirt bike and who knows how long anything in there has been sitting around.

If this stuff hasn't gone a good bit toward curing the smoke you might want to have a shop do a leakdown test to see if the crank seals are toast. Not inconcivable on a bike this old and while it's not a fun cure if that's the case, the service manual can guide you along.

You can use gasket material you buy at the local auto parts store to make an exhaust gasket (enough to make 10 for the cost of the original)

I bought a cheap press at the "we sell really cheap tools store" (Harbor Freight). I've straightened my skid plate about 10 thousand times, money well spent.

The wheel bearing may be the cause of the cruddy brakes if it's wobbling enough to knock the shoes back in the caliper.

As you have a couple of minutes pick something on the bike and lube it. These things tend to see some nasty terrain and you'll probably find more than a few things that will need some grease.

Best advise though is to get it safe to ride, get out on it some, and enjoy the bike. I've owned a couple of bikes just like yours, and if you get all wrapped up in fixing everything at once it'll suck the fun right outta owning it. If you give yourself a bit of time to get things sorted it'll take some of the stress off.

Have a good time and welcome to the bestest sport ever