As you can tell from the photos taken before, the engine needed a little cleaning up. Plans were to make the engine look all pretty before putting the transplant, but plans have changed. From past experiences I’ve learned that it’s smarter to make sure everything is good to go mechanically before worrying about aesthetics. So after some wire brushing, sanding, wet ragging and brake clean the engine actually looks really good. Since the factory clean coat is peeling off a couple of the aluminum covers, I’ll use some paint stripper to take it off completely. I’d much rather sandblast it, but I’ll get over it. Below you’ll find updated photos. I’m bringing the bike home from work tomorrow. Hopefully I can start tearing it down in the next week or so.
New engine got here today. It shipped here incredibly fast from Mississippi and despite the questionable packaging it seems to be in pretty great shape. Pictures of the packaging and product are below. More to come.
The haps:
I’m starting with a stock 1985 Honda Rebel CMX250. I purchased the bike in August of 2008 and it pretty much took a seat in my garage for a few months. I brought the registration up to date in February 2009 and started taking the bike for short cruises to make sure everything was good to go mechanically before I started wasting money on cosmetics.
A couple weeks ago I took the bike in to get the carb adjusted and without even asking, the dealership gave me the bike back with no compression in my left cylinder. Isn’t that nice of them? Without all of the details, I’m now on the hunt for a new engine. Basically, it’s going to be cheaper and easier for me to just swap the engine than to take the busted one apart and figure out what the problem is.
After a little digging around, I found a promising engine in Mississippi. It’s going to cost me about $350 including shipping.
So, once I get a new engine and physically get this project underway I’ll be back. Stay put. Pics of the bike in it’s current state are below and updates are on their way.
