Hello. Just got my hands on a 1989 Blaster. Got it through CL on a trade for a old Yamaha Virago parts bike that was laying around. I plan on returning the blaster to her former glory so I have some questions.
The blaster runs at the moment but it's amazing that it does. When I first got it there wasn't any compression. My brother is a 2 stroke guru having worked on dirt bikes since he was a kid. He pulled it apart and found the rings were smeared on one side. He popped them out and cleaned the grooves and we got it to start. Don't wanna damage it so it's parked.
It seems the poor thing has been rigged and beaten most of her life. The smeared ring looks to be due to an intake boot that was split all the way on the top and was laughingly fixed with some silicone that was being held on by a hose clamp. So I'm pretty sure it was sucking air pretty good, got hot and smeared the rings. My brother measured the cylinder with a micrometer and it's standard bore. Cylinder definitely needs honed but he thinks it's not too bad to need bored.
It's missing the front fenders, bumper, hood, ignition panel, headlight, I removed the rear grab bar as it was broken, and the seat is toast. However it does have nice back fenders, good tank and tank cover, brand new handlebars, twist throttle kit, new clutch, good tires all the way around, nice nerf bars, the frame isn't broken, bent or anything. Front end definitely needs new bushings though. Ok on to the questions...
I've been reading this forum for a couple days and learned a lot already (thanks). I know that these came with Mikuni carbs stock, mine has a Keihin PJ flatslide. I've read that this is a bit big for a stock blaster. Is this something I can just rejet to make it better or is it just too big without a port job? Thinking this could also contribute to the smeared rings?
Rear shock is all spring at the moment and the front ones are working but who knows for how long. Plan to do the 400ex rear shock and banshee fronts. I understand the rear shock will need the Ken O'Connor bushings and a bolt and the banshee will just bolt in right? Is there any other options I'm overlooking that wouldn't be ridiculous expensive and better?
I must have read 3 dozen posts about forged vs cast pistons. I brought it up to my brother and he was torn on the subject. Said he once rebuilt his 84 CR250 ATAC with a forged wiseco and it locked up after a 10 minute warm up but never had a single cast piston seize or break. He ran cast in his 01 CR as well because of the seizing issue. His opinion was unless I was gonna be on the track competing a wiseco wasn't necessary. I plan on doing Idaho trail riding with some jumping and such but nothing ridiculous. If I did go cast what is a brand I can trust? I've read Namura is a bad one. What about Pro-X, WSM, Vertex? I must've read a few threads claiming all these companies are OEM suppliers. Which one actually is?
I'm not asking to save money, I don't mind buying a Wiseco but I maintain my stuff and running it til it dies is not going to happen. I will have a reputable local shop check the clearances and have it setup properly. Seizing sounds to me like it would be more likely than the skirt breaking with proper maintenance. My brother said the skirt breaking sounds like people slapping bikes together without checking clearances and he's never seen that happen but he maintains his stuff. I'm not ruling out a Wiseco but I'd be pissed if I let my bike warm up for 10 minutes and it still seized. It could've been a fluke or something else but I've read on here that other people who maintain their bikes haven't had any issues with cast.
This has gotten big enough I'll ask more later. Thanks!
The blaster runs at the moment but it's amazing that it does. When I first got it there wasn't any compression. My brother is a 2 stroke guru having worked on dirt bikes since he was a kid. He pulled it apart and found the rings were smeared on one side. He popped them out and cleaned the grooves and we got it to start. Don't wanna damage it so it's parked.
It seems the poor thing has been rigged and beaten most of her life. The smeared ring looks to be due to an intake boot that was split all the way on the top and was laughingly fixed with some silicone that was being held on by a hose clamp. So I'm pretty sure it was sucking air pretty good, got hot and smeared the rings. My brother measured the cylinder with a micrometer and it's standard bore. Cylinder definitely needs honed but he thinks it's not too bad to need bored.
It's missing the front fenders, bumper, hood, ignition panel, headlight, I removed the rear grab bar as it was broken, and the seat is toast. However it does have nice back fenders, good tank and tank cover, brand new handlebars, twist throttle kit, new clutch, good tires all the way around, nice nerf bars, the frame isn't broken, bent or anything. Front end definitely needs new bushings though. Ok on to the questions...
I've been reading this forum for a couple days and learned a lot already (thanks). I know that these came with Mikuni carbs stock, mine has a Keihin PJ flatslide. I've read that this is a bit big for a stock blaster. Is this something I can just rejet to make it better or is it just too big without a port job? Thinking this could also contribute to the smeared rings?
Rear shock is all spring at the moment and the front ones are working but who knows for how long. Plan to do the 400ex rear shock and banshee fronts. I understand the rear shock will need the Ken O'Connor bushings and a bolt and the banshee will just bolt in right? Is there any other options I'm overlooking that wouldn't be ridiculous expensive and better?
I must have read 3 dozen posts about forged vs cast pistons. I brought it up to my brother and he was torn on the subject. Said he once rebuilt his 84 CR250 ATAC with a forged wiseco and it locked up after a 10 minute warm up but never had a single cast piston seize or break. He ran cast in his 01 CR as well because of the seizing issue. His opinion was unless I was gonna be on the track competing a wiseco wasn't necessary. I plan on doing Idaho trail riding with some jumping and such but nothing ridiculous. If I did go cast what is a brand I can trust? I've read Namura is a bad one. What about Pro-X, WSM, Vertex? I must've read a few threads claiming all these companies are OEM suppliers. Which one actually is?
I'm not asking to save money, I don't mind buying a Wiseco but I maintain my stuff and running it til it dies is not going to happen. I will have a reputable local shop check the clearances and have it setup properly. Seizing sounds to me like it would be more likely than the skirt breaking with proper maintenance. My brother said the skirt breaking sounds like people slapping bikes together without checking clearances and he's never seen that happen but he maintains his stuff. I'm not ruling out a Wiseco but I'd be pissed if I let my bike warm up for 10 minutes and it still seized. It could've been a fluke or something else but I've read on here that other people who maintain their bikes haven't had any issues with cast.
This has gotten big enough I'll ask more later. Thanks!
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