DIY disasters: CRF hit by low-oil engine-munching disaster
Bike guru Kev Hollingsworth gave the owner of this CRF some sound advice
‘When he split the cases there were bits everywhere’
Certain noises usually mean imminent issues, but the owner of this Honda CRF250X wouldn’t listen to what his bike was saying. Mechanic Kev Hollingsworth, of Doncaster Motorcycles, was called out to pick it up as it wouldn’t start. He said: “When I drained the oil it was like I was panning for gold, there was that much brass-coloured metal swilling around, which told me that the big-end bearing had gone, probably through lack of oil.” And when he split the cases there was shrapnel everywhere; it looked like the owner had continued to run the bike until it gave up the ghost. Kev added: “It must have sounded like someone was throwing a spanner around in the engine, but when a bearing collapses there is loads of play, so at a certain angle it will still spin over. When it began to get noisy, before he started it each time he must have been putting it in gear and pulling it backwards so that the starter motor could get it spinning. Once it fired up it would just keep on grinding the bearing into oblivion.
“If he had stopped using the bike as soon as it got noisy, he might have got away with a new big-end bearing, but there was a tsunami of damage from the bits and pieces. “If a CRF needs more than three kicks to start it needs looking at as they suffer valve clearance issues as well. A good way to see if it’s a bottom-end problem is to put it in gear with the brake on, then let the clutch out slowly. Any hammering noise will get louder as you get to the biting point. “Enduros don’t go on roads much and even sticking to speed limits is demanding for a little bike.” A trail bike has service intervals measured in thousands of miles. On an enduro like this CRF those intervals are measured in hours, and the hours of labour needed now mean the repair bill is likely to be about £1500 on a £2000 bike. Ouch.