Fresh start, fresh problems

[Hawaii-Mike]

On a Kawasaki triple that would indicate loose clutch rivet bolts and/or worn out rubber bushings. 

I haven't experienced that with an RD but then I haven't ridden an RD in about 15 years.  That will change as I have a collection of RD's to work on.

[Striker1423]

The clutch basket has play in it, but it is stiff and takes some force to get the basket to move back and forth (in rotation).  I am positive the bushings are destroyed due to the ability to grab it and rotate it apart from the gear, but the clutch basket moves very stiff. If I grasp the top and bottom of the  basket as if I'm checking a ball joint or similar on a car, I cannot make the basket move. So the rivets appear tight enough to prevent that axis of movement. So I dont really see it as the source of my noise. 

The noise I'm describing seems to show up only when rolling the motor over by hand, say with the kickstarter, or grasping the clutch. I only did this slowly to try and pinpoint the source. Either the gears are unloading and meshing, thus making a noise or maybe I have an issue with the new crank? It is a vito's crank.

EDIT:
Here's a video of the noise when I kick the motor over and showing how much the clutch moves.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FJPh4_6sKw&t=1s

[teazer]

I just did two like that.  Your cush rubbers are completely shot and need to be replaced.

Remove the rivets and clean up the mess inside.

You can tap the basket 6mm x 1mm and use countersunk screws and loctite them in place.  Banshee rubbers are available on the web for around $20-$25 and fit.  They are the same as RD rubbers.

[2 Stroke Jamoke]

 There are awesome forged aluminum baskets on Ebay that come as a bolt on after you get the old one off. They're around 150-170$ I did mine and it is a solid upgrade! Comes with new cushes and everything you need!

[~JM~]

There are awesome forged aluminum baskets on Ebay that come as a bolt on after you get the old one off. They're around 150-170$ I did mine and it is a solid upgrade! Comes with new cushes and everything you need!

Link?

[2 Stroke Jamoke]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F282584662669. This is the exact one I used, it is very nicely made and machined

[2 Stroke Jamoke]

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F131790763254   here is another priced lower, they're made for high hp banshee so they will easily handle a RD

[Striker1423]

OK, so here's 2 videos with the spark plugs taken out, one with the clutch in and one without just turning the crank by hand. Aside from the transmission making a little noise, I'm curious what else it might be. My vote is steering towards pistons rattling around. 

Vid1
https://youtu.be/blhFaJIcYGQ

Vid2
https://youtu.be/0VXhPs0cz3Y

[teazer]

Sounds like air being drawn through the reeds.

Pull them off and see if it goes away.

[SUPERTUNE]

1st vid: Without a doubt... that squeak sound is reeds!

2nd vid: The input shaft in first gear play is normal due to only having 3 engagement clogs on first gear set.
The less play in second is the 2nd gear set has 6 engagement clogs. Fine.
Piston rocking rattle sounds normal to me, so all good there.

The input shaft does sound a little loud, so I have 2 engines at the shop in the same stage and I'll check them more closely,
PM me your address and I can send you another input double row bearing as I have lots of spares.

The Bad: Primary crank seal is in backwards. You can tell by seeing the nubs on the seal, they are there to use as a setting guide against the outer race of the main bearing to position the seal and keep it squared to the shaft.
Chuck

[Striker1423]

Ok so I replaced the clutch basket with a billet banshee one. Was surprisingly easy to do, and put new dampers in it. It had 6 small dampers and 2 large ones inside it. The two large ones were hollow in the center like a doughnut and one of them was cracked in half and in pieces.

Split the cases and will have a good look at everything before reassembling. Took video of piston movement relative to the bore here:  https://youtu.be/lYoi0aQmWls

Seems a little loose but without getting measurements I wont know for sure. Have a few small scrapes near the exhaust ports but if the 250 top end is any tell, it seems normal. Pistons show no discernible break in patterns and still have that corduroy feel on the piston walls. But 50 miles on a top end wouldn't expect much.

[SUPERTUNE]

I have a fresh bored Wiseco cylinder I'll mock up and look at the piston rock to compare to...
Ring gaps will be a telltale too.
C

[Organicjedi]

I'm curious to see what Chuck comes back with on the Wisecos. They are more "slappy" than cast pistons. I had noticeably more chatter when I ran a set of those on my 400. Yours seem to have a lot of play though.

[SUPERTUNE]

Sorry to not be able to check today...
I'm a 2 stroke specialist and have been slammed with jetski work too, with the Deals Gap meet next weekend  I got really busy today.
Chuck

[Striker1423]

Chuck did get back with me over the phone and my measurements were within spec of a good bore job (ring end gaps of .017 and .018 respectively). Also, he shared a short video with me that showed very similar piston rocking with his Wiseco setup. So, I aim to clean the top end thoroughly with Marvel Mystery oil and it will be ready for re-assembly once everything else is cleaned and re-oiled. My local dealer didn't have Belray Trans-saver as I would normally run, but was recommended Lucas 80w as a good alternative. So I grabbed two of the Lucas quarts and began the process of cleaning the trans gears and ensuring they moved correctly.

So far the driven portion of the transmission (clutch input) is fine. No gears were seized to the shaft. To note, based on the manual exploded view, 4th gear does have a bit of wobble to it (when grasped and twisted back and forth). Nothing major, but it's there. Next up, a good cleaning and re-oil of the little needle bearing had it spinning smoothly with no notches or gravel feeling to note. I don't see a reason to replace it.  Pictures here: https://imgur.com/gallery/emw0lyu

I've just started tearing into the output (sprocket) side of the transmission. There's a lot more going on with this side, but I'm using my repair manual, layout and pictures to ensure I re-assemble it the correct way after checking and cleaning it. Once clean I'm using Reynolds wrap to keep it clean until I re-assemble.

I bought a large plastic tub for $8.00 and a gallon of Mineral Spirits ($13) from Lowes to scrub the cases down in.  So, I don't miss anything and ensure I re-assemble this bike correctly this time. I really don't want to have to repeat this again for a while lol. So, on that note I'm just chuggin' along.