Rebuilt Honda Dirt Bike Blows Up First Ride. What Went Wrong?

I buy a 2006 Honda CRF250R dirt bike that locks up first ride. #Honda, #Dirtbike, #Fix,
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The following video features activities performed in controlled environments by knowledgeable persons. DO NOT attempt to duplicate, re-create, or perform the same or similar activities at home, as personal injury or property damage may result. 2vintage( Joe Weber, the persons shown in this video and ANY CONTRIBUTOR, ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY such injury or damage. ALL 2vintage( Joe Weber) CONTENT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.
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[@xl600mine]

the seller who rebuilt it, forgot to fully install the wrist pin retaining clip, the wrist pin worked its way out, got caught on the bottom of the cylinder bending the connecting rod and cracking the piston. that is why only half of the piston is cracked off

[@ronstoltz4788]

Absolutely Agree

[@CoraxMaximus]

That's what I think, seller installed one retaining clip and forgot to install the other one.

[@jmaxim80]

I agree. I've seen it before. You wouldn't think a little clip would do so much damage, but it will tear a motor to pieces.

[@larrylyke4795]

Yep, explains the damage to piston and cylinder on one side.

[@Adam-banshee-man]

Sorry I didn't see your comment at the time I posted my comment I've seen this before most likely failure to install wrist pin clip or it could have had spiral clips and wasn't installed correctly

[@jeredalmeida1880]

After watching this entirely, I'm willing to bet that one of the wrist pin clips wasn't fully seated. Whoever rebuilt this engine forgot to listen for the snap.

[@user-hj5ml8rr8u]

or properly seated .. see my comment below..

[@MostWantedOHA]

i totally Agree w/ you . Wrist Pin FAILURE !!! ''''''''''

[@jasonmushmansixtyfive]

Or was never installed. Ring debris should still be in the case.

[@EightyFiveBen]

Yeah your theory lines up with the evidence. Thinking the same thing at this point

[@seatroutadventures9492]

I agree

[@lauriegraham2790]

Before I looked at the comments I had come to the exact same conclusion that the wrist pin clip had not been installed on the one side. I'll wager that you won't find any evidence of the second clip in the motor. Thanks for your content, I love it

[@shedenvy691]

I bet the other retaining clip is still in the piston

[@MM_in_Havasu]

All these 4-stroke MX bikes are throwaway engines. Part it out and cut your losses, Joe.

[@6thPinnedProductions]

agreed

[@Dyna-mite154]

I mean if you’re not mechanically inclined then sure.

[@JohnDoeEagle1]

It's a 4-stroke.....part it out and take your losses. If it was a 2-stroke it would be worth rebuilding and saving. Eventually the manufacturers and everybody will get the memo dirt bikes are meant to be 2-stroke NOT 4-stroke. You can see first hand how unnecessarily complicated this junk turd is after he starts tearing it down. More parts, more complicated....less reliable and more to go wrong and way more money to fix.

[@GTAADDICT3D]

That result is every motor enthusiast's worst nightmare. Good diagnosis and video! Looking forward to watching the rebuild.

[@jeredalmeida1880]

That sound of a four stroke seizing is as fear inducing as the thought of erectile dysfunction.

[@Unemployed_Jedi]

The screeching sound of metal against metal coming from the cylinder is far worse.

[@jeredalmeida1880]

@@Unemployed_Jedi Yes! That's the sound that makes you play some Taylor Swift just to stop the pain in your ears.

[@galvidmar1247]

It's even worse when you hear a two stroke seizing up

[@stkyfngrszmooth]

​@@jeredalmeida1880I'd rather listen to the engine exploding over and over.

[@jeredalmeida1880]

@@stkyfngrszmooth 🤣 It's like the engine keeps making the same mistakes and writing a song about it every time.

[@tenortrouble]

Wrist pin clip fell out is my first thought

[@davessparetime83]

You can see on the bottom right side of cylinder wall where the Piston pin scraped and caused piston to break. Like others have said it looks like the wrist pin clip wasn't installed all the way and fell off causing pin to slide out catching cylinder wall and or just caused piston pin journal to break.

[@BillStraub303]

I agree with other commenters the wrist pin was likely floating in there before you even got the bike started. Enjoy the videos, great work.

[@mikewhitley1183]

I've owned motorcycles all my life and I have never seen that happen before !!!!!! Just because it's new doesn't name that is a good part !!

[@stkyfngrszmooth]

Here's why I always double-check customer work. Admittedly, finding a misplaced wrist pin clip would've been impossible to see without a complete teardown, which I likely wouldn't have done, so I would've had the same result as Joe. I always hated dealing with other people's lack of mechanical knowledge.

[@craigdalzell2908]

He makes his money on other people's lack of ability , but he didn't win on this one !!

[@EightyFiveBen]

Thanks Joe for taking one for the team!

[@stkyfngrszmooth]

@@craigdalzell2908 Not at all. If I were him I wouldn't bother with this engine and I'd just buy a replacement one instead. I'm sure it would be much cheaper and he wouldn't have to spend who knows how many hours tearing it down completely. He'd have to so he could get all of those loose metal fragments out of the engine entirely. I would never take the chance of just fishing out what I could see and cross my fingers for the rest.

[@DealinDmg]

It's nice to read these comments, which seem to be 100% accurate on the reason the engine failed. It's unfortunate when a newly rebuilt engine fails in such a short amount of time. But, knowing why it happened is priceless knowledge. Love and appreciate your content.

[@user-fi3fx5my2s]

Had bent rod situation about a year ago, could find parts, European junk. Heated rod a bit, used the press and got it back straight as an arrow. Ran fine after, still running today!! Crazy, was a hail Mary but it frkn worked. Setting up to straighten was the pain.

[@EightyFiveBen]

Nice. Did you Hail Mary the crank without a truing stand?

[@thebigguy8306]

Great video, with lots of learning moments. 😭No riding today. Keep working on the problem, your patience and skills are amazing.

[@matttaylor373]

when it let go i definently thought the timing chain broke, thats pretty crazy.Thanks for the videos love how you break things down!!!

[@williamstirton1814]

If I had to guess the E clip came off and let the pin slide over to the wall and break one ear. Or maybe there was only one E clip. I am 67 years old and have been working on motorcycles for 55 years.And I still learn stuff from you all the time. Keep up the good work. And I wish when I was young I would have had the job you do.👍

[@Hammerback972]

From the last video, there were 50 professional small engine builders that declared "but the timing chain is slapping the case", "Im deaf in both eyes, and blind in my left ear, and my hearing eye dog told me the timing chain was on upside down!"

[@biker6991]

That's what my laundry basket said too....

[@MiBurnout]

​@@biker6991🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Danman1972]

Yes, you guess like I did, but until you take it apart you won't know. I'm not engine builder, but I've rebuilt a few and also snapped a cam chain. Sounded just like that. Lucky I was kicking the motor slow It started and then popped. It snapped and wadded up. We pushed it to a road and my buddy used his foot on my muffler to push me back to the truck.

[@fraserm803]

Yep i commented and thought it was cam chain...own it. Its good to learn.

[@bananabrooks3836]

There was a strange noise emanating long before the 'blow up' though.

[@greathornedowl3644]

Props to you for putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. Ditto, like many other commenters I would also run away from someone else's rebuild, now you are depending on their level of skills. "I have all these unnecessary parts leftover"

[@mikeandrews1899]

I could conceraningly hear it knocking when you started it up

[@h_sky1045]

The crank is from Hot rods. I rebuild a yz250f and the rod had the same id system. If you search for hot rods connecting rod 616 you’ll find visibly identical cranks for the crf250r.

[@mrsmith4662]

I must say, if this happened to my bike (and I have one of that vintage), I think I'd be inclined to just scrap it and save all the bother. However, it's great to see someone with more patience and enthusiasm at work.

[@JosueRodriguez-gf4hz]

Hey Joe I want to say I’ve been watching your videos since you were at 100k subs you’ve come a very long way but very worth it you deserve everything you’ve achieved I learn something from almost every video keep it up! 500k on the way!

[@jacksonms212]

Thanks for the vod !

[@vindejon7097]

I never seen that happen, that is such a bummer. I would change the main bearings too, just to be sure. Great video again, Big Up!

[@finster7582]

wrist pin clip wasnt snapped in !!! YOU GOT LUCKY !!! engine immediately stopped instead of metal chunks taking out the cases and everything else!! 😃👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@stevewood1728]

Great tear down. I’d love to see the research you do to find good replacement parts. Might make a good filler video for those looking to do their own repair.

[@garygreen1670]

I have watched your videos for a long time and enjoy them. Thank you. I've never seen a piston give away like that. So like the other grease monkeys I say it has to be the wrist pin clip was not installed. Good job again my friend.

[@deanchapman4337]

Great diagnostics video as usual . Thanks !

[@Jop_Kop]

I have learned a lot already. Thanks 2vintage.

[@donkndave7811]

WOW! What a blow up! Joe, you should do you next video on this bike on how fast you can rebuilt a motor. No talking, just getting at it. That would be fun to watch.

[@theelectricunicyclist9069]

Never happen. Must talk and do it the hard way. Watch Allen Millyard.

[@CaptainZedful]

Excellent video, this was really interesting to watch. Bummer on the carnage in that motor, what a mess. Thanks for the video loving the content.

[@JamesThompson-us1mk]

FYI, Something I'm sure you know. Top end rebuilds only you need to pull the engine out flush out down inside the crank area with diesel fuel. Work the crank by hand really well (for a few minutes) Turn engine upside down, continue working the crank (round and round) Both directions too. Blow out wit air well Repeat Repeat Repeat Get all metal chunks, spers, flakes out This is a must Good work

[@single.tracked]

If there are metal chunks or flakes, you need to split the cases and clean everything properly. Not just “flush it out with diesel fuel”

[@vesandreev8500]

Only if it's a 2-stroke. If it's a 4-stroke - they have oil and coolant passages that might be clogged and/or screen filters clogged too.

[@scottmoodysr9449]

😂I predicted the wrist pin in some manner ❤ I was close! Great videos Joe and as always keep it up

[@tgcrissy7327]

I knew right away from the first video that the thingamabob next ro the whatchacallit broke rightaway buuutttt i didn't say anything because i didn't want to be a know-it-all.Love your videos Joe!!

[@zackk695]

What a video! You have a great attitude as well towards seeing something that can be devastating. I hope you had the funds to rebuild it because at this point you would have a new engine that would last many years. I sure hope I can find a video of you putting it back together

[@mattwow]

Jkjk love your vids and constant content brother keep up the good work

[@Massiverobsfishing]

I watched the last video on this but the start on this for you bro blew me away bro.

[@matthewtrudeau1197]

You're like a surgeon with that motor . Nice work.

[@codyjohnson27]

Love your content Keep up the good work

[@scpatriot5270]

Im 49 this is why i prefer simple two stroke engines no timing chains or camshafts. 👍🇺🇸

[@scpatriot5270]

@@lesoram6236 were talking about motor cycles 👍

[@250race]

​@@lesoram6236 I did for 15 years

[@Eric--zs6um]

I'm 55 and and won't buy a new 4 stroke. 2 strokes are cheaper(especially pre nikasil).

[@BigDirtDawg]

@@lesoram6236do you drive a 4 stroke car?? O ok 😂

[@dexietyy7922]

Same you can’t beat them. So simple and much faster plus they sound amazing

[@FourIntoOne]

It didn't "let go 2 seconds into the ride" it was already letting go before you even swung a leg over it. Im still amazed that you got on the bike and then thrased it when the knock was so clear to hear it was ridiculous. Had you had an once of mechanical sympathy you could maybe have saved it.

[@peterh2224]

Have to agree with you. Noise was quite evident when it was running...

[@DOINKS-R-USS]

Great Chanel Great build 🙏🖤

[@royhenson3379]

Wow! I did not expect it to let loose like that. I thought the timing chain broke, but man was I wrong.

[@ragnarironspear1791]

Been looking forward to this one .

[@paullesarge4126]

Excellent tear down video

[@oscr_zen]

Ohh that was another gold turn of events. It sucks to happen to you, but makes for a great video. Crazy stuff. Reminds me of exploding Piston.

[@rjmockett]

Great stuff and I’d agree re the gudgen pin (as we Brits call it ) came loose after the circlip came loose . I have seen a piston loose like this when riding Enfield in the Himalayas . On one that was running rough the crown of the piston had broken away from the body of the piston !! It ran badly but was fixed by putting a new piston in . Those bikes are tough , which is what you need in those remote areas . Love your stuff

[@pagas5002]

first i am studying to be a mechanic I live in greece so sorry for the bad English so what probably happened was piston bend the valve and then probably because of the high rpm piston gave in and broke that's a nightmare it was a fresh rebuild so something was wrong from the first place from the rebuild re last owner did its only a guess. nice video tho its nice watching video with clean explanations keep up from me I love you videos

[@luuk-out-below9804]

The crf250 send and mend series.... Stuff happens. Looking forward to the rebuild Joe !

[@chele-chele]

Vertex cast piston, Italian engineering =)

[@robertocrf2164]

You s*ck , i have used vertex in 5 dirt bikes and no problems runs f*king good man no smoke, here in the video it was a mistake of the guy who rebuilt the engine and didn't install the pin from the piston bolt correctly

[@ericrolland9092]

New rod, piston, cylinder, and valves. Clean it up good, lap in new valves and put it all back together and should be fine. Good video

[@davidmcouch7453]

You should have probably checked the other guys work before starting it. He apparently did not have a clue what he was doing!

[@Fox250R]

He never checks he’d rather it blow up so he has a video to post

[@user-dv3tw1yq2r]

Much like the buyer. Never see any of this junk sold “running perfectly”

[@1ksquid07rr6]

Yup..... retainer didn't seat and the pin walked out enough have the load all on the broke side. Good stuff!!

[@snowyowl7042]

Bravo, you get to put someone's puzzle together

[@alexmacdonald258]

WOW!! Quite a mess there, Joe! I think I'd agree with jeredalmedia 1880-the wrist pin clip didn't seat on that one side. You have to pay attention to the small details, which will save your attention from being distracted by the disaster to follow, if you don't.

[@YetiShots]

That’s amazing I’ve never seen that kind of failure before.

[@michaelthomas2271]

great video as always. Joe, dont what your "day job" is but it must be a good one. these things are pricey to fix.

[@madhampster]

Clip was not put in all the way and it fell out and the the wrist pin backed out. Then Boom.

[@Ulster-1690]

Happy Days Joe Has Posted 🔥🔥🔥

[@brianstroud6306]

Tuff luck on this one but could have been so much worse. Great job brother keep it up

[@stuartphillips430]

Great autopsy joe as usual,but all I keep thinking about is my desire for that elsinore in the background! Cheers 🍻

[@TheMhr650]

No question, first failure was piston pin retaining clip coming loose

[@mrutherford8590]

Looks like a clip popped out and the pin slid to one side and hit the cylinder and bent the rod.

[@Adam-banshee-man]

I can tell you what happened with 100% certainty as I have seen this before what happened was whoever rebuilt it either forgot to put one of the wrist pin clips in or it wasn't put in correctly the pin walked its way out of the one pin bore and then once that happens there's so much stress on the one side of the pin bore it will break and bend the rod at the same time as the load is only on one side of the rod bending it with 100% certainty that is absolutely what happened there clearly someone put it together that did not know what they were doing

[@mark120964]

Cant wait to watch rebuild Mark

[@jasoncompton3735]

Good troubleshooting Joe! Personally I’d rather jump off a bridge than work on a early CRF or YZF

[@module79l28]

If you don't have a borescope camera yet, it's time to get one. 🙂

[@restrothunderroad]

Dude, you're deep down in the bones a real work horse. You could take 3 months off and I'd still be here playing catch up on videos. haha

[@ralphreynolds4803]

Wow, I am FLOORED!!! Lesson LEARNED!!!!

[@andrewteal3016]

Last summer I bought a YFZ450 from a guy. Had the same exact thing happen to him. Web around the wrist pin let go. I don't know why but I got it cheap lol. Sourced OEM crank, cylinder and a Wossner piston with anodizing - actually starting the rebuild this weekend. It should be good to go after I'm done with it. I have nothing against Wiesco, I just decided Wossner - took a while to come in. Still going to split the cases and clean, replace all the bearings so long as I'm in there - be new when done.

[@Ramcat_Vlogs]

This is why they say that 99% of people can’t build a motor lol

[@dubiousf00d]

The real carnage starts around the 27:00 mark for those impatient to know.

[@leodurivage4411]

Never trust some one's engine rebuild. I learned from years of experience working at a dealer ship.

[@snowyowl7042]

I fixed some things but have this box of parts

[@steveharris6916]

Nailed it

[@gags730]

Especially after they 'Rebuild it' and can't get it running ever again. So much so that they give up and sell the bike. The wreaks of inexperience!

[@jimw6991]

Well said. I think the lesson here is if someone disassembles something and reassembles and it doesn't work you need to completely start over. Take apart everything they touched, clean and inspect. ​ Reassemble adding whatever new parts are needed. I learned the hard way as a major engine and transmission repair tech at dealership that when you skip steps to save time, many times you get a catastrophic failure. I like Joe's content, someday he will learn this lesson including buying an ultrasonic parts cleaner, pressure washer, solvent tank, etc. His rebuilt engines will run, but not last. I hope Joe reads these comments and takes them to heart. @gags730

[@gags730]

@@jimw6991 ... we all learned the hard way! If we can get just 1 person to learn the easy way! LOL BTW Great Comment... I have left many posts in the past asking why he does not buy the right equipment. For the life of me I have no idea why this guy does not have an ultrasonic cleaner either.. a large one at that. I have two, and they were not expensive. Heck buy it direct from China if ya have to. I have a pressure washer, and about 6 or 7 years ago I installed a Mini 20 Gallon Electric Water heater for the power washer... You can't beat hot water power washing. The heater was like $250 and I installed it myself. He needs a proper Bike Lift too! Where he can even sit on a stool and work like a gentleman. With the volume of bikes this man works on, it makes no sense the things he is missing. He is more worried about a spark plug tester. You nailed it with rebuilding. You have to make everything spotless. You could put all the best parts in, spend top dollar but if anything contaminates that engine it will not last. Too many people put engines back together in a dirty environment. It should be like surgery in a hospital when you put it back together and everything needs to be clean. Everything! How many times you see someone all crazy with the assembly lube and oiling everything and yet everything is dirty and contaminated? It's crazy!

[@stevenmcinnis8105]

Thanks for the vids goes to show that sometime we win, and sometimes we lose.

[@richardbakos4970]

Agree. Piston pin clip/s came out. Seen that before. Cylinder tells the story

[@LOOKOUT2012]

Exactly What I came here to say! Spot on!

[@alexandresimoes8714]

Man, i really like your videos... It really pushs to work on my bikes! I have a suggestion regarding the title of the videos... Why don't you put the name of the bike or At Least if its part 1or 2????

[@libertyninja9158]

you have been lucky for awhile something had to go wrong sometime.😵

[@monkeywentbananas]

Like watching an I Do Cars video except its a cycle engine! What awesome carnage!

[@grantcoles8830]

Early four stroke MXers> HAND GRENADE and not cheap to fix

[@jozsef6453]

On one hand its insane how much damage can that little circlip do. I have never heard about this happening in a 4 stroke. On the other hand thats why you should not ride with the engine sounding like a coffee grinder.

[@dirtriderkx500]

Joe great video 👍. It had to be the clip wasn't fully seated. I've seen this before. Please tell Vinny my mom said hi. 👍

[@michaelolson9872]

I had a wrist pin come out on a 1965 BMW R-27. Didn't bend the connecting rod but the wrist pin cut two 68mm long transfer ports (not good in a four stroke). Anyway, I got away with a cylinder, wrist pin, two clips and a piston pin. Funny thing is that it ran me home (150 miles) and just kept getting slower and smokier. This happened in 1970, so parts were readily available at the Sacramento BMW dealer..

[@1970genes]

What a lot of damage from what is likely misinstalled wrist pin clip. Sadly, the cost of parts to repair makes this not such a good deal.

[@copperaudio9664]

I thought that sound when it locked up was familiar. 1985 Sears Point Raceway. AFM Formula Singles class race. just finished turn 8A and flopped the bike over for 8B at the same time up shifted and that same sound happened. The connecting rod let go and engine locked up tight in a fraction of a second. The rest of the seconds was the sound of me sanding down my leathers sliding down the track. You'll never forget that sound Joe. Sorry for the crappy luck.

[@Odder-Being]

"You'll never forget that sound Joe" O but Joe does because he is fricking deaf.

[@EightyFiveBen]

Damn this is a great video 💥💥

[@TomSKey]

Still the best viewing channel out of all my subs, just love the way he gets stuck in and finds the problem eventually (*_*)

[@alankarvel441]

I agree with everyone else someone was in a big hurry putting that engine back together.. & failed to do it correctly.! wow too bad.! looked like a nice bike.!

[@Nine_883]

That’s what happens when Goober and Cooter rebuild a Honda.

[@kilianvanrooijen9388]

super cool video, but on what platform do you look to find a good bike to buy??

[@somerandomguy3868]

That's a shame, gotta really look at the head, those guides and the surrounding casting have taken a hit, you probably won't know for sure until you start the lap the new valves if the head is still good, that sucks Joe, good luck with it, looking forward to seeing how this plays out

[@vincemarshall9520]

I’m sorry this happened to you, however it is a treat to see your troubleshooting skills in action. You talk us through from the beginning then reassess as more information becomes available. Kind of like Sherlock Holmes searching for clues at the scene of a crime. Sooner or later, you will find the bad guy. Well done!

[@robertdelinsky7247]

He still dosent know what happened?

[@etxgoff]

I totally agree. The way the piston was broken on one side and the connecting rod was bent. And only one wrist pin clip was found in the engine

[@KenFullman]

Could have been the casting on that side of the piston failed. Once that part of the piston had broken away it would have allowed the wrist pin clip to fall away. It may have simply been an inclusion or void in the casting.

[@Blaines-smallengine-repair]

I’m gonna say it fell out, it’s a junk vertex piston so could be ur hypothesis too

[@chrishubbs8633]

If you are rebuilding it. Make sure you put a proper length vent hose on the vent on the back of the valve cover. The older Hondas (not sure if it’s still on newer Hondas) that vent uses the motors pulse to vaporize oil to help lubricant the top end. If it’s to short or not on there at all it will pull dirt in through that vent and ruin the top end.

[@RDEnduro]

I never expected some of those parts to be OK when you opened it up, i wont say what no spoilers lol this was awesome crazy failure; it sounded bad when it went last vid. Circlip fell out ?

[@jcondon1]

Would be interesting to see what the ring end gap was. Maybe it caused the piston to seize in the bore when the engine heated up?

[@maico4902]

Hay Joe hope you and your family are all fit and well I think someone forgot to put a c clip or circlip clip on the piston pin or dungeon pin how you want to say it but it dose that sort of damage when a clip is missing Bad learning curve for anyone to have Keep up the educational videos.

[@t-bone43]

Soon as you started it in the field I could hear it knocking like a madman. It was letting go but you rode it & finished it off

[@vesandreev8500]

Hey Joe, did you find one or two wrist pin clips? I saw just one in the crank case. Thank you.

[@AZVIDS]

Wow! Nice necropsy!👍