KX 85 Repair Cost (help)...

Braders756
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Braders756
Edited Date/Time 4/23/2013 11:33am
Hey guys, me again, not a very frequent poster or topic starter, but I'm a little baffled at the moment.
So I was riding the bike in what I consider a pretty deep sand track, after an hour or two of riding I heard an unusual crackling noise and the bike cut out. I went to kick the bike up and came to notice that it had jammed (dreaded news). I'm only pretty young and only know how to maintain my bike and keep it running smooth, which it had, it was running smooth for just a little over a year with no problems.

The only choice I had was to take it to a shop, after a day or two, he rang and told us that the piston had completely blew and shrapnel and gone south into the bottom end, which didn't sound good, but then when he told us how much it was going to cost I didn't really know how to go about it. The price he gave us was £450 ($680) roughly.

What I want from you guys is if you think the price matches the problem or is he having me on, I have researched and found many people having this problem with shrapnel which has fallen south into the bottom end, what I want from you guys is your honest opinion on the price of this job because I am un-decided as to whether to pay the dude or not...
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500guy
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500guy 4/22/2013 11:29am
4/22/2013 11:29am
That is to general of a description for anyone to give you an accurate price.

I would say if he does the whole engine for that price sounds cheap.
Braders756
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Braders756 4/22/2013 11:32am
4/22/2013 11:32am
500guy wrote:
That is to general of a description for anyone to give you an accurate price. I would say if he does the whole engine for that...
That is to general of a description for anyone to give you an accurate price.

I would say if he does the whole engine for that price sounds cheap.
Hey 500guy, I know but I honestly couldn't really go into much more depth, my dad knows a whole lot more about the situation. If what you're telling me is correct, which I hope it is, then great! Smile
cmx152
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cmx152 4/22/2013 12:22pm
4/22/2013 12:22pm
Where did you get the price dude?, It doesn't sound too bad. I got quoted something similar for a new big end and everything all in for my cr125 like 4 years ago now..
slipdog
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slipdog 4/22/2013 12:33pm
4/22/2013 12:33pm
That's a fair price like 500Guy said. That's 5-6 hours of labor to split the cases and rebuild plus the cost of parts. With possible cylinder damage that repair can go north of $1000

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jhansen510
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jhansen510 4/22/2013 12:41pm
4/22/2013 12:41pm
Seems very reasonable to me. Guy probably feels bad for you and is trying to be a goos guy and keep a youngster on the track n outta trouble! Dont kick him in the nuts on top of it jr!
burn1986
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burn1986 4/22/2013 12:41pm
4/22/2013 12:41pm Edited Date/Time 4/22/2013 12:43pm
Sounds pretty good. The easiest thing to do would be to take the cylinder and head off to see what the piston looks like. Once you do this, then you will be able to see how bad it is.
Braders756
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Braders756 4/22/2013 1:26pm
4/22/2013 1:26pm
Well basically guys, the piston blew and shrapnel has scraped into the bottom end from what I can gather and after you guys have helped me I've decided to tell him to go along with the fix, thanks for the great help and community here! Smile
newmann
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newmann 4/22/2013 2:37pm
4/22/2013 2:37pm
When you get a detailed list of everything being done, post it up.
sharkey
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sharkey 4/22/2013 3:35pm
4/22/2013 3:35pm
that doesnt sound too bad. depending on what happened to the top end a piston with gaskets is about 120 and depneding on if you need a head and clyinder that could be another 400 easy.hopefully the botom end is okay. plus labor id say your okay
jtomasik
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jtomasik 4/22/2013 3:45pm
4/22/2013 3:45pm
Sorry, Braders, but I'll agree with the guys here and say it's a decent price. Not sure if you know the guy at the shop, and I hope he isn't telling you something it isn't. By your description of the failure, it does sound like a piston skirt came apart. Now's a great time to learn about how to fix something like that. You might save yourself $300, if not too much is damaged internally. $680 from a shop doesn't sound like he'll be replacing much more than the piston, wrist pin/bearing, rings, and gaskets, unless he gets killer deals for cylinders. If that's true (that your cylinder isn't damaged), you could get parts probably for under $200, save yourself some money, and learn something that'll save you money in the future (by changing your piston rings on schedule). Heck, take it apart and post pics on here. Many of the guys here know what they're doing.
MX4EVR
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MX4EVR 4/22/2013 6:55pm
4/22/2013 6:55pm
Sounds to cheap or they aren't replacing all the parts they need to replace
New top end and bottom end and new cylinder doing it yourself would be more then $700
For sure
Cylinder is at least $350
Bottom end $165ish
And top end $140ish
New fluid
Oil and coolant $30
And dry ice $10
12 pack for the dad you borrow the case splitter, crank puller/installer $12.00
There's your $700
burn1986
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burn1986 4/22/2013 7:02pm
4/22/2013 7:02pm
Depending on how he fixes the cyhlinder and the rod bearing will make a difference on the cost.
overthebars39 4/22/2013 7:32pm
4/22/2013 7:32pm
burn1986 wrote:
Depending on how he fixes the cyhlinder and the rod bearing will make a difference on the cost.
^indeed
Depends if the cilinder needs to be welded or not.and/or how bad in a state the crank is.

680$ is a good price to get it ready to ride.
Jakes Dad
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Jakes Dad 4/23/2013 4:13am
4/23/2013 4:13am
Take the best pictures you can of that cylinder, it might be able to be cleaned up. Also look very closely at the big end bearing on the crank for any debris in there. I'd probably put a new crank and topend, but the cylinder might be salvagable. Jake was on 85's/Supermini's (Kaw) for 5 years, so I have a little knowledge of this bike.
steveada
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steveada 4/23/2013 4:46am
4/23/2013 4:46am
I don't really know the prices in GBR, but here is a basic rundown for doing a top and bottom end here in the states on a kx85. Replate cylinder - $200, New piston, rings, gaskets and seals - $145, New crank and bearings - $200. That's just for the parts, so his price doesn't seem too far off if he replaces everything. If he is just charging you to split the case and clean out the debris, without putting in a new crank and bearings or replating the cylinder, it sounds kind of high.
motofab36
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motofab36 4/23/2013 5:23am
4/23/2013 5:23am
Even if the broken piston didnt damage the cylinder, it very likely needs replated anyways. The original kx 85 electrofusion bore is junk. I've sent ALOT of them out to be nikisil plated with 40 hours or less on them.
markit
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markit 4/23/2013 6:28am
4/23/2013 6:28am
sounds fair, I had a 02 i got for minimotard with a bad top end and ended up with about $350 in parts did all the work myself. At my shop I charge $150 top end and 250 complete so he's right there. My jug was ok too. Make sure he checkes the crank I never had any problems with mine but hear they can be a weak point. Good luck!
Braders756
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Braders756 4/23/2013 8:26am
4/23/2013 8:26am
steveada wrote:
I don't really know the prices in GBR, but here is a basic rundown for doing a top and bottom end here in the states on...
I don't really know the prices in GBR, but here is a basic rundown for doing a top and bottom end here in the states on a kx85. Replate cylinder - $200, New piston, rings, gaskets and seals - $145, New crank and bearings - $200. That's just for the parts, so his price doesn't seem too far off if he replaces everything. If he is just charging you to split the case and clean out the debris, without putting in a new crank and bearings or replating the cylinder, it sounds kind of high.
See, here's the thing, he could be saying he's replacing this and that but at the same time just cleaning the debris, I know he said it needed new bearings although I'm not too sure about the crank...
DTHA70
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DTHA70 4/23/2013 11:33am
4/23/2013 11:33am
best bet is to replace crank, bearings, replate cylinder and install a new top end AT THE LEAST. with all of the parts on the table it shoudlnt take a competent engine builder more than 90 minutes to tear down and rebuild.

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