1980 CanAm Mx6-125 rebuild

I also got in my new rear tire.....Going with a Sedona 907HP in 110/100-18...Its a hard terrain tire that I'm pretty curious to get it out on the dirt. I love the knob pattern and it seems to be fairly soft. We'll see if it performs like I hope it does. It looks very aggressive for a 125.

Well, finally got around to actually doing some engine assembly. It actually went together really nice with the aid of some on-line resources that I found in a few different spots. All new seals & transmission bearings with OEM BRP bearings and seals except for the kickshaft seal which I ordered through NAPA an SKF seal because I could get from SeaDoo, SkiDoo or CanAm(engine bearings only have maybe 4 or 5 hours of light/trial riding so I didnt replace them).

Things have been a little slow at work so rather then sit around doing nothing, I've been do a little here and a little there. Rewired the stator that I just got as the insulation was starting to get brittle and was cracked in a few spots. Got the engine set back in the frame & doing some more cleanup & re-painting some odd pieces like the pegs, brake stays & etc.

I may run it at Unadilla Rewind, I guess I'll have to see which of the support classes I want to run this year. I ran 2 last year, 3 classes may be a little to intense for me, though, It would give me more time on the track!! I probably wont decide until early May which bikes I'll run & what classes . Looking forward to it though!!

I just bought a stator coil assembly off ebay(i usually dont like ebay but occasionally have no choice as there are few other choices),and when I got recieved the part, the trigger coil showed open circuit. (I got in touch with the seller and said he would work with me) I had an the original stator but one of the steel magnet plates detached and of course destroyed the trigger coil....it couldn't have hit the lighting coils, they're like 10 times the sizeof the trigger. So, I only needed a trigger coil. Found a unit on ebay, had been pulled from a running 175Qualifier. So as soon as I opened the box....the trigger was dead. Lucky for me, it was a break in the white wire to the trigger. The insulation was also cracking on that white and on the red charge coil wire. So, I cut all of them off and soldered & heat shrinked them as close as I could to the coils and then taped the whole harness, and then ran that through protective sleeve.
Its off a 175 so it doesnt use the timing box. I used to take the whole cover/stator off my 400 and put it on this 125 & it ran pretty good for riding around the house. The timing was a little retarded but better a little late then too far advanced for the type of riding i was doing at the time. Not sure where I'm going to time this. I have to do a little more research. I measured the Squish with no base gasket, I dont know if I can even call it a squish band measurement. The head is a open dome design. There was about 1 1/2 to 2mm wide notch in my measuring solder that was right at 1mm between the head and the piston. I made a base gasket that's .24mm and .0095" thick. The head gasket, I have to see what I can make, something thin. I guess I'll have to see what kind of compression its got to determine the timing and fuel I use.

Well I finally got my used/new to me stator all re-wired and installed on to the bike. Though the harness was a little longer than I originally wanted, but the length was ok with a little change in routing. Re mounted the rear brakes & wheel assembly. Still have a little widening to do to the chain guide, and then I'll be able to mount the rear brake stay. I also remounted the original sprocket(which has near zero wear) with some new flanged bolts and did away with the lock tabs for the bolts. Its taking shape, slowly. Working on the exhaust soon, gotta get the rear shocks.

Hi Guys, Just wanted to ask a quik question to you guys with some rebuild experience with the CA125 engines. Seems like every time I see a picture of a 125 head, it is a squish-band type of head. My head does not have the squish-band. Its a simple open dome chamber. Was there a running change in the design of the heads? or possibly a Rotax "Race" head. I know on the sleds, there are performance parts that were made available through BRP/Bombardier's Race Department. So whats the story????

Thanks For the Input riv187......I made a base gasket that is .009" thick and with no headgasket/shim my squish is at 1mm/.039". My piston is a .080" over Wiseco, & now I'm wondering if its a little flatter than an OEM Rotax/Elko piston. There is a Tech guy at BRP who was there from the early 70's & still is, who has given me some info, so I probably will reach out to him again and see what he has to say.

Thanks MaxPower......I ran 2 support classes last year...Open Age Novice on my CA 400 & Pre-Millenium novice on my Kx250......Had a blast.......First time id been on a track since about 2003 & it was Unadilla......What a rush that was!!!! Saturdays downpours made the track, ummmmm, interesting for me :o)

Heres a short vid of me at Unadilla at Rewind 2016. 1980 CanAm Qual/Mx6-400 hybird. Sunday Open Age moto2.....I wasnt fast, but I wasnt last :o) I love my old 400!!!!

Hey Wolfy, I have most of those tools, but not the burrett, I use a syringe instead, I would also suggest a TDC dial indicator, you can get them through a SkiDoo, SeaDoo or CanAm dealership, part# 295000143, though they are fairly pricey at slightly over $300.00 at retail. But, they are awesome to use to set timings with custom/not stock ignition systems. Sometimes, If the degree wheel doesnt fit whatever engine I'm doing, I'll just take actual measurements from TDC or BDC to the ports opening or closing to do a porting map. I did map out this engine, but am not doing any mods to it. I usually just clean up airways & set durations & clearances where I want them with base gaskets & very occasionally set squish if its way out of whack. I learned long ago, If you need more power.......go up in displacement. Your wallet will thank you, :o)

A day of ups & downs & back up again I filled the transmission with oil last night, and thought I'd go into work early to see If I could fire it up. I added a little premix to the carb and kicked it twice and it sputtered and fired and stalled. Kicked it again with the throttle open and the choke off and it fired up again, and I let it run for probably 30 seconds & man....was it loud with out the original Supertrapp silence assembled. So...that was a high point. So the day went on and I noticed a few drips on the floor underneath the bike. I thought, I must have spilled some fuel on the bike stand it it took a while to drip off. I moved the bike, wiped off the stand and finished the day of work. At the end of the day, I noticed more of what I knew to be oil on the floor.....Low point, thinking i had a case or new seal leaking and thinking Id have to pull & split the engine again....was not a happy camper. Started wiping of the cases trying to figure where the leak was from and it was just under the clutch cover.......then I realized that I had not fully tightened the plastic plug at the clutch cable access point, tightened that and leak was fixed....High point!!!!! Spent some time working on the fuel tank, was pretty badly oxidized. Trying the restoration method where you scrape it with a razor blade, & seems to be working. Also disassembled the seat to have a cover made, the pan is pretty good but needs some repair to the fiberglass in the rear, I will probably do some extra reinforcement to it. I'm going to take the seat assembly to a local upholstery shop for a new cover and maybe they can cut some new higher density foam for it.



The tank before scraping


after its first round of scraping - I did this 3 times with wipe/scrubbing with Scotchbrite between


The Semi-assembled bike. How do you guys like the Supertrapp megaphone???? wicked loud!!! The tank needs alot more work but you can see how the difference where the old Can-Am decals was is much faded.

Hey you CanAm guys.....heres a little info I learned and am using. If your looking for a clutch cable, The cable for a CanAm DS450 ATV works awesomely!!!, only 1 slight modification. On the engine side of the cable housing The ATV cable has a threaded end. Take a piece of thin wall rubber tubing(example thin wall 3/16 fuel line)cut the line 2/3 to 3/4 of the length of the threads, and screw the hose all the way up to the top of the threads, Now install and adjust the cable. The hose on the threads should fit tightly in the hole in the clutch cover. Oh yeah the best part.....a Motion Pro cable Retails for less than $12!!!!

Well, its once again progressing. Have the fenders on, and am pretty happy with them. I guess the only thing about them is the front fender is a little short in the rear. I'll have to see how it is and if necessary modify it or find something different. The tank I'm fairly happy with.......at least its a whole lot better than it was. Now that it mounted, I'll be able to buff/polish it a lot harder with my DA sander/buffer. Major items yet to do........rear shocks, chain & seat. The rest is just small details.

I read somewhere on-line that for the air-box to carb adapter you could use a CV boot. I went to our stock room and grabbed a aftermarket cv boot repair kit for a CanAm Outlander ATV and started to look at it to see if it would work. It was smaller on the large end then what I thought it should be, but, it was very stretchy and with a little coaxing it slipped right on the air-box. then I looked and measured the pleated section and cut the boot to what I thought to be the right size. I was 1 pleat off but it fit, it was tight but fit. So, now the air box and air filter is all in stalled. On a side note......The air filter cleaned up and looks like new......Ive seen several of these K&N stock filters and they tend to collapse & twist in the center if they been removed, cleaned and installed. Another thing that leads me to believe this was a low bike. I'll post some pictures of this stuff soon.

Here are a few pictures of the cv/carb boot and the air filters. The first air filter picture shows the filter that was in the 125 which I believe didnt have a lot of use its nice and straight and when I cleaned it, it was in really good shape. The second picture shows a filter that came out of a parts bike that I bought, you can see how it partially collapsed and twisted.

Getting there, things are going slow again. I was going to have a custom seat cover made based on a moden KTM aftermarket color design, but, time & cost didnt let that happen. So, I'm going to order a new cover from RTRMoto.com. Cant beat $52 for a new cover. They have ones that have an orange MX6 logo, or a white CanAm logo. Think I'm going to go with the MX6 logo. Its turning out pretty good, and I'm getting very anxious to ride.

This is the color design that i wanted for a custom seat



The bike nearing completion, I spent more time buffing the tank with NOVUS2, It was easier to use pressure once the tank was mounted to the frame