97 rm125 first bike HELP!!

I'll appreciate any help and advice fix the problems above and to possibly find any other problems. Thanks

Madmack wrote:

I'll appreciate any help and advice fix the problems above and to possibly find any other problems. Thanks

If the rest of the bike is as beat as you describe, you can be certain it needs main bearings/seals/rod replaced. If you don't bite the bullet and do the bottom end it WILL blow up on you. Not a question of if, but when

harescrambled wrote:

If the rest of the bike is as beat as you describe, you can be certain it needs main bearings/seals/rod replaced. If you don't bite the bullet and do the bottom end it WILL blow up on you. Not a question of if, but when

Is that all the bottom end would need? If so how much is it for parts and labor for the bottom end? I'm capable of doing the top end myself . And how would I fix the rear brake piston since it's stuck?

Was 500 a good buy for this? If not I might just sell it.

Probably have another grand in it before all the rough spots are ironed out.

You can check the rod bearing with a dial indicator gauge through the spark plug hole and by turning the flywheel slowly. If the gauge hesitates before moving, there is play in some of the bearings.

Easiest thing would be to buy a completel Wiseco or Wrench Rabbit rebuild kit and have the crankshaft trued by a professional before installation.

TrailDigger wrote:

You can check the rod bearing with a dial indicator gauge through the spark plug hole and by turning the flywheel slowly. If the gauge hesitates before moving, there is play in some of the bearings.

Easiest thing would be to buy a completel Wiseco or Wrench Rabbit rebuild kit and have the crankshaft trued by a professional before installation.

Im just going to do the bottom end the previous owner didn't even do the top end 1 time . I have a friend that said they would do it for 350. Are you talking about the crank? It needs to be trued even when it's new? Also what about my brake caliper piston being stuck does it need to be rebuilt?

project racer wrote:

Probably have another grand in it before all the rough spots are ironed out.

Is it worth the extra grand? And how could I get to the rear master cylinder since that gaurd is on waaayyyy too tight

Probably going to battle many stuck / frozen components on the bike. Soak the back side of the guard screws with some PB blaster. Do it a few times and let it sit. If the head of the screw is not boogered and will still hold an allen wrench snugly, use a hand impact, and give it a couple of good raps .

If that does not do it, you may be able to catch the edge of the screws with a sharp chisel, and use a few hammer raps to try and break the screws loose. Soak the caliper. You may be able to put a grease gun on the bleed fitting, with the bleeder cracked open, and pump it full of grease. It may push the piston out, unless it is too solidly corroded.

Brake fluid is a moisture magnet, sticks things hard, especially after years of sitting.

TrailDigger wrote:

You can check the rod bearing with a dial indicator gauge through the spark plug hole and by turning the flywheel slowly. If the gauge hesitates before moving, there is play in some of the bearings.

Easiest thing would be to buy a completel Wiseco or Wrench Rabbit rebuild kit and have the crankshaft trued by a professional before installation.

Madmack wrote:

Im just going to do the bottom end the previous owner didn't even do the top end 1 time . I have a friend that said they would do it for 350. Are you talking about the crank? It needs to be trued even when it's new? Also what about my brake caliper piston being stuck does it need to be rebuilt?

Typically it’s best to have it checked and trued if needed. A lot of people buy the kits and throw them in, they blow up, and then blame the kits, which is true, but could have been avoided.

project racer wrote:

Probably going to battle many stuck / frozen components on the bike. Soak the back side of the guard screws with some PB blaster. Do it a few times and let it sit. If the head of the screw is not boogered and will still hold an allen wrench snugly, use a hand impact, and give it a couple of good raps .

If that does not do it, you may be able to catch the edge of the screws with a sharp chisel, and use a few hammer raps to try and break the screws loose. Soak the caliper. You may be able to put a grease gun on the bleed fitting, with the bleeder cracked open, and pump it full of grease. It may push the piston out, unless it is too solidly corroded.

Brake fluid is a moisture magnet, sticks things hard, especially after years of sitting.

I'll give that a try I have to get the pb blaster and fund everything else for the bike I didn't expect to spend this much. Also the piston is already stuck out I don't know if you seen that in the pic.

TrailDigger wrote:

Typically it’s best to have it checked and trued if needed. A lot of people buy the kits and throw them in, they blow up, and then blame the kits, which is true, but could have been avoided.

Ok I did a search of a 97 bottom end and couldn't find one do you know where I could order one from?

Sit down ,and total up the cost of everything you want to replace / rebuild. Add another $300 ,minimum, to the total for unexpected surprises. This should help you decide which direction you want to take with things.

If you plan to keep it, and ride it, it may be worth it. You will never get all the money back you sink into it if is just a flip.

Just looked at the caliper picture. Soak the piston right where it goes into the caliper. You can try to blow the piston out with compressed air. Remove the bleeder screw, and use a rubber tipped nozzle.

Yo, madmack, i got your pm but couldn't respond for some reason. Maybe the fact that my fat beagle sat on my macbook and broke it.

Any who, no, i have not gotten it to idle or get jetted right. I took it to my local shop and their solution was to put a shorter throttle cable on it to let the slide hang up slightly. I changed my cdi box, and that didn't work either.

Does anyone know of a rad vintage bike joint that i could send my motor to and have it come back working correctly?

Madmack wrote:

Ok I did a search of a 97 bottom end and couldn't find one do you know where I could order one from?

Just buy a rod kit ( Hot Rods has a kit, and OEM parts are still available from Suzuki) for it and a set of main bearings. Pull the crank and take it, along with the rod kit to your local Suzuki shop and have them rebuild the crank for you. Should cost 1-1.5 hours of whatever they charge for labor

Edit: Channeled my inner Tyler....

harescrambled wrote:

Just buy a rod kit ( Hot Rods has a kit, and OEM parts are still available from Suzuki) for it and a set of main bearings. Pull the crank and take it, along with the rod kit to your local Suzuki shop and have them rebuild the crank for you. Should cost 1-1.5 hours of whatever they charge for labor

Edit: Channeled my inner Tyler....

Not one shop in the Tampa Bay area I would trust to rebuild a crank these days. Old bikes like that need most major components refreshed. $$ adds up quick on those to bring everything back into service.

Does that mangled radiator still hold water ?
What shape are the linkage bearings, wheel bearings, steering bearings in ?
Shock still have any life left in it ?
Fork seals good ?
Cables ?

You could spend a chunk on it, and it is still only going to be what it is, an old 125.

project racer wrote:

Not one shop in the Tampa Bay area I would trust to rebuild a crank these days. Old bikes like that need most major components refreshed. $$ adds up quick on those to bring everything back into service.

Does that mangled radiator still hold water ?
What shape are the linkage bearings, wheel bearings, steering bearings in ?
Shock still have any life left in it ?
Fork seals good ?
Cables ?

You could spend a chunk on it, and it is still only going to be what it is, an old 125.

Then you have some seriously crappy shops in your area, I'm afraid. I have a good shop local to me, and I do trust their work. However, because they're human, they can make mistakes. I have them do my crank rebuilds for me, and even though they do good work, I inspect the crank myself after I get it back. (haven't had any trouble with their crank work BTW).

The rest that you mention...wheel bearings, chassis bearings, Shock, fork seals, etc...that's all gonna need serviced/replaced on even a 2 year old bike. Most people who buy dirt bikes don't do squat for maintenance

project racer wrote:

Not one shop in the Tampa Bay area I would trust to rebuild a crank these days. Old bikes like that need most major components refreshed. $$ adds up quick on those to bring everything back into service.

Does that mangled radiator still hold water ?
What shape are the linkage bearings, wheel bearings, steering bearings in ?
Shock still have any life left in it ?
Fork seals good ?
Cables ?

You could spend a chunk on it, and it is still only going to be what it is, an old 125.

What area are you in? I just opened the radiator cap it looks like i have a good amount of fluid in there but i dont know to check the levels on the other side where its bent at. I havent checked everything else you just listed i didnt dig into it i was mainly concerned with the engine at the moment and i wouldnt know when some of those needed to be replaced as this is my first dirtbike.

harescrambled wrote:

Just buy a rod kit ( Hot Rods has a kit, and OEM parts are still available from Suzuki) for it and a set of main bearings. Pull the crank and take it, along with the rod kit to your local Suzuki shop and have them rebuild the crank for you. Should cost 1-1.5 hours of whatever they charge for labor

Edit: Channeled my inner Tyler....

Could you look on motosport and look at the oem crankcase and tell me what parts i would need if i already got the hot rods and bearings? Im pricing everything now

https://www.motosport.com/dirtbike/oem-parts/suzuki/1997/rm125/crankshaft

Several years ago I had a ‘94 RM 125 that wasn’t in that bad of shape that I picked up for $500. It needed a stator and new tires. I jetted the carb because it was fouling plugs left and right. I sent the rear shock off to be rebuilt and replaced the fork seals. I rode it a lot for several months until the main rod bearing let go locking the motor up. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to do the bottom end myself so I had a shop rebuild the motor for $550. When it was all said and done I probably had around $1800 in the whole bike.

TejasTJ wrote:

Several years ago I had a ‘94 RM 125 that wasn’t in that bad of shape that I picked up for $500. It needed a stator and new tires. I jetted the carb because it was fouling plugs left and right. I sent the rear shock off to be rebuilt and replaced the fork seals. I rode it a lot for several months until the main rod bearing let go locking the motor up. I didn’t feel comfortable enough to do the bottom end myself so I had a shop rebuild the motor for $550. When it was all said and done I probably had around $1800 in the whole bike.

1800 on top of what you bought the bike for? What else did you have to do to it? My suspension is squishy. Did they charge 500 for just the bottom or top and bottomn?

The cost of the bike and everything else I had to do to it, which really wasn’t that much. $550 for a completely rebuilt motor.

If you really want to ride dirt bikes and I don’t mean rip around in an open field. I would cut your loses and part it out or sell it and get a newer 125/250 for 2k.

I plan on riding trails and stuff but not heavy like signing up for races and riding it super hard all the time as I said this is my first bike and I'm just learning.

I just talked to somebody they said they would do my bottom end for 100. (thats just bringing him the bottom end in hand)

that's not going to include rebuilding the crank. Sounds like you're gonna get taken for a ride...you need a press and a few other bits to rebuild a crankshaft....

Fix the obvious. Brakes for sure. If it is running fairly decent, ride it, see if you even enjoy it as much as you think you will. Keep the $$ invested to a minimum. Fix it as things break. Or when it does, sell it , part it, and step up to a bit better bike if you want to pursue riding further.

If the radiator holds water under pressure, brakes work, and tires hold air, screw the rest for now ,and ride that thing for what it is. It's more fun when you don't spend a ton of money just to find out it is not what you thought it may be.

In my area, there are absolutely no places to ride, other than loading up and heading to one of the riding parks / areas. No need to dump a ton of money in something that will not get much use. It can sit when it breaks. Hell, it may run for a good while as is under a beginner.

Sounds good just the engine brakes and tires. Im in the city theres not really anywhere to ride and i dont have a truck to load it up all the time so this might do just fine. It most likely won't even get ridden every month.

If i was to get a hot rod "rod kit" and main bearing " for the bike what parts would i need to finish the complete bottom end rebuild. I was looking at the schematics on motosport but i dont know enough to pick out what i would still need