Engine gone pop after 10 days, no warranty, where do I stand

[TravisBickle]

New year has come and gone and still not bothered to submit a claim.

Just not had the time or inclination.

So I threw in the towel and emailed the trader saying exactly that - shall I pick it up or do you want to make me an offer?

The said come and get it.

Gave me two bags of parts from the bike and the cylinder head has been disassembled. Hole in the piston.

Had my eye on a complete engine listed on Ebay in Devon and had agreed a price with the seller (listed for £1,200 + £40 postage - agreed on £1,000 cash on collection). Was going to tie it in with visiting my daughter in Devon a couple of weeks from making the deal so I offered a deposit but was told not necessary.

Now I find out the blighter has already gone and sold the engine to someone else now!!!

I'm furious!

My brother-in-law had promised to help swap the engines with me but there are no other complete engines listed anywhere that I can find, repairing the existing engine is above my brother-in-law and I's paygrade, and my mechanic is unwilling to take on the project of repairing the engine and said an engine swap would be far better if I can find one... which I can't!

Any suggestions?

Had a brief look for a written off one but nothing around.

From what I can tell these start at £4k upwards these days, even from private sellers, so I don't mind spending a grand, maybe two grand at a push, on the bike if I can get it running good enough to sell. In fact my brother-in-law said he might be interested in buying it off me as it's exactly what he's looking for himself.

Complete engines for these seem to be like hens teeth so not really willing to sit on it in the hope another complete engine will come along and announce its presence to me. Just kinda want the project done and dusted so I can put it behind me.

So where do I go from here?

These are pretty basic engines, right? Surely the parts are readily available? Anyone recommend someone in Kent who'd take this on for me as a re-build project?

https://i.ibb.co/92ZXzHX/20230111-170632.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ct1P1zy/20230111-170647.jpg
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2024 BMW M1000XR
2021 Honda CMX500 Rebel S
2016 Triumph Tiger 1050 Sport

[Robby]

What does the underside of the cylinder head look like?

[TravisBickle]

[mattsprattuk]

Even if you put a new engine in, it's going to happen again unless you sort out the fuelling issue causing the hole.
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Blue_SV650S wrote: it was a sh1te wheelie, but it proves that he can get it up in 3rd and can do angles. In summery, mattsprattuk is a gobby little sh1tebag, dopehead tw4t, but sadly for all of us, he probably isn't THAT full of sh1te!!
Kickstart wrote: Hi I tend to agree with Matt. All the best Keith

[jeremyr62]

[Robby]

I think it's dropped a valve too, looking at the cylinder head damage and the broken valve guide.

A rebuild on this is not a straightforward top end job. The bottom end needs to come apart to get all of the bits of metal out of it. I would want to check the crank bearings and the oil pump for wear. The cylinder head may be something a machine shop/old school engineering shop could sort out, but it may need to be replaced.

It's certainly something where I would be looking for an engine to get it back on the road with the least fuss and cost.

[Ayrton]

The CCM 404 uses a DRZ engine from what I understand, maybe have a look for one of those.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394388836328?hash=item5bd3680fe8:g:MvgAAOSwIKNjovsk&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4KzJodWxirwjXGGXSs4GHDEM3fyGKXRD6P7tTW1csDIHyVqL3wTpzCSbAWIH6bb1sqNJ21ooh17hRuU5UCwRazFeQhcMWLpZ9irUppPBKwSqC1Qk%2F7%2FqEQkWaZScWDdllBA5feKC2t5t3pAlVHTWQ10TqJ9PAOEphmkRGi81W5jtZtnIwY29Pspu021u2XujVNWoL5D8JkMuqrdOq4%2B94uj9XZMaVOcVt2Jlf2hCOuiGp6TKshW7HfL6g%2BZEbGLgfBhKr2aN0IP2%2FdW01aOeBqnLH%2BFvx%2ByTOsPaMtvu7vWb%7Ctkp%3ABFBM9PDQg71h

[TravisBickle]

Thanks for the advice guys. I, too, was very much of the opinion that an engine swap would be a far better solution than breaking the engine apart and rebuilding it from the bottom-up. However if that's the only way I can get it running...

They do complete rebuild kids for these, don't they? Seem some stuff listed on ebay in the region of £500.

[TravisBickle]

[rpsmith79]

[jeremyr62]

It will cost an absolute fortune to rebuild the engine you have. When you add up the time, the parts, working out what needs to be replaced etc it just wont make any kind of financial sense. The cylinder head and piston are toast for a start. There's no way you can reuse that cylinder head. It will cost thousands to refurb/rebuild the engine. It will make that CCM engine linked above seem like a bargain.

You just have to be patient and wait for the engines to turn up on Ebay.

[Robby]

It's one of those situations where I'm slightly conflicted.

If it was mine I would rebuild it, but I like doing that sort of thing. I would probably end up spending between £500-£1000 in parts and services.

If I just wanted it back on the road I would buy an engine and sell that one for parts. Possibly dismantle it and sell the parts individually.

[TravisBickle]

I ordered that CCM engine.

A bit more than I wanted to pay.

Well what I wanted to pay was absolutely nothing, so that's pretty much obvious!

Shall I say it was more than I was expecting/hoping for.

Listed for £1,490

I offered £1,000

They countered with £1,350

I countered with £1,200

They countered with £1,350

I countered with £1,300

They countered with £1,350

They drive a hard bargain, clearly, LOL. Weren't going to let that go for any less than £1,350

I've just paid for it, should get it next week.

So props to Ayrton for bringing that to my attention!

My brother-in-law told me not get my bike mechanic to do the engine swap and said he'd do it for me instead. He's insisting it won't take more than a couple of hours on my driveway if I lend a hand. Even if we double that figure, or account for a whole Sunday on the job, is that realistic do you think? Obviously I don't expect anyone in here to instinctively know my brother-in-law's mechanical prowess, but he's rebuilt and restored smaller two-stroke bikes from the ground-up before now. Is this a dead simple job that can be done by a back garden DIY intermediate? Or do you think I'd be better off letting my mechanic do it? I'm just worried if we run in to trouble with broken studs etc. at least my mechanic has all the tools and space to work on it, hoists, lifts and workbench space etc. Would be very embarrassing to attempt the job ourselves and then go back to my mechanic with my tail between my legs asking him to fix a half-arsed attempt.
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2024 BMW M1000XR
2021 Honda CMX500 Rebel S
2016 Triumph Tiger 1050 Sport

[jeremyr62]

OK. Hope it's a good un.

Check the valve clearances before you fit it.

[P.]

I would expect it to fit and be OK, but presumably it's Angie and no carb etc, you'll probably need it properly set up.

[TravisBickle]