[norway]

Hi everyone! First off I’m from Norway so my English isn’t very good, so bare with be :) I bought a 2007 crf250 a couple of years ago. I was going to replace the front sprocket and in the process I accidently broke the countershaft bolt. I then placed the bike in a local garage and gave them the challenge of drilling it out. They didn`t manage it and basically ruined any opportunity to drill the bolt out, so they welded the sprocket on. I’m going to sell the bike now, and I’m afraid this is going to drastically reduce the price. So I was wondering if its a good idea to maybe make new threads in the outer part of the shaft, and the put a bigger bolt in with Loctite. The bolt has broken all the way in the bottom of the shaft, so its good space to make new threads. Please let me know what you think of my idea :)

[riddler9]

At this point its ruined, so better to be upfront about it if you are going to unload it.

You may even just want to get it fixed - the countershaft itself is ~$100 USD. Labor will be more, but you are going to likely take a heavy hit for a damaged machine.

[norway]

the problem is the countershaft costs 300 dollars in Norway and splitting the cases will cost around 1000 dollars. Right now i think i can get around 2000 dollars for the bike with the welded sprocket and 2500+ with a new countershaft. What to do?

[norway]

:)

[riddler9]

If you were planning on selling it regardless of the sprocket, then I would just sell it as-is.

What did you pay for the bike?

[JimDirt]

You cant buy parts off EBay over there ??? , a used undamaged part is way better than a high priced new part when both will do a equal job and the used part will be 1/10th the cost of new , this will be your cheapest way , if you want to get top dollar for the bike

Your only other option is to let the prospective buyer know what was done and price the bike accordingly and cut your losses and then go back to the garage that screwed you over by welding it in the first place and demand a full refund to recoup some of your sales loss , since it was their fault the bike is now worth less money , if they were unable to do the job you hired them to do , and now cost you more money for them NOT to fix it properly , then they should pay for their mistake , they should have told you they could not do it BEFORE they ruined the value and added a UN-necessary new repair that should not have happened had they been a qualified shop , and should have helped you find someone else that could have fixed it properly , your screwing yourself if you let them get away with it , are they even a motorcycle shop ??

The other issue i would think is that the welding now made the shaft brittle and/or warped , if it was not heat cycled , so i would question the safety as well as the added destruction when the shaft breaks and the chain wads up in the case and destroys everything in its path ,just go to EBay , buy the part for cheap (even with shipping i bet it would be cheaper than buying new , and i would not hesitate putting a used shaft in and keeping the bike , its not a part that would be considered high wear, so used is fine and will last the life of the bike) , go to the Dealer (or EBay) and buy a Factory Service Manual (not a Clymer Manual) they are under $70 (around $40 here)and do the work yourself , you will learn something , and save a ton of cash by not paying the dealer or some crappy shop like the one you took it to , outrageous labor costs for something anyone with mechanical skill and the ability to read and comprehend what they read , can do , once you do it , you will wonder why you ever paid someone else to do it

2 choices here

Buy a used part and fix it yourself , or pay a shop that actually can do the work to replace it and try to recoup the cost by demanding the shop that screwed it up to pay for the repairs it took to fix it properly

Sell the bike as is at a price that will reflect the cost of repair and cut your losses and chalk it up to a learning experience and dont let something like this happen again

And i would still pursue the shop for a refund in either case

[norway]

I paid 3500 dollar for the bike in 2011. I norway this is considered a good deal :) I’m getting driver license in 6 months so my plan was to sell the bike and put the money in a bmw, and later get a job and buy a brand new crf250 from the Honda dealer. I can see the part is half the price on another site compared to Norway, so i may end up ordering from there. But when it comes to splitting 4 stroke cases i don’t think that’s something i want to do. I have rebuild a couple of 2 strokes over the years both top and bottom, but no 4 stroke experience. Will you say a 4 stroke cases is a lot more work to split? What about cam timing and oil pump, hard to get this right?

[JimDirt]

This is why i said get a Factory Service Manual , it will tell you EVERYTHING you need to know about to rebuild the engine from top to bottom , in the sense of it being like a 2 stroke , you wont need a Case Splitter , the only real difference is the Counter Balancer and a few miscellaneous things like Timing Chain , Cam , Oil Pump , other than that , its pretty much like tearing apart a 2 stroke , so if you can do a 2 stroke , you can figure out how to do a 4 stroke easily enough

Or you can as mentioned by riddler9, just sell it as is , and take the loss but make sure you tell the new buyer the whole deal as to what happened and what needs done so you don't have him pissed at you

And still pursue the shop for a refund no matter what

[Back2-2]

I know a fellow daily rider that had a street legal XR650 that wore out the splines on the countershaft and he welded a new sprocket on and rode that bike for another 50k+ miles and finally sold it as a hard used and abused 650 with 70K miles on it.
Weirdest thing I ever seen !

I could not believe it did not damage the countershaft seal while welding it ? wild, but it worked for him.

[JimDirt]

Thats great and all , but what did he do when the sprocket wore out ??

[Back2-2]

You seem to have not understood - Like I stated - He rode it that way for another 50k miles then dumped it.

[JimDirt]

No i understood , but what i meant was , so he rode the crap out of it and the sprocket had to wear down in 50k , with it not being able to be replaced the engine needs to be torn down to change the sprocket , pretty much the same position the OP is in , so how does this help the OP ? , other than telling him its OK to sell the problem to someone else , i personally wouldn't push the problem on to the next guy , i would fix it so i didn't get a bad rep for selling a trashed bike , but then again , i do all my own work so mine would never end up like that in the first place

Not trying to start a argument , i just think the issue should be fixed , or explain the situation to the next guy and price the bike accordingly to cover the cost of all repairs weather it be done by a shop or by the owner would determine the selling price , and that the bike MUST be torn down in order to continue riding because the sprocket will not last much longer , that's all , which is why i suggested what i did to the OP rather then tell him to give the problem to someone else unless there was no other option possibly due to cost of repairs for the OP ,versus what he would get out of it if it were fixed properly

But in the end , its his bike and he needs to figure out what is best for him in the long run , either way its a crappy situation caused by a inept shop

[norway]

Funny to read old forum topics you made way back I ended up splitting the cases and replacing the transmission with a used one. Me and my dad used 4hours total, without removing and installing engine. I also replaced the top end, crank, clutch and basket and all the gaskets. Shimmed valves also. I still own the bike, and its running like a champ. Sold the old tranny to guy in Sweden who drilled the broken bolt out he still runs the tranny in his crf250 without problems. Funny how things go in life

[JimDirt]

lol , I am assuming you also noticed I made L O N G posts back then , pretty much the same way I do now , and both Neil and I are still here , and I am glad to learn you did get the issue resolved , and I assume the guy you sold the tranny to had better means and/or knowledge to do what was needed to center the hole (which I am assuming he kept drilling gradually larger and larger holes till the bolt was thin enough to pry out , saving the threads) which I am guessing the "shop" was not that experienced in taking on a job like that , which was why they failed because they did not think it thru when they attempted to remove the broken bolt , but glad you did get a replacement and still get to ride it 4 years later , that alone made the venture worth while ... .....

[Back2-2]

Good news ! Thanks for the update. It's always nice to hear back from people on the outcome of repairs.
Bet you learned a few things doing that work that will stick with you throughout your life.