100+ Hrs On Txc 250

[grahamdr370]

Hi guys, my 09 TXC 250 has just over 100 hrs now,still going like a train.

But per the manuel 80hrs replace valves,cam chain,piston,big end,main bearings.

You see i have a mate with 268hrs and still not touched,(he is a novice and is pretty tame on his )

With mine it gets a fear flogging.

The question is,yes happy to replace piston,and cam chain,but feel the rest should still be good for at least another 80hrs.

Do you agree.

And where is the best priced place to get gasket set,cam chain,etc

Thanks Graham

 

[kouack]

Search rayray a member here and has about 700 hrs on his without any major maintenance on his txc250

 

[Slowpoke]

Valves are the only thing you have to worry about if you're ringing it's neck all time, but you should be able to go 150-200hrs or so, maybe more.
Drop a valve & things get expensive real fast.

 

[ray_ray]

I'm sitting at about 750 hrs now on my 08 TXC250 .... The valves have need a few shims is about all the engine work I have done ... Usually I keep the bike at 4000-9500 RPMs ... I street / trail / track ride the bike ... I have the piston and rings and hope to change them in the near future ... As of now, the engine uses no oil and pulls AOK ...

Not sure on the cost but Taskys, BMP, or Halls should have the parts .... All are very good dealers ....

 

[OlderHuskyRider]

I'm sitting at about 750 hrs now on my 08 TXC250 .... ....

Would you say that's about 15,000 miles?

 

[ray_ray]

Would you say that's about 15,000 miles?

My vapor shows about ~13,500 miles ... This mileage number could be off as the mileage\speed meter on it is set off a number that is input into the device ...

But the hours meters should pretty close to being correct... if anything, it is short on its count as it is removed from time to time and I'm on the conservative side when I manually update it...

 

[JasonfromMN]

Ray ray, that's great and super impressive that you've gotten so many HRS on that bike. It should make some sort of hall of fame.

The only problem with waiting so long on a piston change is that when the piston wears in the cylinder the lower skirt of the piston starts to wear out the cylinder because it starts to rock or slightly pivot as it travels up and down. So when it does come time to change the piston, the out of round cylinder wears out the new piston and rings prematurely. The end resault ends up being needing a new piston and cylinder.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[ray_ray]

Ray ray, that's great and super impressive that you've gotten so many HRS on that bike. It should make some sort of hall of fame.

The only problem with waiting so long on a piston change is that when the piston wears in the cylinder the lower skirt of the piston starts to wear out the cylinder because it starts to rock or slightly pivot as it travels up and down. So when it does come time to change the piston, the out of round cylinder wears out the new piston and rings prematurely. The end resault ends up being needing a new piston and cylinder.

Just my 2 cents.

Interesting ... hope to look inside it before too long ... What if I just change the rings first and use the same piston?

 

[JasonfromMN]

If your going to take it apart I would defiantly do both. Whether your cylinder is out of round or not, the new piston and ring set will be tighter than just the rings alone- which is what you want. You don't want any excessive clearance as much as you can help it. Try to spec the cylinder bore for out of round when you have it apart if you can, ya never know maybe it'll surprise you(on the good side). They make a tool just for that although I can't remember what it's called at the moment. Any machine shop would know.

 

[ray_ray]

If your going to take it apart I would defiantly do both. Whether your cylinder is out of round or not, the new piston and ring set will be tighter than just the rings alone- which is what you want. You don't want any excessive clearance as much as you can help it. Try to spec the cylinder bore for out of round when you have it apart if you can, ya never know maybe it'll surprise you(on the good side). They make a tool just for that although I can't remember what it's called at the moment. Any machine shop would know.

Ok ..I'll try to get it measured here maybe before I swap anything ... I have an extra cylinder also if any thing looks too bad ...
Shouldn't the engine just start using oil if the rings get weak?

 

[JasonfromMN]

If the rings get bad it can start to use oil. However the piston skirt can wear the cylinder without the rings passing oil necessarily. Not saying this is what is happening, just that it can, especially with a high performance engine. Dirt bikes have really short pistons and "can" wear the cylinder more than a conventional gas engine.

 

[Slowpoke]

Re Ray Ray's bike- The piston will definitely have some wear on the front and rear skirt. I'll be willing to bet that the rings are probably at the end, or even past their spec range. You may want to invest in a top end gasket set and do a look see. Let us know what you find(pics?)
I have a TE250 that I rode similar to how you ride for most of it's life so far(it gets more back road DS duty for the last 50-60 hrs). I had it apart at about 335hrs cause it had no compression due to being watered out; The rings were stuck in the grooves.
The rings had about another 100-150, maybe 200 hours left in them based on how much wear & end gap they had at that time. Piston didn't have much wear, but there was a dime sized wear mark on each skirt. I buttoned it back up after fixing the rings and it's worked great for the ensuing 30 hrs or so that I've put on it. It does use a bit of oil during road rides where the RPM's are sustained at around 6000-7000: Maybe about 50cc/hr. No big deal if you keep an eye on it. These bikes will use oil like that from new as they have very tiny delicate rings; only one compression ring and a very tiny oil ring.
I'd be willing to bet that TXC will use oil in a similar situation.....

The Nikasil cylinder should be OK, but may need to be rehoned. That coating is a lot harder than the piston, but it can wear funny if the piston is rocking. Your piston - cylinder clearance is probably at the loose end of spec by now, if not past that.........
Even so, 750 hrs is far, far longer that any of these bikes have a right to go on the original top end. Not too many jap bikes could do that, if any. You certainly have got your moneys worth and are probably up for nomination to the hall of fame.

Buy a set of valves & guides, a piston & ring set matched to your spare cyl. when you can get them at your best price. Have the valve seats cut & the bore checked & check the con rod play. If the con-rod is good, install the new valves & guides, piston & rings and the spare cyl. Use the original as your spare & have it reworked at your convenience.

Shouldn't be much more than a grand all in, if you can do the R&R yourself.

 

[ray_ray]

Thanks and sounds like a good idea on replacing the jug with the extra one I have ... I probably should nave already did that but I've been waiting on something to happen to suggest the top end is getting weak but it just keeps running well and time has just marched forward ... the last 3 weeks I've been all over the street , trails , and on the tracks a solid week doing laps almost each day ... I think I'll get the valve guides and valves and have them available also for replacing .... and mains ... and just do this work in the coming month ....

Re Ray Ray's bike- The piston will definitely have some wear on the front and rear skirt. I'll be willing to bet that the rings are probably at the end, or even past their spec range. You may want to invest in a top end gasket set and do a look see. Let us know what you find(pics?)
I have a TE250 that I rode similar to how you ride for most of it's life so far(it gets more back road DS duty for the last 50-60 hrs). I had it apart at about 335hrs cause it had no compression due to being watered out; The rings were stuck in the grooves.
The rings had about another 100-150, maybe 200 hours left in them based on how much wear & end gap they had at that time. Piston didn't have much wear, but there was a dime sized wear mark on each skirt. I buttoned it back up after fixing the rings and it's worked great for the ensuing 30 hrs or so that I've put on it. It does use a bit of oil during road rides where the RPM's are sustained at around 6000-7000: Maybe about 50cc/hr. No big deal if you keep an eye on it. These bikes will use oil like that from new as they have very tiny delicate rings; only one compression ring and a very tiny oil ring.
I'd be willing to bet that TXC will use oil in a similar situation.....

The Nikasil cylinder should be OK, but may need to be rehoned. That coating is a lot harder than the piston, but it can wear funny if the piston is rocking. Your piston - cylinder clearance is probably at the loose end of spec by now, if not past that.........
Even so, 750 hrs is far, far longer that any of these bikes have a right to go on the original top end. Not too many jap bikes could do that, if any. You certainly have got your moneys worth and are probably up for nomination to the hall of fame.

Buy a set of valves & guides, a piston & ring set matched to your spare cyl. when you can get them at your best price. Have the valve seats cut & the bore checked & check the con rod play. If the con-rod is good, install the new valves & guides, piston & rings and the spare cyl. Use the original as your spare & have it reworked at your convenience.

Shouldn't be much more than a grand all in, if you can do the R&R yourself.

 

[JasonfromMN]

It sure makes me wonder, how long it WOULD last before going ka-put. I know a guy I've ridden with that was all proud like it was a big achievement to surpass 100 HRS on his KTM....

 

[shabbanz]

It sure makes me wonder, how long it WOULD last before going ka-put. I know a guy I've ridden with that was all proud like it was a big achievement to surpass 100 HRS on his KTM....

My sons 08 txc 250 ground to a halt after the oil pump faiiled and seized the big end at 101.1 hrs! Its well serviced not sure if the pumps are a weak point.Bike is used for xc and mx racing at club level.

 

[Slowpoke]

My sons 08 txc 250 ground to a halt after the oil pump faiiled and seized the big end at 101.1 hrs! Its well serviced not sure if the pumps are a weak point.Bike is used for xc and mx racing at club level.

Oil pumps aren't a weak point on these, so I'd guess that yours was a fluke..........Lot's of these bikes out there- TE,TXC,TC's with well over 100,200,300 hrs on them.
Were you regularly checking and cleaning the screens?

 

[shabbanz]

Oil pumps aren't a weak point on these, so I'd guess that yours was a fluke..........Lot's of these bikes out there- TE,TXC,TC's with well over 100,200,300 hrs on them.
Were you regularly checking and cleaning the screens?

Yes changed the oil/filter every 10 hours all the plugs and filter,just a shame as who ever set it up from new had got the carb spot on great starter could have taken the kickstarter off and put it in a box!All mx bike will have starters in the future.

 

[mqm]

I got my son one of the X-light 2010 TXC 250s at the back end of last year. It had hardly been used and had been regularly serviced and was used for enduro/H&H. My son used it for club MX (Junior) raced at two events before the end of the season and we laid it up for the winter.
Come 2011 oil/filter change and then out at the practice track only to find that battery was flat and even though you kick start it, it really did not run well so back home until next time after a good charge of the battery.
Next time went OK, but on in between second and third session with bike ticking over battery cables started to fry! Disconnected battery and took it to local dealers who said there was an issue with water and a few bad connections etc. Dealer criticised the tatty look of the bike as it had not been washed following the frying cables incident.
Next outing at the practice was even worse. Big clouds of white smoke and then engine seize!
Turned out smoke was water and coolant had got into cylinder causing seizure following impeller on water pump failing due to dodgy nut. This had supposedly been rectified previously according to Husky UK records but even if it was, it can't have been a proper fix.
Top end rebuild required but thankfully no damage to cylinder. Still looked new according to dealer. They did comprehensive strip and clean of the top end and then flushed it out several times with clean oil. Husky UK contributed to cost of parts and some labour as a goodwill gesture.
On the third race meeting after the rebuild by dealer, just as my son was getting use to riding a four stroke on the first lap of the first race, engine seized as the big end failed!
Bike has less than 35hrs on it, half of which was endure/H&H. My son has lost all faith in the bike and so have I. I have an old TE250 (2004) which is still running well and which my son has used for the occasional MX meeting which is on the original piston etc. On the basis of how well that has been we opted for the Husky rather than the KTMs etc which everyone else has. Did I make a big mistake? Anyone else had a problem with the 2010 TXC?
Mark