Seized 250?
 

A beautiful day of riding ended 10 miles too soon yesterday.

A little background, a rattle that started on my previous ride after I hit the pipe on a rock. It sound like the pipe guard was rattling. Last week I took the pipe off, replaced the flange gasket, replaced the pipe springs and reassembled. For the first 15 miles of the ride the bike ran great and no rattle. Then I crashed hard going over an opening in a rock wall, planning to do a little jump. Instead the bike went flat down and took me to the ground (I blame the slick leaves). After that the rattle was back. It was driving me nuts but I was convinced it was not a mechanical issue. I even kicked the pipe a one point and I could hear the rattle. I figured it was the pipe guard and pushed on. With 10 miles to go I stopped to help me friend with his bike and when I tried to start my bike it was locked up. ARGGGGG!

What would cause a perfectly running bike, yes it was running like a champ, to lock up after being shut down? I am stumped. The transmission side all seems good. It shifts not problem. It was not running lean and it had plenty of coolant. I guess I'll know more after I start tearing it down, but for now it's tearing me up inside. :(

Ed,

Its entirely possible that you are dealing with two unrelated issues. The pipe rattle, from my experience, comes mainly from the edge of the pipe flange vibrating and touching the spigot bolts, if the header is even slightly tweaked.

The fact that it shut down clean tells me it did not seize. I would at first guesss suspect some type of primary problem. It will be easy to find.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Glenn. I am thinking along the same lines.

Any suggestions on where to start? Since my top-end has two seasons on it now I was thinking it is time to do that too.

I'd pull the primary cover, any catostrophic failure or jam of the gear train should be evident. If it is not, then you could pull the clutch for a better look at the kickstarter gears, and try to turn the crank by the pinion or the flywheel. By now you should know whats up, good or bad.

Thanks. That all makes sence.

Maybe something was damaged in the crash, from the starter possibly being impacted? Just a thought. I have some high res pics of my kicker gear job, I could send you if you need them for reference.

The bike feel on the shifter side. The tip broke off that too, but it shifted fine afterward.

I think you are onto something. I pulled the ignition cover and the flywheel would not turn. I put it in first and rocked it back and forth gently. After that I could get the flywheel to rotate back and fourth about a 1/8 turn. If I went too far it locked again (sounded like it clicked in). Definitely something on that primary side and maybe the kick start mechanism is jammed up.

Since my hip was killing me last night after sitting for over an hour on the ride home, I just parked the bike in the garage and my arse on the couch and watch the Giants squander a lead. I plan to wash it up on Wednesday and then I can pull the cover off and see what's going on in there. I'll post and update when I do.

Thanks Glenn as usual you have been great help.

Interesting one, keep us posted.

sounds like your connecting rod locked up same thing happened to my buddies KTM

Why? The bike shut down normally with the kill switch, locked up when he attempted to kick start it. My $$ is on the primary.