Rebuilding An Aging GasGas, Worth It???

[blitz11]

Maybe relevant. Maybe I am an idiot.

I haven't ridden much in the past 5 years. Last serious ride was the Shane Watts school in 2014 with my daughter ( a complete blast, except my bike had an intermittent ground problem, and i looked like an idiot when it would die unexpectedly (only happened at school - go figure.))

Anyway, moved to Montana. ALL of running/bicycling speed goes away. Altitude? Nope, bad heart valve. Mortality and all of that.

Anyway, kids are out of college, and i decide to start riding dirt bikes again. (My daughters were my riding buddies - riding w/o them wasn't as much fun, so college meant not much riding.)

So, what to buy? Sort of had it narrowed to a GG (new 2018 model) or a Yamaha YZ250X (read good things about it here). I was looking at new gassers, and found a "Transformation kit" for the 2002 EC 300 (gasgaspartsguy.com = Thanks Brad and Bud! ).

i ran some numbers, and checked my inventory of GG spare parts i have accumulated, and thought, "what the heck - let's try the transformation kit."

I am not a very good rider, so i don't know how much a new bike will help. So, let's try to fix the old one.

GGpartsguy ordered me one up, and it arrived about 5 weeks after the order - from Spain.

1. The good: I am not yet done with the bike as I am refreshing the suspension, but it is going to look great. (Thanks to Steve Beane at afterhours cycle and Terry at Northwest Suspension.) The kit comes with Graphics, red radiator shrouds, and white fenders. Everything is pre-stickered, but the kit comes with additional radiator shroud graphics. I thought that i would wait to install the new stickers; I will do that after i wreck those that came on it. It also came with swingarm stickers - nice.

2. The bad. This kit is a complete pain in the a$$ to install. it fought me at every turn. I mean EVERY turn. Nothing went smoothly. If you're thinking about doing this, be close to a hardware store (my 2002 hardware didn't work with the new kit), and be ready to cut parts, hack plastic, machine spacers, etc. You have to use your old airbox boot, and that turned out to consume a ton of time. The new seat doesn't fit the 2002 - i had to cut quite a bit of the base away, and the front of the seat doesn't reach as far as it should.

For instance, GG provides a headlight shell and an H-4 light, but no wiring, and no screws to assemble the parts to make it work. Luckily, i had an assortment kit of stainless steel pan-head sheet metal screws, which seem to do the trick. I had to modify the old headlight vertical adjustment to work with the new bike. It wold be worth an additional $50 to have all the nuts and bolts included. Ironically, the nuts and bolts and screws they did include didn't fit anything.

There was no place for the ignition box. I was going to make a shelf for it, but there was no room. Instead, i used some super high-strength velcro and velcroed it to the inside of the right side cover inside the airbox. Seems pretty tight - we'll see how it goes. I didn't have to lengthen any wires to do this.

The new subframe is steel, and it fits pretty well. It's heavy, but at this stage in my life, i don't care too much. Seems pretty durable. It was finished in black, which sort of contrasts with the nickel-plated frame, but that's OK. i was too lazy to repaint it.

Anyway, i really like this bike, so now that it is almost done, I am sure i'll forget the pain of assemble/fabrication. I need to wire in a H-4 bulb socket and headlight switch tomorrow, assemble the shock with new parts, and install new springs, bushings, seals and wipers in the front fork when those parts arrive (Tuesday?). I can post pictures if anyone cares (if i don't need a photo hosting service.) Oh, i also have to spoon on some new tires which are here. Yee haw.

Thanks for reading. A 17-year old dirt bike looks like a new modern bike. who would have thunk?

[RBrider]

We definitely need pics.

RB

[Slideshow]

Originally Posted by blitz11

Thanks for reading. A 17-year old dirt bike looks like a new modern bike. who would have thunk?

Every Yamaha 2 stroke owner for at least the last decade's dream!

Sounds like an awesome project, pics man, bring 'em

[blitz11]

Thanks guys!

I will post pictures in the upcoming days. The airbox connection was a real pain, so i want to minimize the number of times i have to take the subframe on/off. Once the shock is back together, I'll install it and the subframe, then shoot some pictures. My goal is to be done with this by Saturday, then start on my Super Tenere.

More a bit later.

[BLD]

Originally Posted by blitz11

Maybe relevant. Maybe I am an idiot.

I haven't ridden much in the past 5 years. Last serious ride was the Shane Watts school in 2014 with my daughter ( a complete blast, except my bike had an intermittent ground problem, and i looked like an idiot when it would die unexpectedly (only happened at school - go figure.))

Anyway, moved to Montana. ALL of running/bicycling speed goes away. Altitude? Nope, bad heart valve. Mortality and all of that.

Anyway, kids are out of college, and i decide to start riding dirt bikes again. (My daughters were my riding buddies - riding w/o them wasn't as much fun, so college meant not much riding.)

So, what to buy? Sort of had it narrowed to a GG (new 2018 model) or a Yamaha YZ250X (read good things about it here). I was looking at new gassers, and found a "Transformation kit" for the 2002 EC 300 (gasgaspartsguy.com = Thanks Brad and Bud! ).

i ran some numbers, and checked my inventory of GG spare parts i have accumulated, and thought, "what the heck - let's try the transformation kit."

I am not a very good rider, so i don't know how much a new bike will help. So, let's try to fix the old one.

GGpartsguy ordered me one up, and it arrived about 5 weeks after the order - from Spain.

1. The good: I am not yet done with the bike as I am refreshing the suspension, but it is going to look great. (Thanks to Steve Beane at afterhours cycle and Terry at Northwest Suspension.) The kit comes with Graphics, red radiator shrouds, and white fenders. Everything is pre-stickered, but the kit comes with additional radiator shroud graphics. I thought that i would wait to install the new stickers; I will do that after i wreck those that came on it. It also came with swingarm stickers - nice.

2. The bad. This kit is a complete pain in the a$$ to install. it fought me at every turn. I mean EVERY turn. Nothing went smoothly. If you're thinking about doing this, be close to a hardware store (my 2002 hardware didn't work with the new kit), and be ready to cut parts, hack plastic, machine spacers, etc. You have to use your old airbox boot, and that turned out to consume a ton of time. The new seat doesn't fit the 2002 - i had to cut quite a bit of the base away, and the front of the seat doesn't reach as far as it should.

For instance, GG provides a headlight shell and an H-4 light, but no wiring, and no screws to assemble the parts to make it work. Luckily, i had an assortment kit of stainless steel pan-head sheet metal screws, which seem to do the trick. I had to modify the old headlight vertical adjustment to work with the new bike. It wold be worth an additional $50 to have all the nuts and bolts included. Ironically, the nuts and bolts and screws they did include didn't fit anything.

There was no place for the ignition box. I was going to make a shelf for it, but there was no room. Instead, i used some super high-strength velcro and velcroed it to the inside of the right side cover inside the airbox. Seems pretty tight - we'll see how it goes. I didn't have to lengthen any wires to do this.

The new subframe is steel, and it fits pretty well. It's heavy, but at this stage in my life, i don't care too much. Seems pretty durable. It was finished in black, which sort of contrasts with the nickel-plated frame, but that's OK. i was too lazy to repaint it.

Anyway, i really like this bike, so now that it is almost done, I am sure i'll forget the pain of assemble/fabrication. I need to wire in a H-4 bulb socket and headlight switch tomorrow, assemble the shock with new parts, and install new springs, bushings, seals and wipers in the front fork when those parts arrive (Tuesday?). I can post pictures if anyone cares (if i don't need a photo hosting service.) Oh, i also have to spoon on some new tires which are here. Yee haw.

Thanks for reading. A 17-year old dirt bike looks like a new modern bike. who would have thunk?

Haha, thanks for the input. My bike has actually been pretty easy on me as far as everything I have done to date (stator, e-start, lighting, Lectron install, seat cover, etc). It does have its quirks, and I bet a full tear down and partial rebuild will be tough.

I do spend a lot of time finding replacement hardware as it is. The bike is tough, but I have hardware that breaks nearly every hard crash... really should stop doing that

Love to see some pics of the bike!

[Banditpowdercoat]

I may have ya beat. Doing the same with a new to me 1998 250 LOL. Lots of parts searching yup

[nknudsen]

Originally Posted by blitz11

Maybe relevant. Maybe I am an idiot.

I haven't ridden much in the past 5 years. Last serious ride was the Shane Watts school in 2014 with my daughter ( a complete blast, except my bike had an intermittent ground problem, and i looked like an idiot when it would die unexpectedly (only happened at school - go figure.))

Anyway, moved to Montana. ALL of running/bicycling speed goes away. Altitude? Nope, bad heart valve. Mortality and all of that.

Anyway, kids are out of college, and i decide to start riding dirt bikes again. (My daughters were my riding buddies - riding w/o them wasn't as much fun, so college meant not much riding.)

So, what to buy? Sort of had it narrowed to a GG (new 2018 model) or a Yamaha YZ250X (read good things about it here). I was looking at new gassers, and found a "Transformation kit" for the 2002 EC 300 (gasgaspartsguy.com = Thanks Brad and Bud! ).

i ran some numbers, and checked my inventory of GG spare parts i have accumulated, and thought, "what the heck - let's try the transformation kit."

I am not a very good rider, so i don't know how much a new bike will help. So, let's try to fix the old one.

GGpartsguy ordered me one up, and it arrived about 5 weeks after the order - from Spain.

1. The good: I am not yet done with the bike as I am refreshing the suspension, but it is going to look great. (Thanks to Steve Beane at afterhours cycle and Terry at Northwest Suspension.) The kit comes with Graphics, red radiator shrouds, and white fenders. Everything is pre-stickered, but the kit comes with additional radiator shroud graphics. I thought that i would wait to install the new stickers; I will do that after i wreck those that came on it. It also came with swingarm stickers - nice.

2. The bad. This kit is a complete pain in the a$$ to install. it fought me at every turn. I mean EVERY turn. Nothing went smoothly. If you're thinking about doing this, be close to a hardware store (my 2002 hardware didn't work with the new kit), and be ready to cut parts, hack plastic, machine spacers, etc. You have to use your old airbox boot, and that turned out to consume a ton of time. The new seat doesn't fit the 2002 - i had to cut quite a bit of the base away, and the front of the seat doesn't reach as far as it should.

For instance, GG provides a headlight shell and an H-4 light, but no wiring, and no screws to assemble the parts to make it work. Luckily, i had an assortment kit of stainless steel pan-head sheet metal screws, which seem to do the trick. I had to modify the old headlight vertical adjustment to work with the new bike. It wold be worth an additional $50 to have all the nuts and bolts included. Ironically, the nuts and bolts and screws they did include didn't fit anything.

There was no place for the ignition box. I was going to make a shelf for it, but there was no room. Instead, i used some super high-strength velcro and velcroed it to the inside of the right side cover inside the airbox. Seems pretty tight - we'll see how it goes. I didn't have to lengthen any wires to do this.

The new subframe is steel, and it fits pretty well. It's heavy, but at this stage in my life, i don't care too much. Seems pretty durable. It was finished in black, which sort of contrasts with the nickel-plated frame, but that's OK. i was too lazy to repaint it.

Anyway, i really like this bike, so now that it is almost done, I am sure i'll forget the pain of assemble/fabrication. I need to wire in a H-4 bulb socket and headlight switch tomorrow, assemble the shock with new parts, and install new springs, bushings, seals and wipers in the front fork when those parts arrive (Tuesday?). I can post pictures if anyone cares (if i don't need a photo hosting service.) Oh, i also have to spoon on some new tires which are here. Yee haw.

Thanks for reading. A 17-year old dirt bike looks like a new modern bike. who would have thunk?

I agree the hardware part is a pain, on my 2000 the seat fit w/o out trimming just forceful placement, it now fits well after being ridden and seat adjusts to the tank shape. I mounted my CDI in the same spot the 2011 used on the inner rear fender near the air filter with a modified 2000 mount. My rear subframe was aluminum and needed some mods to the mounts so the assembly was square above the rear tire. I hope you enjoy it!

[blitz11]

My big concern at this point is the airbox. I looked at the GG manuals, and they don't list the old-style airbox boot (the big rubber part which attaches to the back of the carb).

If i have issues fitting the 2002 airbox back to the carb, i am going to cut the rubber to the carb, then pass a silicone air tube through the rubber, machine an tube to support a UNI pod filter, then install a UNI Pod filter in the airbox. I can use black silicone hose (looks stock), and if i run a 6" long, 4" OD UNI filter, i will have ~75% of the surface area of the old style air filter, and ~100% of the new style air filter.

it's a shame that GG doesn't offer that air boot any longer - but it gives me something with which to tinker. I'm an optimist - i know that today will be better than tomorrow.

[nknudsen]

Originally Posted by blitz11

My big concern at this point is the airbox. I looked at the GG manuals, and they don't list the old-style airbox boot (the big rubber part which attaches to the back of the carb).

If i have issues fitting the 2002 airbox back to the carb, i am going to cut the rubber to the carb, then pass a silicone air tube through the rubber, machine an tube to support a UNI pod filter, then install a UNI Pod filter in the airbox. I can use black silicone hose (looks stock), and if i run a 6" long, 4" OD UNI filter, i will have ~75% of the surface area of the old style air filter, and ~100% of the new style air filter.

it's a shame that GG doesn't offer that air boot any longer - but it gives me something with which to tinker. I'm an optimist - i know that today will be better than tomorrow.

Something isn't fitting together correctly, it's fighting you too much. What I remember finding out was the 02' style boot had holes for the mounting plate/ring and the 11' style had no holes but otherwise the same. I have the 2011 boot on my bike with no mounting holes and it fits well on my 2000 EC250 with the transformation kit. I know people have drilled the 2011 airbox front panel and used the 02' style boot mounting. You should post some pics of the subframe & airbox assembly.

[blitz11]

Originally Posted by nknudsen

Something isn't fitting together correctly, it's fighting you too much. What I remember finding out was the 02' style boot had holes for the mounting plate/ring and the 11' style had no holes but otherwise the same. I have the 2011 boot on my bike with no mounting holes and it fits well on my 2000 EC250 with the transformation kit. I know people have drilled the 2011 airbox front panel and used the 02' style boot mounting. You should post some pics of the subframe & airbox assembly.

Thanks. You've opened pandora's box - i am going to pick your brain some more.

1. The carb - boot interface wasn't too bad. The only fitment issue i had was that the boot at the bottom of the carb only made it to about 1/2 the width of the flange on the end of the carb. I used my heat gun to stretch it a bit, and it was fine. I don't know if that will take a set (i am hoping) or i'll have to do it everytime. That boot is 19 years old (according to the manufacturing date), and it's pretty stiff.

2. I'd be happy to buy and install a new airbox boot. What I am missing is what I need to update. (I did drill the six holes in the transformattion kit - i had to because the back plate is where the threaded rod screws to secure the air filter - please see http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....5&b=5&Action=O

the 2011 boot shows holes in the fiche, but no fasteners passing through.


3. What i don't see is what i need to upgrade to the new (2011) airboot. Here's the parts diagram for the 2011: http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....&b=19&Action=O

I would be happy to buy part 1, part 2, ( i have part3, 5, 9, 10), part 11. what I am unsure about is into what does part 5 go? I didn't look too closely at my part 5, but i don't know how this works w/o seeing it.

The new style air filter is MUCH smaller than the old style air filter, so I am unsure against what the air filter face fits against in the new style airbox.

Any help/advice you can offer is solicited. having a fresh airbox boot would really make me happier - the old boot seems stiff and tired.

Thanks!

blitz