The Fifty

I have been talking about Wiggins’s CRF50 for weeks now.

I got a chance to clean the carbs a few weeks ago , but that was just the beginning. I finally got a chance to crack into it.

After cleaning the carbs and emptying the gas tank I figured I’d try to kick it over and see if it had spark.

It wouldn’t kick over…

I decided to take the side cover off and turn it over by hand.

It wouldn’t turn over by hand.

I repomved the spark plug and there was rust inside the combustion chamber. I couldn’t even kick it over to check for spark.

Next move- tear the head off.

Wiggins told me that he was able to kick it and it ran briefly when he brought it out from Indiana. Well, that was a couple of years ago. He also said his dad had not run it in probably 10 years prior to that.

Well, I can tell you that sitting in Wiggins’s yard for a couple years without an air cleaner has done other damage.

Once I removed the head, I saw rust and funk in the cylinder and also in the combustion chamber. The exhaust valve is rusted shut and there appears to be dirt or rust in there too. Basically there is a rusty water line where rain or maybe water-logged fuel has leaked through the carb into the motor.

Luckily it can probably be cleaned and reassessed.

I just got a $20 head gasket kit from Amazon in the mail today, so tomorrow (after I eat lunch at the bike shed with Wiggins) I will see if it can be saved.

Hopefully it’s not a lost cause. It seems like a simple fix.

If I can get the motor to turn over and maybe fire up, then I’ll work on the seized front brake drum.

The best part is how cheap CRF50 parts are online. Also, CRF50s are made for Honda in China, so it’s not like Chinese Amazon parts are less desirable. As long as they fit, they are good in my book.