Engine damage in accidents? Buying engines from wrecks...

This is not a KZ or even Kawasaki specific question...

We all see the adverts for used engines from wrecks.
What sort of damage might be hidden in one of these?

I've been thinking about it for a while but a current ebay auction has me a bit more curious than usual...
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=1,1&item=4614825934

Yes, it's that darn little voice in may head that is always saying...."Man, if you can get that cheap...just think about what you could do with it..."

-Duck

When the bike wrecks a lot of problems can occur.

-Throttle stuck wide open - valve damage
-Engine running while engine not picking up oil - depends on the oil pickup and whether is's a wet or dry sump system
-Frame mount point damage if the frame gets twisted
-Engine case damage - if any cover or case bolts get bent, there is always a chance of the case getting cracked.
-Bent / damaged crank - depending on the engine, the ignition mount on the end of the crank is susceptible to damage

I'll add to Jeff's list when buying wrecks: ignition switch gets flaky a few years later, one of the ignition pickups fails intermittently on the road (of course), rear of engine crankcase needed some welding to repair a crack caused by forces fed into it during a 'minor' crash (I "Faliconized" or blueprinted the crankshaft and magnafluxed the tranny just to make sure), etc.

You could get lucky or you could be unlucky. If you don't know the nature and particulars of the crash, you could be very unlucky indeed.

My old man always picked up motors from crashed bikes. He raced Mini sprint's and other openwheel dirt track cars. Most bikes would just crush around the motor; they would use a plasma cutter to get the motors out.

We have a motor out of a 94 Katana(i believe, it may be a 96) that has only 34 miles on it. Some kid bought it on spring break, then promply drove it though a billboard at aproximatly 120mph. As i recall 3 of the bolts on the oil pan were bent and removing them dammaged the threads; easily fixed with slightly oversized bolts and new threads. Besides that, the motor is as good as it was 34 miles ago!

Jeff-

Thanks.

Do the newer bikes have IFS(Inertial Fuel Shutoff) switches?
The example I linked to went over in a wheelie so who knows. I doubt I'll bid more than I could recover from the major components.

Thinking powerplant for a portable saw mill!

-Bob

Duck wrote:

Thinking powerplant for a portable saw mill!
-Bob

saw mill....hmmm... build a quad bike with it! show up all the guys running predators, banshees, raptors ect..:evil: haha its my goal in a few yrs anyway:) good luck with it if you do get it.
BTW how did you find it on there? did you search for engine/motor? if so, I get better results finding complete engines with harness, carbs, and sometimes even the header and rad by searching for "car kit"

Post edited by: 77KZ650, at: 2006/02/23 00:16

No, didn't get it. Went to look at a Yamaha engine that I though tthe guyt wanted $200 for. After hours drive he starts in with this ...'well I can get $200 just for the starter' crap...
Then helped a friend move another motorcycle. It was raining. Got soaked. Forgot to bid on the GSXR...
-Duck

My Z1000J was bought as a wreck for £250, and just like Jeff said all the valves were bent from overrevving while it was on the floor with the throttle jammed open.

Put in new valves, some used fork stanchions, GPz750 wheels and rear end, Z1100R seat. Cut the flattened downpipes in half with a hacksaw and beat an old fork stanchion down inside them to make them round again and welded them up at evening class. Back on the road for £500 (in 1985).

It's always a bit of a gamble and rarely worth buying wrecks just to save money IMO but if you have something specific in mind then it can be worth it.

I'll just post a link to this pic cos it's a bit big for in here: photobucket.com/albums/v30/Lorcan/?actio...ew¤t=z1000.jpg

PS I still know where this bike is, and the owner. Might have it back some day!

Cut the flattened downpipes in half with a hacksaw and beat an old fork stanchion down inside them to make them round again...

Good trick. Did you use any backing like maybe dry sand poured inside the pipe, when you welded? I have been teaching myself to weld and have found that my butt joints on thin metal come out a whole lot nicer if I use some sort of backing.

-Duck

BTW how did you find it on there? did you search for engine/motor? if so, I get better results finding complete engines with harness, carbs, and sometimes even the header and rad by searching for "car kit"

I'm not going to pay the extra to ship anything like a bike or engine and I'm going to want to check the compression and general condition before parting with my money so...

I look at ebay motors under motorcycles or motorcycle parts listed by distance from my house.

for example...
motors.listings.ebay.com/Parts-Accessori...ocmdZListingItemList
If there is some spammer hundreds of crap items, I use search with a '-' sign to weed him out of the list.

Beyond that, it's not worth the trouble/risk and you'll never beat out the local guy in the auction...

-Duck

I'm afraid I didn't use sand or anything else in the headers. That sort of thing wasn't covered in my 10 hour course, I spent most of the time rewelding stuff that fell apart the first time!

Since then I have taken all my welding to someone competent. As long as I can earn more per hour than my welder charges me then i'm happy to let someone else do it.