I killed my FE 450.

So I haven't even had my 2010 FE 450 for two weeks, and it's already outta commission. :cry:

I'm 99% sure it's my fault. I can't believed it happened, and I'm really bummed out about it. The only thing I can think that happened is that I must have dropped something down in the intake when I took the tank off and not noticed it. I had put the bike mostly back together and tried to start it to see if the turn signals I installed worked.

As soon as I started it though it was making a horrible knocking/banging noise from the front of the motor, then it died. I guess I decided to really make sure it was f*cked, cause I tried to start it a few more times. On the third or fourth time the motor wouldn't even crank, yup it's done.

So now I'm in the process of taking the engine out. The first thing I did was drain the oil, it didn't look good. The coolant also had some oil in it, and some fine metal specks. I've almost got the engine out now but the swingarm bolt is giving me a heck of a time. Hopefully I can get it out soon. I really want to get this torn down so I can ***** the damage. Luckily this isn't my first time rebuilding an engine.

Where is the best place to buy a rebuild kit for my bike? I've found a few kits for sale overseas, but no luck yet with anything in the states. Slavens Racing has lot's of kits for KTM's and Berg's, but nothing specific for the 450. I don't suppose the KTM kit would work.

This has been a total disaster. I just got a plate for the bike and some DOT legal knobbies. The weather is perfect for riding right now and I'm busy tearing my bike apart. I'd be going absolutely crazy if I didn't have my ninja to ride, it's just not the same though, sigh.

Well I found a 518cc bb kit from Vertex Pistons. http://www.na.vertexpistons.com/Product ... tem_id=460

Can get the kit for $240 from Parts-Unlimited, might end up going that route. Anyway I'll keep updating this thread along the way.

Well progress has been kinda slow, but I finally got the engine out today. Damn swingarm bolt was givin' me a hell of a time, but I won that battle. Plan on tearing the engine down tomorrow and find out what the damage is. Still considering the bb kit, but if the damage to the cylinder isn't bad I might try to stay stock.

So I'm having some trouble with the rebuild. Haven't figured out how to get the head off. Haven't figured out how to get the rocker arms out, or if I even need to. I'm also guessing that you need to remove the cam chain. I'm not even sure if there is enough room to get a chain breaker in there though. Also the engine is froze, so I can't get to the master link on the cam chain.

Any advice? I've done an engine rebuild before, but not on anything this complex. There's videos all over the place of people rebuilding other engines, but I'm finding almost nothing to help me with the 70-degree engine.

Ok that makes sense. Thanks for the help.

Once again, much thanks.

Got it torn down, here's the pics. Damage doesn't seem too bad.


At the intake side of the piston you can see a chunk of metal from whatever it was that I dropped in the engine.


A good bit of damage to the bottom of the head. I'm wondering about the valve in that area too.

So what do you guys think. Seems like a small amount of overall damage to me. The cylinder and rings look good, seems like all of the damage was to the top of the piston and the head. I'm wondering if I'll even need to replace anything. It looks like I could just clean up the top of the piston with a dremel. Head doesn't look that bad either, if the valves are good maybe I'll be ok without a rebuild.

Opinions please... If anything needs replaced I'll do it, but I don't see any reason to go bb yet.

Yeah, I removed the cylinder and it looks good as well as the piston skirts and rings. I'm more concerned with the head, I'd like to remove the valves to inspect them but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.