Seized!

Entered the local single-trail club ride on the weekend and had an awesome ride, despite crashing so many times I lost count. In the ends a nasty fall from damp log left me with a set of very sore ribs, so I gave my bike to my brother to ride after his Husqvarna boiled over.

His story goes like this:
"The bike was going great then all of a sudden it just died. It restarted on it's own after rolling for a bit, but that lasted about 3 seconds."

Now the kickstarter is jammed solid and no amount of persuading will get it to budge.

I'm predicting the crank bearings, but as I'm not a mechanic I'm wondering what everyone else's opinions are?

Where's the cheapest place to buy new bearings?

(05 FE450E - built late '04)

i'm predicting you will buy all the rebuild parts possible, get a mortgage to pay for it and find out after a little teardown that a rock jammed the lever :bounce:

Could be 1 of many things.

Can you turn the engine over on the electric starter. If so it is not bearings.

When my motor dies a few weeks ago, it was due to a runaway valve adjuster nut that got jammed under the cam gear. This caused the cam chain to break, piston hit the valves, and the now runaway cam chain was fed into the bottom of the motor, locking the whole motor up.

I have seen siezed engines the when racing, but after they have cooled down, they start again.

It is hard to go straight to bearings and say it was a bearing failure.

Oh NO !

Well at least like your stupid brotherinlaw you didn't actually "break" any ribs.(I'm still sore :angry: )
I heard about your woes yesterday and thought , oh no ! Hopefully the repairs aren't too expensive and you get it fixed sooner than later. If you need specific parts give me a call as my mate has accounts with a lot of suppliers and can buy wholsale/ (that goes for tyres,clothing, helmets, accessories and parts).
Whether he can get them for Bergs I have yet to ask, but asking is FREE.

eyspy said:

Well at least like your stupid brotherinlaw you didn't actually "break" any ribs.

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Yeah, they aren't broken. Could be a hairline fracture, or at best just bruised. Fortunately the pain is just left of the sternum - possibly the best place to have sore ribs IMHO (and I've had a few in my time).

eyspy said:

Hopefully the repairs aren't too expensive and you get it fixed sooner than later.

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The bike will be fixed, but it could be a while. Have to send Sally back to work to pay for all the bills we've racked up whilst she's been off, then start saving for bike repairs.

eyspy said:

Whether he can get them for Bergs I have yet to ask, but asking is FREE.

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Will keep that in mind.

squizz said:

Can you turn the engine over on the electric starter.

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Nope. Doesn't do a thing.

I guess at the end of the day it could be anything, but I lack the mechanical aptitude to pull the engine apart myself to find out what's wrong. This of course means I'll have to save up for the worst possible outcome so I can then take it to the mechanic and get him to fix it.

Unless I can find a mechanic who'll strip it down for free, advise me of the problem, and then wait whilst I save for the repairs.

Sounds like engine out at a bare minimum, so i would start by removing it which will save you a few bob in labour. Drop the oil but take a photo of the magnetic drain plug or keep the swarf in a plastic bag for the mechanic. I would be inclined to take a look at the timing chain too as already mentioned.

No real harm in popping the side cover off the clutch side and taking a peek in. Just do what i do, draw the rough outline of the case cover on a bit of cardboard and punch it through with the pen where all the bolts go and use it as a bolt holder so they all go back in the right holes. Not that it probably matters but you may wish to keep pressure on the kickstarter shaft to stop it popping out of its slot, but from the sounds of it you will have the clutch basket off anyway so reseating the kicker pawl wont be an issue. Get a mechanic who is familiar with berg engines, cos this little doozie can cause no end of grief. :angry:

For those in the audience; during an install i usually put a thick cable tie in between the clutch basket and the kicker pawl (with the tie showing above the case) to keep it seated. Then once i slip the cover on i can still grab the cable tie and whip it out and snug the cover bolts up. :cheers:

[quote="aardvark
I guess at the end of the day it could be anything, but I lack the mechanical aptitude to pull the engine apart myself to find out what's wrong. This of course means I'll have to save up for the worst possible outcome so I can then take it to the mechanic and get him to fix it.

Unless I can find a mechanic who'll strip it down for free, advise me of the problem, and then wait whilst I save for the repairs.[/quote]

If you are looking for some one to take a look at it, i would be willing to look at it for you for free, but i live in QLD. If you send it up here i can strip it down, have a look and let you now what you need to spend to get it going again.

squizz said:

If you are looking for some one to take a look at it, i would be willing to look at it for you for free, but i live in QLD. If you send it up here i can strip it down, have a look and let you now what you need to spend to get it going again.

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Thanks for the offer mate, but I suspect the freight cost would probably be nearly be the same as the labour cost here.

I'm thinking now might be an opportune time to learn about 4-strokes.

aardvark said:

....I'm thinking now might be an opportune time to learn about 4-strokes.

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Now ya talkin !! I always said if I had an older bike (as opposed to brand new and big $$$$) and it seized. I would stirp it down and learn as I go.
Perfect opportunity to learn. Go for it Jason !!

Well, decided to have a bit of a look-see today. Here's what happened:

1) Drained the oil. Nothing to see here really. A couple of small metal filings on the drain plug, but nothing out of the ordinary. Oil filter and oil screen are both clean.
2) Removed the clutch cover and had a peep inside. Everything looks fine. No problems with any of the cogs in there and the timing chain looks to be ok.
3) Removed the valve covers. Again, no obvious problems.
4) Removed the headers. The exhaust ports are black and full of carbon, but I'm not real sure how gunked up they are supposed to be.
5) Took the rotor cover off and hooked a socket up to the main nut. Tried to wind the rotor clockwise but it was all locked up. Just like the kickstart lever. However, managed to wind the rotor anticlockwise a couple of turns. No wierd noises and easy enough to turn. After that, it would wind either way.

The kickstart lever is now unlocked and I can hear the piston going up and down with no crunching noises.

Not going to try and start it at this stage, but wonder if anyone has any clues what the problem might have been based on this information?

Could be something lose inside the motor which got unjammed vilst turning it anticlockwise.

But its probably still there in the motor ready to jamm it again.

The_Force said:

Could be something lose inside the motor which got unjammed vilst turning it anticlockwise.

But its probably still there in the motor ready to jamm it again.

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Ditto.....


I would be reluctant to start it, but what do you do ? Pull it down at great time and expense to find nothing ? or risk it and hit the button ?? :!:

eyspy said:

I would be reluctant to start it, but what do you do ? Pull it down at great time and expense to find nothing ? or risk it and hit the button ?? :!:

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I know. I've had to really restrain myself from starting the sucker.

On the off chance, I checked the coolant level. Took the radiator cap off and gave the bike a slosh around. Nothing to be seen!!

I wonder if it got too hot and the barrel seized up around the piston?

if it did it shouldn't turn over, and you say its now turning over, so I doubt it ?

Put some fresh oil in and kicked her in the guts. Didn't sound too bad.

Drained the oil and lots of tiny metal bits in it.

Now to pull the engine out.

aardvark said:

....Drained the oil and lots of tiny metal bits in it. ...(

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Brain mash !!


Quick !!!! Change the oil and flog it on e-bay ......

eyspy said:

Quick !!!! Change the oil and flog it on e-bay ......

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hahaha... Nah, I like it too much. Rebuild time.

Give me a pm if you need help pulling it down, have done mine its not that hard. I am in Adelaide too.

aardvark said:

Put some fresh oil in and kicked her in the guts. Didn't sound too bad.

Drained the oil and lots of tiny metal bits in it.

Now to pull the engine out.

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it maybe the main bearing in the counter balancer side is broken due to lack of crank endfloat i gather you have a 2005 model which had issues of no endfloat. ive done a lot of these engines for berg owners from all over australia and i can offer you a inspect now pay later option, its as easy as finding your local Star Track depot and dropping the motor off in a box and putting it on my account. the average cost is $80 to $100 from Adelaide area to Orange NSW and you can pay that later as well. I have the parts to fix the engines in stock and i can quote the job before i start.
Im fairly well known on the site and im sure some of my previous customers would back me in saying i know what im doing with these engines and my charges are very low.
Feel free to ring me 02 63658519

John