More JE piston observations...

[Honda_250f_rider]

I tore my bike down this winter, this is the 2nd JE piston I had in my bike. I was intending to just re ring it. It had 23 hrs on it.

The JE piston pins aren't that great. I have found them to get worn and rough which galls the small end of the connecting rod. My rod has a slight amount of wear on the right bottom side. I don't have the $'s to replace the crank, so I'm just leaving it, and hoping it will last me... And the JE piston skirts were worn and had some scratching in them. (as well as a very very slight bit on the cyl) This was the trend between the two past JE pistons I have run, which accounts for about 75 hrs run time. I didn't experience any of this with the OEM piston/pin which I ran for the first 38 hrs.

So the fix would be to run the OEM pin with JE piston. Or use another aftermarket one.

But I just went with the OEM piston because it was cheaper. 13.1:1 is good enough for me I guess. $50 + taxes for me for the stocker. I had some JE rings, and a OEM pin so I just used that with the stock piston. I think from now on I may just use stock pistons because of cost.

Just some observations of mine.

So basically I will need a new crank/rod next year some time, or at the end of it

Just passin this on.

[Berm-Saw]

how are the CP pistons? i dont know what i should put in my bike

[Honda_250f_rider]

If you are looking for a 13.5:1 piston, I would think CP's, Wiseco's, MDK's, and Crower's would be good. I guess whatever you can get a good price on.

Personally I am just running the stock 08 piston in my bike right now -- just finished putting the motor together today.

I will see how the power difference is from the JE. I did hone the cyl and do the dry method as always. -- Well that is when I get a chance to ride it, we still got about 1 foot of snow here at the moment.

----with piston, pin, clips, rings, and gaskets I could probably rebuild my bike for around $150 with OEM components(after taxes on parts).

[ccollinscj]

Ditto +1

I went through the same thing and folks though I was Carzy:crazy: when I said something. I went back to the stocker as well and they last longer and cost lease. I just redone my hole top in this time and put the 2008 CAM in and 2008 piston which is 13.1:1 compare to the stocker on the 2007 which is a 12.9.1.

I tore my bike down this winter, this is the 2nd JE piston I had in my bike. I was intending to just re ring it. It had 23 hrs on it.

The JE piston pins aren't that great. I have found them to get worn and rough which galls the small end of the connecting rod. My rod has a slight amount of wear on the right bottom side. I don't have the $'s to replace the crank, so I'm just leaving it, and hoping it will last me... And the JE piston skirts were worn and had some scratching in them. (as well as a very very slight bit on the cyl) This was the trend between the two past JE pistons I have run, which accounts for about 75 hrs run time. I didn't experience any of this with the OEM piston/pin which I ran for the first 38 hrs.

So the fix would be to run the OEM pin with JE piston. Or use another aftermarket one.

But I just went with the OEM piston because it was cheaper. 13.1:1 is good enough for me I guess. $50 + taxes for me for the stocker. I had some JE rings, and a OEM pin so I just used that with the stock piston. I think from now on I may just use stock pistons because of cost.

Just some observations of mine.

So basically I will need a new crank/rod next year some time, or at the end of it

Just passin this on.

[Honda_250f_rider]

yeah, I'm not that happy about what the JE piston did to my bike. Looks like it will be needing a new cylinder or replated cylinder in the future because the scratches were slightly too deep to hone out, but they aren't a huge problem at the moment. And the wear in the right/bottom of the small end of my con rod, isn't good either. I miced it out and it is right around the service limit for the size of the small end of the rod. Just hope it will last me a while. I know for sure that the JE pin accelerated the wear on the rod -- because you can run your finger across the used JE pin and it is rough Well I got 109.5 hrs on the bike. OEM valves haven't tightened so I guess crank/crank bearings/cylinder/piston will be in need whenever I get the money... It will be all OEM.

[grunkthump]

so JE with the OEM pin would alleviate any trouble??

[Throttlejockey]

What oil are you using?

[Honda_250f_rider]

The same oil I used for the whole life of the bike and with the OEM piston - Rotella T 15w40. And the OEM piston/pin did not show any wear like the JE did.

I would think the OEM pin with the JE piston should alleviate the issue.

[Ron Hamp]

Pistons dont leave scratches in cylinders unless a forun material gets imbedded in the piston which i have seen with oem pistons .stock honda pistons are good if your running stock compresion ratios you also may have found that after running the stock components for 50 + hours that there would be galling of the conecting rod which i have seen .one way to solve the problem is to have the pin casidium treated .also conecting rods tend to oblong after uses pulling the sides in reducing the oil clearance and causing wear so we really cant say that the pin cuased the rod to wear since the majority of them do it after time even with stock components.on the other hand i rarley see a pin worn using a falicon rod which has a bronze bushing and thats with J&E cp or any of the other piston companys.

[Honda_250f_rider]

thanks Ron ...

So I guess I just got a tired motor that needs some help soon...

I will be keeping this bike for a while, just have a couple of questions, because I'll be fixing it up properly when the time comes.

So I guess I'll get the crank rebuilt with a failcon rod. -- Is the bushing in the Failcon rod replaceable w/out removing the crank from the motor? So would you be able to change it out while doing a top end? The company I would send the crank to would rebuild/balance it for $110 labor, is that about the right amount? Then I may try another 13.5:1 piston.

What about the cylinder - is it cheaper to get it re plated or buy another one?

So are you saying that the scratching in the cylinder and piston came from other components in the motor that wore and some metal got into the piston area? Because no dirt has ever been through the intake system.

And finally with the bit of wear that I see on the rod, do you think it is going to hold together for a while?

[dirt_rider93561]

The bushing can be replaced, but the rod has to be out of the motor. Looking around at the online parts dealers, it would probably be cheaper to get a new cylinder then have your replated. As far as pistons company qualities JE, Wiseco and CP are all great products. From what we have seen JE's and CP's are a little better quality and have closer tolerances than Wiseco's. Granted this was quite a few years ago and have gotten a lot better since then.

[Ron Hamp]

when you do rebuild the engine if you use a falicon rod i would still consider having a pin coated we were always replacing the bushings n the xr 750 harleys and when we started having the pins coated not only did we stop having to replace the bushings every year but we no longer seen the galling or wear in the piston bosses these were high dollar cosworth pistons and pins .when ever i take one of these engines apart i always find metal particals in the screen and oil filter there no getting around it .only a very small particle of metal needs to imbed in the piston skirt to make scratches in the cylinder .when you do have your crank rebuilt make sure they install a new bearing and measure the crank pin we use an early yamaha 250 bearing and cage as honda does not offer them .keep your old parts its amazing how bad some of theses rods and bearing cages are with no noticable movement in the rod .also i can rebuild your crank shaft .honda does avery good job of plating compared to like suzukis but i do prefer millenium i get some very personal service from them they even flew me to there plant with there personal air plane they are great pepole .

[Honda_250f_rider]

I'm hoping I can get away with another season on the current motor- maybe its some wishful thinking.

But probably by the end of next season (or whenever I get money). I def. would like to send you the crank to get rebuilt. Could you please PM me with prices of the rebuilding/balancing the crank - and the price of a Failcon rod. As well as the price of coating the pins & price of re plating the cylinder.

I'll probably need my head rebuilt by then. Fresh valves/springs, and maybe some porting...

How long do these coated pins last? will they last for multiple pistons?

Gotta start saving my $'s.

[dirt_rider93561]

Ron are you talking about the DLC coated pins the CP does?

[aaronbellmx355]

hey, honda 250f rider I have my oem cylinder off my 06 crf250, it has maybe 30hrs on it, my whole motor only has 38. I'll sell it to you if your interested. im sure the 06 will work on the 08 but if not the offer is on the table.

[jake178079]

Ron,

Where can we get these pins casidium treated ????And can we run the stock pin with the je piston set up??

[Ron Hamp]

I have not checked the pin length of a stock 250 pin vs the J&E this would be important if switching pins J&E and cp offer options on the casidium treated pins. Both companys fit the pins individually to there pistons .the pins first need to be super finished and then treated i have considered buying extra pins and finishing them and then having my people treat them with casidium. I'm having the valve spring retainers for the 250s coated for longevity now because of some past problems .most of theses coatings are more for engine longevity that they are for hp gains .

[jake178079]

Im very concerned now,since i just installed a JE piston...

Still havent started it since i installed it,I may take it out and go back to stock? If i understood what ron was saying he hasnt had this issue you speak of with JE Pistons??

[Yves Edge]

Im very concerned now,since i just installed a JE piston...

Still havent started it since i installed it,I may take it out and go back to stock? If i understood what ron was saying he hasnt had this issue you speak of with JE Pistons??

Don't be concerned at all. The scratching has to be from something getting between the piston and the cylinder, not the piston itself. Both JE and CP pistons are high quality parts.

[jake178079]

Don't be concerned at all. The scratching has to be from something getting between the piston and the cylinder, not the piston itself. Both JE and CP pistons are high quality parts.

Yves Edge,

If you had a stock piston and a JE piston which one would you install in a all stock engine?