Hi there im new to this site as i recently purchased a dt 125 RE 05 plate (£1400) 3 months ago as my first ever bike being told theres nothing wrong with it. i recently bought new radiator scoops, headlight panel, new front fender, new grips, thottle tube and recently had my back brake rebuilt at £100 thinking everything was all sorted i took it to a garage to have it serviced when they noticed it was rattling i was then told a new top end is needed asap so i go ahead with that now im told the bottom end is in need of a rebuild aswell ive been quoted £550 for top and bottom not using genuine parts would you guys say this is a fair price to pay?
Also how bad is the rattle, because the power-valve makes quite a noise when you get near the engine on idle!
And if it is i need of a full rebuild them im afraid £550 is about right for a garage to do it. You should check out some rebuild services on eBay dude, or just buy another full engine from eBay they tend to go for around £300 for a good runner!
And after reading alot over this forum and over the net i did hear that they tend to rattle any way. the guy whos doing it did show me the play by the con rod from taking the top end of. my bikes done 19000 miles so is most likely in need of one haha.
and cheers for the link but i think im just gonna get it done locally then can hopefully have it back on the road asap.
i did consider buying an engine of the net but still would have to pay the labour charge at a garage to fit as i dont have a clue lol :(
Yeh that is quite alot of miles on original top end, and I'm afraid the best root for you then is just to pay the £550 but at least you know it will all be done correctly and when run in fully it should be much more responsive and nicer to ride :)
I'd reconsider the full rebuild if I was you mate, by the time all that is done by a garage, the bike is going to owe you quite a bit of money. I had more or less the same story, check my intro thread here
There was a tiny bit of play on my bottom end but I decided to go against my bike mechanic mates advice and just do the top end (big difference in price). A professional mechanic and especially a garage will always go further as it's not their money they are spending, it's yours!
Just doing the top end on my bike cured the rattle and I did the work myself. I hadn't done one before but I have worked on some cars before so had half a clue what to do, also used manuals downloaded from the web and some threads I found on this forum and another one. I've done 300 miles on my new top end now and I did give it a little bit of a run-in period of about 100 miles and after 200 I started to cane it! With a full rebuild, you'll have to run it like it's a new bike, so that's like at least 500 or even a thousand miles of taking it real easy and a couple of oil changes. Do you want to spend your fisrt weeks or months on your new bike pootling around nursing your new bearings etc - it was bad enough for me doing a couple of hundred miles not kicking the tits off it!
Now I havn't got that much experience with DT's as I've only had mine a few weeks but I reckon the bottom ends are pretty solid and a tiny amount of play on the big end is not the end of the world. I certainly reckon that the rattling is piston slap from a worn bore, piston and rings especially if it's never had a top end done in the 19000 miles. It would probably have to have been run dry of 2 stroke oil to have damaged the bottom end, surely a bottom end shouldn't be nackereed after 19000 miles of normal service.
So my advice would be think about doing the top end first (the garage wants to get as much money out of you as possible), think about doing it yourself and maybe getting someone to help you if you know someone a little bit mechanically minded with some tools. It's actually pretty satisfying to have done yourself and you'll learn a lot in the process which will help you to know what's going with your bike in future. You don't want to always have to pay a garage for every little thing. Doing my top end cost me about £75 in parts, £24 for the barrel to be bored and honed and a few hours of my time.
Of course, if you're loaded, then ignore me and get some other sucker to do it and throw em the cash!
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Is that bits of piston ring firing out your tailpipe?
hi there again thanks for taking the time and giving me advice. i was thinking about just getting the top end done but still feel its alot of money and did consider doing it my self but really dont trust my self lol. i went to the garage where my bikes being done and he did show me the problem and tbh its looking pretty bad therefore ive decided to just go ahead with the complete rebuild and know i have a reliable bike which should last a few years. my other option was to sell but the money which id get for my bike would not be substantial to get my self a new bike with fewer problems of which could have more problems itself. i have a big interest in bikes and really would like to learn the mechanics and currently trying to find a bit of work experience or courses, other than this im going to buy a scrap engine and teach my self ! much cheaper than the hourly mechanics rates !
hi there again thanks for taking the time and giving me advice. i was thinking about just getting the top end done but still feel its alot of money and did consider doing it my self but really dont trust my self lol. i went to the garage where my bikes being done and he did show me the problem and tbh its looking pretty bad therefore ive decided to just go ahead with the complete rebuild and know i have a reliable bike which should last a few years. my other option was to sell but the money which id get for my bike would not be substantial to get my self a new bike with fewer problems of which could have more problems itself. i have a big interest in bikes and really would like to learn the mechanics and currently trying to find a bit of work experience or courses, other than this im going to buy a scrap engine and teach my self ! much cheaper than the hourly mechanics rates !
Exactly mate it may be a lot to fork out at once but your dt will ride like a new bikes and will last a good few years!
Im affraid that is the problems that comes with bikes, you need accept stuff like this will happen i have had to spend a few hundred on my dt this year on the motor it is just life
ive been quoted £550 for top and bottom not using genuine parts would you guys say this is a fair price to pay? 
