Hey guys im new and Just bought a 1997 express 400 last weekend. It is not running. it apeares the piston is siezed . I cant pull on the starter rope. I had clutch side cover off today and all looks good there except i also cant turn the clucth shaft on the engine either.. I next took off the top head cover to get a look at the piston. it is stuck at the top. It also had about a table spoon full of chunky metal bits on top of it. Is this a broken piston skirt or mayby somthing else broke inside it. As far as the history of the bike i dont know as the person i got it from was not the original owner.. what i can tell you is the coolent tank is empty , fuel tank was empty, oil talnk has some old oil in it. Looks like it hasnt beeen used in a loong time. So im guessing it probaly is bad overall. but i want to rebiuiild it if its not to expensive. How do i get the motor out? , will the trany have to come out in order to remove the motor for rebuilding.? thanks in advance for your help guys!

 

Engine comes out alone and not too bad of a job with the proper tools like a clutch puller.
If you get it apart and have busted parts drop me a pm

 

Look at the crank cases below the carb, see if they are broken

 

thanks for the replies. I will post again once i get the motor out . You said i need a cluch puller tool. so the clutch needs to come of in order to get moter away from the back of the clutch cover? i will work some more on it this weekend and let you know how its comeing.

 

Front clutch has to come off to get the motor out best t o pull both clutches and take back cover off.

 

Ok thanks i will do that this weekend. Oh one other thing the brake lever is is seized also. I have removed the lever and it didnt have any fluid in the brake system. The piston is froze ,how do i free it up? can i spray somthing on it to lube it ?. Its stuck to the ruber seal around it.

 

You might be able to say your self some money and make your own 'pri cluch puller'. That is for the front clutch that is attached to crankshaft. I found the details on here.

Use a 5/8" soild steel 3 1/2" long (some have use 1/2"), If you have a bolt this size you could cut the head off. You will also need a 3/4" bolt 3" fine thead (as someone stated on here, I used my 'ball' for trailer hitch,since it is that size). This might help you save some time and money since your still looking into 'fixing' or not.

I have be able to just pull the back clutch off by hand on my ATV's

 

Ok i got the motor out of the express. But in the meantime I purchased a 1995 polaris 2x4 parts bike . It had a beter motor I think, not seized. and same transmision and rear end . This last weekend i removed the parts bikes motor ,trans, Wheels , and rear swing arm. Im using the siwng arm/ axle on the express since the bearing were all shot on it. The parts bikes transmitsion turns more smoth so im going to use it also. Im going to put rear swing arm and transmision back into the exresses frame this weekend and take my motor to be rebuilt by a friend since its out and would be easy to rebuild mow.. Im hoping to get new piston,gaskets and bearings and have rebuilt motor back soon. It has been a lot of work so far, but i hope to have a runing express for under 500.00 Investment. So far i have About $300.00 invested in it counting the parts bike. I have been looking at new parts prices and am very shocked how mutch oem parts cost. I hope i dont need toget any! Im goint to replace some of the bad rusted bolts and nuts with stuff from e my local hardware store if I can.. I will post again soon when I get more done. Thanks for everyones help and advice

 

Save future headaches by using a Wiesco piston and OEM gaskets on the rebuild.Keep in mind on replacing bolts the rule of thumb is chassis and add on like racks are SAE bolts and engine and tranny bolts are metric

 

Thanks
I was planing on Wiesco piston but haden't decided on the gaskets yet.