Brokedown near Jackson WY
 

I posted in another forum but thought here might also help. I am at the tail end of a long tour on my XR and looks like I blew the top end about 50 miles south of Jackson. The local guy who is helping me out, says not many mechanics around and it is hard to get parts here. He is suggesting taking the bike to Idaho Falls and trying to get it sorted there.It's such a simple bike single cylinder and air cooled. Just a bit beyond my mechanical experience I am wondering if anyone knows of anyone who could help out in a situation like this. A backyard mechanic, friendly rider, or someone with a shop reasonably nearby who could help me tear it down, and see what's gone wrong and get me back up and running as soon as possible.

Blown top end.

It's quite likely that you're going to need a town with a good mechanic and deep pockets.

A week passed . Just curious as to how, or if things have progressed with diagnosis and repair .
. "Blowing the top end '' sounds so all encompasing . Could be many things from "it stopped running" to ' the piston came out the spark arrester in the exhaust smoke ". What part of the "top end " "blew" ? burned or broken a valve? cam and chain issues ? broken spark plug electrode ?

An XR /XL engine may be only a single cylinder but it is still a refined and high precision machine requiring proper tools beyond a set of Vise Grips (TMR) and a hammer and hacksaw :mchappy:
Hope it turned out to be a minor and cheap fix , let us know , will you ?.
Best of luck

Yeah, what solution
 

I live over the mountains (Pryor and Big Horns) from where he was broke down, 4-6 hours away, thought about hauling a trailer down there to get him to a decent repair shop...but he went dark.



Kind of curious how he sorted out the mechanical fix?


I once broke down there on my 1945 Indian Chief (stuck valve) when I was young and on the low end of my personal upward vectoring learning curve for motorcycle repairs/maintenance and a local farm guy used vice grips and hammer while we were under a shade tree near his barn to do the fix. keepcalm

RTW et al "Going Dark " seems to be a frequent occurrence and a problem on websites for some folk seeking answers . Somebody needs help and wants an instant solution to the problem ,:detective: but then after one try disappears and is rarely heard from again ..The other forum RTW posted was for help seekers on HU and Grant Johnson, owner and moderator of HU gave him a few hints to find helpful contacts . But there also RTW just evaporated , not even a minor politeness of thanks ,or letting it be known that help had arrived and to call off any rescue operations .
Maybe he discovered that the KILL Switch had been thrown and silenced the "top end " :oops2: and he is toooooo embarrassed to admit it doh