Powertrain failed and making horrible sounds


Foss

Well-known member
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158
Location
Vestal, NY
Take the front sprocket off and let’s hear that powertrain. Use an high impact drill, it will spin right off easily.

It almost sounds like the sprocket is hitting the front chain slider…

Stark is going to want you to retake the video with the front sprocket off anyway… also they will want you to remove the gear cover exposing the gears for inspection. If the sound still remains it will be a new powertrain for sure.
 

Foss

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158
Location
Vestal, NY
Stark closed up my ticket never claiming the old motor back; safe to say I can keep it. So at some point I will dissemble mine and see if the bearings can be taken out easily. I’ll try and take photos of everything and maybe upgrade the bearings. Hopefully fix my existing noise and others could too providing a backup motor if needed.
 

Rashid510

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South San Francisco, CA
Stark closed up my ticket never claiming the old motor back; safe to say I can keep it. So at some point I will dissemble mine and see if the bearings can be taken out easily. I’ll try and take photos of everything and maybe upgrade the bearings. Hopefully fix my existing noise and others could too providing a backup motor if needed.

If the motor is toast...I would not recommend saving it as if it is "repaired" and some how delaminates or separates it can cause potentially more damage in the motor housing. Curious to see how its built though....
 

Spike20

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1
Location
NC
Sent a message to Stark a few weeks ago they took a bit to get back to me saying the message went in their spam...
They were able to remote into the bike and said it would need a completely new powertrain. I took the bike back to the dealership I bought the bike from and Stark is sending them a new motor for it...
Was on asphalt when the motor locked up and messed my back tire up, so Stark said they would replace that and sent me an axe cause the nearest dealership to eastern NC is 2 1/2 hours away.
Just hoping those guys follow the video and fix it right lol.
 

Theo

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149
Location
Italy
Was on asphalt when the motor locked up and messed my back tire up
This is the second time I read about a jammed rear wheel in a Varg.
It sounds pretty dangerous; when airborne, if I close the throttle with 100% regen braking, the front end of the bike dives; I guess that if the motor and the wheel stopped spinning suddenly, I would front flip. Also, those tracks in the weekend are pretty crowded and even if I am not jumping and that happens there is a non negligible possibility that someone will crash into me.
 

Spike20

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Location
NC
This is the second time I read about a jammed rear wheel in a Varg.
It sounds pretty dangerous; when airborne, if I close the throttle with 100% regen braking, the front end of the bike dives; I guess that if the motor and the wheel stopped spinning suddenly, I would front flip. Also, those tracks in the weekend are pretty crowded and even if I am not jumping and that happens there is a non negligible possibility that someone will crash into me.
Yes this could’ve been a disaster!
 

UKLee

Well-known member
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61
Location
UK
This is the second time I read about a jammed rear wheel in a Varg.
It sounds pretty dangerous; when airborne, if I close the throttle with 100% regen braking, the front end of the bike dives; I guess that if the motor and the wheel stopped spinning suddenly, I would front flip. Also, those tracks in the weekend are pretty crowded and even if I am not jumping and that happens there is a non negligible possibility that someone will crash into me.

Happens with 2 strokes and even four strokes but then you have a clutch to pull in to unlock the wheel which could make all the differance.
 

Theo

Well-known member
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Location
Italy
Happens with 2 strokes and even four strokes but then you have a clutch to pull in to unlock the wheel which could make all the differance.
What you've written is true and maybe our Vargs are still the most reliable motocross bikes out there, cosidering the crazy amount of maintenance needed by gas bikes and their low reliability.
I also add that you can stall a gas bike in the air (too much rear brake, fouling a plug, running out of fuel...) or you can unintentionally engage neutral and nosedive anyways.
Still, this problem is serious. I wonder whether it will become frequent as the bikes become older and older.
I hope that either the problem is something non common to all Vargs, like a bad batch of 100 motors, or that they find a solution. I've read that they did test some prototypes for hundreds of hours; it's so strange that we are already hearing about power units being replaced because of weird noises or stuck motors!
Honestly the only thing that I dislike about my bike is this worrisome possibility that the power unit may jam and the fact that I can only hope it won't happen to me.
 

Chaconne

Well-known member
Likes
91
Location
Massachusetts
What you've written is true and maybe our Vargs are still the most reliable motocross bikes out there, cosidering the crazy amount of maintenance needed by gas bikes and their low reliability.
I also add that you can stall a gas bike in the air (too much rear brake, fouling a plug, running out of fuel...) or you can unintentionally engage neutral and nosedive anyways.
Still, this problem is serious. I wonder whether it will become frequent as the bikes become older and older.
I hope that either the problem is something non common to all Vargs, like a bad batch of 100 motors, or that they find a solution. I've read that they did test some prototypes for hundreds of hours; it's so strange that we are already hearing about power units being replaced because of weird noises or stuck motors!
Honestly the only thing that I dislike about my bike is this worrisome possibility that the power unit may jam and the fact that I can only hope it won't happen to me.
I am very happy with my bike too. Like everything there are some things I don't like. My powerswitch failed after getting too much mud/dirt in it and my bike wouldn't power on. For enduro I think Stark will have to improve the sealing of the switch since crashes/tipovers into mud and dirt are common and though the switch is nice it is not well sealed.

Of course, there is the stock tubes and the oil drain plug but that has already been a worn out topic.:ricky:
 
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