Honda XR 200R Help

[joebuggy]

Just thought id ask for some input before I spend the money, so here is the project.

I recently acquired a 1997 Honda XR200R. This was my Cousins bike and he finally admitted that he will probably never work on it and gave it to me. So here is the deal, this bike is practically brand new and still has the little rubber tabs on the tires and has little wearing. The reason being is the bike was only ridden 2 times!!! The story behind this is for some reason the timing cover was off, and there for oil leaked out while he was riding and dirt/ seeds went all through the engine. The bike over heated and was pretty messed up. He then decided to take it on himself and disassemble the hole engine to fix the problem. 14 some years later, it was still laying scattered on the back barn floor having been abandoned. So that's where I come in.

I have two plans of action.

A. My first is to just buy a complete new engine for the bike since it is practically new. I cant find a complete Honda used bike engine and i'm getting tired or waiting. I have researched all over and the only New replacement Engine would be a Lifan 200cc engine. Lifan seems to have a good reputation from what i can find and the engine apparently fits Directly into a Honda XR200R. If not i'm sure I can make a few adjustments to make it fit. Is there anyone with any ideas or thoughts on this choice? The engines will run at roughly $380.

B. My second option will be that I , with my dads help, will take apart and clean most of the engine and replace the electricals/shine up the rest. Then Ill remove the top end and bore it out to the next Piston size available and replaced the piston. Then ill replace the cam shaft and seal everything up . This is very unlikely to go as planned and i'm sure ill run into more problems since this engine has been sitting in a barn for a long time.

I'm already working on a project with my quad so I kinda just want to buy a new engine so I can put it in and go. But then again, $380 to a 17 year old is a lot of money... so i want to be sure it will last. Feed back would be great. Thanks!

Let me know if you guys would like me to create a thread with info and pictures of my quad project as it happens. That project will be interesting and will include Machining new parts via CNC machine. I'm going to bypass a reverse gearbox that was built separate from the engine on the quad. It was a major engineering flaw.

[metalstudman1]

Only had 1 Lifan engine and it was solid-replacing the engine with it would ensure parts availability in the future and it'll cost probably more than $380 if anything other than basic topend issues exist.I also heard from friends that that engine was a direct fit but never witnessed it.
I'm interested in your quad rebuild.

[joebuggy]

Ok well im Looking at a Lifan on ebay. Here is a link

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LIFAN...item53dd6d4b0c