Tam's New Bike

Lovely looking bike, can I have a go!? never ridden a quick 2 stroke before!

[TamSV]

It'll be a wee while before anyone gets a shot, including me.

It turns out the oil leak isn't fixed, although it has reduced from a pronounced leak to a bit of a slow seepage - from two drips a day to one drip a week.

So the engine will be getting dropped in the next few days. The barrels need to come off to split the cases so it means everything gets a proper check (and will no doubt be found to be sub-standard and require replacement at great expense).

Bye bye budget .

Pictures of blackened oily things to follow.

[TamSV]

It's out.

Dead easy as it happens. I had the trolley jack but I could have lifted it out by hand. Having the gearbox out probably helped but there's no weight in the engine at all.

And how many bottles of san miguel did you consume?

[andrewsmith]

looking good!

Cases being split?

[TamSV]

Originally Posted by Holdup

And how many bottles of san miguel did you consume?

Just one post-removal beer.

Originally Posted by andrewsmith

looking good!

Cases being split?

Yep. Which involves stripping the lot down.

[TamSV]

I've taken the cylinder heads off and then decided to tackle the Powervalves.

The retaining screws are put in with permanent threadlock. Worse, they're standard Suzuki crosshead screws of cheese - adds up to a recipe for disaster. I got all three out no problem on the first cylinder with a wee bit of heat and an impact driver.

Getting a bit cocky, I started on the first screw on the second cylinder. Thought I'd got an 1/8th of a turn with the impact driver so carried on without taking a look. You guessed it - totally mullared the head of the screw.



No panic - I'd half expected this. I took out the pulley shaft and lifter to make a bit more room and then broke out the drill and left handed bit.

By the time I'd drilled nearly half-way through the bolt without it biting I was getting nervous. The powervalve housing is a cast part of the barrel so getting that screw out without damaging the threads was my only option.

Had a go at the other 2 screws with the impact driver and got them out no problem.




Lots of black gold in there - and that's the cleaner of the two.

In a rare moment of clear thinking I decided to try tapping an allen bit into the hole I'd drilled. I had to use a screwdriver bit as there was no clearance for the allen socket I wanted to use. I've got a wee adapter for the screwdriver bits that I can get a 10mm spanner onto.

Worked a bloody treat. Screw came straight out and I could then withdraw the powervalves ( had to give them a tickle with a finger up the exhaust port to loosen them off - this seemed very wrong somehow).





This is the various bits from one cylinder's power valves, with associated baked on carbon deposits.



And one pair of valves cleaned up.

[littleoldman2]

Nice work Tam

[TamSV]

The cases are back together. I used Threebond 1215 liquid gasket which is the recommended stuff to use.

It's now waiting for all its bits and pieces to be reattached.



The pistons looked OK, but quite worn, and there was some evidence of blow-by.







I've no idea how long they've been in there, so I've gone with the recommendation of the guys on the RGV forum and will be rebuilding with new pistons. Gives me the maximum length of time before I need to do anything again and means I can wring its neck all next summer without worrying too much.

While I'm waiting for lots of new parts to arrive, I gave the frame another good looking over and spotted this on the top shock mount that I hadn't spotted earlier.



Here's a closer pic of what looks like the beginnings of a crack. I've sanded it down a bit to make sure it wasn't just a surface defect.



I found these pics posted by a member of the RGV forum and it looks like I've possibly got the beginnings of a similar failure.

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc447/beef_99bikes/

That could result in some interesting handling characteristics, so I'll take a cautious approach and fit a new piece. It's a removable bracket and not part of the frame so easy enough just to swap it (although I expect those bolts will be a tw*t to get out).

[littleoldman2]

That could result in some interesting handling characteristics, so I'll take a cautious approach and fit a new piece. It's a removable bracket and not part of the frame so easy enough just to swap it (although I expect those bolts will be a tw*t to get out).

Bet it won't be cheap either. Great thread Tam