Project 29 - Copper K3

A 'little' thread for those that might be interested.

Mid September 2010 I saw that Gene Genie was selling his broken Copper K3.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=157345



I fancied a winter project for me and my brother to do and this seemed like the ideal project.

Gene Genie described what happened to the bike as

Originally Posted by Gene genie

... it went pop mate. I’d just completed an overtaking manoeuvre on a line of traffic in a national speed limit and i felt a clunky noise for about 4/5 seconds. stopped and investigated, the line of traffic laughing at me as they pass. decided it must of been some debris I’d collected, engine sounded okay so thought I’d carry on. as I sat back I tweeked the throttle and a plume of blue smoke plumed from the can and my heart sank.
carried out a compression test and discovered each cylinder was way down on psi.
the bike was well serviced by me and main dealer carried out the biggy services.
in the famous words of toyah, ''its a mystery''.

So I hired a van and me and Mrs Guru had a nice drive down to Gene Genie’s and bought the bike.



Got the bike back up the road and into my brothers garage because I can only get one bike in my shed.

The bike had been drained of oil so I hadn’t even heard the bike running.. so in with some oil and started the bike





There was a bit of a rattle and it was a bit smokey… but didn’t sound too bad.

My brother said “Sounds like the rear cylinder”

Bike not running but I buy a set of Pazzo levers from Bluepete anyway.


So we started to strip the engine out.
















Stripped the engine and found the rear cylinder and piston looking like this...









So off to ebay for a trawl through for parts . Nothing jumps out so I keep my eyes peeled for a couple of weeks.

I eventually come up with 2x cylinders with pistons and con rods off a bike with 5k miles, delivered to my door for £90










We priced up a complete gasket set from Suzuki at £140 , but after that not much happens until the new year due to other commitments and weather etc.

Then as luck would have it, the SV was the bike of the month in January so I picked up a complete gasket set for £85. Result!


So now that we have all the parts, the weathers a bit better and we’re suitably depressed with being back at work... we crack on.












All built up and timing done. Checked the tappets and they need sorted. Ordered new shims.






(One of the old shims)


New shim arrived so they were fitted today, engine re-timed and rocker covers fitted.






Original coolant hoses looked a bit tired, so took the opportunity to fit red Venair silicone hoses and a pair of iridium spark plugs.






Engine went back in last night.









Its running!!








Suzuki Gel seat fitted.




08/04/11
Some new tyres and MOT'd today. So far its running sweet and I pray it stays that way.







Gripster tank grips and Scorpion can fitted.

very interesting! looked like quite a bit of damage to the engine there, hope it all goes back together and runs well for you!

what a mistake to make your now on my list of "people to phone when bike fecks up" and may be nicking your sevices soon muhahahahahaha

always good to see one being reborn instead of stripped for parts

[Bibio]

thats some damage. your doing a stirling job of putting it back together.

Cheers. I'll keep you all updated.

[CodeJACK]

Fair play, will be a great little runner and hopefully for reasonably money too!

Did you split the lower casing to ensure all the bit were out?
Any idea what caused that? Big or little end bearing went sideways?

Best of luck finishing the job.

Oh, why not have the frame and swing-arm powder-coated while you have it apart? I know its more cash but good opportunity to do it now?

[andrewsmith]

Glad to see one being saved and not stripped.

That is some damage on the cylinder, you work out what caused the failure?

Originally Posted by andrewsmith

Glad to see one being saved and not stripped.

That is some damage on the cylinder, you work out what caused the failure?

Unfortunately not. Might have been the gudging pin slipping out. Really not sure.

Photos updated.

tut should have bought some busa pistons from me to go in there while your at it

ps how did you get the old gasket off so well ?