Pullled my head off, I need some advice

[yorkie_chris]

Why would it save you $50? You'll need about 6 fingers to hold the screwdriver and bolt it up at the same time.

Have you got an old hacksaw blade and a grinder or dremel? It's a piece of pi$$ to make a locking tool.

[Dave20046]

Thought they all ticked. How bad was it? I thought Vtwins were noisy beggars anyhoo.

[yorkie_chris]

Simple one to check, lift the buckets up and check there's no pile of filings under any. A shim coming out of it's recess will give appearance of a burnt valve seat and a big ticking noise.

Also, pour some paraffin (kerosene) into each port in turn, see if any of the valves pi$$ it out into the combustion chamber.

I'm a bit scared here -

If you have to ask if a gap like that around a piston is normal, and you didn't own a torque wrench until afterward, should you be taking the cylinder head off in the first place?

[keith_d]

On a car engine where I'd been told there were valve problems I would check the valve clearances before taking the head off. Assuming the clearances are OK, I'd do a compression test.

If the compression is poor I'd put a spot of oil into the cylinder and repeat the compression test to check for damaged bores/rings.

If the compression is poor even with a spot of oil, it might be worth taking the head off and inspecting the exhaust valves because these are usually the ones that burn out. I'd also inspect and replace the head gasket.

Anyone like to confirm whether the procedure is the same for bikes??

Keith.

[yorkie_chris]

Pretty much. Though I'd leakdown test it before pulling it to bits

I agree with YC, if the bright spots on the piston are clean alloy then its been detonating / pinking , that would make a funny tinkly tappy noise.
Look at the spark plug insulator with a magnifying glass , if you see aluminium flecks then thats what it is.
A leaky exhaust v/v perhaps, the paraffin test is a good one.
Yup , shouldve taken clearances first.
Its unlikely the cam timing would jump, bad ignition timing could do it, but the set up it SV is pretty much fixed.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by Dan

I'm a bit scared here -

If you have to ask if a gap like that around a piston is normal, and you didn't own a torque wrench until afterward, should you be taking the cylinder head off in the first place?

I don't see a problem with it. I've took apart loads of top ends, (new pistons, piston rings, cylinders etc) ,albeit on two strokes, over the last few years but I didn't own a torque wrench until a few months ago. It's how you learn

Thanks for the help guys. Just to clarify the bike was already 50% apart when I got it, the carbs were off and bolts were out and a lot of the electrical was apart. I do not have any of the tools to check clearances or do a compression test (which the motor would have to be running to do). But I'm not making excuses, taking the head off first was dumb but I know a lot more now then I did when I did it. Also I was under the impression that running it with the noise was very bad to do. But whatever I'll talk to the guy and see what the noise it was making sounded like and I'll try that test yorkie suggested.

[flymo]

dont worry, we've all been there. having a forum like this is useful to be able to check your plans before you start.

If nothing else you may save yourself a few quid on gaskets before you tear it to bits

So, a bike in bits sounds like a fun project. Got any pics to share?