Today, I noticed that the ol bike was running a little weak and funky, well, i've noticed it for a while and ignored it. poo on me i know. I ran a compression test and it was way low. 60 psi. Tested the tester, and it miked okay. so something was wrong. Pumped up the cylinders to 60psi, and tested for leakdown, they came out okay, they held pressure, but the rings leaked a little. Not surprising.

So i ripped her apart.

first thing I noticed is that some idiot put in the pistons backwards. thanks to help from adidasguy, i verified it despite my confusion.
seriously, look: (Right hand piston- already rotated that one around)


The piston rings pass all the manual tests just fine, plenty tight, but i fear i may still need to replace them.
If anyone can read cylinders, here they are. They look ok to me, but someone else may know better:
right side:


Left side:



Any input is appreciated!! the piston side walls look great, no scoring or anything. I'm just hoping cleaning out the valves will help this sucker run.

#5302

Haynes manual also shows the same with arrow forward. They show piston with a depression for the intake.
Then, in another picture they show one with a depression for intake and exhaust.

It didn't look like your pistons were hit by the valves, so probably it didn't make much difference.

More important that the gaps in the piston rings are rotated to the proper positions - each off from the other by 120*.

awesome, thanks for checking again. there are some itty bitty tiny dings just where the dome ends, but the bike clearly didn't care. and the valves arent bent, thank god. I'll be putting her together tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

more pics!  Ok wait, good job on pics,..now more pics!  Be great to get your review on the difference: before and after. 

"ol' sh*tty" hahaaaa I should've named my f2 that.  Great name for a pita.

Only for you, CBR. hahaha

Oh noes! my bike blew up!


The battery seems to have been eating it from the inside out... dang hose.



Marinating the head:


Painting some bits for no reason.


oh noes! the wagon exploded too!


Striping the tank: (once again, bored and waiting on parts...)


Thar she blows minus the tape.


More to come!

What is that thing you used to hang parts on: "huntsman?"  What's the story behind that?  And applause for more pics!!  Looks like you're having fun!

it looks like on of those little ovens / stoves, but i don't see a chimeney hole anywhere (maybe on the back?) i always thought those looked really cool

iclrag is right, its an old wood burning stove/heater thing. it actually has quite a story behind it, a long one, but long story short, we were removing it from an apartment for a friend, my father and a friend, and the only way to get the 500lb beast out was to carry it down a narrow steep back staircase. Well, my dad managed to trip, and fall down the stairs, shortly followed by our neighbor with his arm still stuck in the flue. the door just happened to be locked, and my dad's only recourse was to leap up, and spread-eagle / chimney climb the narrow hall the stairs were in just as the stove smashed the door at the bottom to pieces. all and all a good night!

ermehgerd! new terrs and bikemerster superbike handleberrs! tanx fedex guy!

ooooh new parts,...what kind dem derr terrs ya got thar suh?!

"it actually has quite a story behind it, a long one,"  I figured as much!

haha, yep, i went less expensive and got some IRC roadwieners, the old rear is the same, and has been a great tire, the old front was a "chiang" barracuda V and is hard, slippy, and pretty much great for anyone who wants to never go around a corner ever.

Now i gotta get the dang things on...

update: tires on, turns out lube is the best thing ever. And i thought i had learned that already.
waiting on rings, crush washers (copper ones)
and those little crush o-rings between the head and jugs.
Hopefully Ron-Ayers will actually ship them in a timely manner. who knows.
9 days of work time remain.
I walked by the tank atop the garbage can, and bumped it, it fell. and then it spun around upside down on the concrete
to insult me.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
words were said.

Its been sanded, primed, and repainted. the white paint seems to be expired and not curing ever. crackled up a bit under the black. (which is new and awesome and cures in .5 seconds) Debating whether its worth it to re-sand, re-buy and repaint. I'll post some pics when im done painting.

The bike will probably fall over when I move it back to tally. Or explode and burn to the ground. but hell, it'll look better than it ever did doing it.

SOAB on the tank!  Why does bs like that happen???  I hung mine up one time with a bungie cord while messing around and the cord broke.  >BONK<   

Ronayers is the slowest ever.  Best prices usually though.

Can't wait to see how it comes out when you're done.  Need more pics! 

love the "skunk" theme on the tank. tbh if it were me, id redo the tank. sand prime and paint. otherwise asking for trouble in short order.

update part dos.


everything is wrong and sucks.
Got my parts, put the thing back together, new rings, crush washers, orings, that shtuff.

if I put choke on, starts up immediately, runs, is a little sloppy with throttle but will rev just fine and appears to have power.

Will NOT idle. jets are clear, completely. will only idle with choke, will not hang up at 4k like its supposed to, idles right at 1100rpm, left carb occasionally has a pressure release event and spits/coughs back out, usually nearly killing the bike.
As soon as the choke comes off, the bike dies.
Could a valve be sticking? all valves are in spec.

Help. please help before I light this akcnqjnjdnvnxcdfvg ing thing on fire.

I've just been analyzing Junior.


Got the head off. All looks perfect (other than some crud build up).

read my other post. I really think he is fine but the timing was off by 1 link. Everything was late. as things broke in, the intake was closing late causing a puff of air out of the intake ONLY at the start of the compression for the left cylinder.

I suggest carefully recheck the timing. Seems you could be a link off and still run but poorly.

Cams were correct in relation to each other as they lined up perfectly in a valve adjustment (both notches exactly towards the inside).

I am tempted to put that head back on and quadrouple check the timing.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA at the backwards piston!! hahaha
oh thats messed up!!!

Btw on the tank paint...
Spray the gas cap with a black enamel, will look MUCH better!
Just be sure to shove a lil paper or something under the key flap lip where the breather is.

and I assume you checked to make sure your valves were Fully sealing when you had the head off?
ugh I dont even wanna remember that horror!!!

thanks guys, i'll get right on it.

and tomb- yeah, i did the old fill the head with pb blaster overnight and had very minimal seepage. I think adidas may be right, I'm going to try and advance or retard the intake timing and see if that helps. also going to check the plugs, just in case.

Adidasguy ist der sieger!



Just like you were saying, the cams were off the engine by a link.. Just like there is a relation between cams by number of links, there is one between cams and crank. Turns out, i had way too much slack on the tensioner side alone, and when i put the tensioner in, i didn't recheck. when the tensioner goes in, it retards the cams one link equivalent if you've got slack on the tensioner side. Now she runs, tuning and piecing back together is next!

Thanks adidas, once again!

Finally done! now it needs to stop raining so I can go ride around!
Side:

Front:


Back:



and i know i need a new seat cover, geeze.