Mixed Blessings.

After determining that it wasn't the oil pump or an easy fix I had some decisions to make. I nearly bought another engine that was known to run. Then, there was the spare engine I had kept from the build. The biggest problem with the spare engine is I had never even opened the dipstick to see what the oil looked like, let alone whether or not it would run.

After considering my options I decided to risk it and put the spare engine in the frame and cross my fingers it either ran or would be an easier fix than the Hari Kari success story. I put the spare engine on an engine stand so I could clean it off and check what I could before trying to start it.

All the work and help I gave Mike came in handy since he was more than happy to give me a hand getting the engine loaded and washed.

It's not too hard getting the engine on the stand, and it makes it TONS easier to work on since can rotate it like a rotisserie chicken. Some elbow grease, a couple cans of engine degreaser and a few hours of work had the engine looking pretty good. The paint on the casing is pealing and it doesn't look really cherry, bit it's better than no engine.

I started taking the bike apart in preperation for the engine swap.

When I removed the carbs, this is what I found.

That is the intake side of the engine, fuel/air mixture is supposed to go in there, nothing is supposed to come out that way. I was admittedly very surprised to see this, and for a minute or two I was very puzzled as to where that metal had come from. The trail of metal continued all the way back to the pods on the other side of the carbs. This is the side of the carbs that is attached to the air pods.

It was a pain to clean the metal shards out of the carbs, and even worse to clean out the pods.

I took off early a couple days of work so I could get the engine swapped. Mike was nice enough to come over again once he was off work. Before he came over I was able to get the buggered engine out of the frame using a ComeALong mounted to the ceiling of the garage.

The buggered engine was put on a dolly and I loaded the spare engine onto the ComeALong. Mike was still at work and I needed a hand steadying the engine while it hung suspended, so I asked my little brother to lend a hand. Thanks Mathew, it was much easier with your help as usual. We got the spare engine mounted into the frame, and I started hooking things back up. Rounds about then Mike made it over and started helping me reassemble things.

OHHHH no Mike, you've been framed!!!

Working in a hot garage by yourself is boring, so the company is always appreciated.

We put the bike back together far enough to test the motor. I hooked up my external tank and fired her up. It took a we bit of doing but she fired up pretty easily. She ran pretty smoothly, but after a few minutes of running she started smoking out the exhaust pipes. It wasn't too terrible so I did a vaccum sync on the carbs. I had added some Seafoam to the engine oil to help clean the engine's internals. After the carb sync we changed oil to some fresh oil. Unfortunately it didn't stop the smoking.

I arrived home from work a few days later and went for a ride. The new engine seems to work really well and is a bit quieter than the one that chewed itself apart. The smoking is more intermittent right now and I'm not sure what is causing it, but I'm not super concerned.

I also started taking the buggered engine apart to see what the damages were. Here's some pictures, I'll let you judge for yourself.

Here's the spark plug from cylinder 1. Wonder if I can regap it ;)

When I got the valve cover off, the valve retainer (thing that is circled) was on top of the valve, so I initially couldn't see any damage. As you can see, it snapped off.


I was thinking of putting a stake through the engine, but decided against that course of action, so instead I posed for this picture.



Hmmm, that's not a good thing. The ticking noise I was hearing must have been the valve shaft chipping away at this piston. I really wish I knew at what point a hole had been put into the piston since the bike ran for a couple hundred miles with ticking noise.

The exhaust valve is snapped off and all that is left is the bent shaft. This is what I'm guessing ultimately punched the hole in the piston.

Even the cylinder sleeve is chewed up and beyond repair.

Even the bottom and sides of the piston took a beating.

This poor machine really tore itself up before giving up. I somewhat suspect that had the hole in the crankcase not occured I might have made it back to Salt Lake on the bike. I will never know for sure the exact timing and sequence of events that brought about this amazing amount of destruction.

With the spare motor running, I'm pretty happy. I'll just fix this engine up with some modified pistons that will make it into a 750cc engine and go from there.