Hey all, Havent posted in a while, but thought id relay a story. Ive had my bike, an 83 r80 /7 for two years. I love the thing to death, its my baby. Ive had my share of moments with it, but its always been a blast to take out for a long ride. Yesterday as i was driving up route 28 in virginia, my engine seized going 60. my rear tire locked and i thought for SURE i had a blow out on the back tire. After slowing down to about 30 and waving my hands in distress for other drivers, i realized that i could put my clutch in and safely coast to the breakdown lane. Luckily a driver in front of me (a stranger) who also rides gave me a ride to a 7-11 off the shoulder. I had it towed and am incredibly BLESSED to be alive. It could have turned out much MUCH worse. No idea what the problem is, engine had oil, and didnt smoke. No oil light at all. My guess is a timing or pushrod failure. I guess well find out. Heres to hoping my bike isnt totaled.
wasn't sure I read that correctly at first. I don't think I've ever heard anybody make similar mention before. Now, when I'd be out with my friend who had a BSA every ride was an adventure in oil starvation... Glad you didn't wreck!
I feel for you and your seized engine. When my R50-6/5 seized it was friendly about it - a bang and then the the bike just slowed. Take my word, at first it feels like you lost a friend forever; then you realize you can revive your friend and it becomes fun.
There is a guy asking $4800 for an R80 motor on ebay, I'd jump right on that deal! R80's are rarely totaled because of engine problems unless the case is cracked. Maybe the tranny locked up?
Is that a joke? Buy a whole engine for $4800. You can get a WHOLE, IN-TACT GREAT bike for that price. If you look long enough you can almost buy 2 for that if you arent in a hurry. $4800 for an airhead engine is just plain stupid.
Unless the amount you've quoted is in $HK, that's an insane price for any used powerplant. As already mentioned, with a bit of searching, one can do a lot better for far less. PS- the OP clearly stated that pulling in the clutch got the rear wheel rolling again, so whatever the problem is, it's upstream of the clutch and gearbox...
There's a good block with crank, cam and timing cover in place on IBMWR for $75 iirc from last week. I've bought parts from the seller before and have had good transactions and good parts every time.
Teardown should be job number 1. Who knows what needs replacing at this point? Better just to pull it all apart and see what's still usable and what's not - and more importantly what made things stop so decisively. Sucks. Sorry. Good luck.
Same guy selling a pod for $600 and then goes on to say...SOLD AS IS. ALL PARTS SOLD AS NOT WORKING JUNK. NEED CLEAN UP, PAINT, OIL ELBOW GREASE, ETC. NO RETURNS, NO EXCHANGES, NO WARRANTY. IF YOU NEED WORKING PART - THIS PART IS NOT FOR YOU. IT IS A JOKE. Wish my parts were worth that. Then again, if they were I wouldnt have gotten into these old bikes in the first place. Great example of someone skewing the real value. Someone will look at this and think what they have is worth that.
Here is the report from the mechanic... " On the left Cylinder their is evidence of a possible bent valve and or collapsed valve spring also this cylinder has oil above the piston which is also a signed of possible blown rings. Their is also substantial dabree in this cylinder such as small bits of metal and a lot of carbon, this cylinder also appears to have been inactive for a little bit due to the carbon build up on it their is also some scoring on the cylinder side walls as well. On the right side cylinder the the cylinder seems okay but it has been burning slightly hot their is evidence of detonation at the top of the cylinder their is a little bit of scoring on the walls as well but not as bad as the other one the left. The bike will shift into gear but it will not rotate at all meaning the back wheel or motor is completely locked up also the bike has a small oil leak as well." So the engine is toast from what I read. However, I picked up a 82 r100 frame, engine, tranny and drive train from ebay for $950 and I'm gonna port everything over this winter. Should be a fun project. Gonna have a ton of /7 extra pieces this winter so be on the lookout.
Good luck with your project. Selling some of the extra stuff will pay for what you are doing, or part of it anyway.
Where are you located in Arlington? I'm in the Del Ray neighborhood in Alexandria. I'm slowly putting together an airhead project bike, might be interested in some parts once you have leftovers.
What does "Blown Rings" mean? I've seen them broken and worn out but never "blown"....maybe the mechanics terminology for "shot"?
