You decide how i fix my airhead this weekend!

[P B G]

Originally Posted by crazydrummerdude

My BW80 was a good example. Both disappeared far off into the blue yonder.

Last time one popped loose on me I was disassembling GMC 248 pistons on my work bench, Looked everywhere, finally round it 3 days later when I did my laundry, went in my shirt pocket.

[BubbaZanetti]

Originally Posted by crazydrummerdude

Man, disconnecting the piston from the connecting rod seems like too much of a bitch..

yeah, i gotta replace an o-ring that you don't have to worry about.


decarbonizing the head/piston? if i go this route, what kinda cleaner is recommended. my bike only has 17K on it and the oil is damn clean after 500 miles and there no smoking or anything under hard acceleration. not sure it's a huge need at this point.

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by BubbaZanetti

yeah, i gotta replace an o-ring that you don't have to worry about.

Ah, all you said was push rod tube seals. I forgot about those o-rings.

[danedg]

You'll just create a big mess of gooky shit that you can clean out again sometime not so soon....
Try runnin' it a tad leaner... it'll burn off! But not TOO lean...it'll burn up!

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by P B G

Last time one popped loose on me I was disassembling GMC 248 pistons on my work bench, Looked everywhere, finally round it 3 days later when I did my laundry, went in my shirt pocket.

While disassembling one of our new-to-us antique engines, we needed 4 hands to remove a valve spring keeper. I got it off while my brother compressed the spring. In the blink of an eye, the valve spring shot against my arm, the keeper bounced off, landed on my brothers shoulder, and the spring landed on another project. I've got a pic of the spring/keeeper grease print it left on my arm. I'll post it when I find it.

[Stagehand]

So weird, I just developed this strange tic on the left side of my face



feelin kinda woozy. Is that nostalgia?

[ADK]

Push it out next to the road and put a "for sale" sign on it.

[Bill Harris]

Yes! Safety glasses are a plus. I had the early-style wire clip sproing me in the eye last Fall.

The early wire clips can be at PITA to wrestle in with the cylinder in the way, so I prefer to remove the cylinder on those. The later type circlips are easier to work with so on later bikes I pull the piston+cylinder.

[Wirespokes]

Originally Posted by BubbaZanetti

decarbonizing the head/piston? if i go this route, what kinda cleaner is recommended. my bike only has 17K on it and the oil is damn clean after 500 miles and there no smoking or anything under hard acceleration. not sure it's a huge need at this point.

Usually the worst carbon build up occurs during break-in (other than later on when valve guides or rings are shot, or something wrong with the breather): the rings haven't seated yet so oil is getting into the combustion chamber, and there you go.

It may be clean in there, or maybe not. Most likely not.

Soaking in carb cleaner helps, but I'm not really sure the best way. I've mostly just scraped the stuff off - it's pretty brittle and pushing on it edgewise with a screwdriver will shear some off. Gotta be careful, though, to not scratch or scrape the aluminum. You want it all smooth so new build up won't have a rough spot to attach to.

[Ron Seida]

So here's the million dollar question: When you put in the new push rod seals, do you go dry, use gasket seal, or do you use oil or grease I personally use a light coat of grease, and tap in the tubes lightly as they start to leak. I'm at over 40k miles on mine and will be changing them tomorrow.

[Rob Farmer]

I've got access to a bead blaster at work. Takes all the hard work out of decarbonising. In the past I've always scrapped it out.





Theres no substitute for clean parts. Makes working on the bike a pleasure instead of a chore.

[Anorak]

Make it a challenge, only use hammers, chisels and punches. Any parts left over, you have to eat.

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by Anorak

Make it a challenge, only use hammers, chisels and punches. Any parts left over, you have to eat.

[bgoodsoil]

here's the ultimate solution to all oil leaks of any sort on your bike--paint the engine black so you don't see 'em

[Dirtyboydeadly]

I took my pistons out as I needed to clean everything up ( Got 80,000 miles on clock)
I used a bead blaster to clean the muck off and made my own push rod tubes out of stainless steel.

I used grease round the tops of the tubes and tapped them in with a hammer.
I think i used engine oil round the rubber seals and no leaks yet.