Flashback wrote:

Hey hedgehog, when you say paraffin, you mean like lamp oil or kerosene right..? here in the states we sometimes call wax that, and I'm just trying to avoid any confusion..

that´s the stuff, kerosene!

damn, i didn´t know there was so many forms of english

That tube isn't connected on my Roadie either...my bike starts instantly.

About six months ago my battery was giving me issues when I was using a car charger on it and the bike was very slow to start...changed the battery and bought a battery tender specifically for motorcycles...supposedly the trickle charge rate for car batteries is different than motorcycles. Now I keep the tender plugged in whenever I'm not riding...no problems, starts right up

Did this bike have a tranny recall done on it?

When they do the recall they take the pistons out and replace the rings. I'm wondering if someone screwed up the install.

Doc

That is the NORMAL cross hatch on the cylinder wall, the cylinder is honed at the factory to give it a bit of a rough surface so that the rubbing up and down of the rings basically breaks-in/wears in the rings as the motor runs and the mating surface of the rings and the cylinder wall wear into each other to create a better seal. My bike had 20,000 miles on it when I got the recall done about a month ago...there was still cross hatch in the cylinder wall, just like your's shows...mine is a little lighter because there is more milage on it. That should go away over time.

I would have your valves looked at...if there is no clearance on the lifter as the dealer noted...you may have a bad lifter but with only 5000 miles that sounds weird. I would check the valves for seal to make sure the valve is closing all the way...that may be why there is leaking and don't use anything but OEM lifters. Their hydralic and they were designed a certain way. Also not sure if the lifter can be taken apart and cleaned. I would try and not put new lifters on a cam that has 5000 miles on it...once the motor runs for that long you have a broken in surface that could be problematic if you put a new lifter on an old cam. That is a big problem in cars so most change out the cam and lifters at the same time so you get a new break-in and no destruction of the mating surfaces.

I'll have to repectfully disagree with Tom. Cross hatch yes but I think yours look overdone. The cylinders are coated so even after 20K they will look like new.

As for the lifters ... if you do replace them (especally if you can't put then back exactly the same way ) then don't use OEM, we can give you the cross-reference numbers. I put non-OEM lifters in with the original cam and everything works fine. You need to make sure to use a break in paste and the correct oil, otherwise you will get failure.

Doc

Sorry, but I don't believe you have a bore problem...they looks fine to me, regardless of the cross hatch, thats from the recall and new rings...your rings won't seat if you don't do that to the cylinder wall...the old rings seated and create a smooth wall that is part of the break in process of the OLD rings. When the recall is done, they disturb the rings and their alignment in the cylinders and no matter what you can't put them back in and have them match perfectly to the way they broke-in...so the dealer puts in new rings and has to hone the cylinder again and that creates the cross hatch. The motor now breaks-in to the new rings and the honed cylinder. I've built motors for McLaren CanAm cars with lots of horsepower, so I've spent some time with motors. The concept is the same for any internal combustion motor.

Doc may be right on the lifters, but it concerns me to put anything in the motor that isn't OEM at this point...that could create one more variable in the trouble shooting process. Also if you have a broken ring it will usually score the cylinder wall (with marks up and down) and I did not see that in the pictures.

Simple way to check if your rings are seating. Put the heads back on, take a compression reading( you must have a strong battery for this), then pour one or two tablepoons of oil into the cylinder through the spark plug hole, rotate the motor for 10 seconds with no spark plug in the hole to spread the oil on the cylinder walls, then take another compression reading...if the number goes up radically after the oil was added (the oil added creates a better seal between the ring and the cylinder) then you have a ring problem.

Ceramic composite cyl walls are honed????...

it is my understanding the rings made of a softer material is what wears in on cyls that are ceramic coated...not the walls of the cyl they are too hard...???

Its hard to tell in the pics if it's honed right or not. here is a pic of one that is supposedly done right.. http://f2racing.us/Cylinder_Honing

Doc, you know more about the motors than me and maybe someone used too course a stone when they re-honed the cylinder...but how do the rings break in with no cross hatch...thats what makes them wear into each other...maybe it's different with this ceramic coating stuff on the cylinder walls...I've never built a motor with that stuff on the cylinders?

I'm 5 minutes from the dealership...I'd be happy to go over at lunch and ask them a bit more about the honing process if that would help. My bike has less than 100 miles on it currently after the recall and the re-honing of the cylinders and I can't tell the difference in horsepower and I know my rings aren't broken in yet.

my understanding when you send yer cyl away to install a big bore kit..

they 1. bore out the cyl 2. recoated...then install new pistons and rings to match..thats it...

when doing the recall because they are ceramic composite cyls...they dont touch the cyls just put in new rings...thats it...

either way only the rings are wearing in...

Of course the old standard cyl you do what you have described...

but not to the chrome like coated cyl on these motorcycles..