SpongeBobbed
650 Simpleton
Hi Everyone,
I've "built" a few 650s over the last 10 years or so, but am no way an experienced builder when it comes to engines. Over the last few years I put together the bobber pictured below, and have had a lot of fun on it. I know the wheels/handlebars/stance are not set up for a go fast bike, but it's a blast to ride.
Last year I took a few hundred km trip with some buddies and one the way home I was getting smoke out of the jugs. I ended up having to trailer the bike home and let it sit for a while as I was building a 1984 Harley FXRT and put all my time and money into that. That project is now finished and I decided to rip into my 650 to get it running for the spring. When I tore down the engine I noticed right away that one piston was scored really badly, one of the jugs was also scored and the small end rods on my crank were pretty messed up. I thought about sending the crank to Hugh to do a full rephase with new rods but money is tight so I bought a cheap used engine and took the crank, jugs and pistons from that. They looked in good shape so I took the economical route for now.
I've completely torn the engine apart and am now ready for the rebuild phase. I've read through both the Clymer and Haynes manuals and I think I'm ready to go. I wanted to document my rebuild experience so that I can ask all you experts the little questions that are hard to get answers for. I know that there are plenty of threads on this already, but I thought it couldn't hurt to add one more. If you have any advice or answers please feel free to chime in as I'm always looking for some help. Thanks a bunch!!
I've "built" a few 650s over the last 10 years or so, but am no way an experienced builder when it comes to engines. Over the last few years I put together the bobber pictured below, and have had a lot of fun on it. I know the wheels/handlebars/stance are not set up for a go fast bike, but it's a blast to ride.
Last year I took a few hundred km trip with some buddies and one the way home I was getting smoke out of the jugs. I ended up having to trailer the bike home and let it sit for a while as I was building a 1984 Harley FXRT and put all my time and money into that. That project is now finished and I decided to rip into my 650 to get it running for the spring. When I tore down the engine I noticed right away that one piston was scored really badly, one of the jugs was also scored and the small end rods on my crank were pretty messed up. I thought about sending the crank to Hugh to do a full rephase with new rods but money is tight so I bought a cheap used engine and took the crank, jugs and pistons from that. They looked in good shape so I took the economical route for now.
I've completely torn the engine apart and am now ready for the rebuild phase. I've read through both the Clymer and Haynes manuals and I think I'm ready to go. I wanted to document my rebuild experience so that I can ask all you experts the little questions that are hard to get answers for. I know that there are plenty of threads on this already, but I thought it couldn't hurt to add one more. If you have any advice or answers please feel free to chime in as I'm always looking for some help. Thanks a bunch!!