boring cylinders

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After the holiday break, the machine shop was open today so I went in there to find out the cost of boring my 650 barrels. $80.00 a hole; a half hour shop charge to measure, didn't ask if there was a shop charge for supplies and cleaning. I am not saying that the shop is out of line at all, just that 650 Direct.ca has fitted new 650 big fin barrels and pistons just bolt on for $509.00. When I add up new pistons and rings, 120.00 + 60.00, boring 160.00, head and base gaskets 40.00, equals $380.00, only $130.00 less than brand new clean "big fin" 650 kit. (the 750 kit is $729.00). Whether or not I would be able to sell the old barrels and pistons for 80 or 90 bucks, I don't know. The XS 650 crew are mostly quite economical folks, I have found.
On the plus side, I would be supporting a local independent business man, but then 650 Direct is just down the road in Stratford, still thinking.
I know that ebay has good deals on pistons, but if I have to convert my dollars to US dollars, there goes 30%. Of course, this is my decision and I am trending to the big fin kit, what input do you forum members have on this? Maybe some of you have had the same decision to make.
 
I had that dilemma too. But I got a cheaper deal from the ebay guy selling the pistons and rings and wrist pins...cruzin image I think? Than mikes. Boring here was around 100 bones. All I needed was base and head gasket. It was actually alot cheaper by then. I decided I only wanted the full deal from mikes if it was the 750 kit.
 
I have found most independent shops seldom say no when they don't want to do a job for you, they just quote a high price so you'll go away, and if you say do it anyway, that works too. My guy is going to charge more for the 700 kits than 2nd overbores because it takes more passes of the boring bar and he said the bores were thin enough once punched out that even the honing was more fussy down where the barrels stick out of the casting. :shrug:
 
I was just quoted 110 earlier today by my local reputable machine shop. A hone job was only about 30.
 
had my barrels punched 1.5 over 6 years ago. For $80 total I got head decked, rebore, cleaned fins and head. Neener, neener.
Im about to do it again with a ill running xl250.
 
A good machine with the right honing machine can charge up to $75.00 a hole if they have to put the time in to put a bore gauge in to see if they can be bored. My machine shop charges me $50.00 a hole but I use my own bore gauge to check first because I have had some cylinders that couldn't be bored .5 and had to go bigger to correct bore. I always buy the larger pistons 706cc so I know the bore is going to be right top and bottom. So I don't think they are out of line and they are just protecting there ass by charging the extra to see if what you have is going to bore correctly.. So its to your benefit that the stock bore is correct and the wear is good.
 
A few years ago when I rebuilt my 75 to a second over, found NOS second over piston on Ebay about half what Mike's charges. The local speed shop used by a lot of the car racers use charged me $30 a hole.
Leo
 

Thank you for the reference, I was bouncing around Ebay in all the wrong places, but knew that this seller was of good repute. Looking at his prices, the Cndn dollar price shown plus shipping is a bit more than buying the same items at 650 Direct. Buying locally, because of total order, shipping would be free, but I would pay an extra 13% HST at my Ontario supplier. I do not know what if any import charges i would pay when the package from Japan came to the door. The way the addition works, looks like I do not need to investigate further.
 
I am about 15 sets in, but few on the road so far. When mr crank gets done with several cranks I have in, at least one big bore set installed with a welded crank will get a work out!
 
I talked to the guy overseas last year because I had ordered 6 sets of pistons and 3 sets of rings and all didn't get here and I emailed to his site and someone called me spoke English and sent me the sets of rings I was missing from a dealer here in the US because I was stuck and payed extra to get them quick. So I know he sells to vendors here.
 
Dosen't make any sense to bore out to a 706cc straight off.

4th over size will usually take out all but real serious damage to a sleeve. Going to 4th over also leaves some meat in the sleeve for another build to the 706cc big bore. It also allows for any problems that could arise that could potentially damage the bore if something let go after the build.

Taking a sleeve out to its max when it isn't necessary means the the next step is a re-sleeve or a new kit from Mikes.

Also a 4th over can be got for $40.00 less than a 706cc kit and you are still around the 670cc mark or close to.
 
Thanks for the information about the oversizes, I agree that going to 706cc in one go may be shortsighted.
 
So, 650 Direct says the 650 Big Fin kit is out of stock, I have sent an email to it to see if there is an idea of when it may become in stock. Given the state of our dollar, any fresh stock will likely be substantially more spendy.
In the meantime, I have a couple of unfinished projects that I bought off of Kijiji that included allegedly freshly bored cylinders and fitted pistons, so I will dig them out of storage and that may be an economical answer.
Thanks for all the input.
 
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