Lucille pulls another one on me....

ITS ALIVE!!!!!
975ABDB4-4557-4026-91D8-304DECB37A74.gif


Atta boy Pete! A little engine trouble doesn’t keep you down! That’s great news, and Lucille looks more fetching than ever! I’m really happy for you!
 
Don't forget, you're going to want/need to do several torque checks on the head nuts in the first few hundred miles here. I would actually do one right now, after it's been run once and put through a heat cycle. Next one in a couple hundred miles, then maybe at around 500 miles. You may find the big acorn nuts pretty loose on the first re-torque due to all the new gasket compression going on. Each subsequent re-torque should show less loose bolts/nuts, and finally things will stabilize once the gaskets have settled in fully.
 
Don't forget, you're going to want/need to do several torque checks on the head nuts in the first few hundred miles here. I would actually do one right now, after it's been run once and put through a heat cycle. Next one in a couple hundred miles, then maybe at around 500 miles. You may find the big acorn nuts pretty loose on the first re-torque due to all the new gasket compression going on. Each subsequent re-torque should show less loose bolts/nuts, and finally things will stabilize once the gaskets have settled in fully.

Will do 5 Twins! I went for a 30km (about 20 miles) ride this evening and a re-torque is on my list for tomorrow along with a valve and timing chain check.

Pete
 
REPORT - the first hundred+ miles
Yesterday, I put about 36 miles (around 60 km) on Lucille. She ran very well and I was delighted.
Today was a ferociously hot one in Windsor-Detroit and so I spent the morning working on a report. Around noon, I ventured into the garage and carried out some service tasks as well as the typical things one does after an engine rebuild:
  • Adjusted the final drive chain;
  • Checked the air in the tires;
  • Ensured that all of the lights and the horn work properly;
  • Re-located the PAMCO E-advancer unit to a more secure spot under the LH sidecover behind the airbox;
  • Re-torqued the cylinder head acorn nuts (each one took at least 1/4-3/8 of a turn);
  • Re-torqued the engine mount and other chassis bolts and fasteners);
  • Checked the timing chain tensioner (unchanged from 0 miles);
  • Check all four valve clearances on those interesting elephant’s foot adjusters (one intake was a bit loose);
  • Re-checked the ignition timing (also unchanged from 0 miles);
After all that, it seemed that the only thing to do was to hop on - go for a boot around the County! Soooo, I headed out to see my riding buddy Lakeview (wasn’t home but no biggie) and then I rode back to Windsor. That made a distance today of just under 100 miles - for a total since the rebuild of 129.7 miles. The entire run today was on secondary roads - and I kept the rpm between 3000 and about 4200 - with the occasional burst of speed to around 4500 rpm.

Lucille ran like a dream - the engine didn’t miss a beat and became noticeably smoother and quieter as the miles rolled by. I think those elephant’s feet adjusters are really good - the engine is so quiet. In fact, when I filled up after the trip, the guy at the next pump observed that he had owned an XS650 back in the day - but his was never as quiet as mine. BTW - my fuel mileage to this point is 54,92 mpIg (miles per imperial gallon). I think that would be around 44 mpUSg. Whatever - I’m delighted with how she runs - couldn’t be better.

So...any advice? How many more acorn nut re-torques should I plan?

Once again, many thanks from the help and encouragement!

Pete
 
Last edited:
Don't forget to add backpressure to the break in mix. If you are going down a hill let it roll with engine compression slowing it occasionally?

I’d certainly do that WER - if there were any hills around here. What I did do was rumble into the small towns on the way with the throttle closed.
 
Yes, engine braking is good for break-in. It puts a lot of pressure on the rings, forcing them out into the cylinder walls, and that helps seat them.

How many more re-torques you'll need is going to depend on how loose you find things on subsequent checks. You should find things less loose next time, even less loose on the following check. I like to try and do 2 to 3 checks in the 1st 1000 miles or so. Once you stop finding any loose bolts, you can just do head bolt torque checks as part of the normal maintenance schedule. Check them maybe every season or two, but do occasionally check them.
 
Thanks Skip. Its raining like heck here right now - so I am clearing up some paperwork in order to be able to ride later / tomorrow.

Cheers,

Pete
 
Paperwork ! Reports !
Pete, I'm think' of forming a posse and comin' up there to rastle you to the ground and force you into retirement. ;)

images

Sounds OK Dude - but I'd greatly prefer if you include Cheryl Tiegs in that posse to wrestle with me. ;)
 
Last edited:
Congrats Pete!!! love the sound of that engine... looks great too!

Thanks Brassneck - I am delighted. She's not the prettiest Standard around, but she seems very solid and she is getting prettier bit by bit.

......next-up, my Brassneck Cafe Replica....;)
 
Cheryl Tiegs! I remember a poster of her in the body shop I worked in for the summer. Hmmm... 1975?
No hills, huh? You've got to come to the Iron Horse. Put at least 2K miles on her to work out all the bugs, though.
I'm happy for you! I'm a substitute teacher in my spare time, so I rode to school today. I get out at 2:00PM and I'm heading to "Blood Mountain" to practice for the "Tail of the Dragon". I should have almost 2K miles on my rebuild at the end of the day.
To you, Pete and everyone else -- ride carefully.
 
Back
Top