Update: 2021 and 750 BBK install
Well - had an awesome first season on my bike and ended up putting it to sleep for the season in November, down at a friend's house. Put about 2200 miles on the rebuild over the summer and had some really awesome rides that kept me sane during covid. One thing I was never fully happy with was the exhaust; while the OEM headers/mufflers sounded great, they were in pretty rough shape mechanically (lots of rusting internally that would flake off like crazy and leaky internal pipes in the headers) not to mention a fair number of dents and scrapes on the mufflers and rust on the interiors of the headers. They were passable, but never quite what I wanted to complete the rebuild. I decided I would replace them for this year and pulled the trigger on a set of 1.5" chrome headers and the "good" Commando replicas, both from yamahaxs650.com.
Annnnnnnd while I was there...... because I apparently am a glutton for punishment...I picked up one of the very-affordable 750BBK kits. It would have been a lot smarter and easier if I put this kit in last year (when I had the motor out and rebuilt it!), but hey - here we are.
So this past weekend I came down to get to work, hoping I didn't open a can of worms that I would regret....
First, a few pics of the kit.... as has been reported....it looked pretty good (I guess?). The rings are supposed to be ready to drop in, but I measured the gaps and pre-determined which ring set/piston was destined for each cylinder.
Then, on Saturday morning it was time to pull and dismantle the motor on a fully functioning bike because I think I might be an idiot...
Airboxes and carbs off...
Exhausts off...(you know...they don't look too bad off the bike!). Chrome is actually in pretty good shape for the most part, but like I said they're slowly rotting away from the inside and have quite a few war wounds.
Well - had an awesome first season on my bike and ended up putting it to sleep for the season in November, down at a friend's house. Put about 2200 miles on the rebuild over the summer and had some really awesome rides that kept me sane during covid. One thing I was never fully happy with was the exhaust; while the OEM headers/mufflers sounded great, they were in pretty rough shape mechanically (lots of rusting internally that would flake off like crazy and leaky internal pipes in the headers) not to mention a fair number of dents and scrapes on the mufflers and rust on the interiors of the headers. They were passable, but never quite what I wanted to complete the rebuild. I decided I would replace them for this year and pulled the trigger on a set of 1.5" chrome headers and the "good" Commando replicas, both from yamahaxs650.com.
Annnnnnnd while I was there...... because I apparently am a glutton for punishment...I picked up one of the very-affordable 750BBK kits. It would have been a lot smarter and easier if I put this kit in last year (when I had the motor out and rebuilt it!), but hey - here we are.
So this past weekend I came down to get to work, hoping I didn't open a can of worms that I would regret....
First, a few pics of the kit.... as has been reported....it looked pretty good (I guess?). The rings are supposed to be ready to drop in, but I measured the gaps and pre-determined which ring set/piston was destined for each cylinder.
Then, on Saturday morning it was time to pull and dismantle the motor on a fully functioning bike because I think I might be an idiot...
Airboxes and carbs off...
Exhausts off...(you know...they don't look too bad off the bike!). Chrome is actually in pretty good shape for the most part, but like I said they're slowly rotting away from the inside and have quite a few war wounds.
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