Cynic

Go on then how much was it, (ballpark) and is there another one........I remember when they appeared in the showrooms, i may have found my mid life crisis........ Hard bit is finding a good one, lucky........... b.....ard

Ohhhh thats tidy, you lucky lucky b4stard. I thought they were all long dead by abuse or mother nature. They made Datsun cherry's look long lasting. Does it run as well as it looks.....?

Your spot on there, ive been on bikes for nigh on 20years and i know i'm still here because of that very '6th sense' Its nothing more than a 'feeling'. Its even saved me from speed cameras. It must be experience kicking in and registering something in the way people are driving, traffic patterns. i dunno. Anyway as said hope you fix up ok.....

Unlucky, if the top end is ok then it is likely wear that has done for the bearings rather than failure of lube as the piston would sieze before the bearings, trouble is no matter what bearings have gone you are going to be spliting the cases. Its not a massive job (relatively) and a full 'rebuild' kit cost me under 100quid and that was all genuine gaskets and seals with new main bearings and output shaft bearing with a full stainless allen engine screw set. You will need to do the output shaft bearing if for no other reason than its a complete strip to change it anyway. Fingers crossed the crank is good and its just the mains or you will need it rebuilding and thats not something you can do in the garage. Check out my thread 'DT 175 engine rebuild' to give you an idea, i'll add to it shortly i'm just waiting on parts.

Now WF i've been with my missus for nigh on 20 years, so out of touch as i am to a womans feelings even I know you could have worded that sentance FAR better...........When exactly is the flogging?

I sympathise hope you fix up ok, i drive round london every day and people dont see me in a fkin great red lorry. You can see the surprise on some of the miopic idiots faces.

True, it may even be like my motor ended up, nothing actually broke just a lot of key components worn to their respective limits.

I can't help thinking that if it ran ok started ok then just 'quit', its not the rings. It has a good spark, and there is fuel in the tank and the carb but the plug is dry, sounds to me like the charge is not getting out the cases. Split/ stuck reed maybe?, or a crank seal.

Brave words, Hamilton did go from 18th to 3rd in a 'slow' car. Just hope Jensen actually gets on with the racing instead of living it up now he's winning.

Well the Yam dealer at Brackley is closed on Mondays, so i nipped into Towcester to the Hardly worth it dealer to have a sneaky peek at the Buell ulysees, think thats how you spell it. Seems a capable bit of kit if a bit quirky but the bloke doing the selling was great. We had a decent natter, he laid out the options etc just as different to the H and S dealers. So there are decent salesmen out there who will have a chat to someone who from the ouset tells them they are looking at all the options and may never come back.

Cheers for the heads up on that one, didnt know if the XT would be too hardcore trailee, but it sounds like i should give one a try.mmm Oh they have dropped the 1000 from the suzuki range couldnt get through the emisions, any new ones will have had to be registred as 08 bikes or pay an extra 600quid.

Would you believe OG that the Vstrom has LESS legroom, (when i say legroom i'm meaning the boot to backside ratio) than my gsx!! I sat on one in the suzuki dealer. Granted im 6ft+ and all arms and legs, but i was surprised.

I can see where you are coming from but like i said the bandit thing doesent apeal and the naked bike means big stress on the old neck. So ireally need something thats a bit between the 2. The DR is just a quicker DT. Its a real catch 22 thats really pissing me off, thats why i'm rebuilding the dt cos at this rate it will end up the main bike and i'll just flog the suzuki.

Long story short, bad work injury at 17 ripped the big deltoid muscle in my back, yes ouch. Sorry, fing ouch. So neck movement is limited as far as up and down is concerned. Secondly i maybe could have been a little kinder to myself as a kid and as a result my knees dont like being cramped up. You can see where this is going can't you. I bought the suzuki cos my neck could never handle a super sports and i dont like naked muscle bike stuff. Trouble is last year i put more miles on the DT than the suzuki as i would sooner take that cos its easier and more fun!!! Well as a result of that ive been looking for something to replace the suzuki with cos my neck is being more troublesome and my knees hurt after 30 or 40odd miles, used to do the liverpool ferry for the IOM just stopping for fuel couldnt now. I've been to the Honda and Suzuki dealers near me and neither could be arsed when i said that i wanted something with plenty of leg room/good riding position. The Honda man looked straight at a Duvall or whatever it is ( oh no) and the suzuki man just mumbled that you wont get better than the gsx and fucked of somewhere else, for a coffee i suppose. I was thinking transalp or maybe a tdm, or even a classic, RD400 maybe. Something that can handle two up cos me and the missus aint exactly bloaters but its a stretch to put us on the dt.......I just wonderd if anybody else out there has been down this road i can't comment on much cos the only proper bike i've had is the suzuki,(that useless 350 don't count).

On a normal 4cyl engine the firing stroles are every 90 deg so over 4 revoloutions you get 4 'bangs'. On the big bang engine you get 4 cylnders firing over 3 revoloutions cos 2 cyl fire together hence the 'big bang engine'. But to confuse the issue the big bang is out of phase with the other cyl i think. Sort of bang,bang, wait a second BANG and repeat Gives the torque of a twin with the high rpm of a 4. If you ask me triumph did that already the easy way. Did that help.........?

Cor don't shout. Rarely works mate just buy a bigger bike, back in the stone age swaps were relatively easy. Like lobbing a RD200dx motor in a RD125dx, but with all the cad design and more importantly all the emmision and electronic gubbins is a lot of hassle for v-little gain. Just get a bigger bike.

Ok as i'm writing this the missus is muttering nasty things under her breath, she went out with the girls this morning and i promptly lobbed the cases in the oven at max. The bearings have been in the freezer since i got em. Cases out of the oven, bearings out the freezer and they did no more than drop straight in, literally without so much as a tap, just got to leave them now for an hour or so to cool so the bearings can 'grow' into place and lock in nice and solid, don't forget that the lettering has to be facing the side that would be struck if you needed to. The only annoying thing is i have the wrong output shaft bearing, its for a TY surprisingly enough. Still i'll get that sorted monday so the motor will be going back together this week. Thats if i can apease the missus, she got back as i was taking the cases out the oven, oooops.

Wicked big pat on the back for the Brit team with a Brit car with a Brit driver and Brit sponser. Bout kin time big pat on the back for Jensen wicked drive, the new rules have made things much better than it was recently. You really couldnt gaurantee where anybody would be. There were drivers making errors cos the cars are harder to drive but more overtaking with the 'Boost' button. I'm actually looking foreward to the next one. Edit. Er sorry seem to have gone a bit 'wicked crazy' on this post. Guess i'm a bit of a patriot at heart.

As you get them out replace them with nice stainless allen head jobbies, never have the problem again. I'm rebuilding my DT engine and i have got getting the f.things out down to a fine art.

Sounds like there is a bigger issue here WF... Need more info, would you drain the oil out of your bike BEFORE you have got some to put back..... And have you ever HAD to drain the oil, without it being for something important like failed seals or contamination.

Has fuel, has spark? that leaves timing which is generally ok if you have a fat spark. Could have pinched and done the rings or holed the piston. Wodruf key gone, used to tool about on a Maico 490 (one scary motorcycle) with some of my mates and that sheared them so often we had some with us when we went out.

You had better get a flywheel puller while your waiting then as you cannot change them without it.....

Well the saga continues. The cases have now been split but it was begining to look like i was going to have some troubles. The selector mech all stripped down loverly apart from the gearchange cross shaft, that was very happy where it was thank you, once it was out it proved to be dried up grease causing it to stick. After cleaning the muck off it is fine with good splines and straight. First, and very critical issue is someone had this motor to bits on the cheap and has caused me a load of grief that would have been easily prevented. Everything has been done up FT as in Fcuking tight, as a result i have been using the battery spanner for 5 out of the 12 case screws as well as the crank and output bearing retaining plate screws, Heat and or releasing agent has done for the rest, stud extractors generally cause more hassle than they are worth unless conditions are perfect. Soft ally cases stressed by the extractor forcing its way into the offending item, i'd sooner drill em with steadily bigger bits, go steady and slowly only clamp the drill in the chuck just enough ( then if it bites it won't snap) and use A LOT of lube and they nearly always come out clean and leave the thread relatively (depending on how straight you were) untouched. So screws removed, crankcase splitter fitted made for me by OGOAB and very thankful i am too as without him mentioning the need for the splitter i would have done no more than followed the manual that makes NO MENTION of it. I did find that the cases did bind at the back where the rubber engine mount is, why have one rubberised and not the rest?? Not really a lot on the inside, could say its almost dissapointing. The crank according to the manual should tap out of the left hand case. All i can say is I hope whoever wrote that never taps me on the head or i'll be out for a month. The good news is the gearbox is in great nick, no obvious wear, forks look good and the gearbox bearings are all good, great. This initially is where i stopped to get the parts at the beginning of the week and after pricing it all up with pattern stuff from Wemoto found that i could have it all genuine for about another 25 quid, no brainer really. The no brainer in question is TYtrials and more importantly a bloke called John, sorted all the bits i need to rebuild the bottom end as well as a complete engine set of allen screws, Don't that look prretty, get what you pay for. Something else i was informed of. Apparently bearings have speed load and temperature ratings. A bearing of the right size does not a main bearing make. A lot of pattern main bearings are just bearings the right size and not necessarily the right rating and can fail very early. John also said that if you are stripping an engine do it right, strip it RIGHT down as you will be amazed at where crud and siht gets to as well as pockets of swaf from warn bearings just waiting to knacker the new stuff. Also whenever you split the cases on a DT change the output shaft bearing cos it gets hammerd by muck and rubbish and is always always worn. And the bit thats forgotten most often? The o ring on the primary side of the crank, it is vital to the seal of the crank and apparently its very often left when people do the cranks, they just change the seals. He also went into changing the bearings themselves and how, i wont go into that now i'll save it till i've done it and can comment but it envolves a heat gun. Right now i'm ready to start changing bearings with 2 nice clean crankcase stripped down to just their bearings. I deliberately havent prettied or polished them just a REAL good clean. I dont want to scrub away the fact that its getting on for 30 years old. I'm afraid i quite like the 'comfy slipper' look. Any how a few piccies to finish for now. A nice clean case. The engine's current home.

Oh no its too late now, the only question is how and if its public...............

You can normally re-pack them with soundproofing. Looks like loft insulation but isn't. Trouble is you will prob have to drill out rivets and such for what will probably be bugger all improvement.