I had another small adventure with my Series B Meteor recently. Now that I have 500 miles on a new piston/barrel, I wanted to do a ride and change the oil and filter afterwards. I went out with two friends and we did about 90 uneventful miles at 35-60 mph. Coming home, I hopped on the highway for the last couple of miles (I was feeling confident). I wound the Meteor up to 65 to keep up with traffic (70 mph speed limit) and, after a few minutes, I felt a loss of power (like I was out of fuel, but I wasn't). I immediately grabbed the clutch and she died. I kept rolling along the shoulder thinking: Farkin'ell, I've seized it again.
Luckily, I was right at an off-ramp and I rolled down the hill and into a gas station. I put her on the center stand and pulled off my helmet, jacket and gloves. I tried pushing the kickstart lever with my hand and she turned over OK, to my great relief. So, maybe she was just starting to tighten up and I caught it in time. I let the bike cool for 30 minutes in the shade. I was only about three miles from home so I decided to see if she would get me there.
She started up first kick and I rode home and into my garage. I drained the oil while it was still warm, replaced the oil filter with a new one, refilled her with oil and then started her up just long enough to verify return from the sump. I shut her down.
Yesterday, I verified that the ignition timing was still 34 BTDC at full advance, I verified correct valve clearance, and verified that the breather hole in the gas cap was clear. I checked compression and got 160 psi which seems pretty high even thoughI have an 8:1 piston. I also took some photos with a cheap borescope that sends images to my iPhone. I could see some light scoring of the cylinder wall (and still some remnants of cross-hatching which puzzles me after 500 miles of riding). The piston looks like it has some deposits on top (what does that look like to you?). I've attached a couple of pics.
At this point, I think I need to richen up the mixture (raise the needle one notch and go back up to a bigger main jet). I'm wrestling with whether I need to pull the head and barrel again for a closer inspection or assume it's OK to ride based on the solid compression data. Thoughts?
Luckily, I was right at an off-ramp and I rolled down the hill and into a gas station. I put her on the center stand and pulled off my helmet, jacket and gloves. I tried pushing the kickstart lever with my hand and she turned over OK, to my great relief. So, maybe she was just starting to tighten up and I caught it in time. I let the bike cool for 30 minutes in the shade. I was only about three miles from home so I decided to see if she would get me there.
She started up first kick and I rode home and into my garage. I drained the oil while it was still warm, replaced the oil filter with a new one, refilled her with oil and then started her up just long enough to verify return from the sump. I shut her down.
Yesterday, I verified that the ignition timing was still 34 BTDC at full advance, I verified correct valve clearance, and verified that the breather hole in the gas cap was clear. I checked compression and got 160 psi which seems pretty high even thoughI have an 8:1 piston. I also took some photos with a cheap borescope that sends images to my iPhone. I could see some light scoring of the cylinder wall (and still some remnants of cross-hatching which puzzles me after 500 miles of riding). The piston looks like it has some deposits on top (what does that look like to you?). I've attached a couple of pics.
At this point, I think I need to richen up the mixture (raise the needle one notch and go back up to a bigger main jet). I'm wrestling with whether I need to pull the head and barrel again for a closer inspection or assume it's OK to ride based on the solid compression data. Thoughts?