GS650 piston rings, ebay aftermarket replacements?

[Chuck78]

According to some ebay sellers, the piston rings were discontinued for the GS650. I see on partzilla that the old number was superceeded, but I don't think they were discontinued.

Now I see that there are two different (or more) "aftermarket" replacement rings for these, and I was wondering if anyone has had any experiences with them? If the OEM are still available, it is going to run $135-140. These aftermarket ones are $54 and $68 for a set of 4. Any ideas on if they even come close to the quality and lifespan of the OEM originals?

www.ebay.com/itm/281369482615



www.ebay.com/itm/380930953408

[recycled64]

Check out Paul Miller Motorcycles, or Rigentic Inc, on Ebay, pricey but I think OEM may be found there-

[bwringer]

Not sure I'd risk it over a lousy $70 or so difference in price.



On the plus side, the piston rings in the top photo are made in Taiwan, not China, by a company called Hui Yang.

So there's a decent chance they're OK -- Taiwan makes TONS of motorcycles and parts (and lots of other stuff besides), and they have a culture that values quality.


The no-name rings in plastic bags... no way.

[1_v8_merc]

I used eBay pistons once. They snapped into pieces before even making it into the cylinders. The material was cheap pot-iron instead of steel, the fitment was all wrong. It was a customers parts, so we ordered OEM, and surprise, they were steel rings, proper fit, went in like a friggin glove. There was a massive difference in quality, high quality rings will bend and stretch like crazy, cheap rings will ****ing snap under light twist and pressure.

[badeaslava]

Did any of you guys end up installing these HY piston rings. I got a pair thinking they were OEMs but i do trust Taiwanese quality, they're much better than China in my opinion. So I think I'll go ahead and install them. Just wanted to know whether anyone can shed any more light on any previous experience with them.

[Chuck78]

please let us know how they install and how well they seal up after a proper break-in, and check back in a few years on the longevity and compression test ratings

for a good proper break in, as soon as you get the bike started quickly tune the idle if needed, and let it warm up for a few minutes and immediately go out to a deserted road where you will not attract attention, and accelerate at least 10 times 3000 - 5000 rpm, 3000 to 6000 rpm, 6500...moderate acceleration, you don't have to go full throttle, but you need to be going fast and hard momentarily, and every time you get up to that rpm level, immediately close the throttle and engine brake decelerate back down to 3000 rpm, then immediately accelerate back up. the piston ring manufacturer, Hastings I believe, from my last rebuild said once you do that 10 times your rings are broken in.you must have a good fresh proper phone on the cylinders to make this work. If you don't do it immediately after first startup, the hone pattern will get worn smooth and will not help break in the rings any, then it will take many thousands of miles to get anywhere near the break in that you could have had.

You must do this within 5-10 miles of first startup, preferably 3-5 minutes after getting it running, or the hone pattern will be worn smooth.

there is no taking it easy for a 1000 miles to properly break in an engine, if you don't do it this way, your rings will not seal up properly for a very long time, 5000 or even 15,000 miles. Some GS owners find low compression on their new projects and get them on the road anyway, wring the **** out of them, and then find the compression increased after a few thousand miles of them owning the bike! It's because the original owners baby the things since day one and never gave the rings a good condition to break in properly!

[badeaslava]

Thanks Chuck for the info on the break in. I assume the gear is irrelevant for the break in? should i keep it in 2nd or go higher for greater engine load?

I haven't decided yet whether to install them or not, i think i'll try it, unless they break when i try to fit them over the piston of course. Does the same break in procedure apply if i decide to keep the old piston rings and just reinstall them? or is this not recommended at all?

Thanks

[JJ]

Here is the best procedure write-up I have found. It works great for auto and bike engines. Probably any internal combustion engine.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[Chuck78]

that break in only applies if you have a fresh cylinder hone performed on the cylinder walls.and if you are cylinders are worn and out of round, it may not do a whole lot of good to restore compression.

when during the break in procedure, you do not want to bog the engine down, keep it in its sweet power spot zone. Trying to take off from 20 mph in sixth gear or fifth gear is not the condition you want. You want powerful acceleration, but don't redline it until many hundreds of miles in and several oil changes, there will be small metal shavings in the oil during the break in procedure. change oil after about 70 miles, then you can ride her for a little bit, and then I generally try to change the oil again in about 250 or 350 miles. That is just from me using my best judgement, I have not read that from any known break in procedure instructional source.the initial ring break in technique is widely known to be the absolute best way to break in the rings. You do not want to baby them. But you do not want to run the crap out of the engine and red line it for a while.

[tkent02]

Here is the best procedure write-up I have found. It works great for auto and bike engines. Probably any internal combustion engine.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Been doing this for decades. It works great.

[Chuck78]

Yes the moto tune method is the way...

If you have labeled which cylinders the rings came out of, pop just the bare rings into the cylinders if they are still springy, & use feeler gauges to measure the end gap spec. If they are well within spec, I'd consider reusing them before I would consider using a possible generic aftermarket ring.

if you did not mark which cylinder the pistons and rings came out of, maybe a slight hone job and reinstall would still suffice if using the original rings if they are still in spec? that one is up for debate, mind you. I've gotten bitten so many times from using generic or remanufactured aftermarket auto parts and motorcycle parts. Too often the aftermarket gaskets and seals are just crap quality. Never messed with aftermarket replacement piston rings. Genuine Suzuki and Mikuni etc parts are always my first choice unless for something insignificant.

[Super]

Hey Chuck. Not sure this will help you any but these are the exact same rings I bought to put in my 550/650 project. They went on just fine and slid into the cylinders fine too. And I did hone the cylinders. However, I haven't gotten to break them in yet.

Being the middle of winter, I'm waiting till the weather is better before I fire it up. The engine rebuild is completely done now though. I am currently working on everything else... cleaning the frame, putting on new tires and tubes, rebuilding the brake master cylinders, etc, etc. And last but not least installing the Dynatek ignition and coils.

I sure hope they'll be ok!! Otherwise..... a bit more work will be in order.

[Chuck78]

...these are the exact same rings I bought to put in my 550/650 project.... went on just fine ...However, I haven't gotten to break them in yet.


...etc. And last but not least installing the Dynatek ignition and coils.

please do let us know how they seal up after using the mototune ring break in method.a compression test with a good valve adjustment after 500 miles would be awesome proof on how well they work and how well the break-in went for you.

On the Dyna ignition, these things are great, but have reliability issues if your charging system is not up to proper spec and a clean bill of health. That means not stock! You MUST go through the entire wiring harness and use I believe it is DeOxit#9 contact cleaner, not the typical DeOxit that you can buy locally usually. that stuff works the best, although any attention is better than none. Then reassemble all connectors, checking to make sure they are properly crimped to give adequate pressure, and using silicone dielectric grease on all connections. Make sure none of the plastic multi wire connector plugs are brittle, if they are, source an aftermarket plug with the same number of wires and swap everything over.
if it is one of the old models with a headlight switch, with the stator wires from one leg being interrupted by two more wires that run through the headlight switch & back, get rid of those two wires, just cap them off and tape them up in the harness. Send all three stator wires directly to the new regulator rectifier, as the original Suzuki is complete garbage. Polaris OEM # 4012941, the Shindengen SH775, is THE best OEM unit to get (comes on can am's & sea-doo's also). The best best costs double but has much better output, the Compufire 3 phase series unit. both of these are serious regulating, they don't put a full load on the stator when full voltage is not needed. The shunt style, used in 99% of all other motorcycles and other non automobile vehicles for a very very long time, always runs the stator at full load, which shortens their life span drastically. Make sure to go through the stator papers page on the main GSR site, and check that your stator is in good condition. This requires a good battery to be able to run the engine with the charging system unhooked. Look up Jim aka posplayr on here, look at this stuff in his signature. he is an electronics guru, aviation electronics I believe.
Read this entire old post, links in posplayr's signature file, and pay extra attention to the 2 r-r power distribution wiring diagram photos at the end of the thread. The fuse in the original configuration doesn't do a whole heck of a lot.the charging system can jump straight into the ignition switch and everything else on the bike, the only thing fused really is the charging system to the battery.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?152769-GS-Charging-System-Health&p=1138898#post1138898

sorry for the slight thread derailment. Just putting this info out their time and time again to make it easier for everyone to stumble upon when browsing or searching.

[JJ]

that break in only applies if you have a fresh cylinder hone performed on the cylinder walls.and if you are cylinders are worn and out of round, it may not do a whole lot of good to restore compression.

Ummmmm.... to me, the term "break-in" implies a freshly rebuilt engine, or at the very least, freshly honed, round cylinders along with new rings. Otherwise, you aren't breaking in anything.

[Super]

Thanks for all the advice Chuck. I am aware of the electrical situation. I have already bought an SH775 for this project, as well as installing one on an 82 1100G and an 82 750E. Both of those bikes are still in the family!

And as far as Posplayr... he's amazing and we're very fortunate to have him as a member of this site!