End of riding season

[alke46]

for the Suzuki. Time now for some much needed maintenance. As I was pulling into the driveway, the odometer showed 39,500 miles and now it is time to re-hone the cylinders.

I did this same job 4 years and 5,000 miles ago but this time I will be a lot more aggressive with the hone. I think I was just too cautious the last time and did not get the end result I was hoping for.

As it stands right now the bike is using just over a quart of oil for every 350 miles and I don't know where it is going. It doesn't smoke like you would expect it to using that much and there doesn't appear to be any bad leakage going on so who knows, maybe this time I will get it right.

Also at this time the rear tire needs to be replaced and it will also get a new chain and sprocket set as well.

The choke lifters will be sent out to have the seat seals replaced also. edit: the plunger seats is what I'm referring to.

Fingers crossed that with a bit of luck, next season will be a big improvement.

One question I have concerning the valve guides. Do these items wear out and if so, how difficult are they to replace? I did the stem seals 4 years ago so I believe they are still good. I believe I have the specs for wear of the valve guides, but will have to check to be sure.

Thanks for reading this and all comments are welcome.

[Rob S.]

One question I have concerning the valve guides. Do these items wear out...?

They certainly do on a '73 Z1. Burned a quart of 20w-50 every few hundred miles, and it was quite apparent in the exhaust.

[alke46]

[QUOTE]

One question I have concerning the valve guides. Do these items wear out and if so, how difficult are they to replace? I did the stem seals 4 years ago so I believe they are still good. I believe I have the specs for wear of the valve guides, but will have to check to be sure.

Any more input from the guys who know more than I? Is this a job that I can handle or should I take it to a m/c repair place?

[salty_monk]

I think you have to have them reamed after you put them in. Not a DIY job. Nessism would prob know the answer.

[alke46]

I would be interested in hearing from Ed through this thread. Maybe he will chime in soon.

I sent a PM to Rapid Ray also but we are waiting for phone calls. He asked me to call him and when I did I had to leave him a voice mail. The two hour time difference sometimes gets in the way but I will call him back tonight.

[Nessism]

Hi Larry,

Best to measure everything so you can make decisions on what to do based on facts. For the valves, page 7-20 in the factory manual details a "Valve-to-guide clearance specification" table, and shows how to check that doing what's commonly called the "wobble" check. If the guides are worn they can be replaced or lined with an insert. Neither of these jobs are for the home mechanic unless you have a willingness to spend a good bit of cash for tools. One reason being that any time the guides are changed/lined, a valve job must be performed.

For the bores, you should measure the size, taper, and out of round. A bore gauge and micrometer is needed to do this right so again, more tools. Taper and out of round exceeding about .001" signals time for correction.

Given the cost of these tools you might want to look for a local machine shop you can pay to assess the parts for you.

Hope this helps and good luck with your project.

[Nessism]

Alternate method to above...

Find a machine shop with a centerless grinder and have the valves dressed, and the valve stem cut down a little to compensate.

Install new viton valve stem seals and check seat contact by lapping.

Use a 240 grit ball hone in the cylinder and rough them up nicely.

Install OEM rings and then assemble with OEM gaskets.

90+% chance you will be good to go considering the relatively low miles on your engine.

[alke46]

Thanks Ed. I will follow your recommendations to the letter. I did install new stem seals with OEM ones 4 years ago but I guess if it's going to be disturbed, I might as well refresh them again.

[bwringer]

It's doubtful the valve guides are worn, but as stated above you can check the amount of wobble or play to help decide.

Since your rings apparently didn't seat correctly, you might want to get some careful measurements of the bores. Normally, honing and new rings would do the trick, especially at relatively low mileage, so you want to check all the possibilities.

It is certainly possible to do this with some practice and a reasonably priced set of snap gauges and a micrometer in the correct range. Or you may be able to find a local powersports machine shop to help make sure the bores are reasonably round and cylindrical.

[alke46]

It's doubtful the valve guides are worn, but as stated above you can check the amount of wobble or play to help decide.

Since your rings apparently didn't seat correctly, you might want to get some careful measurements of the bores. Normally, honing and new rings would do the trick, especially at relatively low mileage, so you want to check all the possibilities.

It is certainly possible to do this with some practice and a reasonably priced set of snap gauges and a micrometer in the correct range. Or you may be able to find a local powersports machine shop to help make sure the bores are reasonably round and cylindrical.

As mentioned in the 1st post, I think I was just too cautious with the hone the last time. This time I WILL be more aggressive with the hone.
I also used snap gauges and a micrometer to be sure the cylinders were in spec. I measured each one in high, medium and lower parts of the cylinder. They all checked out OK.
Also I think I could have done a better job of giving the break in a better heat/cool down cycle.

Hopefully this 2nd time through will prove out to be better.