max power Posted August 12, 2017 Report Share Posted August 12, 2017 So she sprung a leak on the front left corner of the head gasket. I knew would happen eventually but was hoping to make it to winter. So I tore it down and discovered some interesting things along the way. The PO told me it had been bored out to 280 but there are many aftermarket piston manufactures and 280 is a generalization. Couldn't know what gasket size I needed til I found out what brand kit was in it so the head came off. found out that the aftermarket Mikuni 34mm flat slide carb is narrower than stock so requires an adapter to fit on to the OEM airbox. No worries (must've said one of the PO's) just hook it to the airbox and attach it to the intake manifold by butting it up to the end of the manifold (which is supposed to go over the end of the carb) and wrapping it with a chunk of rubber tire innertube And a zip tie! Cheap and lazy solution but I guess it kind of worked, even though the starting procedure for this particular bike was incredibly complicated, possibly due to the hillbilly velocity stack. Noticed it when I bought the bike, just figured if it ran for now, I'd deal with it this winter. No big deal. My carb fitment investigations led me to a small biz in California called XRs only.com Long story short, the mikuni is taking a vacation to cali for some cosmetic surgery. When it comes back, it will have a bigger, poutier air sucker. Giggity. Called my man @ponyjr for some parts (and subsequently lots of advice) and he quickly and expertly assembled a kit of all the parts I would need to do the job and talked me into taking it all the way down to replace the base gasket and inspect the crank. But more importantly, hone the cylinder as it's got a little uneven wear. That kid is incredibly knowledgeable about motorcycles and how they work and his customer service skills are top notch! You would think he's been immersed in it all his life or something. Parts are in. Hitting the pony early tomorrow. To to be continued...... LOOK! PICTURES! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted August 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 17, 2017 Tore the little bastard down and sent the carburetor off to California to get reworked and an adapter put on it. Slapped the new rings on the piston, replace the gaskets and bolted the engine back together yesterday. Then I realized I didn't check the direction of the rings ( turns out there's a top and bottom) so will be tearing it back down hopefully tonight. So far the biggest pain in the ass was cleaning the gasket mating surfaces. Oh, and finding out after you put it back together that there's a top and bottom on the rings. It's a learning process. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marlboro man Posted August 21, 2017 Report Share Posted August 21, 2017 Shit bubby don't be cynical carbs to California it'll run like a tree hugging bitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted August 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2017 17 hours ago, marlboro man said: Shit bubby don't be cynical carbs to California it'll run like a tree hugging bitch Sent to XRsonly. The aftermarket carb needed an extension adapter to work correctly and it has to be welded on. They rebuilt it while they had it. Good as new. I hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted September 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 Thanks Dan, but it's already been punched 4mm. It's as built as it can get. Got the mikuni carb back from getting rebuild and adapter installed by XRSONLY in cali. Will post pics and such as soon as I can find time to work on it. Maybe tomorrow since it's supposed to rain all day. Still gotta loctite the cam gear bolts and torque the valve cover, install the carb, decompression cable and exhaust, change the oil and put the tank back on. Then pray it starts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M_Quick Posted May 7, 2018 Report Share Posted May 7, 2018 On 8/17/2017 at 9:41 AM, max power said: Tore the little bastard down and sent the carburetor off to California to get reworked and an adapter put on it. Bump, to see if carb found it's way home yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
max power Posted May 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2018 Damn! Can’t believe I abandoned this thread. Got it back together after installing and removing the head about 50 times and she fired right up. Ran it around for a bit and realized it was a blast but I wanted more power and roadworthy-ness, so I bought a DR650 in wv for cheap that had been sitting most of its life. Brought it back from the dead and got a killer deal on a XR650L so I sold the DR to Blake and we’ve been having a blast tearing up the local backwater roads south of Lancaster. Lots of upgrades coming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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