Engine stripped

Friday 5th November 2010

Paul arrived at my place yesterday about 4:30pm with my long lost MC18 SP engine from OkShon.
Paul was keen to start stripping the engine down straight away, but I had an unexpected visit from my Father and had to set up the BBQ as I had to do dinner for Paul and I, as well as Wob and Kathryn. Later Dave also joined us for a night of eating and drinking.
So, this morning I got up at 6:30am and went into the laundry (temporary shed) and started to pull the engine apart.
Paul joined me at about 7:15 and we soon had the engine pulled apart. Well, except for the flywheel as I stripped the thead on the flywheel puller trying to get it off. D'oh!
The barrels/heads and pistons looked to be in very good condition.
We took the engine into Wobs and pulled the flywheel off and split the crankcase halves and pulled out the crankshaft.
Then we pressed the crankshaft apart.
The crankshaft and conrods appear to be in excellent condition !! This is EXCELLENT news!

All that was wrong with the engine was the RH Main Bearing was worn out.
The Lower RH barrel had some very minor scoring in a few places around the cylinder but this is not really a problem.
Also, as the crankcase halves seperated, the centre main bearing seal broke apart. It had been crimped at the join of the crankcase halves on assembly.
There was a fair bit of black RTV silicon "goop" around the RH main bearing seal. Clearly the engine had previously been pulled apart. In fact it has probably been used as a race engine as the sump plug has been replaced by an Allen head cap screw and the dip stick "handle" had 2 holes drilled in it for lock wires, no doubt.
A curious point is that the Upper LH cylinder and crankcase seemed quite dry and poorly lubricated. I am unsure why this would be the case.

Wob has ordered a pair of big end bearings, and when they arrive he will press the crank back together with new bearings and seals, and align the crank.
In the meantime I will bead blast the crankcases and possibly polish up the insides of the crankcases a bit.

After 16.5 months and NZD$1100.00 I am actually pretty happy with my engine purchase from OkShon Japan. :-).

Fairings and Engine

Last Saturday (30th October 2010) Paul picked up my engine from a depot in Auckland.
After 16.5 months I finally get my engine from OkShon.
It cost NZD $150 in customs and freight.

Also a couple of months ago I received my repaired and painted tank and also a new set of fairings from Hong Kong. The first photo shows the bodywork about to be sent from Hong Kong.
Notice that the 6 flags in the Terra Racing emblem are in the wrong sequence. I informed them of the problem and they fixed it before sending the bodywork to me. The correct flag sequence is shown in the second picture laid out on my lounge floor.

Paul has had a brief look up the exhaust ports and seems to think the engine initialy appears to be in pretty good condition.

Paul will most likely deliver the engine to me this Thursday (4th Novenber 2010). So within a week or two I will have the crankshaft apart for inspection. If all is well, I may be able to start some serious reassembly and have the bike going some time over summer.