28 replies to this topic

[ChrisG]

I was pointed in the direction of Valve guide seals as there is lots of blue smoke when i fire the bike up initially. Like you say Studley, after speaking with a mechanic this morning he also suggested a top end refurb would be the way to go whilst carrying out the work. He also suggested that it may not be as straight forward as just changing the valve seals and the problem will be fixed but thats something that obviously wont be found out until work on the bike has commenced. He did mention a very rough figure of around £600ish but obviously he wont know the extent of the work until he has investigated. With that in mind, I dont have that amount of money to throw at the bike so Im leaning towards having a go at myself

 

Doing the valve stem seals made a huge reduction in the oil consumption on my Mk1.  Have you done a compression test to check the piston rings aren't leaking a bit too?

[Studley Ramrod]

Good man Drewpster.

 

Don't ya just love Carpe.

[drewpy]

Thanks all, Drewpy I really appreciate that, I may well be in touch. Thanks again everybody

no worries, I'm off work till 16th. I can come round if you want a chat to go through the stages needed.

[danjohnston89]

ChrisG a compression test will be done over the next few days hopefully. Will be interesting to see the results

[danjohnston89]

Just as an update... I am tempted to part ex my 850 for a TDM 900. The offer has come up and I am massively struggling for time to actually carry out the work on the 850. I have two jobs and have to be available for childcare when I have free time. If I go ahead and do the deal i apologise that I may have wasted your time in replying to this original post, however its something that has just come up as an option
Thanks

[dablik]

Not having time is always problematic, would'nt worry about the replies as the've nowt else to do  go for the 9r, especially if it solves your time constraints and gets you riding, loved mine, you will as well..and it's so nice not having to worry about oil....

[ChrisG]

I still miss my Mk1 850 for the low down grunt out of tight corners on a twisty backroad, but the Niner's the better bike for faster more open roads.

 

I did the piston rings on my Mk1 having never done anything more complex than an oil change.  Including sending the barrels off to be honed the whole thing was in bits for a few weeks, bit it didn't actually take that much of time, and I learned a a lot about bike maintenance and really improved my confidence in doing such jobs.  I did the valve stem seals a year or two later (in hindsight I should have done it all at the same time) and found it a pretty easy job, thanks in part to the experience and confidence I'd gained from the earlier work.  Again it meant the bike was in bits for a couple of weeks though as I needed to order new shims s well.

 

If you're interested in learning more about bike maintenance, and have the space to leave the bike in bits for a while while you do the odd hour here and here on it, I'd say it's well worth doing it yourself, especially if Drewpy's available to have a look and offer some words of encouragement (JHT did the same role for me, and lent me his valve spring compressing tool).

 

On the other hand if you don't have a garage and use the bike for commuting, part-ex'ing it will be a lot less hassle.

[Studley Ramrod]

Still going strong too Chris. Except in 3rd of course.   

[ChrisG]

Can't believe you still haven't sorted that