Hi All
I just joined the forum. I have a V50 MKII that has been sitting in my garage for 15 years. Before life got in the way I rode 80000 km on it. It is a 1978 or 79 model and bought it 2nd hand in 1982. My son has started riding bikes and I have finally got the urge to get the Guzzi going again, with his able assistance.
We discovered the engine had ceased - the right hand piston had frozen. We stripped that cylinder head and knocked the piston down with a hammer and block of wood and eventually got the cylinder off. What we found is the bore lining has started to separate off the cylinder at the top near the cylinder head. Most of the damage is above the highest level of the top ring, but at one point it looks to go 5mm below. I presume this is due to corrosion as the bike was running fine when I lost rode it. Also there must be more issues with the piston and/or rings as it was ceased well below the damaged area. The piston is still on the conrod and I have not had a very good look at it yet. I have not yet stripped the left one either. I have uploaded some pictures.
I have found an article "How to identify the cylinder bores of roundfin Guzzis" by Pete Roper on another site. Based on this, my cylinder appears to have a nicasil lined bore. The lining is magnetic, there is virtually no "lip" above the top ring line, it is not very shiny, there is no mark at the bottom of the stroked area and there are still honing marks visible in the bore. But according to the workshop manual that I got with the bike, it is supposed to have a chrome bore so I am not sure. It has the same cylinders that came with the bike when I bought it 35 years ago.
Can anybody confirm if this is in fact a nicasil lining and not a chrome one?
Have others experienced similar failures?
Any what to do next:
- Dress out the damaged part and put the cylinder back? Most of it is above the top ring line - but I doubt this will work.
- Find a 2nd hand cylinder or two? I am not sure where to look but the must be some out there.
- Get the old one(s) repaired? There are suppliers who advertise that they repair cylinders with nicasil coatings.
- Buy new barrels, pistons and rings? These seem to be "no longer available" on most of the on-line spares suppliers that I have looked at.
Thanks
Ian
I just joined the forum. I have a V50 MKII that has been sitting in my garage for 15 years. Before life got in the way I rode 80000 km on it. It is a 1978 or 79 model and bought it 2nd hand in 1982. My son has started riding bikes and I have finally got the urge to get the Guzzi going again, with his able assistance.
We discovered the engine had ceased - the right hand piston had frozen. We stripped that cylinder head and knocked the piston down with a hammer and block of wood and eventually got the cylinder off. What we found is the bore lining has started to separate off the cylinder at the top near the cylinder head. Most of the damage is above the highest level of the top ring, but at one point it looks to go 5mm below. I presume this is due to corrosion as the bike was running fine when I lost rode it. Also there must be more issues with the piston and/or rings as it was ceased well below the damaged area. The piston is still on the conrod and I have not had a very good look at it yet. I have not yet stripped the left one either. I have uploaded some pictures.
I have found an article "How to identify the cylinder bores of roundfin Guzzis" by Pete Roper on another site. Based on this, my cylinder appears to have a nicasil lined bore. The lining is magnetic, there is virtually no "lip" above the top ring line, it is not very shiny, there is no mark at the bottom of the stroked area and there are still honing marks visible in the bore. But according to the workshop manual that I got with the bike, it is supposed to have a chrome bore so I am not sure. It has the same cylinders that came with the bike when I bought it 35 years ago.
Can anybody confirm if this is in fact a nicasil lining and not a chrome one?
Have others experienced similar failures?
Any what to do next:
- Dress out the damaged part and put the cylinder back? Most of it is above the top ring line - but I doubt this will work.
- Find a 2nd hand cylinder or two? I am not sure where to look but the must be some out there.
- Get the old one(s) repaired? There are suppliers who advertise that they repair cylinders with nicasil coatings.
- Buy new barrels, pistons and rings? These seem to be "no longer available" on most of the on-line spares suppliers that I have looked at.
Thanks
Ian