Meangreenhk0
Member
Good Evening All,
A couple years ago, my uncle and I brought back to life a gold K0 three speed after 20 years sitting in the back of a mechanic's shop. The PO put some Mystery oil in the head due to the length of time it sat. It had no spark but the engine turned over and we happily purchased it for a low price. We quickly brought it home and put a new coil, points, oil, condenser, new chain, steering bearings,rebuilt the carb, new tail pipe, etc. Eight hours later fired it up for the first time in 20 years, on the second kick.
To our surprise, this little guy was and is fast and smooth! It's one of the strongest original bikes in the bunch. (maybe it has been rebuilt or bored over in it's life.) It easily hits 46 mph with my 175 lb body, looks great, stops on a dime, and shifts great.
However, I noticed riding behind the bike over Christmas that it smelled bad enough to not enjoy riding behind it when it was in the front of the pack. It smells of exhaust, or oil, or lawnmower... you know the flavor I presume. It does visually puff smoke, just a bit, on first start up then stops quickly. The smoke is not noticeable when riding or idling, just the strong smell that can make you a bit nauseous over the course of 15 miles with it leading the pack.
I assume new rings and piston are in order, but I hate messing with it because it is such a nice original bike. I have never gotten too deep into the engine, but I have done clutches and stators more than a few times for our fleet. I would love to eventually rebuild an engine or do an 88 upgrade. I have watched many, many hours of how-to videos and I figure a top-end rebuild is may be the first step toward this goal. This bike would be kept near stock, as it is mostly used by more novice riders when we go out as a group.
I have a few questions and hope to gain a better understanding of what my thought process should be.
1) Would it be better to just buy a whole new 72cc top end from TB ,or the like? I assume this is the easiest to just plug and play, everything fits as it should, and everything is new including valves, rockers, etc.
Would I need to set the rings and gap them, take it to a machine shop to do, or are they ready for installation?
2) Or, since it runs so well, could I literally just do new rings and piston? I assume I must have the Honda jug machined. Is the Honda top end better quality and worth saving over buying new?
Do you bring the machine shop the piston and rings when they hone the jug? .50, 1.00, or 2.00 over? Will they set they set/gap the rings for you?
Thanks for the input, as always.
Christopher
A couple years ago, my uncle and I brought back to life a gold K0 three speed after 20 years sitting in the back of a mechanic's shop. The PO put some Mystery oil in the head due to the length of time it sat. It had no spark but the engine turned over and we happily purchased it for a low price. We quickly brought it home and put a new coil, points, oil, condenser, new chain, steering bearings,rebuilt the carb, new tail pipe, etc. Eight hours later fired it up for the first time in 20 years, on the second kick.
To our surprise, this little guy was and is fast and smooth! It's one of the strongest original bikes in the bunch. (maybe it has been rebuilt or bored over in it's life.) It easily hits 46 mph with my 175 lb body, looks great, stops on a dime, and shifts great.
However, I noticed riding behind the bike over Christmas that it smelled bad enough to not enjoy riding behind it when it was in the front of the pack. It smells of exhaust, or oil, or lawnmower... you know the flavor I presume. It does visually puff smoke, just a bit, on first start up then stops quickly. The smoke is not noticeable when riding or idling, just the strong smell that can make you a bit nauseous over the course of 15 miles with it leading the pack.
I assume new rings and piston are in order, but I hate messing with it because it is such a nice original bike. I have never gotten too deep into the engine, but I have done clutches and stators more than a few times for our fleet. I would love to eventually rebuild an engine or do an 88 upgrade. I have watched many, many hours of how-to videos and I figure a top-end rebuild is may be the first step toward this goal. This bike would be kept near stock, as it is mostly used by more novice riders when we go out as a group.
I have a few questions and hope to gain a better understanding of what my thought process should be.
1) Would it be better to just buy a whole new 72cc top end from TB ,or the like? I assume this is the easiest to just plug and play, everything fits as it should, and everything is new including valves, rockers, etc.
Would I need to set the rings and gap them, take it to a machine shop to do, or are they ready for installation?
2) Or, since it runs so well, could I literally just do new rings and piston? I assume I must have the Honda jug machined. Is the Honda top end better quality and worth saving over buying new?
Do you bring the machine shop the piston and rings when they hone the jug? .50, 1.00, or 2.00 over? Will they set they set/gap the rings for you?
Thanks for the input, as always.
Christopher