Exactly! But I had to go bigger on this one - the hose clamp I used before was too small, luckily I wasn't sure what size I was going to need last time so I bought a whole range of sizes. Here's a photo of this extraordinarily high tech piece of equipment in action:



When installing the cylinder, you first mount the piston on the rod using the piston pin and two steel clips on either side of the pin that clip into a groove inside the piston. Be sure and cover your engine opening when installing the clips - if you drop one you DON'T want it to fall into your engine. That we be 10 times worse than having your cam chain come off sprocket. Then ease the cylinder over the piston with the ring compressor in place. Let the cylinder push the compressor downward and the rings will remain compressed and you'll be able to slip the cylinder down over top. after the piston is all the way in the cylinder, just undo the hose clamp and take it off. Then slide the cylinder down the rest of the way. Don't forget to put the gasket on first - or your'll need to take it off and start over.

Here's the shiny new 83mm piston:



That's quite a far cry from the 72mm stock piston. There is a front and a back to a piston and the piston included in the 300cc kit had a nice clear arrow marking the forward direction. This piston has no top mark, but if you look closely you can see how it needs to be oriented:



Note the valve pattern above - the larger valves are the intake valves and the smaller ones are the exhaust valves. In the above photo the exhaust valves are lighter in color. Node that the valve indentations in the cylinder must match up with the correct side of the head - DO NOT get this wrong and install the piston backwards.

Here's the bored cylinder - it has a lot less sleeve wall on its return trip than it had going out. The sleeve seems to be about 3.8 mm in width now. Engine end:



Head end:



Can't work or do much else without coffee. Will work for coffee.




OK, so here's some good news. The shop I took my bike to fit me in today and dug into the right side of the engine case and got the cam chain back on track and went ahead and re-timed it for me. Good on them - I have no complaints, they did what I asked them to do and I have no reason to think they didn't do a good job. This is the same place I got my wheels balanced earlier this summer and the guy who did the wheels was there and he remembered me. I think it might have been him that did this work, but I'm not sure, they have a couple of mechanics. Note that his is not the dealer that I bought my bike from where I've had a couple of not so great experiences starting with trying to source some valve shims. I had actually gone to these guys first when I was looking for the KLX250S but they didn't have any and didn't know when they would get any more in, so I bought it at the other place.

Anyway, I rarely have good dealer experiences, but this one was a good one so I'll give props when its due. Thanks guys - Kawasaki of Durham, hat's off! The wheel balancing experience was also good, so maybe these guys are one of the few dealers where we don't dread taking our bike. But sure as I say that, I'll let my guard down and get screwed, so I'm always cautious.

Now, for better news - my buddy let me borrow his pickup truck so I picked up my bike today after work and got it home where I promptly:

* reinstalled the Muzzy
* reinstalled the CVK carburetor - yes, I put on the CVK - you guys owe me one - Marty, et. al.
* reinstalled the gas tank and plastics

Let's see - that was it - you see, I was soooo close. Dang cam chain.

Anyway, I cranked it up and it fired up first try. I had already had it in my mind I would let it run for only about 5 seconds and then shut it down so I did that. I looked things over and there were no holes blowned in the side of the engine, pipe, or anything else, all looked well so I fired it up again, let it warm up briefly, and took a little spin around the yard and parked it again. Nothing on fire - everything still looks normal.

So I fire it up a third time and take it a spin around the neighborhood, working on the very first heat cycle of breakin - running up to about 4th gear, then back down letting the engine brake slow it down as I gear back down to first. I did this a few times for a couple of miles.

All is working well. I have little to report performance wise except that it definitely pulls stronger. I can tell that just doing these little run up and back down exercises. I'm going to keep doing these - the doc from Kustom-Kraft recommends 8 heat cycles of 15 minutes each doing this to break in a new cyclinder. Last time I did 3 or 4 of 20 minutes each. I'll probably do a few more of these but probably not 8. I figure better safe than sorry, though. Last thing I want to have happen is for that piston to sieze up in there.

So good news that it's back together and working. But it'll probably be a few days before I can give a good report on its performance.

 

Thanks for the update. I'm anxiously awaiting the performance results. Now that my dirt skills have improved and I've gotten hooked on riding enduros I'm really starting to notice the lack of power and I'm hoping the big bore kit can tied me over for a year or so until I can get a bad-a bike. When I bought the bike I thought I would do more street riding than off-road but the more off-road I do the less I'm interested in riding it on the street.

 

Brain dont forget to change your signature with the new piston size!!

 

Good call - thanks for the reminder. Also, I got rid of the crutches smiley since I can now ride once again. Woohoo!

 

Good deal man, go tear it up.....er... the trails i mean, yeah. Me scrounging pennies for my big bore, i will use the stock carby though. So I owe you for the writeup thanks..

Francis

 

So, do you think it will put a big smile on your face?

I am eternally indebted to you for your choice of putting the CVK on. How can I make it up to you?

Of course, when you tell me how much more you smiled when you put the FCR on, then all will be forgotten and forgiven!

When will you be ready with all the juicy details?

 

No problem Marty - I can't lie, I'm kind've curious myself about the heads up difference between the CVK and the FCR. And for cylinder break-in purposes, I'd prefer to stick with the devil I know, if you know what I mean.

I suspect I might have something to report this weekend.

 

Good job, Brian, glad to hear that you're "back in the saddle" (or will be very shortly)! [sm=smiley20.gif]

 

Brian,

Is that thing broken in yet? Give us the report now!

















Please

 

the clutch is only held by one bolt. remove that bolt, and with both hands pull the entire clutch assembly fly wheel and all. then uhave access to the cam chain. the book makes it look harder than it realy is. i work on these things for a living. if u have anyquestions everjust e-mail me @ kymer1500@hotmail.com or send me a message i like to help anyone who needs it.