The cylinder came Friday! ...shipped to the wrong address in Illinois. LOL It has been forwarded to me and should be here tomorrow or Tuesday! Bottom end is already rebuilt and back together.

 

Great ! Hopefully this will turn out better than the last cylinder did for whatever reason.

Keep us in the loop.

 

Will do! I can. Not. Wait.

I miss my supermoto soooo much. I've been riding my ER-6n around and find myself wanting to take shortcuts that it was not designed for... Also, having electrical issues with it? I'm assuming (hoping) battery, but it may be the rec./reg. The lights dim funny (in a 2-step dim) when the cooling fan comes on during idle. If I get back on the throttle, nothing changes. BUT, if I let the clutch out and begin to roll forward, the lights brighten back up. But, as soon as I return to idle, the lights will do the 2-step dimming again as soon as the fan kicks on. The previous ER-6n (same year) did not do this. *headscratch* It has been over 100 every day. I'm wondering if it's not the battery just going south. Sometimes it dies immediately when starting for a half second, too, like it's a weak start. Going to throw the battery on a charger/tester tomorrow morning.

It's not a Suzuki, so the R/R should be fine, right? ;-)

 

New top end is in, bike all back together. Initial test ride proves very promising, but the carb is obviously still needing to be tuned. That's next on the list. After the initial break-in, the carb will be rejetted (again) and checked for vacuum leaks (again). LOL That's a ghost that's been in the machine ever since I got this carb, though. The plan is to get the bike to a dyno in the next couple of months, too. I'll still keep you posted!

 

Great to hear! How did you break the new top end in this time around?

 

Nice! Sounds so frustrating- bill supporters don't want to admit that it may be possibly something in his kit lol- I'm interested to see the kk results! May go this route as well, just seems safer and makes close to same power. Idk. It is a bit more pricey. And I would have to have mechanic install because I am garage less. Anyone know labor costs/time?

 

I doubt its anything inherently wrong with B&B kits, its just like anything else you sometimes just get a couple of lemons. One of our members here had a KK cylinder get a crack in the bore IIRC.

 

Yeah I would agree, I'm still deciding between the two. But the problems started just shortly after the kit was installed (3-4 hours), if there was something inherently wrong with his kits, I would guess not people would report failures after a few thousand miles. I am curious to hear from those with 10k or so on Kira.

 

To be fair, his design is a skirtless piston. Great for 'oomph, but not ideal for longevity. The fact that I got 3,000 miles out of the second one is actually pretty good, considering I did road race track days and all with it. Take an Aprilia SXV550 supermoto, for example. That's a 4-stroke motard that needs a new piston and rings every 3,400 miles!! But, it'll also do roll-on wheelies at highway speeds, so...


Anyway, I put another 40 miles or so on the new top end yesterday. Ran like a champ! Idle still hangs a bit, as the carb is all out of whack (still). Also, we may have found an air leak!! Finally!! Tricky little buggers. It's at the a/f screw. The o-ring has gone a bit south there. If you even just press on the screw without turning it, the RPM changes. LOL Also, you can turn the a/f screw completely in and the bike still runs just fine. Apply pressure to it (even just slight pressure, or even just wiggle it) and the idle will change. So, that's on the list to be replaced when we do the rejetting.

Hard starting at the moment due to a low battery, which is due to the bike sitting for so long during the rebuild. I have a great charger in my garage I plan on hooking up this evening (errands to run today).

 

My first kit from B&B had a cracked sleeve within 600 miles and the engine overheated (it's obviously been torn completely down and inspected since then. Thankfully, nothing else went wrong. Just had to flush the cooling system from oil).

As you said, there are sometimes just lemons. I don't think it's really anything "wrong" with his kit. However, I personally am choosing to try another route. My last car was a lemon. It was a Ford. Granted, it was a late 90's Escort, but it has left me wary of Ford's in general. That said, I know plenty of friends who swear by Ford above any other manufacturer.

Some people are bit by a dog as a kid and never able to trust a dog again, in spite of the fact that there are so many wonderful, loving dogs in the world around them. They may have a best friend who has a wonderful dog. They may even be happy for that friend, but they're still cautious around the dog.

With both of those analogies, that's sort of where I stand with the 351 kit. It works great for a LOT of people. I am clearly the exception. That said, I am choosing to go another route. I have little doubt that I simply got a couple of lemons, but that doesn't change the fact that, as a consumer, I am now going to want to try a different product.

Bill is a stand up guy who has always done right by me. I've been to his shop and watched him personally install my first kit. He's a great guy with a great product. He took great care of me when the first kit had the cracked sleeve. He stands by his work. I know he would stand by this one, too.

However, it's like the Ford and the dog analogy, you know? I hope that makes sense.