I think I have found why my stroker won't run

Piston...


Cylinder...


Top piston 'ring'...


Likely diagnosis is that the top ring was fluttering and caught the inlet port. The engine died immediately and, unsurprisingly, wouldn't run again. The ring got locked between the piston and exhaust port meaning, at first, I couldn't even get the barrel off the engine as it wouldn't pull off of the piston. I managed to pull the ring out with a pair of pliers and the lot came apart then.

I have a replacement barrel, piston kit and gaskets ready to get this going again through the winter. Fingers crossed.

ouch!

Oh dear no wonder it did not want to run. Are you having it bored out or relined?

Oops

I sourced a second-hand barrel off of Ebay - turns out these engines make rocking horse sh*t look as common as dog poo!

Anyway, the barrels are plated so you can't bore and hone without replating, which is really expensive. I have found a place that will sleeve it with a steel liner, so no replating necessary and you can bore and hone easily afterwards - I might have this barrel done as a spare if they can do it with this damage.

I am currently stuck though as the studs in the old cylinder refuse to budge, and I need them to go in the replacement cylinder. I must admit I have only tried the locked nuts removal technique so far - next stop, FIRE!!

Have you tried freeze spray? We use it at work on certain things you cannot either warm up or get the really big hammer to. The stuff we use is called rostoff ice freeze spray, may just work.

Yesterday my wife took the kids out for a few hours so I rolled up my sleeves and, after months of hording the necessary parts from eBay, I set about lashing them onto the bike. Unlike any job I usually do this went like clockwork. From first spanner to pouring in the coolant was 3 hours. After a spot of lunch I then went out to try and kick it into life. Well, it was quite a workout but, after much sweat and a few expletives it fired and ran sweet as a nut!

Still plenty to do - the battery is toast and I suspect the reg/rec so will test that and see (easier now it's running!). However it doesn't need a battery to run, just for lights etc when not running. The clocks are smashed up and useless - I have spares but the wiring loom seems to be from a different bike so I have some wire tracing and remodelling to do. The forks and front wheel, it turns out, are from a different bike too, so the new speedo cable I have doesn't fit at the bottom - more botching required. There are probably a load of other things too - I plan to get it MOTed to see what needs doing to pass an MOT - at least I can ride there and back now (it's insured and taxed).

It's a very satisfying feeling though, turning a pile of bits into a living, breathing engine and seeing it run.