Nice shiny new thread, ta very much. Otherwise it's chaos!
The deer picture is a nice illustration of visibility, of conspicuity, of frontal area. The deer facing crossways is like a car in the distance, and that facing head on represents a bike.
It was mainly the two front middle studs stuck to the barrels, the hot exhaust side. All four middle studs are open to the outside for part of their length, exposed to airflow. The inner cylinder walls have hollow air passages right through from front to back, skirting the closed central tunnel, and the liners, hence the middles cracking cleanly so easily with the liners out. Those hotter studs, as they're by the exhaust ports, at the front where exposed also collect, rain, salt, grit, dirt, swarms of flying-ants and stuff and seem to get encrusted, flake and swell up.
A similar problem affects the exposed part of the long horizontal front engine-mounting to frame, bolt, exposed sections of, commonly needing cut each side to remove the engine, and the remains drilled out. Steel bolt/stud in alloy casting joined as one as effectively as if welded together. Sits right next to same glowing exhaust pipes too, to seal its dire fate.
It's not model or manufacturer specific, air or water-cooled, all are similarly prone, rendered unserviceable/scrap, if used.
There are steel to alloy specific anti-seize compounds, not copaslip, which I might consider, as the studs will clean up and still be usable, top/head area threads are mint, bottoms might be too. Studs might well come out now easily and fresh uncorroded outer ones can be put in the vulnerable open front middle positions, but if they resist at all, they're all staying put.
While the pistons/rings/barrels will be fresh, the bottom-end, the valve-gear and timing chain etc. has seen the same 70K hard miles, of wear and of stretch and a cumulative effect of all that means it won't be as sharp, as precisely timed, as quiet, as 'as-new', but near to it. Its drive sprockets too are selected for low-speed control and mid-range acceleration, not ultimate top-speed, so the first of its six gears is a real low-speed crawler, 5th/6th is normal cruising, but it'll top out at a lower maximum than original, factory spec. gearing would.
I'll miss the potential and fortuitous passive inherent traction-control on down-changes the temporarily lowered compression ought to produce.
Examining the old bits. You can see the exposed to the elements bits of the middle, front and rear stud-holes, with the pencil through them. Can also distinguish the cut and chiselled bits from the those that tore apart right down to flange/face. You can also see the air passages that run right through end to end behind the stud holes, the middle ones a bit furry inside. The outside, closed-off ones spotlessly clean.
The new (used) barrels as well as having no visible ridges or wear, have scant carbonisation at the top suggesting just a few hundred miles, ever or since de-coked, and the clean stud-holes, that it has been looked after and rarely used in wet and wintry conditions.
The new (used) barrels as well as having no visible ridges or wear, have scant carbonisation at the top suggesting just a few hundred miles, ever or since de-coked, and the clean stud-holes, that it has been looked after and rarely used in wet and wintry conditions.
