Valve seat service now or later?

[ArcticTiger]

Over on the Triumph Tiger Club Scandinavia site some of the guys are planing a trip to www.triumph-ant.co.uk in Wales to get their heads/engines replaced. Could be worth to check it out?
Maybe any of you GB folks have experience with them??

[Rocinante]

Over on the Triumph Tiger Club Scandinavia site some of the guys are planing a trip to www.triumph-ant.co.uk in Wales to get their heads/engines replaced. Could be worth to check it out?
Maybe any of you GB folks have experience with them??

That sounds like a good reason for a great ride.:)

I´m feeling the itch for real when it comes to the Sprint engine though. That would mean I get a relatively low milage engine (30000km) to replace mine with its 140 Kkm, broken engine mounts and a head in need of repetitive service, for a price about 30% higher than servicing the existing head.

Not to mention the injection and 20 + hp... :twisted:

[JetdocX]

Fitting the FI engine into a non-FI frame would be a monumental project.  Look for a carbed engine, or a new bike at this point.  Your parts may be worth more than the bike right now.

Machining the valve stem is iffy.  See where the wear is taking place on my valve?  There's not much more material left before it becomes part of the combustion chamber when the spring keepers release it and it gets sucked into the engine.

[Rocinante]

Fitting the FI engine into a non-FI frame would be a monumental project.  Look for a carbed engine, or a new bike at this point.  Your parts may be worth more than the bike right now.

Quewhatt! I guess you dont´t know the price level of bikes in Norway...

No, seriously. I can get the bike in running order for another 3-5 years for a few hundred dollars. No big deal.

The broken engine mounts repair job has held up for eight years with no cracking. Unless I take it to the tracks it´ll hold up a few more years, maybe outlast the rest of the bike for all I know. It was thoroughly done.

Maybe I got a little carried away hoping Mustang talked about a FI engine fitting mine. That would be a dream situation...

Machining the valve stem is iffy.  See where the wear is taking place on my valve?  There's not much more material left before it becomes part of the combustion chamber when the spring keepers release it and it gets sucked into the engine.

I meant machining the top of the valve stem, shortening the stem a millimeter or two. Maybe my language doesn´t hold up here or maybe I haven´t understood the technical stuff. Either way, he has done this on quite a few bikes without any problems, he said.

No, Rocinante stays. I´m too melancholic and after the rebuild I´ve done this winter she´s too fabulous a ride to replace.

[Mustang]

Maybe I got a little carried away hoping Mustang talked about a FI engine fitting mine. That would be a dream situation...

I thought we were talking about one of these .....these were the 98 sprints here in the USA only the speed trip had the 509 motor in 98  here

[BruKen]

Good info on this thread (thumbs up)

Learning about the tigger all the time :)

[JetdocX]

Machining the valve stem is iffy.  See where the wear is taking place on my valve?  There's not much more material left before it becomes part of the combustion chamber when the spring keepers release it and it gets sucked into the engine.

I meant machining the top of the valve stem, shortening the stem a millimeter or two. Maybe my language doesn´t hold up here or maybe I haven´t understood the technical stuff. Either way, he has done this on quite a few bikes without any problems, he said.

It still doesn't stop the wear from happening and when the valve gets too thin on the tulip end, it's over for the valve, the head, piston and the cylinder.   Anyways, it depends on your rate of valve recession.  Mine was happening so quickly I doubt doing what you suggest to mine would have gotten me another three thousand miles, maybe?

[Rocinante]

Machining the valve stem is iffy.  See where the wear is taking place on my valve?  There's not much more material left before it becomes part of the combustion chamber when the spring keepers release it and it gets sucked into the engine.

I meant machining the top of the valve stem, shortening the stem a millimeter or two. Maybe my language doesn´t hold up here or maybe I haven´t understood the technical stuff. Either way, he has done this on quite a few bikes without any problems, he said.

It still doesn't stop the wear from happening and when the valve gets too thin on the tulip end, it's over for the valve, the head, piston and the cylinder.   Anyways, it depends on your rate of valve recession.  Mine was happening so quickly I doubt doing what you suggest to mine would have gotten me another three thousand miles, maybe?

But that´s what the same mechanic did to my bike 8,5 years and 40-50 Kkm ago. I could hardly get home from South America and had to adjust valves every 1000km and even that wasn´t enough. Towards the end I could hardly do a days ride before clearances went to zero. I think he even said it was one of the worst heads he´d seen.

Still, after valve replacement and a seat overhaul it has ran perfectly for at least 40 Kkm.

Even with slightly hardened seats this time around, I don´t understand why not the same procedure could fix the problem one more time?

On the other hand I just spoke to my swedish friend and he is checking the market over there for a used engine. Because of the currency advantage we have I could get away with a used engine for the same price as a head overhaul here in Norway.

[Rocinante]

I have just inserted new shims and chose to leave all intakes at 0.020mm clearing, instead of 0.015, hoping that would cool them down a bit so I can squeeze a few more kms out of her.

I am just hoping?

The thinnest shim is 2.05, and the smallest I have found is 2.00, giving me about 0.25mm of wear before the first valve is zeroed. Crossing fingers for the next months...