| 
I inadvertently dropped a small brass nipple down the intake tract of 
my motorcycle while doing a carb re-jet. Upon cranking the engine there 
was a loud bang as the piston tried to send the nipple into the head. 
The damage is apparently mostly superficial, with the exception of a 
compressed ring groove at the point of impact. A few folks have said I 
can file the top half of the ring groove to open it up to the proper 
clearance. There doesn't appear to be any cracking or other signs of 
fatigue. Can I go ahead and file it? It's an old-tech air cooled motor. 
Money is tight so I'm not worried about whatever performance I may lose 
to a less than optimal squish band, etc. I just need to get the 50 mpg 
machine back on the road and stop using the 26 mpg one :-)
thanks,
jim
 |