What did you do to your motorcyle today?

[Galactica]

Sigh......Shell Rotella....

Ditto

[Kurt]

I just soak it up with a sponge and reinstall it in to the oil tank.

[754]

I had an 836 motor in 2 of my bikes, it happily ran on Pennzoil.
 Eventually it got old and worn, and people said if you keep running it without aircleaners, its gomna wear out fast.
 And after 25 years, it packed it in..

 Last year I freshened up my top end, I think I ran  Castrol, not the bike one.. ran great. After I got back from Colorado, I put in a new Andrews cam, now obsolete.  Went to change the oil and for some reason  I picked up 4 litres of Lucas oil.
 This summer I ran it a few times in fairly hot weather and I noticed it seemed a bit rattly. Then I went to Nelson on July 27th, it was getting noisier and got worse coming home, way too noisy. 
 So I tore it down on Sunday thinking I had a piston problem. When I went to take the cam off I spotted a bad rocker, quite worn, then saw a bad cam lobe, and another, and another. ..   made me sick..
 Anyway , I am done with Lucas oil...

[Jefft]

I’m pretty sure oil and no bearing ( pardon the pun) on your motor packing it in. A well built motor just needs decent quality clean oil and  it will run a long time. Oils like Lucas meet and exceed the requirements of any vintage Honda. What you start with and how you maintain it is the major factor in engine life.

[754]

Well it won the race for shortest cam life ever..
 And if it were s stock cam  it  would not bother me much.
 If it was oil starved from a blocked jet, that too I can live with., but it wasnt.
 And the outboard cam lobes /rockers were ok and the journals were not damaged.
 So my conclusion was based on that..

[Jefft]

Without a proper break in it’s easy to kill a cam shaft. Compared to OEM, older performance cams were of dubious quality . High lifts and aggressive profiles also don’t help. Run the lowest installed spring pressure you can get away with. Don’t assume , check it. Always  use new or resurfaced rocker arm/ cam followers no matter how the old ones look. Old followers will kill a new cam lickety split. Use the  cam lube as specified by manufacturer. In the old days it was moly paste. They have better stuff now. And strictly follow the suggested cam shaft  break in procedure with is usually a period of time at about 2000 - 2500 rpm immediately after start up. If your engine has to consume a couple of cam lobes is usually toast and you have to start over.

[754]

I used the lube and instruction that came with it  it was a mild cam an A grind.
 I put  good rocker on it same as my 836 with much higher lift cam. It went for decades till I had a sticking valve,  maybe due to the heat of the header pipes covering number 1 cyl.  But it took decades and  it held up fine. And it was often shifted at 11,000 rpm or higher.

 I  talked to an engine builder , he said it does happen  quite often. He suggested oils that have the designation  ma1 or ma2, and that zinc would help.
 THEY DONT LIST ANY SPECS ON THE CASTROL LITRES. I should go to their website and explore that  further.

 It very hard to find straight weights. At one time we could get Pennzoil GT in 40, 50 and I think 60.
It was actually  nitro compatible   which was a bit of a surprise..  I ran straight weight, and always warmed the engine well before hard use  so I cared little about how easy it would pour .
I and 2 buddies had some long life motors, which  I think traces back to the oil used.

[754]

 Well it runs, , man that is a long ways from a drop in motor conversion..
 Pain in the butt, but all sorted now, had to add a 1/4  spacer to  the  rear wheel,   causes a few new problems.
 Feels like a Barnett Wazoo clutch in there on or off, stalled a few times.  They are goid though if you slip them a bit to start.
 Most guys hate em.,  should be at Moto Vida tonite. 

[hardrockminer]

Glad to hear you're running Frank.

Working on a spare set of Z1 forks that I picked up for $50 bucks.  The lowers are in good shape but need to be vapour blasted.  The tubes are scrap...need to buy a new set.  The dampers are fine but were sitting in a bunch of gunk...PO must have never changed fork oil.

[hardrockminer]

I had one sticky valve so I ordered a hone several weeks ago.  It arrived yesterday and I put it to immediate use.  Today I'm returning the head to its natural position.  First photo is the top of the cylinders, ready for the gasket.  Second one is the head installed and cams set in place.

[kaw74]

That vapour blasting sure looks nice.

[hardrockminer]

Major improvement eh Henry?  I had a photo that Scotty took after he finished the vapour blasting but I've lost it.  Here is another one from last winter.

Vapour blasting doesn't remove the major scratches.  I removed them by hand and then vapour blasted to get the finished look of the original showroom.  After vapour blasting I used scotch brite with dawn dish soap to finish the lower forks.

Cams bearings are done...had to do them twice.  After the first time I was checking valve clearance and while rotating the engine backwards I saw it skip a tooth on the upper chain guide.  Had to tear it back down and do the timing a second time.

[Glenn]

Vapour blasting? I thought you used q-tips and spit! Seriously, it looks amazing. 

Major improvement eh Henry?  I had a photo that Scotty took after he finished the vapour blasting but I've lost it.  Here is another one from last winter.

Vapour blasting doesn't remove the major scratches.  I removed them by hand and then vapour blasted to get the finished look of the original showroom.  After vapour blasting I used scotch brite with dawn dish soap to finish the lower forks.

[MJ]

Looks really nice, I think Wheels,  God of Polish would approve

[Wheels]

Yes indeed I approve of that Bill,  that looks amazing and one should be very proud of the progress on that bike.

Guess I better step it up a notch.